The Mentalist, season 4

The trial is vintage Jane - he defends himself, charms the jury, and walks on a verdict that horrifies everyone who loves him. The doubt arrives on schedule: the dead man's connections do not quite hold, the smile shows up where it should not, and by mid-season it is undeniable that Red John is alive and was never in that food court. What Jane killed was a message.

The season plays its long games elsewhere too: an FBI turf war over the CBI's cases, a rival profiler with a book deal, and Erica Flynn - a murderess whose con skills match Jane's - walking out of custody on his mistake. Wainwright, young and managerial, takes over the unit and never quite understands what he is holding.

The endgame is Jane's most reckless con: a manufactured breakdown - fired, drunk, gambling, gutter-bound - staged over months to convince Red John's network that the great antagonist is broken and buyable. Lorelei Martins arrives as the killer's emissary and Jane goes exactly as far as the con requires.

It ends at a rendezvous with the man himself - masked, flanked, offering friendship - and a botched FBI ambush that costs Wainwright his life in the crossfire. Red John walks away again. But he left something behind this time: Lorelei, in custody.