The Mentalist Insider's Blog: Grey Water

This week's Insider's Blog, written by Writer David Appelbaum about episode 6x14 "Grey Water".

“Grey Water” was one of the most challenging episodes of “The Mentalist” I’ve written.  In a typical show, there is one main story that we follow – the “A” story, as we call it.  Usually this revolves around finding a dead body and Jane figuring out who the killer is.  In “Grey Water,” the “A” story brings us to a small town in Texas, where an anti-fracking advocate has been found murdered. 
While this is going on, there’s another sub-plot.  Often the sub-plot, or the “B” story, is much smaller and less significant.  But in this episode, that wasn’t the case.  The “B” story is about the continuing investigation into who is killing former members of the CBI team.   Scene for scene, it occupies nearly as much space as the “A” story.  
This is a long way of saying that there is A LOT going on in this episode.  Even though creating these two big stories and finding ways to weave them together took a great deal of work, I think it makes for a great result.  There’s no wasted space.  The action just keeps hurtling forward.  All and all, it makes for an exciting hour of television.
While there are a number of great scenes, I have to say my favorite part of the show happens in the first few minutes.  We find Rigsby, Van Pelt, and their daughter Maddy at home in San Francisco.  Without giving away any spoilers, it’s a pretty cool sequence.  So make sure you get to your TVs by 10 PM.  You don’t want to miss a minute.  (I guess you could record the show, but isn’t watching live so much better?)
Hope you guys enjoy!

Writer David Appelbaum