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The Mentalist
SERIES: CBS, Tuesday 9:00p (60 minutes)


7.8

based on 26 reviews
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based on 26 votes
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Get more information on this show at TV.com.

Official Show Site

Starring Simon Baker, and Robin Tunney

Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) is a former TV psychic who tries his hand at real police work.

GENRE(S):	Crime, Drama
CREATED BY:	Bruno Heller
FIRST AIR DATE:	September 23, 2008

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron

This role is tailor-made for Baker, who has a flair for playing irreverent characters who are crucial to the success of the system even as they tweak its authority figures.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

In its solidly crafted premiere, the CBS drama demonstrates admirable restraint while still telling a reasonably interesting story.

Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart

The Mentalist is safe, predictable, manufactured crime drama … and it works.

Los Angeles Times Mary McNamara

Psychological sleight of hand can't fill an hour every week. For that you need complicated, interesting crimes and complicated, interesting characters solving them. The Mentalist seems prepared to deliver just that.

Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker

Stunning opening suggests the potential. It's Baker's show, and he excels. But guest stars impress, too.

Newsday Verne Gay

The formula--must find murderer of beautiful woman before last commercial break--predates the dinosaurs, but also incorporates some satisfying twists.

USA Today Robert Bianco

The Mentalist may be a copy, but it's a well-done copy sparked by an actor who has come into his own as a TV star.

Entertainment Weekly Gillian Flynn

The tricks he performs are overshadowed by the glee with which Baker performs them. Like any good grifter, he gets a genuine thrill out of entertaining, manipulating, or confusing people.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

The CBS show has very little dramatic heft or distinction, but it's wily and brisk enough to engage you for an hour.

LA Weekly Robert Abele

Because as much as Baker's suavely sly version of a gotcha artist is a welcome addition, thanks to a few not-so-hidden laws of character-actor placement, you'll guess the pilot scenario's killer before anybody else.

Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray

The Mentalist is anything but irksome, proving once again that watchable television isn't so much about originality--if something hasn't been done before, there might be a reason--as it is about execution.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

It's not groundbreaking TV, but the pilot does a good job of introducing the characters, their relationships, their potential relationships.

The New York Times Alessandra Stanley

Mr. Baker keeps The Mentalist easy on the eyes and brain.

Washington Post Tom Shales

Baker and his wily line readings and intimidatingly sly stares can snap the show out of occasional stupors.

Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz

Its semi-psychic hero is intriguing enough and confident enough--not everybody can sneak a hypnosis-inducing trance into an exchange with a reluctant witness as deftly as he can--to bring viewers under his spell.

Slate Troy Patterson

Its detective plots are cozily formulaic, its defining twist cheerfully preposterous. As cop-show comfort food, it's a kind of California fusion cooked up to appeal to people fed up with techno-beat lab scenes.

Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall

Baker has an unforced masculinity that allows him to play likable bastards like this, and with the other regular characters (played by Robin Tunney, Owain Yeoman, Tim Kang and Amanda Righetti) so far ciphers at best, he's able to carry the show by his lonesome.

Salon Heather Havrilesky

The results are satisfying, and suspenseful, yes, but also a little bit stupid and predictable, too.

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

There's an old-school feel to the storytelling (shades of "Columbo") that makes it feel comfortable--perhaps too comfortable, or at least too easy.

Variety Brian Lowry

Baker does possess a certain roguish charm, and writer Bruno Heller ("Rome") and pilot-directing guru David Nutter mine that--as well as the central character's slightly menacing backstory--to try and invest the series with a bit of depth, mostly to little avail.

PopMatters Cynthia Fuchs

Patrick dramatizes his sense of superiority, intimidating and irritating just about anyone who comes in contact with him....The Mentalist does offer its own charms, chief among them Baker’s low-key, apparently complicated sarcasm.

Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm

Smart guys from the outskirts of society have been solving tough cases entertainingly at least as long as Sherlock Holmes. The Mentalist simply presents another, along with no compelling reason either to tune in or turn off.

New York Post Adam Buckman

Too many serial killers threaten to overwhelm The Mentalist, whose charismatic lead character can stand on his own, if the show's producers would only realize that murders committed singly can be just as interesting as serial murders, and just as difficult to solve, too

Baltimore Sun David Zurawik

As the lead, Simon Baker is too one-note smirky for me.

New York Magazine John Leonard

And so far, so-so.

Miami Herald Glenn Garvin

The smirky cynicism, savage mockery of New Age verities and prickly atheism of its lead character could have made The Mentalist fascinating (if not altogether pleasant) viewing. Instead, it turns down the same formulaic path as CBS' other police procedurals, a sort of CSI-with-a-fake-crystal-ball.

The average user rating for this tv show is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 26 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Spiros K. gave it a9:
The star character is very well built to be extremely smart but pleasant and likable at the same time. Very well played by Baker.

Sash M. gave it a9:
Wow, this show is really exciting, I love it. Simon Baker is simply put, Legendary. He performs spectacularly and is half the reason I come back again and again to watch this show. It is quite similar to Psyche but that show is great, so what is everyone complaining about. it's not like Bruno Heller copied a (for lack of a better word) "sh*tty" show.

Angela P gave it a10:
The entire cast does a wonderful job of gaining attention of the audience. It is wonderful to watch a show (without having to do too much thinking following a long day of work) and be able to feel a connection to the characters. The Mentalist has become my DVR's best -and only-friend. Thanks to a great network for bringing some excitement-and very great looking actors; Baker and Tunney, to my Tuesday nights. Hoping to see much more of this show.

Aimee P. gave it a9:
This show even though it seems to be similar to Life on NBC. It's a good show, the team of actors work very well together. I hope they give the show a chance to get off the ground before they cancel it and leave all hanging on who the red face killer is.

Dianne K gave it an8:
I'm enjoying this show very much, which is a nice surprise in this lackluster season. The lead is terrific -- smart, witty, but caring underneath it all. A nice addition to the NCIS/Without a Trace lineup, and they are both shows I enjoy. I hope "The Mentalist" makes it.

Debbie s. gave it a5:
I want to like it, because I really like Simon Baker. But I do not think it is exciting enough. I do not care for who the show has as the murderer(s). So far the murders really do not make since.

anthony a gave it a10:
I love the show. Something Different

The Mentalist SERIES: CBS, Tuesday 9:00p (60 minutes)

The Mentalist
SERIES: CBS, Tuesday 9:00p (60 minutes)