# The Mentalist- question about relationships **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011 "2013-09-30T16:04:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/21 "2013-10-01T01:58:07Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > He really does - I adore Cho. I think he has some of the funniest lines on the show, with his absolute no-nonsense attitude and complete deadpan delivery. ‘hey - Shut up’ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/22 "2013-10-01T02:04:52Z")
Complete deadpan delivery? That’s called no-talent. Well, lack of talent. He’s still better than David Caruso. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/23 "2013-10-01T03:24:29Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Complete deadpan delivery? That’s called no-talent. Well, lack of talent. He’s still better than David Caruso. no - it takes a specific talent to pull off what he does - you may think its not, I would disagree. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/24 "2013-10-01T05:40:54Z")
> [@simster](#): > > no - it takes a specific talent to pull off what he does - you may think its not, I would disagree. Now say it with a straight face. 😉 I’ve seen the guy do commercials and it is the same routine. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/25 "2013-10-01T12:38:10Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Now say it with a straight face. 😉 > > I’ve seen the guy do commercials and it is the same routine. Maybe because he was in character? It was a long time before Leonard Nimoy smiled in public, too. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/26 "2013-10-01T12:50:49Z")
I think when this show ends, they will throw a curve ball and reveal that Jane is RJ. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/27 "2013-10-01T13:30:54Z")
I am still pretty sure that: Bret Partridge is Red John. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/28 "2013-10-01T13:33:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Cho definitely! He’s probably the main reason I keep watching this show. He needs a lot more screen time. Yes, I love Cho, too. Because he plays the stone face in the show, when he smiles it is devastating. He needs a good storyline. I don’t care for either Rigsby or Van Pelt. They both seem too naive and gullible to be good detectives. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/29 "2013-10-01T13:34:48Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I am still pretty sure that: > > Bret Partridge is Red John. I don’t think he’s smart enough, and his lunacy isn’t quite lucid enough for all the planning and plotting. He isn’t stupid, but he isn’t strategic enough. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/30 "2013-10-01T13:35:54Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I think when this show ends, they will throw a curve ball and reveal that Jane is RJ. They have specifically promised that they wouldn’t do that. It would be really annoying, trite, and boring if they did, as well as violating the whole premise of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/31 "2013-10-01T13:39:47Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > So, Red John as a woman, eh? Interesting. Problem with RJ as a woman is that RJ has had too many lovers and close friends who would know, and are very definite in speaking of RJ as “he”. A few would be able to pull off hiding the gender in their speech, but most of them could not, and would say “he” with an ironic tone of voice, or twitch facial muscles, or express some other tell. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/32 "2013-10-01T13:45:47Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > I don’t think he’s smart enough, and his lunacy isn’t quite lucid enough for all the planning and plotting. He isn’t stupid, but he isn’t brilliant, and he isn’t strategic enough. Though, since RJ can roam the halls of CBI without attracting undue notice, he fits. However, since forensics people work as part of a team, he wouldn’t have enough private time to do all the plotting that RJ does, and he doesn’t have the personality to seduce so many people into becoming his followers and devotees. Also, RJ must have the phones of the unit monitored, which means a fair bit of technical expertise, and time to monitor the phones. Don’t think he has it. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/33 "2013-10-01T14:30:18Z")
There are too many clues pointing to RJ being a man for them to do the switcheroo - esp. that blind lady’s description of him. I still love the show, but I mostly view the actual Red John arc as a sideshow. And Cho is the best. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/34 "2013-10-01T14:39:51Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I am still pretty sure that: > > Bret Partridge is Red John. OMG! You mean from The Partridge Family? That means that Shirley Jones is Red John’s mother. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/35 "2013-10-01T15:41:35Z")
Nope, Partridge is dead, and Red John is still alive. I say Bob Kirkland is Red John. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/36 "2013-10-01T16:52:04Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > They have specifically promised that they wouldn’t do that. It would be really annoying, trite, and boring if they did, as well as violating the whole premise of the show. I wish they’d violate the whole premise of the show, and stop having Red John be a part of it at all. The episodes I enjoy are the ones where Patrick helps solve crimes in his weird ways. I don’t have the patience to sit through the Red John-centric episodes. :o ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/37 "2013-10-01T17:22:54Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > They have specifically promised that they wouldn’t do that. It would be really annoying, trite, and boring if they did, as well as violating the whole premise of the show. I must have missed that. But I still think it would be a helluva twist. It wouldn’t violate the premise at all; RH is outwitting the cops at every turn. Why - because he’s right there in the middle of them and misdirecting them. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/38 "2013-10-01T18:30:49Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I wish they’d violate the whole premise of the show, and stop having Red John be a part of it at all. The episodes I enjoy are the ones where Patrick helps solve crimes in his weird ways. I don’t have the patience to sit through the Red John-centric episodes. :o I wouldn’t mind that, either. The Red John thing has gotten subsumed under a bunch of characters that I really enjoy spending time with. And I don’t think Cho’s stone face comes from lack of acting talent - I don’t think he would make me laugh out loud like he does if he had no talent for delivering those lines the way he does. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/39 "2013-10-01T18:50:15Z")
Also a Cho fan here. Deadpan humor is very hard to do, but great when it works. As far as Red John plots go, I also prefer stories without them. BUT the networks all know that “America love serial killer stories”, hence the frequent appearance of same on NCIS, Bones, Rizzoli & Isles, etc., etc. Jack the Ripper stories still bring in the audience, so I’m afraid we’re stuck with Red John. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011/40 "2013-10-01T19:39:23Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I wish they’d violate the whole premise of the show, and stop having Red John be a part of it at all. The episodes I enjoy are the ones where Patrick helps solve crimes in his weird ways. I don’t have the patience to sit through the Red John-centric episodes. :o Agreed…I also prefer the shows where Jane does his thing. They should have wrapped up the Red John storyline at the end of season three. However, I admit some of the Red John eps are chilling. I hope they keep the show alive once the Red John story line is over, and that they do NOT try to force a romance between Lisbon and Jane. They are great in the brother-sister kind of love, but would be a horrible mismatch in a romantic tangle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mentalist-question-about-relationships/670011.md?page=3)