Dear The Mentalist, version 2.0,
Things that won't make me like you very much:
1. Repeating things from the Jane/Lisbon dynamic exactly as they were, but this time with Jane and Fischer.
In other words. Jane abandoning Fischer withou a ride did not please me at all.
(Although it was almost worth it for: "How far are we going to bend for this man." Lisbon walks in, "So I was just on the phone with Jane, [...] and what do we have that looks most like a tank?" That phone call was hilarious.)
2. Killing off all the minor characters from the old show as part of this new conspiracy. And damn it, it is looking more and more like a conspiracy. So displeased.
3. Lisbon being left behind, nominally to work on the Ardilles case, which isn't a story that hangs together if she isn't shown doing any work on the Ardilles case while Cho, Jane and Fischer are away. The thing that works best with the reboot is Jane and Lisbon interacting (and to a lesser extent Jane and Cho interacting). Not having that does not an exciting episode make.
Of the new relationships, I could get behind a Jane/Abbot dynamic (VOLTRON, HEH), and I'm seriously enjoying Lisbon/Fischer, but there was also very little of that in this episode (though that last scene was charming). And I tend to enjoy Cho/Fischer's dynamic a lot, BUT THERE WAS VERY LITTLE OF THAT.
I just genuinely have almost no interest in Jane/Fischer squabbling and nonsense.
So show, get on that. I know I have no hope on getting you to cut the conspiracy nonsense.
For funtimes instead,
Pick a trope from this list and provide a fandom/pairing and I’ll tell you something about the story I’d write for that combination (i.e. write a snippet from the story or write not!fic or tell you the title and summary for the story I would write)
1. roadtrip
2. forced to share a bed
3. drunk!fic
4. huddling for warmth
5. pretending to be married/fake!dating/arranged marriage
6. jealousy fic
7. amnesia
8. hurt/comfort
9. friends to lovers
10. truth or dare
11. forced proximity fic
12. fluff (if you pick this, I'm gonna need some more specifics)
13. apocalypse fic (edited, because I generally am not a fan of anything vaguely dystopian, so instead let's try...) Enemies in love OR Road rip
14. curtain fic
15. High School / College AU