Pilot Review: The Mentalist

The Mentalist
CBS. Tuesdays at 9.
Cast: Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Amanda Righetti, Owain Yeoman, Shaun Toub, and Tim Kang

So, as a genre/classification, I’ll admit it: I’m a fan of procedurals. Not only is it nice to have a story that wraps up neatly in 60 minutes, but, usually, they tend to be entertaining. I really like procedurals when they have an interesting twist. So I was mildly excited for The Mentalist.

Now, I know what you’re probably not saying, “Nate, what’s the interesting twist?” I’m gonna tell you. The twist is to take the basic premise of “Psych”, a guy who is really observant uses his skill to solve crimes, and make it all dramatic. Now, I love Psych, it’s one of my favorite summer shows. The Mentalist, on the other hand, kinda blows. And the reason it blows is because it took the premise of Psych instead of the tone, which is where all the fun of Psych lies.

And, in losing the tone, the premise suddenly stops being likeable. See, whereas Shawn on Psych is likeable and, despite being observant, not necessarily the brightest person in the room, Patrick Jane (the titular Mentalist) just kind of comes across like a know-it-all tool. Which, as my liking of House proves, is not necessarily a deal breaker. But add that to the fact that the entire supporting cast (and their characters) is as dull as a piece of driftwood (and not even a cool piece of driftwood). No one is sympathetic, no one is interesting and the “investigation process” isn’t fun to watch. What’s all that add up to? A pretty bad pilot.

But as if that’s bad enough, all the performances either aren’t good or feel sleepwalked through. Simon Baker seems bored as the lead Patrick and Robin Tunney, as the lead cop barely even registers when she’s on screen she’s so low energy. Amanda Righetti, as the rookie and a believer in psychics, has a storyline that the creators clearly thought would be interesting, but it’s not. And the other two aren’t even worth mentioning, because they’re so firmly middle-of-the-road.

While The Mentalist is nowhere near the weakest pilot I’ve ever seen (One Word: Cavemen), there’s really basically nothing redeeming about it. I mean, if you’re super-duper pumped up for this show (although I have no idea why you would be), I’m not gonna say that you shouldn’t watch it. But for everyone else,

Rating: Not Worth Your Time