The Mentalist (TV Series) Red Sails in the Sunset (2012) User Reviews

The Fake Kidnapping

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 17 January 2022]

Patrick Jane meets Bret Stiles and requests to get Lorelei out of the federal prison expecting to find Red John. Then he simulates that Lorelei has abducted him and meets her on the road. Meanwhile the CBI team finds her mother and learns that Lorelei had a beloved sister, Miranda, who was sold to a Romanian couple. They were reunited but Miranda was raped and murdered, affecting Lorelei. Meanwhile Patrick analyses the information and shows Lorelei that Red John was the rapist and the killer, but she is not convinced.

"Red Sails in the Sunset" is another great episode of "The Mentalist", based on the relationship between Patrick and Lorelei. His revelation to her that Red John had raped and killed her sister affects deeply Lorelei that refuses to believe. Looking forward to seeing the sequel of this episode. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Red Sails in the Sunset"

Just. Plain. Stupid.

[skay_baltimore · 2/10 · 2 January 2021]

Not a single solitary thing about this episode makes a lick of logical sense. Nothing fits together in any meaningful way whatsoever. None of the events ring true. It's like one long drunken nightmare.

Brilliantly evocative with some logically-weaker moments

[yavermbizi · 5/10 · 24 January 2022]

My overall rating of "The mentalist"'s Season 5: 4/10.

This episode is the main dive into the character of Lorelei. She's not only a character with one of the prettiest names in existence ("Lorelei", it just rolls off the tongue, all these sonorants!), she's actually a fundamentally interesting character in terms of her relationship with Patrick Jane. Who is manipulating whom? Is either one? Can they trust each other? Do they have feelings for each other? Lorelei's leaning into these questions in "The Crimson Hat" (especially the conclusion, at the interrogation) and moreso in "The Crimson Ticket" created ample opportunities for great storytelling. Finally we can reap the fruits of this build-up for this very charismatic, darkly attractive character (and savour them while they last - Lorelei's next appearance takes her character in a weird, puzzling direction, and the storyline fizzles rather dumbly).

I just absolutely love Jane's and Lorelei's roadtrip together - it evokes something in me, to the extent of causing me to google for fanfics about it (sure enough, there are some - one called "Dark night of the soul" is an especially good, fitting one, and goes some of the way to scratching that itch). I guess it's that element of being on the run with the aforementioned questions of trust playing out that just sets the stage for some strong emotion. Both actors are quite great and immerse you into the situation, which just has that strange appeal, that daydream-fodder.

Now, approaching the episode logically one starts noticing oddities: Jane's glass-breaking ploy is hilariously weak as he leaves all the glass on the driver's seat, making it clear he wasn't in it when the window was broken; Lorelei, one of disciples of Red John, who have a habit of killing themselves in captivity, is allowed to work with some potentially-dangerous machinery (not to mention - escape); Lisbon's behaviour towards Lorelei's mother is very out-of-character and the pre-story is quite strange. And that's not to mention all the usual "The mentalist" hiccups...