California Bureau of Investigation consultant Patrick Jane has a blatant lack of protocol but is self-assured and driven. The former "psychic" uses his talent for seeing the clues everyone else misses to solve the most baffling crimes. But there's more than crime: Lisbon and Cho reveal hints about their troubled pasts. Violence fells one CBI boss, and the new boss seems more interested in authority than teamwork. And as the Van Pelt-Rigsby relationship heats up, it threatens to cool down their careers.
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Community reviews for The Mentalist, shown here with its season details.
This show takes four or five episodes to establish itself but once all the characters find their place and Simon Baker gets comfortable playing Jane you get utterly absorbed in this world. The mind games Jane plays are intriguing, the continuing Red John theme keeps you guessing and the uncertainty of trust in Jane's motives adds perfect tension. Unfortunately, the expansion and revelation of Red John in the last seasons dilute the quality of the show somewhat.
Episode 1
Jane and Lisbon learn that the Red John case has been reassigned to a different CBI team led by the straight-shooting officer Sam Bosco.
Episode 2
Lisbon and the team work the case of a State Senator's murdered intern, while Jane simultaneously tries to find out what new information Bosco has uncovered on the Red John case.
Episode 3
Jane, Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt decide to conduct their own investigation when Lisbon is accused of murdering a child molester she arrested who was recently paroled.
Episode 4
Jane and the CBI investigate the murder of Gordon Hodge, a powerful attorney, who is responsible for allowing a vicious murderer, Van McBride, to walk away a free man.
Episode 5
Jane and the CBI team are called in to investigate the death of a prominent architect found murdered in a crumbling old mansion, and there appears to be a number of suspects.
Episode 6
Even after Bosco arrests Jane and puts him in prison for spying on him, Jane is able to help the CBI team from his cell to solve the murder of a young man.
Episode 7
Minelli orders Patrick Jane and Lisbon and company to play nice and work together with Bosco and his team to locate a kidnapped woman being held for ransom.
Episode 8
The CBI team is faced with a violent and shocking crime in their own office, but must work the case in spite of their alarm of who may be behind it. Meanwhile, Rigsby and Van Pelt are definitely an "item".
Episode 9
Patrick Jane and the team are called to investigate the robbery and murder of a wealthy jeweler while attending a black tie fundraiser for the CBI.
Episode 10
While Jane and the team examine the crime scene where a baseball scout is found murdered, Jane is clocked in the head by a ball and flashes back to his childhood with his overbearing father.
Episode 11
Jane and company investigate the murder of a man and his wife, on her way to his fifteen year high school reunion where, clearly, the attendees haven't changed all that much.
Episode 12
Patrick Jane and the team investigate the murder of a mayor's aide, and Rigsby and Van Pelt make a big announcement.
Episode 13
Patrick Jane and the CBI team investigate when the body of a high-end luxury car sales woman is found in the trunk of a Bentley in the dealership's showroom.
Episode 14
When a member of Cho's former gang, the Avon Park Playboys, is found murdered, Patrick Jane insists on helping Cho with his off-the-books investigation.
Episode 15
Jane and the team investigate the murder of an arrogant chef during a cooking competition in Napa Valley.
Episode 16
When Dr. Alicia Seberg, a government research scientist, is exposed to a deadly toxin while at work and has only hours to live, she calls Patrick Jane and the CBI to find her murderer.
Episode 17
Patrick and the CBI team investigate the murder of a tutor, and find a mysterious little red box near the body, starting a chain of events that turns the murder into the search for a priceless ring stolen from the British Museum. Meanwhile, Lisbon is worried when a new boss, Madeleine Hightower, takes command of the CBI, as well as mysteriously learning about Rigsby and Van Pelt's relationship.
Episode 18
When a "Jane Doe" with amnesia and covered in blood steps in front of Cho and Van Pelt's car, Patrick Jane must use all of his skills to discover who she is, her last location and why she lost her memory
Episode 19
When Patrick Jane's sneaky conduct causes the case of a confessed hitman to be tossed out of court, his annoyed CBI team must start the investigation over from scratch.
Episode 20
When a media mogul is murdered, Patrick Jane and the CBI team investigate cult leader Bret Stiles, who may have had an axe to grind following the publication of a critical story about his group.
Episode 21
Patrick Jane and the CBI team investigate the death of a mathematical genius by a gun-wielding clown.
Episode 22
Romantic sparks begin to fly when Patrick Jane and supposed psychic Kristina Frye cross paths again during the CBI investigation into the murder of a charismatic head of a non-profit organization that fights human trafficking.
Episode 23
Patrick Jane and Kristina's first date is interrupted by a report of Red John striking again, which is discovered to be a copycat. But when Kristina reaches out to the real Red John, both she and Jane find themselves in grave danger.