good writing on the mentalist:
We don’t want the killer to get him.
Yes we do. Muchado is our bait. He’s our tethered goat.
And too bad if the bait gets killed?
Well yes, that’s why you use goats, and not babies or virgins for that matter.
Muchado’s not a goat.
You’re right, he’s not a goat. He’s goatish . He deserves to suffer a little.
Nobody deserves murder.
Muchado helped burn Dave Martin alive out of greed.
Jane, we’re officers of the law.
You are. I don’t care about the law. I care about justice. And justice says Muchado deserves to suffer.
That’s not justice, that’s vengeance.
What’s the difference?
***
We’ve never discussed this because I thought it went without saying, but when I catch Red John, I’m gonna cut him open and watch him die slowly, like he did with my wife and child. Now if you have a problem with that we should talk.
Well let’s talk. Because when we catch Red John, we are going to take him into custody and he’s going to be tried in a court of law.
Not if I’m still breathing.
If you try to do violence to him, I will try to stop you. If you succeed in doing violence to him, I will arrest you.
I understand.
I hope so.
Well I’m glad we talked. I had no idea you were so bourgeois or conventional about the issue.