The Mentalist - Season 3 [DVD]

I always have to temper myself. I work as an investigator so constantly annoy my wife with complaints that they are not following up on investigative lines to ID the Red John network! REALITY CHECK - This is a highly entertaining TV show, nothing more.........great cast, interaction of characters, interesting plots with a ongoing sub plot in the background - sadness,joy and subtle laughter. This is simply my favorite show on TV at the moment, so I have bought them and now have my Mom and sister hooked too. Highly recommended.

The Mentalist of the title is Patrick Jane, a former showman who used his formidable powers of observation, intuition and hypnotic suggestion to pose as a physic. This all came crashing to a halt when he boasted on TV of having helped police search for an enigmatic serial killer known as Red John. In revenge, Red John murdered his family, leaving Patrick Jane a bitter and broken man.

In the series, Jane has joined the California Bureau of Investigation (a sort of small-scale version of the FBI for the State of California) as a consultant in order to work towards catching Red John. The new and cynical Jane has disavowed being psychic, but still uses his abilities to read witnesses, trick people into confessions, and totally infuriate the CBI staff he works with. By season 3, Jane has encountered Red John several times without getting much closer to catching him, although he now realises is very influential and well-connected, and it's still not clear if he has an agenda, or is just totally psychotic.

The team is led by Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) with two experienced male agents called Kimball Cho and Wayne Rigsby. Grace Van Pelt is a newcomer who has gradually come into her own. Jane is played to excellent effect by Simon Baker, who keeps him interesting and watchable despite often being enigmatic, moody, and infuriating.

The usual episode sees the team being called to a murder scene that the local town police can't handle. Jane will appear to bumble around the edges, asking sharp questions and sarcastically dismissing the ideas of the professionals. Eventually, he will pull some trick that reveals the truth in an impressively clever way, although he often misjudges his cleverness and has to be rescued from an angry criminal by the team.

The idea of Cop-plus-specialist is not a new one (Bones, Castle, Cracker, etc), but The Mentalist has forged a unique identity for itself. It mixes some grim scenes with personal humour and some well played interactions between the characters. Jane and Lisbon are the central characters without the show revolving around them, as the other members of the team have come into their own, although Rigsby is probably still a bit stereotypical. Cho's gang background comes up here and there, although he spends most his time as a deadpan but effective interrogator. Van Pelt does a good job of bringing some colour to the team, and her romantic subplot with Rigsby takes a twist this season. However, the heart of the show is Jane helping and infuriating Lisbon, and she increasingly takes professional risks to keep his help for the team.

The end of season two saw a bizarre encounter between Jane and Red John, which leaves Jane with some enigmatic clues to follow. The mystery deepens through the season, as it come clear that Red John has sources in the CBI that let him follow events and sabotage investigations. One problem within the CBI is the arrival of LaRoche, and internal investigator who seems happy to accuse anyone of anything just to see how they react. The season conclusion is appropriately dramatic and does a good job of bringing much of the plot together while leaving plenty of further mysteries to be solved.

The Mentalist is very watchable, mainly because Simon Baker makes Jane a believably flawed but brilliant man. Individual episodes are always interesting and watchable, and the central mystery draws you to watch more.

The weekly detective show has a real danger of becoming dangerously samey quite quickly, especially in the US. These shows often come in 24-26 episode chunks, so by the time Season 3 starts you already have 50 episodes in the bag. `The Mentalist' has hit this milestone and like so many similar shows it is already starting to show its age, as once more Patrick Jane and Lisbon set out to solve a series of crimes that require Lisbon's cop instincts and Jane's observational powers. To spice things up the Red John theme plays a more prominent role in proceedings as it appears someone in the precinct is a spy for the notorious serial killer.

`The Mentalist' is at its best when Jane is at his meanest. In Season 3 he is more troubled than snarky and this makes him a slightly blander character at times. With the disappearance of a potential love interest he worries about her safety, rather than looking down his nose at the various suspects he comes across. Despite a slight personality shift, Jane is still by far and away the best character in the show. Lisbon is solid backup - although I believe any criminal worth their salt could snap her easily in two. The rest of the cast become increasingly side-lined - why bother keeping three colleagues if all they do is stand around? One nice element is the introduction of LaRouche, sent in to investigate the team; he manages to shake things up towards the end of the season and breathes new life into the show.

It is in these final few episodes as the Red John stories pile up that Season 3 peaks. There is a conclusion that is both entertaining and full of potential for further episodes. It is just a shame that around half the episodes of season 3 are starting to feel slightly stale and are only saved by the acting of Simon Baker.

The boxset comes with some interesting behind the scenes footage, including a look at Baker's first time as a director.