The Mentalist

“The Mentalist” can usually be seen on CBS on Sundays at 10 pm. They are currently in their sixth season and have received numerous award nominations and critical praise. The show follows Patrick Jane (Simon Baker), who is a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigations and a former fake psychic. He helps the CBI solve homicide cases while he inches closer and closer to finding the serial killer that took the lives of his wife and daughter several years ago. The show’s 5th season was recently released and has all the episodes over 5 DVDs spanning 946 minutes.
I have heard of the show, but have never seen a single episode until now. It is an interesting, but not unique, twist on a mystery/drama/thriller TV show. Patrick Jane comes off as an arrogant jerk that does as he pleases without the d\fear of consequence. I do not feel any remorse for him whatsoever. Also, after several episodes, I noticed the same pattern being used over and over again. The crimes, the suspects, and the victims were different, but the show, overall, lacked variety to keep my attention.
The supporting cast was a lot more likeable and I felt worse for them for having to deal with Patrick Jane. I know Patrick is supposed to be the flawed protagonist, but is it bad that I am hoping he loses in the end? The show felt more like the TV show “House” mixed in with a crime drama. The acting was not bad, but would have liked to see more variety. There are other better crime dramas on TV that I recommend watching a lot more than “The Mentalist: Season 5.” For those reasons, I am giving this TV DVD season a “C-.”