The Mentalist – “Red and Itchy”

Original Air Date: April 28, 2013

Directed by: David Paymer

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!

Synopsis: Patrick (Simon Baker) helps LaRoche (Pruitt Taylor Vince) recover a stolen Tupperware container which contains a dark secret.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Teresa (Robin Tunney) and Kimball (Tim Chang) interview Joanne Parsons (Meagan Fay), the wife of the man who was shot and killed during the robbery of the Tupperware. She is in the family locksmith shop when they first interview her. Sitting on a shelf in the background is a ginger and white tabby cat.

The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat on shelf in locksmith shop with Joanne Meagan Fay Teresa Robin Tunney and Kimball Tim Chang

Later Patrick and Teresa go to the Parsons’ home and interview Joanne, trying to find out who was with her husband during the robbery. The cat is there and Patrick picks up the kitty and pets him.

The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat being held by Patrick Simon Baker
The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat being held by Patrick Simon Baker
The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat held by Patrick Simon Baker animated gif

Patrick notes the antique safes in the room and asks Joanne if she knows the combination of one large safe. She says her husband kept the combinations in his head.

The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat held by Patrick Simon Baker with Joanne Meagan Fay and Teresa Robin Tunney

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Patrick states and proceeds to place the cat in the safe and close the door. Joanne and her daughter Sarah (Aimee-Lynn Chadwick) are shocked, pointing out that the safe is air tight. “Well, you’d better get to work then,” Patrick suggests.

The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat held by Patrick Simon Baker with Joanne Meagan Fay Teresa Robin Tunney and Sarah Aimee-Lynn Chadwick
The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat being placed in safe

Realizing she has no other choice, Joanne gets a set of tool and proceeds to crack the safe. Patrick explains to Sarah that her father was losing the use of his hands to arthritis and taught Joanne his tricks. This proves that she was his assistant the day of the robbery. Joanne pulls the cat from the safe and hands him to her daughter, who is shocked when her mother is arrested.

The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat in safe released by Joanne Meagan Fay
The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat held by Sarah Aimee-Lynn Chadwick with Patrick Simon Baker Joanne Meagan Fay Teresa Robin Tunney
The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat held by Sarah Aimee-Lynn Chadwick

It seems likely that the cat actor was never actually shut inside the safe. The edits always begin and end with the door to the safe still partially open.

The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - white and ginger tabby cat held by Patrick Simon Baker

And at least one of the cat actors used in the scene appears to be a polydactyl cat, having extra toes. This is most notable when Aimee-Lynn Chadwick is holding the cat.

The Mentalist - Red and Itchy - close up of white and ginger tabby cat held by Sarah Aimee-Lynn Chadwick with polydactyl toes

Final Mewsings: Keep your kitties safe, just not in a safe.

Many thanks to gorimlongbeard for letting us know about the cat in this episode.

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