5 things to look for in 'My Blue Heaven'

Even before "The Mentalist" comes on screen Sunday (Dec. 1), you may notice something different about the show.

All but a handful of the CBS show's 124 previous episode titles have made some reference to the color red -- either variations on the color itself or things (roses, blood) that are red. Now that Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) has finished his quest to find and kill Red John, however, creator Bruno Heller says he's "very happy" about leaving "Red" out of episode titles.

He's sticking with the color theme, though -- Sunday's episode is called "My Blue Heaven," and the one that follows it is called "Green Thumb."

Here's more of what you can expect to see in "My Blue Heaven," which Baker also directed.

There's a time jump. The story picks up two years after the events of "Red John." The Red John-Blake Association scandal that took down the CBI has scattered the show's regulars. But don't worry ...

Where are they now? The episode -- perhaps the least crime-solvingest one in "Mentalist" history -- spends most of its time with Jane, who has built a quiet, if somewhat lonely, life on an island south of the border. But we also catch up with Lisbon (Robin Tunney), who's now a small-town police chief, and Cho (Tim Kang), also still in law enforcement. Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) and Rigsby (Owain Yeoman), however, have moved into the private sector with their own security company.

New girl. Jane's solitude is broken up some with the arrival of Kim Fischer (new cast member Emily Swallow), who gives him some much-needed conversation (in English; however long he's spent in exile, his Spanish still is pretty weak) and companionship.

Gone but not forgotten. Two years down the road, though, Jane is still a fugitive, and FBI Agent Dennis Abbott (Rockmond Dunbar) is still looking for him. He goes to see Lisbon to see if they've been in touch, and maybe finds a clue there.

Jane can't help it. Though he's out of the crime-fighting business, Jane can't help but try to right injustice when he sees it. So when he has a run-in with a local drug dealer, it ends up being bad news for the dealer.

"The Mentalist" airs at 10:30 p.m. ET Sunday on CBS. The network has an NFL double-header Sunday that may cut into primetime, so the start time is approximate. 

SRC: blog.zap2it.com/