Writer: Bruno Heller
Director: David Nutter
Cast: Simon Baker (Patrick Jane), Robin Tunney (Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon), Tim Kang (Kimball Cho), Owain Yeoman (Wayne Rigsby), Shaun Toub (KJ Patel), Amanda Righetti (Grace Van Pelt), Kelvin Han Yee (Davis), Peter Ocheltree (Airport Passenger), D. David Morin (LAPD Captain), Tara Karsian (Medical Examiner) & Lana Asanin (Kelly)
Director: David Nutter
Cast: Simon Baker (Patrick Jane), Robin Tunney (Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon), Tim Kang (Kimball Cho), Owain Yeoman (Wayne Rigsby), Shaun Toub (KJ Patel), Amanda Righetti (Grace Van Pelt), Kelvin Han Yee (Davis), Peter Ocheltree (Airport Passenger), D. David Morin (LAPD Captain), Tara Karsian (Medical Examiner) & Lana Asanin (Kelly)
A crime consultant with heightened powers of observation, who once used his skills to fake being psychic, helps the police track down a serial-killer...Every review about The Mentalist is going to mention this, so let's get it out of the way: this show has exactly the same concept as Psych. In both shows, a "psychic" who used his powers of observation and deduction to fake supernatural abilities, turns his back on showbiz trickery to help the police catch criminals.
Fortunately for The Mentalist, not many people watch Psych, and its tone is at the opposite end of the crime procedural spectrum. While Psych is a light-hearted, humorous companion to Monk, The Mentalist is more sombre and treats its audience with a bit more intelligence. The deductions made here are less signposted, more intriguing and very plausible.
Australian-born Simon Baker plays Patrick Jane, the eponymous "mentalist" who gained minor celebrity by pretending to commune with grieving peoples' dead relatives on TV, before turning his back on that deception to become a crime consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Baker gives a good performances of nuance and intellect, while he's sure to be a hit with the female demographic. He uses humour well (particularly amongst his colleagues) and the character has a fun way of capturing bad-guys in a web of trickery, deception and mind-games. Imagine if Derren Brown decided to join the police force, basically...
Robin Tunney (Prison Break) plays Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon, an investigator who isn't comfortable with Patrick's unorthodox methods, but has to grudgingly admit he gets results. It's a bit cliché, but you need a character who doesn't embrace Patrick's abilities, although Tunney doesn't get the chance to show many other facets in this Pilot. Still, I've always liked Tunney, and it's nice to see her in another big drama after being unceremoniously killed-off in Prison Break.
Likewise, the supporting cast don't really get much to do, but that's to be expected in a Pilot focusing on its main character and explaining a premise, while delivering an enjoyable introductory plot. But there's promise already in their interactions and welcome presences: Tim Kang plays likeable Kimball Cho; Owain Yeoman (a dead-ringer for The Incredibles' super-dad) is Wayne Rigsby, a shy muscle-head; and pretty Amanda Righetti plays Grace Van Pelt, object of Rigsby's affections and firm believer in the supernatural.
British creator Bruno Heller (Rome) uses this Pilot to set-up a recurring storyline about serial-killer "Red John", which will likely to be returned to throughout the season, and who predictably has a connection to manhunter Patrick. Red John should provide cohesion to the season and Patrick's vendetta will be interesting to see develop -- so, although it's a plot-device we've seen countless times in the past (Profiler, Millennium, etc.), it worked brilliantly for Dexter just recently, too. And The Mentalist won't be chasing Red John in every episode, so it's just something extra simmering away in the background.
Production-wise, with The X-Files' David Nutter at the helm you can't really fault anything. Nutter's made a career out of helming TV Pilots; setting a tone and aesthetic for regular directors to inherit. See: Dark Angel, Roswell, Smallville, Supernatural, Without A Trace and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. This episode benefits from his vast experience and directorial eye for glossy, shadowy details.
Overall, it's still annoying The Mentalist has "stolen" Psych's concept so obviously, but I feel Bruno Heller has a better grasp of how the idea can, and should, be used. For a TV Pilot, this ticked all my boxes: I want to see more of the lead character, I sense the supporting cast have more to offer, the plot was effective and easy to follow, the direction was assured, the writing was quite sharp, groundwork was laid for a season-long story-arc, none of the performances irritated me, the storyline sometimes surprised, and the time flew by.
A good, solid start that earned my attention. One to watch.
Premieres: 23 September 2008 (CBS)
