Flame Red - About Justice and Revenge
Season 1 episode 9: A National Guard veteran is found burned to death in suspicious circumstances and the team arrives to help a small town police department
The workday starts off with the CBI team enjoying a few light moments in the office. Unfortunately, the fun is interrupted when Cho approaches them with a new murder case and team heads out to the small town of Marquesa.
The farmland around Marquesa stretches for miles, currently covered in a heat haze. At one time, Rich Garcia, the victim, had the best corn in the county but now, because of the longstanding drought the fields are sadly anemic looking and burned to a crisp. There’s not even enough water pressure to supply the fire trucks attending to the remains of the burned out car - the crime scene. The team walks through a field led by Police Chief Trey Piller (played by Chris William Martin) of the Marquesa Police Department.
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
They approach a burned out vehicle. The victim Rich Garcia was in the vehicle but the fire burned at such a high temperature that there was little left of the body. Jane surprises the Chief when he comments on how difficult it must be to bury someone with whom he served. Chief Piller explains to him that he and Garcia had served two tours overseas with the National Guard. Rigsby, as the arson specialist on the team, examines what remains of the burned out car. He determines that not only is it arson but it is also murder. Since there is evidence an accelerant was used to start the fire, it leaves little doubt in his mind.
Recap
The team splits up to begin the investigation with Van Pelt and Rigsby moving into town to meet with someone who might turn out to be the last person to see the victim on the night of the murder, while Jane and Lisbon accompany Police Chief Piller to the victim’s home to interview the obviously distraught widow Susan Garcia (played by Cheryl White*). They are also introduced to Ben Machado (played by Danny Nucci), a real estate agent in the area and who also served with Piller and Garcia in the National Guard. During Jane’s usual observation routine he can’t help but notice the way Piller touches Susan's arm or hand only to have her subtly pull away. While Lisbon questions Susan, Jane wanders around looking at pictures while he eats a cupcake. He bumps into Susan’s angry and hostile daughter Maddy Garcia (played by Marcella Lentz-Hope). Jane learns that her dad removed all his military mementos from view although Mandy doesn’t know why. This strikes Jane as odd but he lets it go for now. After rejoining Lisbon and Susan, a mentally challenged young man named Tommy Olds (played by Fred Koehler), enters the room with a contribution of corn chips for the food table currently holding a variety of comfort foods brought by neighbours. A furious Maddy screams at her mother’s words and storms out, leaving questions but few answers. Jane calmly suggests two possibilities for Mandy’s anger forcing Susan to respond.
*Cheryl White played in an episode of Simon Baker’s previous TV series The Guardian.
While this is going on, back in town, Rigsby and Van Pelt meet with Mitchell Reese (played by Joel Bissonnette) as he is working on an old car and they try to coax him into giving them information about Rich Garcia's last night alive. Reese suggests it is a strange coincidence that two men from the same town and in the same National Guard unit died in a fire. He explains that Dave Martin was burned to death three years ago. Van Pelt gets a call to another fire and the two agents leave in a hurry. This new scene is at Chief Piller’s house.
After the fire is brought under control, Lisbon and Jane arrive at Aldensgrove to look around. Tommy Olds peers out of the trailer where he lives and greets them. As usual, while Lisbon questions Tommy, Jane looks around the back end of the trailer. He notices a copy of Moby Dick with a stack of children's books and toys. He wanders over to what appears to be a fenced in garden as Lisbon follows. There’s a lot of water around the garden even with the drought. Tommy begs them not to tell anyone because he fears they will make him move and he won't have anywhere to live. Lisbon suggests that the water seems to be coming from under the ground. Jane explains that it is an aquifer, probably worth millions...clearly a motive for murder. With Rigsby laid up in the motel room, Cho and Van Pelt visit Ben Machado’s home where an altercation erupts, ending in an interrogation back at the Marquesa Police Station. As Cho and Van Pelt deftly handles the interrogation, Jane sits back and observes. A focused Jane enters the room and smiles at his colleagues; he turns to Machado and tells him he thinks it was about Dave Martin whose body was never found. He suggests that this whole thing is about revenge for Aldensgrove in some way.
This leads to a couple of exchanges, including a telling one with Lisbon. With this we see Jane, often times a rather pleasant and mild mannered detective/consultant (when it suits him) has a particular dark side stemming from the tragedy of his family's demise.
Cho and Rigsby are assigned to stake out Machado's house, presumably protecting him from the killer since he is the remaining member of the original National Guard group. However, they decide to check another lead and drive away to investigate. They return to find Machado’s barn on fire. After connecting with Jane, much to their relief, Rigsby notices a lone figure running away from the scene. What happens next leaves everyone rattled and second guessing what they think they know.
At the Marquesa PD, Cho begins to interrogate the man they caught fleeing the scene. Jane smiles knowingly as he confirms his suspicions and enters the interview room. He asks Cho if he could take over the interview. Jane begins...
As Jane peels back the layers of their suspect, he discovers a truly artful killer, driven by the need for justice and revenge. The killer sneers at Jane as he explains that revenge is redemptive, but that Jane wouldn’t understand. Jane stares back at him knowing he may well face the high cost of revenge himself one day. Cho looks on with a frown.
To this point is the show we have seen little insight into these main characters. Now though, we learn more about Rigsby’s back story as an arson investigator and how he came to the CBI. In his drug induced state we learn about his unspoken feelings for Grace (much to her chagrin) and the growing camaraderie between all members of the team, alluded to in the opening bullpen scene. The audience has been in training since the pilot episode to appreciate the powers of observation demonstrated by Patrick Jane and its on full display in this episode. All this is a prelude to the real cat and mouse game between Patrick Jane and the killer, ultimately caught by his own mistake. During this game of discovery, we get a chance to see how Jane sees his own drive for justice and revenge and it’s quite disturbing. He makes no bones about his intentions and invites Lisbon to do as she must when the time comes.
As the killer sits through his interrogation Jane seems to be looking into the eyes of something rare, so he observes with almost a clinical detachment until the killer decides to explain himself. The pieces fall into place.
The performances in the episode are exceptional, particularly the interaction between Simon Baker and the killer (nameless for obvious reasons). The way they feed off each other is something to watch, with the pivotal scene leaving the viewer in awe the first time they see it. It is episodes like this that separate this show from others of the same time period in my humble opinion, and it also makes this one of my favourite episodes of all seven seasons.
They Said
In this episode there were these choice words:
“Revenge is a poison, it’s for fools and madmen” - Patrick Jane to Maddy Garcia
“Revenge is redemptive, but you wouldn’t understand that.” - the killer to Patrick Jane
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