‘The Mentalist’ season 6 spoilers: More details on ‘Homeland’ alum’s appearance

“The Mentalist” may be off the air right now for the fall, but on January 5, the show returns with some of Patrick Jane’s first adventures now as a full member of the FBI. This is a chance to really see what the “new beginning” is for the show away from some of the serialized plots, which is something that we are both very nervous and very excited about at the same time.

The first episode back is entitled “White Lines,” and you can read more about that at the link here. The focus of this article is instead on “The Golden Hammer,” the episode airing on January 12 that includes everything from map-makers to spies. It also has a fantastic guest star in Navid Negahban, who you otherwise know for playing the ruthless villain Abu Nazir on two seasons of “Homeland.” Just be sure to check out the full synopsis for this episode below:

“Jane and the FBI investigate the murder of a high-tech cartographer who may have unearthed a spy ring before his death. Meanwhile, Rigsby and Van Pelt find themselves on the trail of an alarming conspiracy, on THE MENTALIST, Sunday, Jan. 12 (10:00–11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Navid Negahban (‘Homeland’) guest stars as Hassan Zarif, a man with information about the cartographer’s death.”

This certainly sounds like a pretty fun case, but it does not really do much to assuage our concerns that the show is going to become stale and somewhat predictable once it becomes extremely procedural again. The only way for it to really avoid such a fate at this point would be for it to establish another lingering long-term story, which we hope will be the relationship between Jane and Lisbon. We’re just not far enough in the process yet to know for sure that this will happen.

What do you want to see during this episode? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below! We’ll have more scoop on “The Mentalist” soon, so be sure to stay tuned.

Photo: CBS