The Mentalist (2008– )

An infamous 'psychic' abandons his public persona, outing himself as a fake, to focus on his work as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation in order to find "Red John," the madman who killed his wife and daughter.

Creator:

Bruno Heller

Stars:

Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 12 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Simon Baker	...	Patrick Jane (116 episodes, 2008-2013)
Robin Tunney	...	Teresa Lisbon (116 episodes, 2008-2013)
Tim Kang	...	Kimball Cho (116 episodes, 2008-2013)
Owain Yeoman	...	Wayne Rigsby (116 episodes, 2008-2013)
Amanda Righetti	...	Grace Van Pelt (116 episodes, 2008-2013)

Storyline

After a serial killer named Red John murdered Patrick Jane's wife and daughter, Jane dedicated his life to hunting down and killing Red John. To that end he gave up his lucrative pretense of being a psychic and joined the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a consultant to the team responsible for investigating the Red John case, led by Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon. Using Jane's exceptional gift for observation and his mentalist tricks, the team is able to close an unprecedented number of cases, but Jane's unconventional and often outright illegal methods also bring much censure down on Lisbon's head, making his assistance both a blessing and a curse. Meanwhile, the hunt for Red John continues...

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Plot Keywords:

investigation | california | detective | serial killer | police consultant | 

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Taglines:

He reads between the lies

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

CBS [us] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mentalist

Filming Locations:

Sacramento, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min 43 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Patrick Jane's personal car is an early 1970s model Citroën DS, manufactured in France from 1955-1975, and sold in the USA from 1956-1972. The DS was the first mass production car to offer hydropneumatic self-leveling suspension with an option for the driver to manually raise or lower the chassis at the push of a button.

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Goofs

In the episode "Red Flame", Jane and Tommy were talking about the book "Moby Dick". Tommy states that the whale died at the end. Moby Dick killed Ahab, but survived.

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Quotes

Patrick Jane: Revenge is a poison. Revenge is fit only for fools and madmen.

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Connections

Spoofed in El mentalisto (2010)

User Reviews

Definitely not a Copycat

I honestly say that the first I heard of this show I thought the premise was too simple and too recurrent. However I seem to find myself waiting impatiently for each week's episode and what is Patrick going to pull this time!

Also, I'm sick and tired of all the comparisons with Psych and House and whatever you may come up with! This show is NOT House, it's NOT Psych, it has a clear identity and is surely not a copycat. Sure it has similar elements: the House-like vibe of the background music and types of situations, or the Psych-like fact that the main character can spot details with one look; but what show these days doesn't? I mean, all CSI variants are the same! Come on...

So I tell you: this is a very good show, it can still pick up some pace (at least I can see that they're taking advantage of the Anime-style fillers) but every episode is fun to watch and grips you to the last minute.

The main character was what surprised me the most though. Despite the fact that being Portuguese I enjoy that the lead detective is called Lisbon, Mr Patrick Jane seemed just another pretty face on TV. However I can now see that I was terribly wrong: it is a great character and is portrayed by a very good actor; the changes between whimsical smiles and disturbing stares are... well disturbingly good!

So watch it, it's worth it and you might learn a thing or two!