The Mentalist
Police consultant Patrick Jane used to be a phony psychic. His heightened sensitivity to detail, manipulative skills and ability to read people helped him make a killing. But since a sadistic butcher murdered his family, Jane (Simon Baker) has partnered more aggressively with a homicide squad to solve killings.
Cut from the same cloth as Monk— only edgier—The Mentalist (CBS) features another smug- yet-likable San Francisco savant tormented by his wife's unsolved murder and committed to bringing evildoers to justice. Such men are 21st century superheroes for people who'd rather TiVo CSI than pick up a comic book. No masks. No capes. No secret identities. Their powers are cerebral and their weaknesses are, well, far more common than a fatal kryptonite allergy.
For example, Jane is a pragmatist who'll lie, cheat or pick a man's pocket to solve a case. Old habits die hard for this ex-charlatan. But since he scams bad people, the show's creators approve of his ethical relativism. At one point, Jane decides to keep quiet after catching an attractive casino employee stealing from her boss to pay for her mother's liver transplant. He persuades his friend, agent Lisbon (Robin Tunney), to let it slide too, arguing, "Why do we get so hung up on every little law someone breaks?" As that episode wraps, Jane cheats a lowlife card shark and anonymously leaves a briefcase full of ill-gotten cash at the hospital to cover the new organ.
More explicit concerns about this crime drama involve graphic murders in flashback, abusive language and frank sexual dialogue. In the show's tangled whodunits, the motives and red herrings frequently involve adulterous affairs or deviant behavior, from a whipped cream-wielding suspect preparing for a kinky encounter to a man killing his teenage daughter for refusing to continue an incestuous relationship. Drugs and alcohol often play a supporting role as well.
The Mentalist is intriguing and a bit frustrating at a spiritual level, as conversations about supernatural phenomena pit skepticism against faith. Jane doesn't buy into "real" psychics, but he also scoffs at the very notion of an afterlife. Conversely, a sweetly naive colleague named Grace tells him, "The Kingdom of God is a real place, Mr. Jane, and you have an eternal soul." That's terrific, but Grace is also open to the existence of metaphysical nonsense, and thinks a woman holding a séance may have a "precious gift." Apparently it's all or nothing.
The Mentalist is a smart, taut police procedural. If it sought less shock value and acknowledged a rational spiritual middle ground, it could achieve (if you'll pardon the pun) a happy medium.
Episodes Reviewed: Sept. 23, Nov. 11, 18, 25, Dec. 23, 2008