Villainess Review: Mae Feinberg (The Mentalist)

The episode "Silver Wings of Time," began with a bomb going off near a bus station, very chaotic occurrence. The bomb killed a man named David Renaldo, who was revealed to be a friend of Luis Cruz. Why was the name Luis Cruz important? Because he was set to be executed in a matter of days. Cruz was arrested and convicted of the murder of a woman named Sarah Feinberg, which was committed 14 years prior to the events of the episode. Because of this, Sarah's widower, Dr. Edward Feinberg, was interviewed, with his second wife, Mae, at his side.

It was believed that Edward and Mae had an affair while the former was married to Sarah, but they denied this, revealing that they had been married for 11 years. Mae was credited for being at Edward's side as he was grieving, all the while, the identity of the bomber was revealed as Pete Koch, a private investigator, who was later found dead in an alley. Suspicion was mainly towards Edward, who ended up taken in and accused of killing his wife, Koch, and Renaldo, with Edward denying all of the claims against him.

On that same day, a news report aired that stated that Cruz had been executed, and afterwards, Patrick Jane approached Edward again and told him about the execution. He asked Edward how he felt, with Edward responding that he was sad over the news, adding that there was no release. It was the reaction Jane needed to be fully convinced that Edward was innocent, however, Mae--not so much. Jane replayed video of Mae's reaction to the news, and it was an expression of triumph, a complete contrast to her husband's sorrow.

As it turned out, Mae shot and killed Sarah all those years ago so she could be with Edward, and she had avoided suspicion until learning about Renaldo's investigation and quest to clear Cruz. Mae turned heel again by enlisting Koch to kill Renaldo with the bomb, and during her meeting with Koch, Mae killed her henchmen after receiving proof of Cruz's innocence. After the couple left, Edward asked Mae about Sarah's death, with Mae finally confessing and stating that she did it for them. Jane and the FBI agents arrested Mae, which included the reveal that Cruz was never executed; the clocks were set in advance to trap her.

"Silver Wings of Time" was the 13th episode of The Mentalist's sixth season, and aired on April 13, 2014. The episode featured, IMO, the best villainess of the series in Mae Feinberg, played by Jud Tylor. Mae was quite a ruthless villainess, especially in the episode's events. Though she was murderous years prior, Mae's crime was that of passion; however, Mae's heel turn in the episode's events transformed Mae into a cold-blooded mastermind who was bent on keeping her past villainy hidden, no matter what the cost. In her introductory scenes, Tylor portrayed the loving wife personality very well, and also showed great emotion during her confession to Edward. Regarding Mae's heel persona, we only see a glimpse of that in a flashback scene of Mae killing Sarah, as well as her expression over the staged report about the execution. Even so, Tylor portrayed Mae's ruthlessness and cold demeaner to perfection in this episode.

Jud Tylor is known to fans of Supernatural as villainous angel Adina, and she played villainous roles on CSI: Miami and Perception. Very recently, Tylor played Marlow Meadows in 2020's Lifetime film, Psycho Party Planner--a role I loved immensely!

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Click here for Mae Feinberg's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!