"Another CSI show?" you carp. "Does every show need the article 'The' in front of its name?" you whisper to me while I am trying to watch The Mentalist. Please...shush. You had best be quiet as Simon Baker's psychic mischief fills the deep hole of meaning in my belly. Here's why The Mentalist is one of the biggest triumphs of fall TV.
I have no time for your shenanigans because CBS' hit drama has already taken the viewing public by storm. (Check out how it did among seniors, Yes, Simon Baker's appeal to seniors — that, my friends, is terrifyingly real.
Even show creator Bruno Heller admits he has a specific audience in mind for the show: "I'd much rather please 10 old ladies in Iowa than one hipster in New York," he recently opined. And then a hero comes along...
Unlike the growing raft of series destined to get canceled, The Mentalist has already justly been ordered for a full season. Driven by James Surowiecki's crazy theories, we had to sample the one certifiable new hit show of the season. We expected to be saying, "Why on earth do people watch this show?" but instead we are saying, "You need to watch this show."
Slate critic Troy Patterson nailed it when he suggested the psychic procedural aims to humanize the dry forensics of its contemporaries. Armed with a billion scientific details to use for every plot twist, shows like CSI often take the easy way out of a tight jam. That's just not how Simon Baker's former psychic gets it done. Sure, precognition is even easier than fingerprint analysis as a Deus Ex Machina, but the way Simon says it with a smile on his face means everything.
Relying on his extensive knowledge of human frailty, Baker's character unites with a perfectly cast team of cops as part of the California Bureau of Investigation: CBI. In doing so, The Mentalist has helped revive the mystery genre. The spectacular sales of the mystery novels that gave rise to HBO's True Blood and both series' popularity indicate that fans of Murder, She Wrote are still alive and kicking, at least in Iowa.
Share this show with your grandma, and for Pete's sake, don't talk during.
He Knows When You Are Sleeping And You Can Watch Him Online For Free [CBS]
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