The Pilot - Introducing a fake psychic and a buttoned down police department
A subtle introduction to Patrick Jane and the CBI team as they solve two different cases
Season 1 Episode 1 (Pilot)
The pilot opens as CBI Consultant Patrick Jane and Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon arrive at the home of a murdered young girl named Mercy Tolliver, with a potential suspect already being taken into custody. As Jane observes the media circus around the discovery of the young girl’s body he begins to suspect something else is going on and wanders off to start his own particular kind of investigation.
Context
As a former phony psychic, Jane now uses his razor sharp skills of observation and understanding of human behaviour to solve serious crimes. His powers of observation move through an acute awareness of the personal surroundings or objects around people and reading the uncontrollable reactions we all display. He does this by imposing himself into personal spaces both physically and emotionally, skills that make him stand out from other investigators. Often to the chagrin of his team members who end up having to either bail him out of trouble or protect him from bodily harm. His strengths lie in his keen mind and his constant need to “poke the bear” to generate responses he can “read.”
This episode visually introduces us to the person of Patrick Jane, an extremely intelligent man who uses the charm and wit he developed as a showman in his previous life, now tempered by hard earned wisdom, his own sense of honesty and a singular dedication to his own brand of truth and justice. We also get insight into how he gleans information from his surroundings and the people involved. This video shows his powers of observation and how he interprets what he discovers. Is he right every time? No, but he is able to use what he learns to fine tune his conclusions.
Teresa Lisbon, in her role as Senior Agent at the CBI, is responsible for the activities of her five-member team including her unruly consultant, Jane. Described as a dedicated woman strong in her religious faith and her integrity, she approaches her role with compassion and a dry wit. Lisbon has dedicated her life to solving homicides to the exclusion of a love life or family life. An ambitious woman in a man’s world, there seems to be an undercurrent of something more. She hides her passionate side under a brusque persona jealously guarded by keeping everyone around her at an emotional distance.
In this same episode we meet the rest of the team when they come together over dinner during the hunt for a double murderer at a scene that suggests the serial killer they’ve been trying to catch for years, Red John might be responsible.
Recap
Two weeks after they solve the murder of Mercy Tolliver, the team is called to Palm Springs California to investigate the murder of a prominent sportsman’s wife and a family friend. At first look the scene suggests that the serial killer Red John has struck again.
Guest star Tim Guinee plays the under stated brother/caddy Tag Randolph to his somewhat successful golf professional brother Price Randolph played by Jeffrey Nordling, whose wife has been found dead in the family home.
While investigating the crime scene we are introduced to Red John, described by Jane as an artist, a showman. There might be more going on here than was first thought.
Jane meets with psychiatrist Dr Linus Wagner played by guest star Zeljko Ivanek to get help for his insomnia and relives what happened to his wife and child, his reason for putting one foot in front of the other and his only focus for the years after this tragedy, setting the stage for the series.
What happens next puts Jane and team on the trail of the killer, fleshes out team dynamics a little more while providing a glimpse into the loneliness of the one and only Patrick Jane. Living his shell of a life behind a mask, he hides from himself, his colleagues and the world at large. Driven by his own guilt, he returns to his home to pay penance in the room where his family was murdered.
They Said
In this episode there were these choice words:
Mrs. Tolliver: “You’re a psychic?” Patrick Jane responds “No, I’m just paying attention.”
“That’s how the trick works.” Patrick Jane
“Honestly, it’s not as bad as it looks.” Patrick Jane