Crimson Casanova - Loneliness, Lies and Lessons
Season 1 episode 14: A wealthy businessman’s wife is found shot to death in a popular upscale spa. The team suspect a mystery lover, a Casanova is connected to the murder.
Tucked away in Steinbeck, California is the picturesque Calistoga Canyon Resort and Spa. With its impressive Mediterranean architecture it is certainly luxurious, containing private villas that open to beautifully landscaped courtyards. Its whole purpose is to provide an oasis for relaxation for its well to do patrons.
Jane, Lisbon, Rigsby and Van Pelt walk through the resort grounds on their way to the crime scene located in one of the private villas where the victim Claire Wolcott (played by Simone Bargetze) has been found shot to death in her bed. Her well connected husband, a friend of the Attorney General, has called in some favours to make sure the investigation is kept discreet.
The team takes in the state of the villa, including the candles by the bed, an empty champagne bottle with two glasses nearby, expensive clothing scattered around the floor and the naked body of Claire Wolcott in bed covered by a sheet, and the patio door half open. Based on what she sees before her, Lisbon concludes that Mrs. Wolcott is having an affair, making her husband a suspect in the killing along with the mystery lover. On further inspection they find spent casings on one side of the room, with Jane declaring that mystery lover wasn’t the killer - if he were, he wouldn’t have had to shoot her so many times. Several blood droplets on the rug also suggest the killer wouldn’t have been injured in this action, so the blood would prove to be that of mystery lover who probably took off in a panic. Jane and Lisbon follow the blood droplets out the patio door, across the path to the parking lot, where the droplets stop beside a car with the license plate DOC LADY. They locate her room to find a woman in bed with a man with a bandaged arm.
As usual, there will be no spoilers shared in this post so it can enjoyed by fans and new viewers alike. This is on purpose so I hope you approve. At the least it’s hoped to act as a reminder to rewatch the show, or to encourage others to check it out for the first time.
Context
The injured man Paul Fricke (played by Elon Gold) is a sleazy womanizer specializing in rich and bored married women. He explains he’d spent the night with Claire. As they were sleeping the heard a loud noise, felt the pain in his arm and found Claire dead beside him. He ran out as fast as he could once he realized the killer had left. A self-described “woman whisperer”, Lisbon asked for a copy of his “little black book.” Van Pelt and Lisbon regarded the man with disgust as Jane rolled his eyes. Van Pelt lamented that she couldn’t arrest him for his creepiness. Perhaps he was the intended target? There didn’t seem to be evidence to support that at the moment.
Back at HQ Lisbon meets with Keith Wolcott (played by Sasha Roiz) to to collect the requested personal items while he takes this opportunity to remind her of his relationship with the AG. Based on that he demands priority for this investigation, a blatant attempt to bully her that leaves her unimpressed. She makes it clear that all cases they receive get their full attention. She turns Wolcott over to Agent Cho for an interview. Incensed at not being able to intimidate Cho into giving up the lover’s name, Wolcott does suggest there was a disgruntled employee out there they should look into.
Recap
Claire Wolcott’s former assistant Natalie, fired for stealing jewelry, remains hostile and had been following her around getting incriminating pictures of Claire and her lover, hoping to use them to get Claire to drop the charges against her. She shares some interesting information with Cho in her statement but is otherwise no longer a suspect in the crime. In the meantime Jane and Rigsby return to the crime scene where Jane discovers something interesting. The guys talk to the hotel manager Haightly (played by David Burke*) and decide to stop for lunch, running into Fricke placing his order with a pretty waitress. They join his table where Fricke continues to share his views on dating to disbeliever Rigsby and disgusted Jane.
(*Burke appeared in an episode of the previous Simon Baker led TV series, The Guardian)
Back at headquarters Cho is interviewing a large number of women from Fricke’s little black book, essentially receiving no information to help with the investigation while Jane and Rigsby head off to speak with Keith Wolcott again. They find him attending a function with a group of men where Rigsby approaches him politely, only to be brushed off.
An angry Jane walks away, leaving Wolcott with his mouth open.
Jane regards Cho with interest and uses what he sees to formulate a plan, setting the stage to capture a clueless killer.
There’s a lot going on in this episode touching on several themes running through the series: we see that wealth has no bearing on loneliness, that trying to hurt others invariably backfires and that lies end up being exposed. As usual, there are several of the Seven Deadly Sins at play, definitely a recurring theme. There is also an element of fun around this tragedy, from Cho’s exasperation, his stoic stance against perceived authority and his take up of Jane’s latest scheme. Ok, Cho had a good time playing along. The Men vs Women theme throughout the episode was played for the most part tongue in cheek. However, when Jane lost his cool over the apparent callous behaviour he found in people in this episode it was plain to see how much this type of behaviour has a personal impact for him, reminding him again of what he had lost and what he was missing from his life. He recognizes how many people hide behind a mask. Himself included.
They Said
In this episode there were these choice words:
Keith Wolcutt: I can make one phone call and your career is toast.
Kimball Cho: That's impressive. The best I can get with one call is a pizza.
“Look at him go! There’s no business like Cho business!” - Jane to the team.
“I’m what you call a woman whisperer.” - Paul Fricke to Teresa Lisbon
Before you go
Be sure to get the full picture of For Mentalist Fans right on the website!
This was a fun episode to watch. You have to love my man Cho. 😄