”The Mentalist’ season 6 spoilers: New cast member promoted to series regular
“The Mentalist,” as you may have heard already, is experiencing quite a few changes behind the scenes this year in the wake of the Red John mystery coming to a close. Not only are we going to be seeing the end of the Rigsby and Van Pelt characters now that they are finally married, but one of the new characters being brought on at midseason has now been promoted to a series regular.
So who is this specifically? We’re talking about Rockmond Dunbar! According to TVLine, the actor, best known for his role in “Sons of Anarchy” as Roosevelt, is going to be a series regular immediately after his debut on November 10. The character is named Dennis Abbott, and he is a FBI Supervisory Agent who does not particularly take well to Patrick Jane’s various antics. This will definitely bring a very different sort of energy to the show than what has been there previously, where you have so many people at this point eating metaphorically out of Patrick Jane’s hand.
Originally when Dunbar was cast, it was only announced to be a recurring gig. What’s the reasoning behind that? The show likely wants to make sure that he or anyone else that they bring on is right before promoting them to series regular, and it is something that we saw previously with Amber Tamblyn on “Two and a Half Men” this season. Another show that is doing something similar right now is Emily Wichersham on “NCIS,” who is going to be playing the part of Bishop, the spiritual successor to Cote de Pablo’s Ziva. (We would not be too surprised at all to see a promotion coming there soon.)
The Red John case will be solved on “The Mentalist” this fall, at around the same time that Dunbar first appears.
What do you think about this news? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below! Meanwhile, also be sure to head on over to the link here if you are curious in seeing some more news all about why there is a mystery still out there for the Rigsby and Van Pelt characters.
Photo: CBS
Howard Houston
October 20, 2013 @ 2:39 am
I hope we don’t go into those old shows where the lead is always thwarted by someone behaving irrationally. It would be more interesting to see Jane having to mentor someone who is somewhat like him. He has shown a maturity now that makes for a more complicated man. One of the things I liked about Partridge’s character was the way he played against Jane. Mystery is the key to this show. Even though there maybe three or four different story lines going on the humor connects them. Jane now needs someone who can meet his complexity not an antagonist who is just in opposition for the sake of opposition. Hate those silly stories on other shows where that device is so over used. When Jane had to stop the debriefing of the little girl to protect her that storyline was fresh. Jane going to extremes to fool Red John by burying the suspect to secure a confession was intriguing and at the same time philosophically complex. What should one do with terrorists like that after all, do unto others as they do unto you. But the FBI agent acting in opposition without checking out her theories was not the best storyline.
She was just annoying and in opposition for no real reason even Jane’s reading of her was not enough to justify her later actions. It is the complexity of the mysteries that keep me interested and the intensity of the acting. Just how far will people go to protect their own interests and what rationalizations will they use to do so. Would love to see more trickery and fool the mind so that you have a puzzle on top of the mystery.