‘The Mentalist’ season 6, episode 12 review: Rigsby, Van Pelt return; a Jane / Lisbon moment

“The Mentalist” had spent much of season 6 on a roll, so you had to imagine that eventually, things would start to sputter and slow down a little bit. This is what happened during “The Golden Hammer,” the episode of the show that aired on CBS Sunday night. This was the weakest installment of the post-Red John era to us by a good stretch, since it had a story that was really hard to grasp, a disjointed feel, and really forced the issue to get Rigsby and Van Pelt involved.

The good news is that now that they’re back around, we will see them for at least a little while since they have the issue of their names being tracked to deal with. But didn’t it feel like the show was really pushing them to have them be involved again? It would have been a little better were they connected to the episode’s A-story, and not something that really felt like not much of anything until the very end.

As for that A-story, most of it has already washed away somewhat, though we did appreciate some of the good Jane / Lisbon stuff in here. This may just be a sign of how starved we are for something to happen that we make a big deal of him telling her that she looks good in a hat. Still, progress is progress! We just wish it was happening sooner.

Also, we wish that the two stories tonight were separated, given more time to blossom, and then put on TV. It’s hard to really say that we got enough out of this one to be excited about what is going to be coming up. Grade: C+.

What did you think about “The Golden Hammer”? Do you think that the episode … nailed it? Let us know below.