|SPOILER| Exclusive Mentalist Postmortem: Robin Tunney Breaks Down the Big Red John Reveal

And then there were seven.

As promised, The Mentalist's Season 5 finale found Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) narrowing down the list of people who could possibly be his serial killer nemesis Red John to just seven names. But in a final twist and display of power, Red John "changed the game" by predicting — in the form of a video message from the now-dead Lorelei Martins (Emmanuelle Chriqui) no less! — which seven names Jane was going to end with. He also shared this parting threat: "I'm going to start killing again, often. Until you catch me, or I catch you."

Creator Bruno Heller insists that one of these suspects is indeed Red John. "The cards are up on the table and they're the real cards," Heller says. "There is no sort of double twist. There's no more messing around. ... Only the truth gets revealed from now on in." So, without further ado, the suspects are:

1. Bret Stiles (Malcolm McDowell), the leader of the cult-like religion Visualize.

2. Gale Bertram (Michael Gaston), the director of the CBI.

3. Bob Kirkland (Kevin Corrigan), a shady homeland security agent who recently raided Jane's personal files on the Red John case.

4. Raymond Haffner (Reed Diamond), a CBI agent (and Visualize member) who was briefly Jane's boss at the beginning of Season 4.

5. Reede Smith (Drew Powell), an FBI agent who worked on the Red John case after Lorelei's arrest.

6. Thomas McAllister (Xander Berkeley), a Napa Valley sheriff who helped Jane solve a murder on the series' second episode.

7. Brett Partridge (Jack Plotnick), a forensic analyst for the CBI who clashes with Jane and shows great interest in Red John's killings.

So, what's next for Jane and the CBI? TVGuide.com chatted with series star Robin Tunney to get her reaction to the big reveal and to find out how Lisbon and Jane will investigate the list of suspects. Plus: Are things heating up between the two partners in their personal lives?

When you learned where the finale was going, were you surprised that Jane and Lisbon would be this close to catching Red John?

Robin Tunney: I was really surprised. I was also really shocked at some of the names on the list! They weren't revealed to me until we shot the scene. I assumed Bret Stiles and Michael Gaston's character would be on the list. But Xander Berkeley, who was in our second episode and Jack Plotnick — I was pretty shocked. It'll make for a really exciting sixth season.

Why was now the time to narrow the field?

Tunney: I think the fans were waiting for something like this. They wanted more concrete boundaries. Red John sort of became larger than a person in the last few seasons. He became this looming, all-powerful myth. So, I think the idea that we're [saying] they're human beings that are specific will satiate the audience.

Then again, the episode suggests that Red John may have psychic or otherwise superhuman abilities.

Tunney: Well, to be totally honest, I feel like Patrick Jane is so astute and so bright that for [Red John] to sort of escape his grasp for so long, he would need to have some sort of omniscient qualities

So what's Lisbon's next step?

Tunney: Well, I gave him my word I wouldn't tell anybody. We can't have the full weight of the CBI behind us because our boss is one of the suspects. I think it'll be interesting to see how the information is shared with the team — and if it is. To be honest, I don't know if that's going to happen.

With Lisbon chasing her own nemesis earlier in the season, do you think she has better understanding of Jane's drive to catch Red John?

Tunney: Yeah. But for me, the more important aspect of that story line is that Jane showed up for her. I feel like [Lisbon] has been bending over backwards for him, and there's a very low percentage of return. The way he stuck his neck out to find Volker and the lengths he went to and the way he sort of stuck up for her, it was kind of selfless on his part. It was really important for the relationship.

I suppose it's a good thing their partnership remains strong if Jane and Lisbon are going after Red John alone. Do you think that will continue?

Tunney: I think she's completely committed. But I still think [the idea] of her wanting to try Red John in a court of law and taking him alive [instead of] Jane's idea of revenge... is an important one. My character sort of represents somebody who believes in the law and believes in the system and the way it works. So, I think it's an intrinsic conflict that's sort of important to the structure of the show.

Do you think the hunt for Red John might ever change her views?

Tunney: I think it's how she's hard-wired. I think something really devastating that was really personal would have to happen to change those beliefs.

You've said you view Jane and Lisbon's personal relationship as a brother-sister pairing. But psychic Sean Barlow (Michael Hogan) accused Lisbon of being in love with Jane in the finale. Thoughts?

Tunney: It's funny, as an actor you have to sort of play things in a specific manner. I feel like she's certainly in love with him. But the idea of whether it's romantic love, I'm not even sure if she's sure. It'll be interesting to see how that unfolds next season. I think, like the Red John thing, how long can you keep that going?

It does seem that the show is moving toward ending the Red John story. How long do you see the show running?

Robin Tunney: I'm on board for however long we can make a show that the fans still like. I think the show could go on after they find Red John. It could go on based on Jane solving crimes. His reason for staying [at the CBI] is different and doesn't have the same emotional pull, but I do think people like to watch him just solve things. I don't know that people just watch the show for the Red John story line.

Given that Jane was so hesitant to give Lisbon the list of names because of her bad poker face, do you think she will have trouble keeping it secret?

Tunney: I think she's going to need to. I really hope I don't screw that up. I think there's some comedy to be played in that. She's pretty certain she's a great liar, so it might go back and forth for a while. I think everybody thinks they're a good liar.

Do you know which of the seven men is Red John at this point?

Tunney: No. Maybe it's because they think I'm a bad liar. They don't trust me with that information. [Laughs]

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Source: TV Guide.

|SPOILER| Amanda Righetti short interview

The Mentalist star Amanda Righetti has confessed she sometimes feels desensitised to the disturbing issues of death and grief the show deals with.

Simon Baker stars in the hit US crime drama as mentalist Patrick Jane, who uses his unique insight into the human psyche to help solve crimes, and Amanda plays Special Agent Grace Van Pelt, the newest member of the investigation team.

Amanda said: "It's funny because sometimes we get desensitised to it because we are doing it week in week out, but people who are dealing with these kind of issues, it's really sad, and any kind of support system you can offer I think is great."

The actress also revealed a massive spoiler for the new season of the show - that they will finally catch serial killer Red John, who murdered Jane's wife and daughter. Amanda said: "Season 6 apparently they're going to catch Red John. Seriously, that's what I heard. I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you. I don't know who he is. But apparently we catch him!"

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Source: Yahoo! TV UK.
Special thanks to @Aleee_O for the heads up.

|INTERVIEW| Simon Baker on Ellen

There's a small scene from the upcoming episode.



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Special thanks to: @klcarr892
Source: thecrackedactor

|VIDEO INTERVIEW| Simon Baker on Larry King Now

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Source: Simonfan48, hulu.com

|INTERVIEW| 'The Mentalist' Owain Yeoman Q&A

The fifth season of hit crime drama The Mentalist reaches UK screens this week, courtesy of Channel 5 - 'The Red Glass Bead' picks up right where season four left off, with the CBI and FBI at odds after serial killer Red John was able to evade justice once more.

Digital Spy caught up with Owain Yeoman - who plays the faithful Rigsby - to chat about his character's role in the new season, how dark Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) can afford to get and whether our heroes will ever catch up with the elusive Red John...

When The Mentalist first began, Rigsby was a little immature. Do you feel like he's grown as a character?

"Yeah, it's funny; I was talking about this the other day actually. We've obviously all grown with the show - we looked back at the pilot the other day and it's always funny when you look back on something and you think, 'Oh I looked good then, I was really proud of that'. I looked back and I was like, 'Oh my God, I was a child!' so yeah I like to think [that Rigsby has become more mature].

"There's been a lot of things that have happened this season, like all the returning characters coming back. I just finished filming a wonderful episode with William Forsythe, who plays Rigsby's father, and that was a real kind of reckoning moment for me and for the character.

"The nature of an ensemble means when you're a supporting character and not the lead character, you get little tidbits here and there, but you're usually there to provide bits of comic relief and little bits of action or something. So when you get the spotlight fully thrown on you in an episode like [season five, episode four] 'Blood Feud', then it really gives you a chance to draw a much bigger picture of who this guy is.

"He's transitioned into more serious problems - he's got his job on the line, he's lost the woman that he truly loves and he probably still hasn't given up on her, he's had an unwanted pregnancy with a woman where the relationship hasn't worked out, so there's an awful lot of real-life adult problems that I think would force anyone to grow up really quickly."

What was it like working with William Forsythe again?

"He's quite an intimidating force in the best possible way. He brings such a level of preparation. He's currently working on another show called The Mob Doctor where he is the head of the mob, so if that's not intimidating enough... you know, 'My Dad is being played by the head of the mob!'

"But he's just so full of ideas. We had him for 24 hours to shoot probably 15 scenes and every single one of them was a huge emotional scene. You'll see from the episode, it's a real kind of growing up moment for Rigsby where I think he reflects upon the father that he had and the father he wanted to be.

"I love that, I love coming to the challenge. I guess William threw down the gauntlet and it really is a question of... you either bring your best game or you'll just get lost. He's so on all the time and we actually spent almost the entirety of the episode just doing our stuff together, which was lovely.

"He's a fantastic actor and I'm really excited for the episode to come out and also I'm excited for Rigsby, I think people will finally get the chance to see that there's more to him than just a quip here and a joke there, with a doughnut or a bagel in his mouth!"

Can you give us any hints on where the Red John storyline will head this season?

"I think the big question has been, 'When will we see Red John?' and the challenge that Bruno Heller has as the show creator is that it's the raison d'être for the show - if you take away Jane's hunt for Red John, the serial killer who killed his wife and child, you take away his whole reason for being and his whole reason for being in the CBI, so it's a fine balancing act of how much you can tease it out without boring an audience.

"Bruno's been very tactical this year and promised we will get within inches of Red John. You know, I'd love to pretend I'm being all kinds of sneaky, but I'll just be dead honest with you and say I really don't know who Red John is! It makes me laugh when you hear actors go, 'I'm gonna have to be top secret about the truth' - I really don't know! I think only Bruno really knows - he decides on where to go with that.

"But we've got Emmanuelle Chriqui coming back playing Lorelei this season, which I think was a wonderful injection of life last season. It's really interesting to see the dynamic between her and Jane, and we've got William Forsythe coming back and Summer (Samaire Armstrong), Cho's prostitute girlfriend, is making a return. We've also got Virgil Minnelli (Gregory Itzin) coming back...

"It's a season full of old faces and we actually will get to see Jane's daughter, but I can't say in what context. It's a season that really explains where Jane came from and his journey to the CBI and we've been promised from Bruno that we will get literally inches away from Red John this season. This is the big season if you are a Red John fan."

Some fans noticed that Jane started going down a darker path last season. Do you think the show can ever get too dark?

"I think it's sort of a challenge. I always thought that the show found its groove in the first two seasons by being a mixture. You know, we all love our cop shows like the CSIs and Criminal Minds - all those shows that have thrived for years because it's a classic whodunnit, and everybody loves to solve a whodunnit.

"I always thought we kind of managed to stick out from the pack by having that element of human interest. We're not just faceless cops - we're all having relationships we've all got problems, Jane's got his demons, Lisbon's got the issue with authority, Van Pelt's got the trouble with her romantic stuff, and you know Tim's character Cho battled addiction last season, so these are real people and the human interest element is what keeps people going.

"We've found that people seem to be responding more to grittiness at the moment. I don't know if that's down to the economy being in a bad place or people just being in a darker place, but they just seemed to have really responded to that and I think it makes the Jane character so much more interesting - under all this lightness, you suddenly see a very dark and possibly slightly mentally unstable place that he comes from.

"I think that layers it and I think you'll see this season with every single character, we peel the onion away and see that none of us are stable characters and none of us have come to law enforcement through a very traditional path. Hopefully that'll make it interesting. You know, I'm not saying there's not an element of humour there, but I think Simon wanted to deliberately take Jane down that path to see how much they could push that envelope."

How long do you see The Mentalist going on?

"I never like to guess. To be honest with you, when we filmed the pilot, I think every part of you as an actor just wants to say, 'Well great, see you next pilot season!' because you daren't wish that anyone will respond to it. This was my sixth series and none of the others had gone, so you just never take it personally. You roll on and you hope that the next one will find an audience.

"I know we're aiming for seven [seasons] and that Simon is the producer for this year, so he gets to have a real direct say in the creative [side of things] and I think he's directing a couple [of episodes]. The workload is so squarely on his shoulders with the amount of heavy lifting that the Patrick Jane character does, I think how long the shows continues will rest on; a) If an audience is still reacting to us and b) How much time Simon feels that he can keep the Patrick Jane character interesting, because he works tirelessly to keep that creative and fresh.

"I'm a cautious optimist and I would love to see it go the full seven seasons. We are in a world of uncertainties, but we could give the show a nice proper conclusion if we said, 'This is our final season', and we could get the chance to tie everything up. Having said that, would I mind if it ended up lasting for twenty seasons? Not at all."

You're a Welsh actor and you've had this big US success. Why do you think there is this trend of non-US actors - Damian Lewis, Andrew Lincoln, yourself - making it big out there?

"I always joke that we're cheaper! But seriously there seems to be a real response to British theatrical training and there's a real respect for that. I had the good fortune to go to Oxford and go to RADA, so training is really respected over here.

"Also, I remember speaking to a casting director and he said to me, 'It's really funny, America's filled with these very good-looking boyish leading men but we can't get many men's men, so we looked to Australia and the UK because you guys... have that rugged element.' If you look at your Russell Crowes and your Eric Banas - those kind of real leading men - they're all coming from overseas.

"I came over to the US in 2004 and it was quite trendy to be British, but now it's quite trendy to be American. It's like, 'Can we get an American to play that American? I'm getting sick of all these Welsh people playing them' [laughs]... but as long as this show continues, I'll be very happy!"

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Source: Digital Spy.

P.S.: I had to post this picture, I just HAD to. Don't ask me why... 
Don't forget to follow the suavest man in the world on twitter, @OYeoman.

|INTERVIEW| 'The Mentalist's' Robin Tunney Talks Series' Future, and Hers

"The Mentalist's" 100th episode has aired and the team that makes the popular Simon Baker drama has made it clear that this season, they're going to get closer to solving the central mystery of Red John -- the serial killer that took the lives of Baker's character's wife and child. Does all that indicate that Baker and series creator Bruno Heller are envisioning an ending for the series?

Not according to leading lady Robin Tunney.

"I think it's a creative conversation," she says, speaking of the show in general and the Red John storyline in particular. "I feel like they'll go along as long as the audience wants to, as long as they keep it interesting and not too frustrating. Historically, with television, people will get on the bandwagon with something and then it's very clear when they've given up," she continues. "Everybody wanted to know who killed Laura Palmer in 'Twin Peaks' -- but it went to a certain point and then everyone turned on (creator) David Lynch. I think there's a certain point where you resolve something when the audience needs it."

According to Tunney, Heller and the other writer-producers "read everything that's written about the show, I think. Bruno actually reads letters that people send in. I think they are genuinely curious. Both Bruno and Simon are really into what the fans think and sort of servicing them."

The fans' devotion has helped "The Mentalist" remain a strong show despite the fact, "the move to Sunday nights has been rough, because we get pre-empted by football," Tunney acknowledges. "People can't watch when the show starts at 11 o'clock -- and they can't even properly TiVo it, because they don't know when it's going to start."

The Chicago-born actress, who rose to fame as the suicidal teen who shaved her head in "Empire Records," and as a girl with occult powers in "The Craft" -- and counts the series "Prison Break" among her credits -- says she is happy to continue playing Agent Teresa Lisbon of the fictional California Bureau of Investigation.

In fact, she says, "I love playing this character, and I think as far as female roles on TV, it's one of the great ones. I feel like she's incredibly three-dimensional. She's strong, she's powerful. I think she's effective, but at the same time I think she's human. I don't get bored. I think that's largely due to Simon because I do most of my scenes with him and I enjoy acting with him.

"At the same time, this has created a perfect atmosphere for me. It's not soapy, where I have to jump into bed with men or wear negligees, or cry, or play something ridiculous, like I'm the twin," she adds with good-natured distaste. "Or comedy like you watch sometimes and think, 'Oh my God, this is not working'. I'll watch a show that's meant to be humorous and think there's something wrong with me because the laugh track is laughing, but I don't think it's funny."

Tunney, who is divorced, has a family of sorts among her "Mentalist" cast and crew, particularly Baker. They are close enough, as she disclosed in a CBS video, that their relationship even survived her throwing up on him one day when she was working despite a stomach virus.

"He has three children so he's had his kids throw up on him," she cheerily observes, when the incident is mentioned. "I think if you're going to throw up on somebody, you should try to throw up on somebody who has children. It doesn't freak them out quite as much."

As far as the show's marking of 100 episodes and what it means to her, Tunney says, "I was just reading about the 300th episode of 'SVU.' That just dwarfs this achievement. Television actors are sort of like athletes. You don't admire it as much until you do it yourself. You spend your life going, 'Oh my God, Meryl Streep is so amazing.' And she is amazing. But Mariska Hargitay is like Muhammad Ali."

She feels that Simon is a champ as well. "He has an abnormally strong work ethic. The fact that our show has stood up so well is really a testament to him and Bruno. They both work astonishingly hard and, you know, it all comes from the top."

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Source: ArcaMax.
Special thanks to my dear @RobinTunneyBlog.

|VIDEO| The Mentalist Milestone: 100th Episode

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Source: KOVR.
Special thanks to @RobinTunneyBlog for the heads up.

|SPOILER| ‘The Mentalist’ Goes Back to the Beginning to Mark 100

Talking to Robin Tunney about tonight’s (10/28) 100th episode of “The Mentalist” was a kick. What she had to say about the show was interesting. Even more fun was what she had to say about leading man Simon Baker.

“Simon loves women, and he’s like the least scary guy that loves women,” she told AARP.org. “He loves women because he loves his wife, and he’s been with her for 20 years, and he’s very comfortable around women and he’s good to women. He treats them as equals, and that’s a testament to the fact he loves his wife and he loves his daughter. But I can always tell when he’s going to think a girl is pretty. I know his type,” she said.

Yes, yes – go on. “So, the first year, what I used to do, if I saw a girl I knew he’d think was pretty, I’d go up to her and I’d say, ‘Will you go up to Simon and ask him for an autograph – and then tell him it’s for your mother?’ He would fall for it every time!” She laughed. “And then he finally caught on and I couldn’t do it any longer.”

If it sounds like something a teasing sister might do to her brother, well, Tunney does say that she feels Baker is like family to her by now. Acting as if they’d never met after all this time was one of the enjoyable parts of making tonight’s episode, she said. Set seven years ago, it is a compelling episode for fans and casual viewers alike, as it takes us back to the first time Simon Baker’s fake psychic, Patrick Jane — disheveled and fresh from his stint in a mental hospital — wandered into the California Bureau of Investigations offices in hopes of finding information about the murderer of his wife and child. To the team to which he’ll eventually become a valued consultant, he is just an odd guy who won’t leave.

“Now, when Jane does something inappropriate, I can’t really react that much. It’s too familiar. In this episode, I got to be much more reactive to his behavior and it was fun,” Tunney said.

According to her, this season – the series’ fifth – will finally narrow the field as to the identity of that serial killer, Red John. “It sort of becomes, we know it’s one of these people.”

Will Jane and her Teresa Lisbon character ever get together? Tunney doesn’t know, but sounded cool to the idea. “It would be like, where do you go from there? It’s very hard to build on. It’s not like a domestic drama. In a procedural it would be a really odd thing to play.”

By the way, what is Simon’s “type”?

“They’re generally women who share a physical resemblance to his wife, which I think is really sweet,” she said.

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Source: AARP.
Special thanks to my dearest @RobinTunneyBlog for the heads up.

|VIDEO| ‘The Mentalist’ Celebrates 100th Episode

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Source: Extra TV.
Special thanks to @Aleee_O for the heads up.

|VIDEO| The Mentalist Celebrates 100 Episodes

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Source: thetvaddict.

|VIDEOS & PHOTOS| 100th Episode Party

Watch these great interviews with Simon Baker, the love of my life Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, the very pregnant Amanda Righetti, Owain Yeoman, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Tom Szentgyorgyi, all of them celebrating the 100th episode of our favorite show. Oh, there're more pictures, too (aren't they gorgeous?).

Don't forget to watch tonight's episode Blood Feud, written by Jordan Harper, and of course, wait for Red Dawn's promo!

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Source: The TV Watchtower.
Special thanks to @Aleee_O for the heads up.

|VIDEO| Behind the scenes interview with Robin and Simon (2008)

Here's some old interviews with Robin Tunney and Simon Baker. You'll recognize the scenario from the classic episode "Red-Handed". Enjoy:





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Source: Access Hollywood.
Special thanks to Robin's Green Shades for the heads up. Don't forget to follow her @RobinTunneyBlog.

|SPOILER| TV Guide: Blast to the Past

The Mentalist’s 100th episode goes back in time to crack the case of how Patrick Jane first teamed up with the CBI. “Jane is like a shadow of a person”, says Baker. “He’s not the three-piece-suited smartass you see later down the line.”

Think about it. We’re now five seasons into The Mentalist and we still don’t know all that much about Simon Baker’s title character—the sad, tormented, ultra-private Patrick Jane. What happened to him right after the murder of his wife and daughter by the mad slasher Red John? Is it true that he was in a mental hospital under suicide watch? And, if so, how did he ever get his act together to join the major crimes unit at the CBI? To celebrate the 100th episode of the CBS series, creator exec-producer Bruno Heller is flashing back—eight years to be exact—to cough up a few answers. Prepare for a very different Patrick Jane.

“We started out the series in the past, showing how Jane’s scheming and manipulation as fake psychic led directly to the loss of his family, then we jumped ahead to find him on the job with the CBI—now we’ll reveal what happened in the year in between,” says Heller. “This Jane is fresh out of the insane asylum. He’s shucked off his straitjacket and comes directly to the CBI offices to find out what the hell is going on in the search for Red John.”

Baker and costar Robin Tunney, who plays CBI senior special agent Teresa Lisbon, are shooting that very scene on the Warner Bros. Studios lot in Burbank. Jane, dark circles under his eyes and rumpled, crumpled mess, has shown up unannounced at CBI and asks Lisbon for details on the investigation. She’s understandably evasive and more than a little concerned about Jane’s mental state. She gently tells him to beat it but, before long, her maternal instincts kick in.

“Jane is very much the rescue dog—homeless, shattered, looking for a place to be and perfectly willing to tag along,” says Baker during a break in filming. “For the first time, the audience will see him not in control of what he’s doing. The last thing he wants to do is go back to being a con man because that’s what got him in all this trouble to begin with.”

Truth to be told, Baker was leery of this time-travel stuff. “When I first saw the story outline, I was concerned it could be hokey and that we might fuck it up,” the actor says. “This is tricky business. We need to forget about the relationships we established over all these years and reset the series completely. We have to show how Jane got in the door at CBI in a believable way—not easy since he annoys everyone so much.”

This back-in-time device also threw Tunney. “It’s a very clever notion, but also kind of scary,” she says. “How as actors do you try to come off eight years younger? Simon and I were like ‘uh, could someone hit the Benjamin button?’ Inevitably, you just throw your hands up and hope the audience is with you and believing you.” Tunney did ask permission to wear lots of padding. “I wanted Lisbon to be really heavy—like a ‘Shadow Hall’ thing—and just not comment on it. It would have been hilarious, but they wouldn’t go for it.”

There were serious talk of giving the extra poundage to Owain Yeoman’s character, agent Rigsby, however. “I weighed quite a bit more when we started the series,” says Yeoman, who has since taken up a vegetarian life style. “They wanted to go back to that, but in addition to a fat suit, they wanted a beard and glasses. I said, ‘What is this—Rigsby meets Santa?’ “ Nixing that idea but still needing something to suggest a time jump, Yeoman tried an artificial goatee “but wound up looking like Ming the Merciless.” He settled for growing his own.

The CBI offices underwent a retro-makeover with touches both major (the place looks pretty dumpy) and minor (Arnold Schwarzenegger’s photo is back on the wall, since he was governor). The retro CBI set was “a shock,” says Yeoman. “Rigsby’s desk was missing!” Gregory Itzin makes a return appearance as CBI boss Virgil Minelli, who retired in Season 2. And while there’re hints of the fan-fave bromance that will develop between Risgby and Agent Cho (Tim Kang), don’t go looking for agent Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti). She hadn’t joined yet the CBI team. In fact, Jane gets punched in the nose by her hot-headed predecessor, agent Hannigan (Gary Basaraba), which creates the job opening Van Pelt will eventually fills.

It’s the same punch—and the possibility of a lawsuit—that helps secure Jane’s position as a criminal profiler at CBI. “He realizes this is a place where he can stays on top of the Red John case and it brings back his confidence,” says Baker. “By the end of the episode, you start to see the Jane we all know. The guy is back on his horse!”

“Fans will love the nostalgia,” says Tunney of the episode. “So much is different, but one thing doesn’t change. Simon is still ridiculously handsome, damn it.”

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Source: TV Guide and OCD Ephemera.

Big thanks to @Aleee_O for heads up.

|VIDEO| 100th episode party!

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Special thanks to @RobinTunneyBlog for the heads up.
Source: TvEquals

|INTERVIEW| Robin Tunney talks changes ahead for 'The Mentalist'

"The Mentalist" will be kicking off its fifth season with new episodes Sunday, Sept. 30 at 10:00 p.m., but that's not all that's new. It's a new night for the series, which will be up against stiff competition from NBC's Sunday night football and ABC's "666 Park Avenue." Star Robin Tunney isn't scared of no programming changes… oh, wait, maybe she is. I spoke to the actress at the TCA press tour and she discussed how she really feels about the new night, what she sees happening this season, and her feelings about Jane and Lisbon opening "the locked box."

So, a new night for "The Mentalist"?

The interesting thing is we're moving to Sunday night, which is scary. We're on after "The Good Wife," so we have to be even better because that show is so good. The actors are all so good on it.

Still, you guys are well-established. It can't be too scary, can it?

I think any sort of change, you're always like, oh, what's gonna happen? It's scary, but it's exciting at the same time. I think the next season is going to be a great one. We're getting more focused on Red John. It's ramping up, and I think we're gonna have more arc episodes that aren't stand-alones. There's always a crime.

It seems like this season is set up to go very dark.

Yes, it does, and Simon's character gets very dark. I think it's a testament to the network and the studio that they let that happen, because he's such an intrinsically lovable guy and such a commercial persona. I think it's going to keep going.

If Patrick Jane is getting dark, what does that mean for your Senior Special Agent Teresa Lisbon?

My character's been getting angrier at all the stuff that's going on, second-guessing him. It's always fun to have change, not that doing the same thing for five years isn't fun. But I don't think Bruno Heller is afraid to mix things up and I think so often people just do what's safe. And Simon Baker is so intrinsically charming and winning, you can have him smiling and being adorable, but at the same time having these revenge plots makes it surprising and different.

Before this, you were better known for roles in features like "The Craft" and "End of Days." What's it like for you to be in a long-running series from the jump?

I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I've never been on a show for five years. I had no idea how this worked. I feel really grateful and blessed, and Simon [Baker, who plays mentalist Patrick Jane] is a very good friend, somebody who I value the opinion of and I enjoy the company of, which is really fantastic. But I had no idea how this process worked, and I was sort of shy about making suggestions, and then you get more comfortable. I think as an actor, I thought better.

Is there anything you're hoping for for Lisbon this season?

I think finding out more about who she is and who she came from, I think that would be interesting, what her past was and how she became who she is.

Is there ever a chance Lisbon and Jane will hook up?

The locked box! The locked golden box! I don't know if it's at the end of the show, I don't know. Because people's interpretations of it are so much about who they are. Some people are like I don't see it at all, and some people are like, I'm dying for it to happen, I think it's romantic! Everybody's different in what they see, like they've got no chemistry or they've got so much chemistry! It's not romantic, it is! I don't know what Bruno is going to do, but they've got to wind up the show somehow. Maybe with a handshake. I know him so well at this point it would be really weird.

Are love scenes really easier with complete strangers?

They are. It's easier when you don't know the person so well.

So where do you stand on Jane and Lisbon opening the locked box?

I sort of want what Bruno [Heller, show creator] wants, and I sort of feel the integrity of the show; it's sort of nice to have a platonic relationship that's very close. And it doesn't have to be romantic to be intimate, almost. You can be very close with someone of the opposite sex and not have that be the driving force.

I've heard some fans are simply thrilled your show has one of the few strictly platonic male-female relationships in TV.

Yes! You need us!

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Source: HitFix. 

Special thanks to my dear @RobinTunneyBlog.

|INTERVIEW| Radio Interview with Bruno Heller

Series creator Bruno Heller talks about his career, the concept of the show, Red John, Jane and Lisbon's complex relationship and a lot more. Click here to visit the site and TV Time Machine website and listen to the whole interview, it's great stuff.

P.S.: If anyone can transcript the interview, at least the main parts, so I can post here, please, send me an e-mail to redblog.thementalist@gmail.com and I'll love you 'till the end of my life, dear random citizen. 

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Source: TV Time Machine.

|INTERVIEW| Robin, Amanda and Owain talk about the upcoming season

Look out for Lisbon, she's angry-angry... with a gun!


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Source and many thanks to: maryngreenshades.

|SPOILER| 'Mentalist' creator promises killer 5th season with major Red John reveal

With CBS’ The Mentalist approaching its 100th episode and moving to a new night, creator Bruno Heller is intensifying Patrick Jane’s hunt for Red John. 

“This is going to be a big season in terms of the Red John story,” promises Bruno Heller about the show’s elusive serial killer. “We make a quantum leap forward. Jane (Simon Baker) and the audience will learn something incredibly important about Red John that makes his hunt inches away instead of miles.” 

One focal point of the season will be Red John’s accomplice (Emmanuelle Chriqui), who was captured in last May’s finale. The CBI, Jane and the FBI will battle for custody of the key witness who can reveal the killer’s identity — as well as how to best extract that information from her. “As the season unrolls, there’s a struggle to convince her to talk,” Heller says. “The custody battle sets the scene for a longer and more intense rivalry because Jane believes there’s somebody he can’t trust within the FBI, and the FBI feels the same way about Jane and the CBI.” 

The agents are led by guest star Polly Walker, who also worked on Heller’s Rome. “She’s a wonderful actress I’ve been wanting to have on the show for awhile,” he says. 

Though Heller won’t say if Red John’s identity is finally revealed, he did hint last May that the person is likely already a cast member on the show. “You see the white whale,” Heller says. “They haven’t actually caught it, but they got it in their sights. It’s going to be a killer season. Things are going to start moving forward very swiftly.” 

And what about those rumors that Red John’s voice sounds like it could be played by none other than Simon Baker himself? “I can neither confirm nor deny who plays Red John in the voice parts,” Heller says, sounding amused. “It does sound a bit like Baker, doesn’t it?” 

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Source: EW.

|INTERVIEW| Simon Baker on season 4 (French TV)

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Source: gotopbibi, Telestar

|AUDIO INTERVIEW| Owain Yeoman on Blog Talk Radio

Link to the interview :)


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Source: Robin's Green Shades tumblr