"The Mentalist" Season One Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

The Mentalist premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. I enjoy "the power of observation" myself and have been looking forward to this one since I heard about it this summer. Watch closely.


http://www.tvguide.com/images/pgimg/mentalist-season1-4.jpgTHE MENTALIST stars Golden Globe Award nominee Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, an independent consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who has a remarkable track record for solving serious crimes by using his razor sharp skills of observation. Within the Bureau, Jane is notorious for his blatant lack of protocol and his semi-celebrity past as a psychic medium, whose paranormal abilities he now admits he feigned. Jane's role in cracking a series of tough high-profile cases is greatly valued by his fellow agents. However, no-nonsense Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon openly resists having Jane in her unit and alternates between reluctantly acknowledging Jane's usefulness and blasting him for his theatrics, narcissism and dangerous lack of boundaries. Lisbon's team includes agents Kimball Cho, Wayne Rigsby and rookie member Grace Van Pelt, who all think Jane's a loose cannon but admire his charm and knack for clearing cases.


Tonight's episode...
"Pilot" - Series Premiere
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 @ 9 p.m. ET/8 CT on CBS
The murders of a pro golfer's wife and her doctor are investigated in the opener of a series about a former fake psychic (Simon Baker) who now uses his gift for observing details to assist a California crime unit. Michael Moradi: Shaun Toub. Alison Randolph: Mary A. Stiefvater. - TVGuide.com

CBS.com - The Mentalist (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_mentalist/)

[The Penguin]

So did anyone watch it? I did and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I enjoyed it, but it didn't feel like anything overly special. I enjoyed it when Patrick "informed" people about themselves, but I didn't really feel his superior power of observation on the cases. I'll probably check it out again next week, either this show or Fringe is gonna have to go from my personal schedule.

[The Penguin]

Anyone interested in The Mentalist? You can catch a replay of the pilot tonight at 8 ET on CBS.


http://wwwimage.cbs.com/cms/files/gallerix/albums/22/21615/full/97190_D0696b[1].jpg"Pilot"
Friday, September 26, 2008 @ 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on CBS
Original airdate: September 23, 2008
The murders of a pro golfer's wife and her doctor are investigated in the opener of a series about a former fake psychic (Simon Baker) who now uses his gift for observing details to assist a California crime unit. Michael Moradi: Shaun Toub. Alison Randolph: Mary A. Stiefvater. - TVGuide.com

[Master Moron]

I watched the repeat. It was pretty good. I liked how he bluffed his way out of danger. The Red John story looks like it could end up being an interesting story arc, but I know CBS tends not to like ongoing stories, so I bet most of the episodes will be self contained. It kind of seemed like a waste to have Emmy winner Zeljko Ivanek(that's probably spelled wrong) on the first episode since they weren't able to promote it at all. But, they probably had no idea he was going to win the Emmy. Anyway, while good, I still think I prefer Fringe to this show.

[EinBebop]

I liked it. Don't have much else to say at the moment, I just wanted to voice my support of this show. :)

[The Penguin]

Some folks have expressed some interest so let's give The Mentalist a shot as a 'season thread.' The second episode is tonight at 9 ET and there is no Friday replay this week, CBS debuts their regular Friday line-up this week.


http://wwwimage.cbs.com/cms/files/gallerix/albums/22/21615/full/97190_D0696b[1].jpg"Red Hair and Silver Tape"
Tuesday, September 30, 2008 @ 9 p.m. ET/8 CT on CBS
The team probes the murder of a waitress in Napa Valley, but Patrick opts to conduct his own private investigation, using Grace as bait. Sheriff McAllister: Xander Berkeley. Malcolm Boatwright: Eric Stonestreet. Sandra Boatwright: Judith Hoag. - TVGuide.com

[The Penguin]

Well, after watching this week's episode, I have decided to pack it in on The Mentalist. It's not a bad show and is a decent crime drama, but I wanted to see it for the "watch closely" and "the truth is in the details" stuff and we aren't getting enough of that. I don't think it's fair to call this show a dramatic rip-off of Psych, but that show does the "observation" better. Here they are mostly side distractions, funny, but not as relevant as I expected. Patrick Jane is a good not-detective, but the observation that helps him solve the cases, the team on Criminal Minds can do and I've been watching that one for four seasons now. Jane doesn't give anything I can't see on Minds, Psych or Life (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=217520) for that matter and I consider all of them better.

The rest of the team is just kind of boring. I know that would get better with future episodes of course, but I'm not hooked so I'm getting out while I still can. I don't hate the show, but I am very surprised that its ratings have been so high. Obviously this thread will continue to exist, but due to my interest and the level of poster interest, I will not bump it in two weeks for the next episode. I welcome and encourage any other viewers to comment as often or as little as they like.

[EinBebop]

Yeah, I like the premise, but something about the show isn't quite clicking with me. I think I have to go with supporting cast being the primary thing.. because really, they contribute nothing to the show.

Yeah, it's kind of a one-man show, but on the other hand, so is House. However, House wouldn't be half as fun without the personalities that he has been given to play off of. I think Bones was intended to take the same formula as House with a slightly different personality type, but it evolved into even more of an ensemble show. Numb3rs kind of fits in here too, and i think it's especially interesting that in it's five years to the point that it's not always the number theories that drive the plots; that Charlie is just one member of a team.

I wonder, too, how much of the problem is that their premise is too similar to Psyche. I want to bring the comparison back to Bones, which is probably the lightest 'crime-drama' ever made, because it's 90% fun; few scenes are not played for laughs. It's really not even appropriate to refer to it as a drama anymore. I think the Mentalist would naturally fall down a similar path, because Simon Baker is at his best in this role when the character is having fun. However I think the writers might feel to tied to comparisons to Psyche, and are trying to stay off that path.

Maybe now that they have a hit on their hands, they can relax a bit, and let the show go naturally in the direction it wants. And there will probably a cast re-tooling by the second season. It's just enough there that i'll be sticking with it.

[The Penguin]

There hasn't been a lot of love for The Mentalist, but tonight we have the season finale of the #1 new show of the season.


http://wwwimage.cbs.com/cms/files/gallerix/albums/22/21615/full/97190_D0696b[1].jpg"Red John's Footsteps" - Season Finale
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 @ 9 p.m. ET/8 CT on CBS
Lisbon fears that serial killer Red John is drawing Patrick Jane into a trap.