The Mentalist 7×03 – Orange Blossom Ice Cream – Recap

What happens when Jane and Lisbon have to work with a familiar face, a very charming one?

Find out reading our recap of the new episode of The Mentalist, “Orange Blossom Ice Cream”.

The case of the week brings Jane and Lisbon far away from the US, in Beirut, and back to someone they know very well, Erica Flynn.
But what is Erica doing in Beirut? Her boyfriend, Jan Nemec, sells weapons. The CIA has been trying to get him since a long time, and finally they have something on him.
Nemec was paid 1.5 million euros to forge passport chips for a group of terrorists that could attack the US. The CIA needs to find those chips and arrest Nemec.
Erica is willing to cooperate, but only if Jane is involved, in exchange for a reduced sentence of her murder charge (Erica had killed her husband. Lisbon and her team had arrested her when they were still working at the CBI in California), and the chance to go back home in the US.
Jane and Lisbon must go undercover and help Erica. Nemec is looking for a new courier for his coded messages. The courier (Jane) will have to inform the terrorists that the chips are ready. Once Jane gets the code from Nemec, the CIA will be able to track down the terrorists and arrest Nemec.
Nemec and his men get aressted, in the end, and the CIA manages to find the chips thanks to Jane’s help.
Looks like it has finally come the time for Erica to go back to the US.
But, Jane figures out Erica has a different plan in mind. She set everything up so that she knew Jane would have Nemec arrested, meanwhile she would have escaped with the 1.5 million euros Nemec received for the chips.
So Lisbon arrests Erica as well, and this time, she will have to serve out the rest of her sentence.

What’s really interesting about this episode are the confrontations between Erica, Jane and Lisbon.
Erica makes a point in letting Lisbon know that something happened between her and Jane time ago.
When Lisbon confronts Jane about it, he admits that they kissed, one time. Lisbon says that she would have appreciated if Jane had let her know about it, before Erica could have a chance to. Jane says he’s sorry, that he didn’t want that incident happened in the past to get between them.
Once again, Jane is trying to do the right thing to make his relatinship with Lisbon work. When confronted with telling her a lie or the truth, once again he goes for the truth, apologizing with her.
Every episode is a step forward into their relationship.
What really matters are the big small gestures. The ice cream at the end of the episode, the complicity and trust they share. There’s one scene in which Jane and Lisbon are in their hotel room. While Jane is on the phone, Lisbon steps outside the bathroom wearing nothing but a bathrobe. The domesticity of this scene serves to make us understand how far their relationship has gone.

Back in the US, agent Vega is clearly much more interested in the field investigation, rather than helping Wylie behind a computer’s screen. Wylie understands that, and tells her that he doesen’t need her help, if she wants to join Cho and the CIA on the field. Vega wastes no time, and tells Cho she has Abbott’s ok to join him. She risks getting shot, but Cho says she has worked well.
Later though, Cho finds out Vega didn’t ask for Abbott’s permission to join him in the investigations.
Cho is disappointed, and says to Vega that he doesn’t want to work with someone he can’t trust.
Vega is young, willing to learn, especially from Cho. Last week she had told him that he “makes sense” to her, and that she wanted to learn from him, working together.
Is there more than just admiration for Cho? And what role will Wylie play in all this? He seems to like Vega very much…

Lisbon has surely felt uneasy when confronted with a femme fatale like Erica, but Jane has made his point with her. He loves Lisbon.
There is one thing Erica says to Jane that I find it is quite interesting. She says Jane is attracted to Lisbon “for her virtue, her honesty, her goodness, things you think you lack. She’s interested in you for your danger, your unpredictability, your transgressions”. While those are just part of the reasons why Jane and Lisbon are in love with one another, I think Lisbon reprents for Jane his moral side, she’s the person who has always seen the goodness Jane has inside of him. Jane and Lisbon bring each their own experiences, their qualities, and finding a soulmate is finding someone who can fill the missing part in your life.