The Mentalist Season 4 Episode 14 “At First Blush” Recap
In this episode, Jane and the rest of the CBI try to prove the innocence of Eve Mulberry, a woman currently waiting to be sentenced for murder for the death of her dance instructor and former lover. The catch is the team only has hours to solve the case, because Eve is on trial and the jury is already begun deliberating the verdict. The prosecutor doesn’t believe her innocence, so it is up to the team to prove it not only to themselves, but to the jury as well.
Jane and Lisbon head on over to Eve and Peter Mulberry’s Vineyard where they proceed to tell them that they are trying to prove Eve’s innocence. Jane then proceeds to ask questions about Eve’s relationship with her dance instructor Carlos Ruiz. She claims that it was completely platonic, but Jane can see through her lies and continues to question her until she breaks down and reveals that she did have an affair with Carlos. This doesn’t come to a surprise to Peter, the husband, whom Jane believes already, knew about the affair. Jane confronts Pete on the side and he says that he always assumed, but didn’t want to say anything in front of the police for fear of being labeled a witness. Sounds like a standup guy, huh? Jane continues to question Eve about every aspect of the case, including the $20,000 that appeared in Carlos’s bank account the week of his murder. She dies any involvement and says that she wasn’t being blackmailed and Jane believes her. Enter Eve’s BFF and business partner, Amy and her little sister Gretchen. Amy seems to be more sympathetic to Eve’s plight than Gretchen and reaches out the CBI to help in anyway.
Jane and Lisbon head on over to the crime scene to see what they can find; when they arrive, Jane spots an elderly woman peeking from behind her curtains from inside her house across the street. The duo go and question the woman who claims to have seen a long tall haired blonde woman entering Carlos’s house and then running out, but she couldn’t positively identify if it was even on the day of the murder. At the same time, Van Pelt and Rigsby are interviewing a Detective Sulliva who worked on the case to find information on a man named Riley who has supposed contact with Carlos on the day he died. The detective claims to have spoken with the man, but as the discussion progresses he reveals he never talked to this “Riley” nor did he make any attempt to contact him in the first place. Looks, like this case has more holes than Swiss Cheese…uh, ignore my attempt at humor.
Back at headquarters, the team finds out that “Riley” whose real name is Terry Murphy, is a known criminal charged with identity-theft, wiretapping and other various fraudulent felonies including murder overseas. Thanks to Summer, Cho’s C.I. who has a friend that can get in contact with Murphy, Rigsby and Cho setup a sting to get Murphy on charges for attempting to buy stolen social security numbers, etc. with Summer’s help. The sting goes great, up until Summer starts questioning Murphy about his involvement with Carlos. He says that he was the one to loan Carlos the twenty grand for an investment. Murphy starts to get suspicious and starts to get a little violent with Summer. Cho and RIgsby bust in and are able to apprehend Murphy before he tries to flee, but Cho isn’t too happy with Summer and the predicament she place herself in so he informs her that she is no longer his C.I.
Meanwhile, Jane and Lisbon visit Eve at her vineyard where they learn a little bit about the vineyard and how Eve and Amy manage the business and event there has been offers to sell they refuse. They come to tell her about Murphy and she explains she has never heard of the man. They tell her they are doing the best that they can and will continue to try to prove her innocence.
At the CBI, Rigsby and Jane both interrogate Murphy who claims to have no idea who killed Carlos and tries to bribe the two to let him free. Both men step out of the room, to let Murphy stew and that’s when the team receives the call that they can expect the verdict to be read in one hour. So with such little time left Jane puts a plan into action. He gets pretends to get Murphy dropped of any charges in exchange for a new identity. Murphy agrees, but needs $10,000 cash upfront so the two purpose to meet each in a parking garage in one hour. He then gets Rigsby, to call a phone number with surprisingly good Irish accent. He leaves a message, just as Jane asked him to saying that he has video of the murder and to meet him at the parking garage and to bring $10,000 as a way to keep the video from not getting into police hands.
The team waits at the garage for their two “pawns” in Jane’s game to appear, all the while keeping time till Eve’s verdict being read. Murphy arrives first then an unknown car pulls up beside him and out steps Amy! Yup, she is the one who killed Carlos and tries to pay off Murphy not knowing that neither one has come down to “meet” each other for the right reasons. The CBI comes out of their hiding spot and arrest Amy for murder and Murphy for his original charges for identity-theft. With moments to spare the team makes it to the courthouse to reveal the true killer. Why did Amy kill Carlos? She did so to frame Eve and have full control of Vineyard and be able to see if off and to make some money.
In the end, Eve is freed and has all charges dropped against her. Summer confronts Cho about wanting her job back in the elevator. Cho calls her reckless and danger-seeking, while Summer claims Cho just has feelings for her. Both agree and exchange quite a few heated kisses, before the elevator comes to a stop. The prosecutor of Eve’s case apologizes to Jane about his lack of trust in him and tells Jane good work and Jane just walks away smiling and well just being Jane.
Catch next week’s new episode of The Mentalist Thursdays at 10/9c on CBS
Originally posted on Affairs Magazine
