User reviews

When a vial with a lethal and valuable virus is left open in the protect room of the scientist Alicia Seberg in a bio facility, she calls Patrick Jane and asks him to find who killed her. Lisbon and Patrick head to the facility, and Alicia explains that she will dies in a few hours since there is no antidote for the virus. The bureaucratic and arrogant CDC agent Dean Harken is in charge of the investigation but Patrick suspects of him. The only persons that have access to the room are Alicia's husband and three colleagues, all scientists that work with her. When Patrick finds a breach in the security system, all the employees of the facility become suspects. But Patrick Jane plots a bold plan to catch the killer.

"Code Red" is a great episode of "The Mentalist", and the storyline is a very current topic with the Covid-19 pandemics. The daring plan of Patrick Jane is very funny in the end. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Code Red"

My overall rating of "The mentalist"'s Season 2: 4/10.

So pretty much every review and even many of the trivia items on this episode's page indicate that the episode is riddled with technical and factual errors that are impossible to excuse away. Jane's trick in this episode was not only next to impossible to pull off (they couldn't even edit the scenes believably), but also fraught with such ethical peril... Frankly, many episodes of "The mentalist" feel like they'd be "once in a lifetime" investigations that would receive 24-hour coverage for weeks and resonate for years, making everyone involved a (bigger) celebrity - this one, however, really goes overboard and presents a case that would immediately become international news and possibly torpedo cabinet-level officials, lead to nationwide protests etc. Most of it being because some clownish detective decided to play a trick. I sure do wonder how many people would be out for Jane's blood - Red John would have to hire an entire PMC to keep his archrival alive!..

However, I must say, I feel like the setup is just conductive to strong emotion - the scientist lady's death sure lends itself to some deep inquiry and you can't help but wonder what you would've done in this situation, how you would've acted. The same - possibly a stronger feeling still - goes for Jane's stunt, unmarred as it is by the scientist lady's daughter's inability to act. Lisbon is amazing in her scene, and her interactions with Cho and Jane are very evocative, as is the resolution of the situation. Really, Lisbon and Jane have particularly great performances in this one. Does it compensate for the story's stupidity? Weeeellll... I'd argue that it does, for the most part.

The writers and designers of this episode should be jailed for criminal ignorance.. and laziness. First, there is no Biohazard Level 5. Second, their treatment of the facility, engineering and administrative controls were supernaturally absurd. Jeez, do a little homework. Or hire a lab consultant.