Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) is a mentalist, helping the CBI (California Bureau of Investigation) with their cases.
A mentalist-as the definition appears on the screen right before each episode starts- is someone who uses mental acuity, hypnosis and/or suggestion.
Patrick used to pass himself off as a psychic and had more than a good 15 minutes of fame too. But when the serial killer he was helping the police catch killed his family to show he wasn’t as smooth or smart he believed himself to believe. After that, Patrick assists the CBI full-time. He profiles the suspects and the victims. By using his mental capabilities, he makes almost perfect assumptions. Although his theories don’t always amuse the detective in charge, Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney), she is aware of how big an asset he is. Mind you, she doesn’t always approve of his tactics. However, more often than not, he ends up being right.
A good friend of mine suggested I should watch The Mentalist. His reasoning was that I loved House and there was a big chance I would like this show too. As a fellow House addict, he wasn’t wrong. There are some uncanny similarities in the way how their mind works, how smart they are and how much attention they pay to details and how much they can derive from little stuff that could mean not much to others.
There are of course many differences as well. Patrick Jane doesn’t really mind talking to people. He takes pleasure in figuring them out whereas House really hates every extra “social” minute he has to spend. He is less of a loner and he used to be much less unconventional. He was married with a kid, until it was taken away from him. He sure gets to smile more often. But the thing is, there is no reason a fan of House can’t enjoy The Mentalist and vice versa.
Simon Baker is a good actor. You might have dismissed the tv show The Guardian he was previously starring in. I did. And you could have just labeled him as the pretty boy in The Devil Wears Prada. However, when I watched him in Sex and Death 101, I realized that he could indeed be worthy of all the fuss. Don’t be fooled by IMDB’s genre tags for Sex and Death 101. It is not a romantic comedy by any means. It is a black/dark comedy and obviously the romance is attached is very unconventional to say the least. Not a great movie but it is interesting and different. And then I watched him in The Lodger. He plays the mysterious lodger who may or may not be a serial killer, highly admiring Jack The Ripper. And again, although the movie wasn’t that good, Simon was.
Finally, Baker is the leading actor in a show well worthy of his talent and of your time. It is interesting, captivating and sometimes gruesome (due to the nature of the crimes). But our character Patrick does not come without a sense of humor. And neither do Teresa and the members of her team. And it is set in California, my favorite place on earth.
As the tagline of the show states, let the mind games begin. And I do love a good mind game!
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