Morena Baccarin returning to 'The Mentalist'

Everybody’s favorite Firefly Companion and Homeland refugee is returning to CBS’ The Mentalist.

Morena Baccarin is coming back to the veteran crime drama for a guest star appearance in the third episode of season seven. She’ll reprise her role as sexy sociopath Erika Flynn, who previously manipulated and seduced Patrick Jane (Simon Baker).

Here’s the set-up: “Jane teams up with Erika Flynn in Beirut, Lebanon, where he and Lisbon have gone at the request of the CIA to take down an international weapons dealer. Erika has agreed to help Jane and the CIA in exchange for a pardon on the murder charges she’s still facing and the chance to return to the U.S. But as always Erika has agendas of her own, one of which may, or may not, be inserting herself between Jane and Lisbon.”

The Mentalist will return to CBS in midseason.

SRC: insidetv.ew.com/

Filming Out Of Order, Which Episode Is First?

The Mentalist cast is back on set, but they are not filming for the season 7 premiere.

The CBS drama started rolling cameras on Wednesday for "Orange Blossom Ice Cream," but the actors are weaving their tales in a non-linear fashion.

"Episodes 1 and 2 aren't really the first two episodes," said writer Jordan Harper on Sunday. "We're shooting out of order right now."

Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and his FBI pals have a long way to go before their mid-season premiere, so the program's late return to the studio and non-sequential schedule won't affect when the episodes air.

Whichever number episode the series is currently shooting will involve a bit of time in the FBI's Austin headquarters. Newcomer Agent Michelle Vega (Josie Loren) will join Agent Kimball Cho (Tim Kang), Agent Dennis Abbott (Rockmond Dunbar), and the sandy-haired Mentalist in the bullpen for these scenes.

It is unknown, however, whether or not Vega will be introduced in the premiere or if viewers will have to wait several episodes to meet her. Due to the short 13-episode season, the wait won't be overly long either way.

SRC: enstarz.com/

Production begins for Simon Baker, cast

If you’re a fan of “The Mentalist,” we certainly feel your pain when it comes to the lack of news and updates on the show right now. No one knows when the final season is going to premiere, at least other than the fact that it is not going to happen until at least midseason.

However, we can at least tell you this: Production is underway for Simon Baker and the cast! Filming started this past week, and will continue more than likely for at least the rest of this year. Thanks to a shorter 13-episode order, everyone will likely have more time off than they have since starting the show so many years ago.

As for what the story will revolve around, we’re sure that Patrick Jane’s personal life will suddenly become more of a focus after so much was put into his relationship with Lisbon. We’ll learn how they work as a couple, and also whether or not there is anything personally that ends up complicating their dynamic on the job. Of course, we’re sure that there is also going to be at least some sort of Big Bad-like character, even if it is not another Red John.

What the show will also be potentially feeling this season is a sense of closure. While it has not been confirmed necessarily that season 7 will be the last, the delay for a renewal this past spring, coupled with the current ratings in the 18-49 demographic, make that a likely possibility. The show may opt to come up with what will be a worthy ending for the show in the case that this is it, while also leaving a tiny crack open if there is another season at some point.

SRC: cartermatt.com/

A few more notes on a new character

As a “Mentalist” fan, you must be feeling the burn right now. It is not exactly clear when the show will be returning to CBS, and there’s also the large possibility that season 7 could be the end of the road. At least you have Jane and Lisbon, right? We at least feel pretty good that the show is not going to turn around and suddenly break them up now after getting them together, mostly because that would be the most awful thing imaginable.

Unfortunately, we have no further news right now about the relationship between these two. Instead, we are here to write a little more about the Michelle Vega character. If you remember from when we last wrote about her, we described her as a very ambitious new FBI agent who is looking to become very proficient with all forms of combat. We’ve learned a little more now, and it’s starting to sound like she will be more of an on-the-job adversary to Patrick Jane than someone he can rely on for shenanigans.

According to a report from TV Guide, this character is actually going to be fairly by-the-book, and is willing to work so hard to impress her superiors that she’ll sacrifice almost everything in her life. This means not having a whole lot of friends or free time, and we’re not sure that this is something Patrick would support at all. Now that Red John is dead, the guy likes to fit in some of his time for relaxation.

As for when “The Mentalist” could return, our guess right now would be either in January as a three-month fill-in series while another show is on hiatus, or March where it could run straight through to the end of the May sweeps. Either way, we expect a run weekly of all 13 episodes, and then we’ll see where the chips fall for the show from there.

SRC: cartermatt.com/

'The Mentalist' Season 7 To Bring Back Summer Edgecombe? Tim Kang Hopes Cho's Old Flame Returns

The Mentalist will only have a 13-episode seventh season, but Tim Kang is hoping that writers will find room to bring back one of Cho's old flames.

The CBS series closed the book on the Red John-era last fall, but every so often an acquaintance from the CBI days manages to find their way into Patrick Jane's (Simon Bakers) new FBI world. While these visits mostly occurred while the Grace Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) and Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) were collaborating with their old coworkers to take down Richard Habiach, Kang remains optimistic that there may be a future role for Summer Edgecombe (Samaire Armstrong).

However, Armstrong's current work could hinder that plan.

"She's on @Resurrection now," Kang told a fan on Twitter. "Trying to get her to come back to @Mentalist_CBS. Cho misses her."

Summer first appeared in season 4 as a prostitute and CBI informant. Cho and summer quickly struck up a romance but their relationship went south when her drug use became a heated issue. After leaving the states, a pregnant Summer returned in season 5 with her fiancé.

SRC: enstarz.com/

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Mentalist

Question: My favorite show is The Mentalist. Do you have any news for Season 7? –Snežana

Ausiello: A new woman is about to enter Patrick Jane’s (professional) life. The CBS drama is casting the series regular role of Michelle Vega, a rookie FBI agent who is a student of combat and weaponry and is unfazed by high-pressure situations (such as when the show awaited that 11th-hour renewal).

SRC: tvline.com/

‘The Mentalist’ season 7 spoilers: Meet Michelle Vega (sort of)

It has been a long time since there has been some significant TV scoop on “The Mentalist” season 7, and to be fair, it is also going to be a long time until the series comes back on CBS. Earlier today, the network revealed their fall schedule, and it was predictably not a part of it.

Luckily, we can at least come swooping in here with some of the first casting news about a series regular. According to TVLine, the woman’s name in question here is Michelle Vegas, and she is a brand-new FBI agent who is working to become an expert of all sorts of combat. Also, she will not be stressed at all during difficult situations. Basically, it almost feels like the show is casting its own version of Kate Morgan from “24,” except in neophyte form.

Personally, we hope that she somehow finds a way to end up with Cho, mostly because that guy really needs a lot of loving right now. (We’ll take anything that gets him to show off his not-on-the-job side again.)

As for the state of the Jane / Lisbon relationship for the time being, the jury is still out. We would imagine, though, that the show would not give us the romantic moment that they did in “Blue Bird” without some sort of further continuation of it now. In the event that these 13 episodes coming up are the last for the show, they likely need to show how this relationship will work. There are going to be challenges, and just because these two are now seemingly together does not mean that the struggles are over at all.

SRC: http://cartermatt.com/