The Mentalist: The Complete Sixth Season DVD Review

     Actors: Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, Owain Yeoman, Amanda Righetti

Producers: Bruno Heller, Chris Long, Tom Szentgyorgyi, Daniel Cerone, Eoghan Mahony

Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, NTSC, Subtitled

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Number of discs: 5

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Warner Home Video

DVD Release Date: September 30, 2014

Run Time: 927 minutes

 

        There are a dozen different ways that “The Mentalist” can be compared to other shows. You could easily compare it to the cable show “Psych,” but I tend to find similarities with this show and “Lie to Me.” Both use the study of human behavior in order to deduce the truth behind a crime. “Lie to Me” was about a man brilliantly able to detect lies, better than a polygraph. There is a sequence in “The Mentalist” in which a suspect says that he heard Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) could tell when anyone was lying. He is part Sherlock Holmes, but mostly just a con artist with extensive experience in the ways of human behavior.

 

        Simon Baker is what truly seems to make the show work the way it does. It is a dark show about a celebrity psychic whose family was murdered by a serial killer named Red John, following some ill-made arrogant remarks about catching him. Although Jane is a grieving father and husband dedicated to hunting down the man responsible for vengeance, Baker plays the role in a carefree manner that is likeable. He is nearly always jovial and easy-going despite the heavy weight that he carries, making his character a unique addition to the investigative detective genre. Jane works alongside a team of specially trained detectives in California. The team is headed up by Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) along with Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman), Grace Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti), and Agent Kimball Cho (Tim Kang).

 

In previous seasons they would catch a variety of criminals in each hour-long episode, with an occasional subplot to continue the Red John narrative. Season six changes things up in many ways; dedicating the first portion of the season to a complete resolution of the Red John mystery, and then an entire reboot of the series with a location shift from Northern California to Texas. Although I would not doubt that this was merely a decision made in order to save the production money, it is a welcome switch after and unconventional resolution of the show’s biggest mystery. There is another storyline that is also finally addressed, and that is the romantic tension between Teresa and Patrick. With these two plot developments finally given a gratifying resolution, it is rather odd how much this feels like the final season.

 

The DVD release of the sixth season includes all twenty-two episodes on five discs, along with a couple of extras. There are unaired scenes, as well as a featurette about the resolution of Patrick Jane’s search for Red John with series creator Bruno Heller. 

 

 

Entertainment Value: 7.5/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 6.5/10

Historical Significance:  7/10

Special Features: 4.5/10




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