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!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

The fiery ninth episode pits consultant Patrick Jane against a cunning fire starter bent on revenge in one of the best episodes this season.

A National Guard veteran is killed in a brutal arson. He’s burned alive in the fire, which is started by hot-hot-hot burning rocket fuel. A second man - the town sheriff - is injured in another brutal flaming attack. He, too, was a member of the National Guard unit. The two men and another man were in business together - and all members of the same battalion. The other man fears for his own life.

As the team from the California Bureau of Investigations digs deeper, they discover that another man was killed in much the same manner a few years ago. He, too, was a member of the National Guard unit.

Is someone targeting the unit members? Or is there something more sinister happening? Jane cracks the case long before the team members and decides to have a little wicked fun with the lone unit survivor.

Here’s the score: The three unit members went into business together. A few years ago, they buy a piece of land for a fellow Guardsman, Dave Martin. Martin discovers an aquifer beneath the ground - incredibly valuable in the dry, drought-stricken area.

Martin decides he’s not going to let the other three men in on the riches of his plot. The men get pissed and kill him by lighting his house on fire. Martin dies a painful, slow, agonizing death.

The men get the land transferred to their business. They plan to wallow in their newfound wealth.

But someone else knows what the men did to Martin and that someone wants revenge. This person sets up lone survivor Ben Machado, one of the three who helped kill Dave Martin.

Jane may not agree with the killer’s methods, but he does believe Machado needs to be punished - at least just a little - for his sins. Jane dresses up like a heavily-scarred man in jeans and a plaid shirt, and pretends to douse Machado with fuel in a locked-up barn. He gets Machado to confess to the crime. Machado believes Martin really did not die and that he is back for revenge.

Jane reveals himself - just before the real killer throws real fuel on the locked barn and tries to kill them both.

The CBI investigators - who had left to do an interview - come back to the burning barn. Somehow, Jane and Machado escape (We don’t see how, since it is impossible.) and they see a figure running from the scene.

It is Tommy (Fred Koehler, the fiber commercial guy and character actor extraordinaire), a mentally-challenged boy with Moby Dick in his trailer. I must say, I thought Moby Dick belonged to the daughter of one of the victims - that she got away from home (and her adulterous mother) and hung out with the boy because he was nice and simple. It seems, though, that Tommy is more than he appears.

Seems Dave Martin was nice to Tommy, who uses the mentally-challenged bit to stay out of trouble. He is not sorry for revenge; he is sorry, though, for hurting the dead man’s daughter.

The best moment is when Jane confronts Tommy - tells him he knows that “Tommy” is an act, and that he is the killer. Actor Fred Koehler’s face changes, oh-to-subtly, from simple to pure evil. Amazing. With just a look, Koehler’s appearance changes Tommy from a simple boy to a cold-eyed killer.

Jane and Lisbon pass along Tommy’s apology to the girl, and Jane gives her this lecture about how revenge is a bad thing. When they leave, Lisbon commends him for his change of heart. Of course, Jane tells her it was just bunk. He had to say something - and no way will he ever allow Red John to die easily.

Personally, I thought “Flame Red” was the best so far this season, though my editor completely disagrees. He got the killer right away; I didn’t. (Thank goodness for small favors. I’m tired of getting the whodunit so often.) We saw some hard-core vigilante genes in Jane’s character this week. While the barn trick was transparently Jane - and out-of-character even for the not-so-by-the-book consultant - his words to colleague and subtle romantic interest Agent Lisbon showed a steely determination to serve bloody justice.

Here is a conversation between the sexy not-yet-a-couple (not verbatim, but close):

JANE: Justice says Machado needs to suffer.

LISBON: That’s not justice. That’s revenge.

JANE: What’s the difference?

...

JANE: By the way, when I catch Red John, I’m going to cut him up and watch him die slowly just like he did my wife and daughter. If you have a problem with that, we should probably talk about it now.

That totally appeals to my bloody vigilante fetish. I wonder if Jane will, in fact, get to cut up Red John, or if the CBI team will get to the serial killer first, as Lisbon believes.

I hope Jane gets him first - and takes notes during the next Dexter.

I really enjoy the cast symbiosis, and the chemistry building between Jane and Lisbon. Simon Baker, as always, is sexy. I really like Robin Tunney, but my God woman, put some meat on your bones - and get some sun!

The Mentalist put CBS in first place Tuesday night, pulling in nearly 19 million viewers. So far, the show has averaged around 16 million. Word is out: This freshman series is a must watch.

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