THE MENTALIST stars Simon Baker, whose character in this series is named Patrick Jane. Simon Baker has also been a Golden Globe Award nominee,and previously starred in the series, THE GUARDIAN.

In THE MENTALIST, Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) is an independent consultant for the CBI (California Bureau of Investigation). His method for solving cases and his ability to do so is uncanny. It is as if he is psychic. In his past, he made a living as a psychic medium, but now he protests that there is no such thing as psychics. He claims to be merely an excellent observer. His observation skills are are finely-honed and he is always right in his so-called "guesses". He also has a penchant for trouble when he refuses to adhere to the protocol of the Bureau.

His ability to solve cases is greatly appreciated and valued by his fellow-agents, one of whom is Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon. Lisbon openly admits that she would like to have Jane out of her unit, but begrudgingly gives him his due when it comes to solving cases. Even though she does not appreciate his theatrics and dangerous lack of boundaries (and she lets him know), it seems she is always defending him to her superiors and bailing him out of trouble with the Bureau.

Other fellow agents include Kimball Cho, an agent whom I have never seen crack a smile, Wayne Rigsby, who is comical in his own way, and rookie member Grace Van Pelt, who feels that Jane is really going to land them all in trouble one day, but she, too, admires the way he can solve cases. Rigsby and Van Pelt begin a love affair, which is strictly against Bureau regulations, but everyone on the team knows about it and just keep their mouths shut.

There is also a story under all the other stories. There is a killer loose whose name is Red John. When Patrick was a supposed "psychic" he appeared on a television show and made some wise crack about Red John. When he came home that evening he found his wife and little girl murdered by the hand of Red John. The CBI know when Red John Strikes because of his M.O., but also because of the smiling face which Red John draws on the wall, using the victim's blood for the disgusting task. So every few episodes, someone is victimized by Red John and Jane is on the hunt again for this killer -- it is personal to him.

On another note, the title of each episode has something to do with the color "red". The audience can only believe that perhaps in the final episode of this series, Patrick Jane will find Red John; and when he does, what will he do? It gives the audience pause to think about this future episode.

This series is great for those who like murder mysteries. This series also has great moments of comedy. Patrick Jane reminds me of Columbo, an older version of this character. Columbo also was uncanny in his observations. If you like murder mysteries and action series, then this is the series for you.

I really enjoy the charm of Patrick Jane. He is continually smiling in this series, which gives it a little lighter side to it. I love the way he solves the cases and sees things that no one else sees; and of course, he is alway right. Besides that, for us girls -- he is very handsome.

Actually, there is nothing I can think of that I do not like about this series.

When I finished viewing this entire first season of THE MENTALIST, I wanted to go out and buy the second season!

This DVD is good especially when you need a distraction from life. I think that everyone who watches television is actually trying to escape from real life for a while, and this series does the trick.

I think the cast of this television show is excellent. You could not have found a better lead than Simon Baker. Simon Baker is from Australia, but he hides his accent very well (although on occasions it comes out just a little bit, but you can't notice it}. The tension between Jane and Lisbon is great. The love affair between Rigsby and Van Pelt is obvious in the way they look at each other, and Cho -- well he is just Cho and I am always waiting to catch him smiling.

This is an excellent series, especially if you like murder-mysteries-action shows. If you like crime detective shows, then this is the television show for you. It is mostly about the crime, but it does have some wonderful light-hearted scenes to help ease the tension.

As I said before, when I finished watching the first season of THE MENTALIST, I wanted to go out and buy the second season. This show is on still, but I am not sure which season they are in because I did not start watching it until recently and after seeing a few times, I was hooked. Everyone likes a good television series. This is one of my favorite television shows.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of The Mentalist: The Complete First Season   from Amazon.Com!

Created Jun 09, 2010 at 10:36am • Submit your own review...