![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
The Mentalist: A Primer
Yes, it's the show that your grandmother watches. No, it's not a just a serious version of Psych.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way...
The Mentalist is a CBS show about the Serious Crimes Unit of the California Bureau of Investigation and the titular mentalist who works as their consultant. They are "like the FBI, only more conveniently located" and offer their assistance in murder cases that are difficult, or just high-profile, when they're not tracking down the serial killer Red John.
The show is on the smarter and more liberal end of the procedural spectrum, and though on the surface it's more cute and whimsical than realistic and gritty, it has a dark and disturbing underbelly like some unholy union between Castle and Dexter.
Also, it has one of the most messed up main characters on primetime TV.
Or: The Awesome Team CBI.
After the death of his family he joined CBI, helping them solve murders with the tricks of his former trade in exchange to an access to the Red John case. He closes cases, which is why CBI keeps him around even though he often gets into trouble thanks to the complicated Rube-Goldberg-machine-esque schemes he comes up with toamuse himself catch the killers.
For a lot of people, he's the necessary evil but for me he's the main attraction. What I like most about him is that even though he's a dark and tragic character, he's not a one-dimensional Brooding Avenger. He's smiling and cheerful, and loves life's little pleasures (and cute fluffy animals), but he's also lonely and sad and broken beyond repair, and hits pretty much every character kink I've ever had.
Plus he's a smart, tea-loving atheist with fabulous hair - what is there not to love!
CLIP: Jane doing his thing at a crime scene
CLIP: Jane and his brother-in-law talk about his wife
She is the Watson to Jane's Holmes and the knight in shining armour to his damsel in distress, and equally likely to hold his hand or to punch him in the nose and call him on his bullshit. If you like Dana Scully, Karrin Murphy, and Susan Ivanova, you'll love Lisbon.
CLIP: Jane and Lisbon talk about trust
CLIP: Lisbon saves the day
Cho is on his own already pretty much enough of a reason for anyone to watch the show. Because no matter how bad an episode, it will always have at least one scene of Cho being awesome. He usually gets the best lines, and when it comes to badassery, he's only second to Lisbon.
CLIP: Cho is interviewed for a documentary
CLIP: Van Pelt gets out of the office for a change
I don't have that much to say about Rigsby since he's my (and pretty much everyone elses) least favourite member of the team, but he is a good example of why I like the show: because even though he's basically the zeppo of the team, he's still smart and competent, and a damn good cop.
CLIP: Jane teaches Rigsby a card trick
Because it's entertaining :)
The reason I originally fell in love with The Mentalist was because it made me smile. It's funny, it's thrilling, and sometimes heartbreaking. It has a cast of interesting characters who are all competent and smart but have their own quirks and flaws, and who feel like real people who actually like working with each other. The dialogue is great, and at its best as quotable as anything written by Joss Whedon. There is actual continuity!
If you like:
Give The Mentalist a try.
(as a bonus, the show is also very good place to spot genre actors - the guest stars have included people like Morena Baccarin, Malcolm McDowell, Sebastian Roche, Reed Diamond, Harry Groener, J. August Richards, Sean Maher, Christopher Judge, Andrea Parker, Nick Chinlund, Jim Beam, and about half the cast of Voyager and Enterprise)
Season 6 begins September 29th. The show's on Sundays 10:00 Eastern/Pacific on CBS, and the same time on CTV in Canada.
If you want to catch up with the show quickly, here are the episodes that deal with the main arc:
Season 1: "Pilot", "Red John's Friends", "Red John's Footsteps"
Season 2: "Redemption", "His Red Right Hand", "Red Sky in the Morning"
Season 3: "Red Sky at Night", "The Blood in His Hands", "Red Moon", "Jolly Red Elf", "Red Queen", "Redacted", "Strawberries and Cream"
Season 4: "Scarlet Ribbons", "Blinking Red Light", "Always Bet on Red", "Red Is the New Black", "His Thoughts Were Red Thoughts", "Cheap Burgundy", "Red Rover, Red Rover", "Crimson Hat"
Season 5: "Crimson Ticket", "Red Dawn", "If It Bleeds, It Leads", "Red Sails in the Sunset", "Days of Wine and Roses", "Little Red Corvette", "The Red Barn", "There Will Be Blood", "Red John's Rules"
Although especially from S3 onwards, the show has become more serialised with many plot points being set up or foreshadowed in the non-arc episodes, so just watching the arc episodes can leave you slightly confused (and also, you'll be missing on a lot of good stuff).
Now that we've gotten that out of the way...
"How am I supposed to know who you are? You're banging on my door: 'CBI! CBI!' Like that's supposed to mean something?"
"Yeah, we do need better brand awareness."
-- 1x21 "Blood Brothers"
The Mentalist is a CBS show about the Serious Crimes Unit of the California Bureau of Investigation and the titular mentalist who works as their consultant. They are "like the FBI, only more conveniently located" and offer their assistance in murder cases that are difficult, or just high-profile, when they're not tracking down the serial killer Red John.
The show is on the smarter and more liberal end of the procedural spectrum, and though on the surface it's more cute and whimsical than realistic and gritty, it has a dark and disturbing underbelly like some unholy union between Castle and Dexter.
Also, it has one of the most messed up main characters on primetime TV.
THE CHARACTERS
Or: The Awesome Team CBI.
Patrick Jane
An ex-carny and con artist who used to make a good living pretending to be able to talk to the dead. About five years before the beginning of the show, he was assisting the police as a psychic detective when he insulted Red John on live television and then came home to find his wife and small daughter murdered.After the death of his family he joined CBI, helping them solve murders with the tricks of his former trade in exchange to an access to the Red John case. He closes cases, which is why CBI keeps him around even though he often gets into trouble thanks to the complicated Rube-Goldberg-machine-esque schemes he comes up with to
For a lot of people, he's the necessary evil but for me he's the main attraction. What I like most about him is that even though he's a dark and tragic character, he's not a one-dimensional Brooding Avenger. He's smiling and cheerful, and loves life's little pleasures (and cute fluffy animals), but he's also lonely and sad and broken beyond repair, and hits pretty much every character kink I've ever had.
Plus he's a smart, tea-loving atheist with fabulous hair - what is there not to love!
CLIP: Jane doing his thing at a crime scene
CLIP: Jane and his brother-in-law talk about his wife
Teresa Lisbon
Lisbon is the long-suffering head of the serious crimes unit, a high profile team which thanks to Jane closes more cases than other teams but also attracts most lawsuits and complaints. She is Jane's closest and possibly only friend, and the one person who knows just how dangerously obsessed he is with Red John. But she fights to keep him in her team - even though she knows that one day he will get her fired or worse - because he does help her catch a lot of bad guys and because she knows that his job is pretty much the only thing he has left in his life.She is the Watson to Jane's Holmes and the knight in shining armour to his damsel in distress, and equally likely to hold his hand or to punch him in the nose and call him on his bullshit. If you like Dana Scully, Karrin Murphy, and Susan Ivanova, you'll love Lisbon.
CLIP: Jane and Lisbon talk about trust
CLIP: Lisbon saves the day
Kimball Cho
If Lisbon is the Mom of the serious crime family, then Cho is the Dad (Jane is the funny drunken uncle). He's Lisbon's second in command and is usually the one who handles the more difficult interrogations when he's not babysitting Jane or or listening to Rigsby's love-troubles.Cho is on his own already pretty much enough of a reason for anyone to watch the show. Because no matter how bad an episode, it will always have at least one scene of Cho being awesome. He usually gets the best lines, and when it comes to badassery, he's only second to Lisbon.
CLIP: Cho is interviewed for a documentary
Grace Van Pelt
Van Pelt is the youngest and newest member of the team and the resident computer girl, though her job entails mostly just looking things up on google because CBI can't actually afford any technology more advanced than outdated laptops. She often resents the fact that she is usually left behind while others go out on the field, but she can kick ass with the best of them when she's given the chance.CLIP: Van Pelt gets out of the office for a change
Wayne Rigsby
Rigsby is the 'muscle' of the team, who often ends up doing stake-outs and legwork together with his BFF Cho. He tends to fall for Jane's tricks more often than his colleagues, and has been hopelessly in love with Van Pelt ever since she joined the team.I don't have that much to say about Rigsby since he's my (and pretty much everyone elses) least favourite member of the team, but he is a good example of why I like the show: because even though he's basically the zeppo of the team, he's still smart and competent, and a damn good cop.
CLIP: Jane teaches Rigsby a card trick
WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH THIS THING
Because it's entertaining :)
The reason I originally fell in love with The Mentalist was because it made me smile. It's funny, it's thrilling, and sometimes heartbreaking. It has a cast of interesting characters who are all competent and smart but have their own quirks and flaws, and who feel like real people who actually like working with each other. The dialogue is great, and at its best as quotable as anything written by Joss Whedon. There is actual continuity!
If you like:
- Close friendships and chosen families (Jane & Lisbon's friendship is my second favourite thing in the universe right now)
- Competence porn
- Clever dialogue and snarky characters
- Creepy serial killers and enemyslash (seriously, Jane and Red John's relationship was described in canon "a form of love")
- Really pretty people
Give The Mentalist a try.
(as a bonus, the show is also very good place to spot genre actors - the guest stars have included people like Morena Baccarin, Malcolm McDowell, Sebastian Roche, Reed Diamond, Harry Groener, J. August Richards, Sean Maher, Christopher Judge, Andrea Parker, Nick Chinlund, Jim Beam, and about half the cast of Voyager and Enterprise)
WHERE CAN YOU WATCH THIS THING
Season 6 begins September 29th. The show's on Sundays 10:00 Eastern/Pacific on CBS, and the same time on CTV in Canada.
If you want to catch up with the show quickly, here are the episodes that deal with the main arc:
Season 1: "Pilot", "Red John's Friends", "Red John's Footsteps"
Season 2: "Redemption", "His Red Right Hand", "Red Sky in the Morning"
Season 3: "Red Sky at Night", "The Blood in His Hands", "Red Moon", "Jolly Red Elf", "Red Queen", "Redacted", "Strawberries and Cream"
Season 4: "Scarlet Ribbons", "Blinking Red Light", "Always Bet on Red", "Red Is the New Black", "His Thoughts Were Red Thoughts", "Cheap Burgundy", "Red Rover, Red Rover", "Crimson Hat"
Season 5: "Crimson Ticket", "Red Dawn", "If It Bleeds, It Leads", "Red Sails in the Sunset", "Days of Wine and Roses", "Little Red Corvette", "The Red Barn", "There Will Be Blood", "Red John's Rules"
Although especially from S3 onwards, the show has become more serialised with many plot points being set up or foreshadowed in the non-arc episodes, so just watching the arc episodes can leave you slightly confused (and also, you'll be missing on a lot of good stuff).
no subject
no subject
no subject