The Mentalist - season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Mikah Cerucco]

The one thing I don't like about the show is it starts with the premise that psychics, etc. aren't real, and that everything is done based on solid principles, but it often doesn't give even a cursory explanation of those principles. It's one thing I enjoy about watching House, and I'd enjoy it here as well. Even watching Boston Legal, I learned what Tortious Interference is. There's nothing like being educated a bit while being entertained. This show has the potential for that, but I don't really see it happening. In fact, it takes me from one vague thing (Psychics, etc.) and replaces it with another vague thing.

 

[Garrett Adams]

I thought last night's episode was a fabulous fun ride. Baker nailed it.

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

I liked it. And I especially liked that answers were provided as things went along (for the most part).

 

[todd s]

Another good episode. I am glad its doing well in the ratings. Usually, shows I like are cancelled after half a season.

 

[Jeff]

Man this show is awful. I watched 20 minutes and that was enough, there's just nothing redeeming about it. I don't know what's worse Baker's constant grin or his know-it-all psycho analyzing. The supporting players are just as bad. Typical network crap.

 

[Joe_H]

I've been lukewarm on this show at times, but tonight was a great return for the series. I'm sure they won't, if the show gets multiple seasons, but more episodes like tonight's where he's trying to track down Red John to push the overall narrative along faster would only help this show I think.

 

[NeilO]

 

[todd s]

Well from last nights episode we have to assume Red John is in law enforcement.
I wonder if its...
The head of the CBI Virgil Minelli(Gregory Itzin)? He would have access to the database. And would know the movements of his agents. Just a guess.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Why? The clear implication (at least in the dialogue) was that Red John was hacking into the system from the outside and had been for some time. If he can do that to one CBI system he can certainly compromise others, so any "inside" information he has proves nothing one way or the other about his being in law enforcement himself.

Trivia moment: Both of the brothers in this episode have previously appeared on CSI: Todd Stashwick (Jared) played a poker player in "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold", while Gabriel Olds played a sleazy lawyer involved in a DUI hit-and-run in "Anatomy of a Lye".

Actually, both actors have appeared in a lot of crime shows, and Olds has played a lawyer in several non-crime shows. I wonder if the producers of all these shows just watch the competition or if they all use the same casting agents.

In addition to doing CSI Olds has appeared on J.A.G., Numbers, Cold Case, L&O: SVU and Criminal Minds, while Stashwick has hit the CSI trifecta as well as showing up in two out of three L&O series (SVU, CI), Monk, Crossing Jordan, Burn Notice, Psych and Life.

And I enjoyed the episode. Generally when I dislike a show (or a movie for that matter) and decide I never want to watch it again, I don't bother posting about it. 1) It isn't really worth my time and 2) I assume any thread devoted to a series or movie is mostly going to attact people who liked at least some aspects of it. A TV show thread is sort of like a clubhouse for fans of that show. I've never seen the point of inviting myself in just to pee on the carpet.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Hanson]

I enjoyed the past ep, but I was bothered by one thing in the reveal:

Why was the son's mother upset about the relationship with his half-sister (which was understandable) but the girl's mother (the housekeeper) appeared unconcerned about the same relationship? If anyone should know the bloodlines, it would be the housekeeper. Was there supposed to be another reveal that the two were unrelated, and that the dowager's assumption that the girl was her husband's daughter was incorrect? That would mean she killed the girl for no good reason.

Whenever my wife and I see Todd Stashwick, we always say, "hey, it's Dale from The Riches!" I always think he's secretly a conman regardless of his actual role.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

We don't know that she was unconcerned about it. The subject never came up when Jane and Lisbon interviewed her because Jane didn't figure that angle out until later. We never saw the Udine's mother in a context where the fact of the incest was being discussed. We don't even know when she found out about it or what her original reaction was. It could have been only days before her daughter's death. (Everyone except Jared and Gardner's mother seemed to have been surprised by the affair at the time of the killing.)

We only know that months after the event she lied about the affair in court, having been paid off to do so.

A year later, with her daughter dead and buried, it isn't likely that she'd bring up the incest angle while talking to two strangers she didn't much like to begin with. There was no need for a "second reveal" or any plot revisions.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Hanson]

The housekeper knew about the affair, and that they were in love. If she knew immediately about the incest (and she should being the mother of the girl), it's implausible that she just let it go. She broke down pretty easily to Jane about the payoff, it's hard to believe she didn't confess about the incest as well (which would have weighed just as heavily on her mind).

 

[todd s]

Your cleaning that up!


The guy who played Jared also appeared as a Terminator in a recent episode of the Sarah Connor Chronicles. He seems to be the hot new guest actor on tv shows now.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Why? The payoff was what Jane was asking about. She was already guilty and ashamed about that, and it was hard for her to confess it. Why one Earth does everyone think she would volunteer to a perfect stranger (who had no prior knowledge of any of this) that Udine was her illegitimate child who just happened to be involved in an incestuous affair with her own half-brother? Especially since the mother had no way of knowing that this fact might be relevant to the murder investigation? (She did not know that anyone else was wise to the affair or the identity of Udine's father.)

I just don't see this as any sort of "issue".

Regards,

Joe

 

[Garrett Adams]

Ditto here. Stashwick has certainly gotten a lot of work since that gig. He's pushing Garret Dillahunt for the highest visibility title.

 

[Mr. Film]

This is definetly my favorite Drama on TV. Simon Baker does an incredible job of playing the quick witted genius known as Patrick Jane. I beleive that the writers are some of the best and the smartest writers in TV today. It is not as predictible as some other shows in it's genre (CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, etc...). Even if an episode is predictable, Patrick Jane keeps me enjoying the show with his humor and the fact that he is the smartest guy on the show. His on going power struggle with Red John is just yet another reason I watch this show weekly. Yes it does have some similaitys with Psych, but The Mentalist is a crime drama not an comedy.

 

[Mr. Film]

I doubt he's in Law enforcment.

 

[Joe_H]

One little nitpick I had this week... Wasn't Jane suspended last episode? Couldn't they have put in some throwaway line about him being on probation or something like that just for some slight continuity there?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

He wasn't suspended, he quit.

The rest of the team was suspended for helping him - but the boss didn't file the suspension paperwork. Instead he went out of town for awhile and promised he'd tear it all up if Lisbon and company took care of business by the time he got back. Otherwise he'd make the suspensions official.

Once Jane solved the case, he presumably withdrew his resignation and the boss (back from vacation and without having actually suspended anyone) was happy to go along.

I don't think it is a big deal. It is also possible that the network is airing the shows out of order, something they frequently do with non-serialized shows, and we might get a call-back to this next week or even the week after.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Joe_H]

Oh I agree that it wasn't really a big deal, that's why it was only a nitpick rather than an issue for me.