The Mentalist

‘Plenty of butter! Food – indulgence and necessity all at once.’ ~ Season 1, Episode 2 ~ The Mentalist

The Mentalist is the latest, television hit (MediaCorp 5, 10.00pm, Tuesdays); the second season airs in September. The plot is simple. A former-mentalist (aka psychological performer a.k.a. hypnotist a.k.a. mind-reader), Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) joins the California Bureau of Investigation to solve crimes. His talent and competency covers his sensory acuity, ability to use applied psychology and covert persuasion. His partner, the serious Senior Agent Theresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) complements his flamboyant yet idiosyncratic personality.

In recent years, the success of Derren Brown on his hit-TV series and books, Mind Control and Tricks of the Mind has spawned great interest in the hidden potential of the human brain. In Brown’s prelude to each episode of psychological deceit and mindbenders, he touts at the beginning of each episode of Tricks of the Mind that he achieves his results using a combination of ‘magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship’.

The nice aspect of this series (like Cracker, Criminal Minds and Psych) is that it focuses on astute and acute observation, analysis and deductive reasoning. Sherlock Holmes worked on deductive reasoning, logic and assumptions a lot, whereas The Mentalist focuses on applied psychology and people relationships. Like most characters, Jane is wrought by guilt and this is his major motivation to channel his exquisite set of skills and expertise to assist in apprehending criminals. Like Detective Columbo, he too disarms his suspects by asking simple questions, sometimes bordering on the peculiar or mundane. On one episode, he asks two teenagers: ‘If you could be an animal, what would you be?’

I would describe this series as CSI (without the forensic lessons) meets Moonlighting meets Psyche. Highly recommended.

"The Mentalist" and promo material © 2008 CBS/Warner Bros. All rights reserved.