- Title: The Mentalist – Pretty Red Balloon
- wiki: link
When a young boy (Miles Elliot) is kidnapped the CBI is called into investigate but things get complicated with the mother (Kelli Williams) turns out to be a former client of Jane’s (Simon Baker) from his psychic days and the evidence leads the team to believe the child was snatched by a serial killer who will likely kill his victim in less than eight hours.
The investigation gets off to a rocky start when the greiving mother expects Patrick to use his gift to find her son, and no amount of denial will convince her he’s not really a psychic. The case is further hindered by the family’s new psychic (J.D. Walsh) who is far less shy pretending to have a connection with the missing child than Jane is.
Catching the “Balloon Man” proves to be only half the battle as even after the killer is in custody the mystery of the child’s abduction remains a mystery and the young boy remains missing.
“Pretty Red Balloon” is an intriguing episode giving us a look into Jane’s past by one of the victims of his former life who still doesn’t begrudge him what he did, even once she comes to terms with the fact that he was never a psychic. The mystery takes a nice twist halfway through that makes it far more interesting than just the search for a serial killer who preys on young boys. The first real case for the reunited team this season delivers its strongest episode so far.
