The Mentalist (2008)
The Mentalist is a 2008 crime series created by Bruno Heller and Blake Neely. It stars Simon Baker, Robin Tunney and Tim Kang.
Patrick Jane used to sell himself as a psychic. Now he admits the whole act was a con and turns the same tricks toward murder. Simon Baker plays him as a charming menace, a consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation who reads a room the way others read a page: a scuffed shoe, a swallowed word, a too-quick alibi. Robin Tunney's Agent Teresa Lisbon runs the unit and keeps his stunts from wrecking cases. Across smart, self-contained mysteries runs a colder thread, Jane's hunt for the serial killer who destroyed his family. The show pairs procedural puzzle-solving with a con man's sleight of hand.
Quick answers
What is The Mentalist about?
Patrick Jane used to sell himself as a psychic. Now he admits the whole act was a con and turns the same tricks toward murder. Simon Baker plays him as a charming menace, a consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation who reads a room the way others read a page: a scuffed shoe, a swallowed word, a too-quick alibi. Robin Tunney's Agent Teresa Lisbon runs the unit and keeps his stunts from wrecking cases. Across smart, self-contained mysteries runs a colder thread, Jane's hunt for the serial killer who destroyed his family. The show pairs procedural puzzle-solving with a con man's sleight of hand.
When was The Mentalist released?
The Mentalist was released on 23 September 2008.
How many episodes does The Mentalist have?
The Mentalist has 151 episodes across 7 seasons.
Who made The Mentalist?
The Mentalist was created by Bruno Heller, Blake Neely and Erika Green Swafford.
Where can I watch The Mentalist?
The Mentalist is available on Hulu, Google Play, Amazon, AppleTV and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch The Mentalist
Stream: Hulu
Rent: Google Play
Buy: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, Google Play
Cast
- Simon Baker as Patrick Jane
- Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon
- Tim Kang as Kimball Cho
- Owain Yeoman as Wayne Rigsby
- Amanda Righetti as Grace Van Pelt
- Joe Adler as Jason Wylie
- Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Madeleine Hightower
- Michael Gaston as Gale Bertram
- Rockmond Dunbar as Dennis Abbott
- Gregory Itzin as Virgil Minelli
- Emily Swallow as Kim Fischer
- Josie Loren as Michelle Vega
Similar series
Explore The Mentalist guides
A few thoughts on The Mentalist
For the same read-the-tells deduction, try Agatha Christie's Parker Pyne, a detective who solves cases by understanding people, and the Sherlock Holmes lineage of pure observation in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and Moriarty's own account of the game. When you want the darker revenge undertow, a hard-boiled crime novel like A Walk Among the Tombstones or All the Sinners Bleed fits.
Detectives who solve cases by reading people
Patrick Jane clocks a scuffed shoe, a swallowed word, and a too-quick alibi, working murders with the same tricks he once sold as a psychic. These shows hand the case to someone who reads faces and habits better than any lab, catching liars through behavior and small tells the rest of the room misses.
Detectives chasing the killer who marked them
Under Jane's weekly puzzle-solving runs a colder thread: his hunt for the serial killer who destroyed his family. These series carry the same personal grudge inside the procedure, pairing case-of-the-week work with a long, obsessive pursuit of one predator who has gotten under the lead investigator's skin.
Case-of-the-week crime shows you follow for the lead
The Mentalist pairs smart, self-contained mysteries with a consultant whose charm keeps wrecking and rescuing the investigation. These procedurals run on the same rhythm: a fresh crime each hour, solid forensic or street-level legwork, and a returning team you tune in for as much as the puzzle.
Crime series led by an unpredictable charmer
Simon Baker plays Jane as a likable menace, half con man and half detective, forever testing how much his stunts can get away with. These shows build around the same kind of lead: a clever, rule-bending outsider the police need and distrust in equal measure, whose personality steers the cases.