‘The Mentalist’ season 7, episode 5 preview: A Simon Baker confrontation

Sunday night’s new episode of “The Mentalist” is looking to bring quite a bit to the table, but what we are probably the most interested in is seeing just how sharply Simon Baker alternates between directing the episode, and then balancing out his acting duties.

In the latest sneak peek below from “The Silver Briefcase” (which comes to us via Zap2It), you get a little bit of a sense as to just what Jane is really up to here. In an effort to investigate a cold case, he uses the guise of a somewhat-friendly competition to get a read on a military officer, and figure out whether or not there is more to him than initially meets the eye.

We’re not going to say that anything in this particular preview stuns us; it is standard operating procedure for “The Mentalist,” and by a large a major part of what the show does very well. They excel in getting Jane in these sort of positions where he can use his skills on unsuspecting people, even if they know well in advance that he has some sort of gift.

“The Silver Briefcase” is the last episode of the show that will be airing on Sunday nights. After this, it will shift over to its new timeslot Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, and it will then run from there for the remainder of the season.

Of course, be sure to stay tuned for more updates after this episode airs, including both a review and a preview for what will be coming up next.