Watch The Mentalist?

There are very few TV shows that my husband and I bother watching, but The Mentalist is one of them. The TV has become a vast wasteland and it behooves us to all pick and choose the best content for the time spent.

And this is good content. The Mentalist is a CBS TV show about the American criminal system and in particular, until this last season anyway, the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) based in Sacramento. It's police procedural show about the inclusion of an interesting self-proclaimed non-psychic, who has such powers of observation he could be a psychic. As a matter of fact, he used to make a living claiming to be a psychic, but that's what got him into so much trouble. He tweaked the nose/ego of a serial killer on national TV and came home to find that serial killer had murdered his wife and daughter. From then on Patrick Jane told everyone he was NOT a psychic, that he was a charlatan, and that psychics do not exist. But now he had to help capture the serial killer known as Red John. That's how he included himself as a civilian in the California Bureau of Investigation (I didn't know we had one) based in Sacramento.

Full episodes of The Mentalist can be seen through CBS.com online or on Sundays at 10 Pacific/9 Central Time.

Here you are: Three more seasons of those dreamy eyes!

Patrick Jane is played by an Australian Simon Baker but you wouldn't know that his American accent is excellent. With his dreamy sad eyes, Simon Baker is perfect for the part. In everything he does and says, you see the grief and anguish of his loss in his eyes. He is so sad, I'm sure every woman watching wants to take him home and take care of him. He isn't the Alpha-male type. I love the way he colors outside the lines and does things that are unexpected. He has a passive-aggressive manner and engages in some humorous antics that never cease to catch the bad guy and amaze the investigators.

The serial killer, Red John, gave me more than one nightmare, I can tell you. It seemed no one could catch him. Always one step ahead of the police and Patrick Jane, he was beginning to make me believe he either has psychic powers or he was a member of the police force.

Patrick Jane spent most of his time explaining there was no such thing as a psychic, and that he and anyone with powers of observation, could make it look like they were psychic. More than one episode touched on this theme, including the Red John episodes. Because of his powers of observation and some unusual mental tricks, the team was able to close a large and unprecedented number of cases. This is why they bothered to keep Patrick Jane, a civilian, on as a consultant. He wanted to stay with them to continue to search for Red John.

The lead investigator and CBI Senior Special Agent Teresa Lisbon, played by Robin Tunney, seems to be the only person able to keep Jane and his antics and lack of boundaries under control. Plus there seems to be a sexual tension going on between the two that the writers never explore. They claim they are only good friends. The rest of the CBI Special Agent team work well together and round out a great show. The Red John serial killer took them on many twists and turns through several seasons. It almost seemed as though if the Red John character was killed or brought to justice, that the show would be over, but that isn't the case. People are loyal enough to Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon to still want to know what happens next. I know I am. He and Lisbon make a good team. So much so that I was more than a little disappointed when Season 6 began with Jane working with another agent and Lisbon seemingly stuck behind a desk.

Many people are writing about The Mentalist. If you are interested in some Season 6 spoilers you can read about them here. In 2009, the show won the People’s Choice Award for “Favorite New TV Drama”.

Simon Baker and the show have been nominated for several awards. The show received an award for its scientific and critical thinking content from The IIG during the 10^th Anniversary Gala in 2010. Again this year the show has been nominated for the People’s Choice Award for Favorite TV Crime Drama.

My husband and I have had several conversations on whether or not there is such a thing as a psychic. Some people seem to have a sixth sense about things, but the jury is still out on whether psychics exist. Either way, the Patrick Jane character is fascinating to watch.

This is a must-watch series. If you haven't already, you should.