Last week's The Mentalist was obviously the last bit of light hearted fun we're going to see for a while. "Red Rover, Red Rover" had Jane taking the plunge into the dark side and it's anyone's guess if he'll make it back out.

Red John was just cruel, but I suppose that's a prerequisite for a maniacal serial killer. As if leaving an anniversary card to celebrate the murder of Jane's wife and child weren't enough, he also sent a messenger.

The little girl was so sweet it was almost creepy. Seeing the child with the red face painted on her hand was rather horrifying. I can only imagine that Red John chose her because she bore a resemblance to Jane's daughter. 

I loved that Jane's first concern was for the child. He first asked if the man who approached her had done anything to her, then he hypnotized her so she'd forget she'd ever seen Red John.

As much as Wainwright and Lisbon were right - further questioning might reveal something - Jane was adamant. His own little girl died at the hands of Red John. He'd protect Haley any way he could, even if it meant letting Red John go.

Torturing Jane seemed like such a personal vendetta for Red John. Why wasn't killing his family enough? Was it Jane's crusade to take him down that has made this into some sort of twisted game for the killer?

Of course, the man is a psychopath so finding understandable answers might not be so easy.

Jane's meal of Bloody Marys with the empty chairs meant for his family was heart-breakingly sad yet macabre all at once.

The murder of the week mirrored the horror and darkness that Jane was suffering but I have to ask: who lets a coworker strip them down, handcuff them and lock them in a metal box? What club could possibly be worth that?

When Jane hit Ben in the head with the shovel, I flinched. He's lucky he didn't kill the man right there. And I love that Grace was the one person who said she thought Ben deserved what he got. She's not quite the naive girl we met at the beginning of the series. Of course being engaged to a psychopath's apprentice will do that to you.

Was Jane really trying to catch a killer or was he looking to get kicked out of the CBI? It appeared that suspension wasn't good enough for him. Jane's cruel streak reared its ugly head and he pushed Wainwright until he snapped. 

Poor Lisbon was in total shock. Her partner's spiraling out of control and there wasn't anything she could do to stop it. 

So was the thought of never catching Red John too much for Jane? As he said in this The Mentalist quote:

 If you don't get the bad guy then what's the point of all this? | permalink

Had this evil game of cat and mouse simply gone on too long? If Jane crosses over to the dark side, will he find his way back? With the season finale on its way, we'll have to hold our breath and wait for what comes next.

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.