TV Guide 22/03/2010

WHO’S THE BOSS
Meet The Mentalist’s Aunjanue Ellis, who’s talking over CBI—and playing mind games with Simon Baker’s Jane.

Patrick Jane, prepare for a psych-out ! Starting April 1, there’s a new boss lady on The Mentalist, and she’s every bit as wily—and prone to trickery—as Simon Baker’s law – bending character. Special Agt. Madeline Hightower, play by former True Blood vamp Aunjanue Ellis, will show up at the California Bureau of Investigation and quickly threaten to terminate Age. Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) if she doesn’t make Jane clean up his act. And that throws bad boy crime-solver for a loop.

“Hightower will force Jane to do something he never does—look to his own conscience,” says creator Bruno Heller. “this is not your traditional frustrated boss behind a desk. Hightower operates on a Dick Cheney level, in that she’s very inside-politics and knows how to play the game well.” Hightower will also insist that CBI bed-buddies Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) put a stop to their romance.

“I’m breaking up young love. I’m messing with Jane. I just hope the audience won’t be going, ‘Ooh, she’s mean! Somebody kill her!’” Ellis says with a laugh. The actress swears her character—a former Secret Service agent—does not operate out of sheer bitchery. “There’s no female competition here,” Ellis notes. “Hightower is really only using Lisbon to get to Jane. She’s playing one against the other.”

As it turns out, Hightower actually admires the golden-haired Adonis. “She knows Jane is valuable and sees him as a reflection of herself in some weird way,” Ellis says. “But he’s also an unpredictable live wire. Hightower doesn’t care if he breaks the rules discreetly, but he can’t be grandstanding about it. She can’t risk having CBI exposed to lawsuits.”

Naturally, Jane is confident he can handle the hardheaded Hightower. “In fact, he’s overconfident,” tease Heller. “This is a guy who relies on flirtation and charm to get what he wants. Well, we’re about to test the limits of that!”

The Mentalist Thursdays, 10/9c, CBS