The Mentalist – Blood Feud

• Title: The Mentalist – Blood Feud
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“Blood Feud” begins with Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) being brought in for questioning by Agent LaRoche (Pruitt Taylor Vince) and possibly facing criminal charges for his behavior over the past week after discovering his father (William Forsythe) wounded at a crime scene. After seeing that his father is stable, and completely uncooperative, Lisbon (Robin Tunney) sends Rigsby home and begins an investigation into the shooting that left one man dead and another in a hospital bed.

Jane (Simon Baker) and Lisbon talk with the shooting victim’s partner (Daisy Eagan) which leads them to suspect a 30-year dormant gang war that may be heating up once more. When his father disappears from the hospital Rigsby forces himself back on the case and heads out with Cho (Tim Kang) to find him. As Jane and Lisbon talk with the heads (Jeannetta Arnette, Michael Irby) of both gangs, Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) gets the lay of the land from a gym owner (Max Martini) who has been able to carve out a small piece of neutral territory.

Jane is sure that neither gang leader killed their victim to restart the gang war, but unless they find out who did, and quickly, he’s also sure neither will back down from the challenge. Through the use of a couple of white lies and manipulation, Jane gets the head of the two families in the same place at the same time where he manages to smoke out the real killer who Rigsby, despite being  sent home after his father dies of complications from his shooting, chases down and kills when he flees Jane’s trap.

It’s good to see LaRoche return, and it’s a luxury for the show to have such a character to call back and throw into situations just like this. His official findings, as we’d expect, exonerate Rigsby, but his unofficial suspicions are far more intriguing as he believes Jane created the trap to offer Rigsby “the perfectly legal revenge” he so craved for the murder of his father. Although he doesn’t admit to his culpability, it’s easy to see Jane doing exactly what LaRoche describes. And perhaps the special investigator is correct in pointing our Lisbon’s willingness to protect her team is indeed her greatest weakness.