The series centres around Patrick Jane, a former highly successfully "pshycic", who assisted the police on a profile for a serial killer known only as Red John. Patrick went on record via television and antagonized the mental killer, who struck back by murdering Patrick's wife and daughter in a brutal fashion. This caused Patrick to crack, so he went to a mental institute for help with his breakdown. When he got out it is his sole mission to catch and kill Red John. Along his way he joins the CBI where he teams up with Lisbon and her team and together they become one of the most successfull teams in the agency. He uses his previously honed skills such as: cold reading, hypnotism, pickpocketing as well as keens skill of observation and his insight into the human behaviour as tools to help him solve cases.
Therese Lisbon is the team leader and normally is the one that has to deal with the fall out of Jane's pranks, which annoy her to no end, but she puts up with it because she knows without him - they would suck. She and Patrick share a close bond, which some speculate might even develop further than the friend stage. From her past we know her mother was killed in a drunk driving accident which caused her to grow up alot faster than she should have and also she might have inherited her mothers trait for the booze. Her mentor was Sam Bosco, who was murdered on the orders of Red John - bringing her and Patrick closer together.
Kimball Cho is one of the classic characters in the story - I personally enjoy his character. His deep seated fear of magic and tragic dislike of pineapple on pizza (which I wholeheartedly agree with) are only few of the traits that make this character so memorable. He used to be in a Asian street gang called the Avon Park Playboys - funky name I know, he had to steal a car while with them and got caught - so he was sent to juvie and from there turned his life around. He went and joined the military and from there went into law enforcement with the CBI where he has become the top interrogator they have. His nickname is Ernie (from Sesame Street). One almost gets the idea he is Jane's right hand man due to the fact they end up most of the time together as he normally plays along with Jane's antics even though they sometimes put him in precarious positions.
Wayne Rigsby is seen as best friends with Cho. He was secretly in love with Grace - or so he thought (everyone knew - he just didn't know, everyone knew). Eventually they hooked up for a few episodes but were split up due to governing policies at work. His speciality is arson and exceeds during arson investigations - duh. He dislikes bikers very much, mostly due to the fact that his father was a biker and treated him like crap. He is the eater of the show - always munching away at something during stakeouts etc - much to the sheergrin of his collegues - this is a running gag in the show.
Grace Van Pelt is the newest member of the team and the computer geek - that normally gets stuck with the research aspect of the investigations. She and Rigsby have dated but due to her choice of career over him - it didn't work out. She is deeply seated in her beliefs of religion and pshycics - as her cousin is a pshycic. She is normally the first person to disagree with Jane's schemes.
Those were just the key cast members but there are a few that recur and are just as important. The main focus has to be on Red John - as the look of this character has not been revealed, he is believed to be meticulous, intelligent and calculating sometimes even brutal in the killings. He has haunted Patrick since the death of Patrick's family and taunts him constantly - trying to bait him out.
Virgil Minelli was the Agent In Charge of the CBI until Red John had Sam Bosco's team killed - so he retired as he felt he could not loose anyone else. His comic element in the show will be missed no matter how small it was.
Madeleine Hightower took over from Virgil as the director of CBI and has a understanding with Jane and his antics - even though she and Lisbon ofter clash. Kristina Frye has also recurred and sparked rumours of a possible love interest for Patrick - even though as he believes she cannot be a pshycic, because there is no such thing as a pshycic.
The show has one numerous awards such as:
Favourite New TV Drama in 2009 at the People's Choice Awards
Simon Baker was nominated in 2009 for "Outstanding lead in drama" at the Emmy Awards
Simon Baker was nominated at the 67th Golden Globes also for "Outstanding lead in drama series".
Simon Baker was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding performance by male lead in drama series" at the 16th S.A.G Awards.
One thing is for sure - I cannot wait for the third and fantastic new season of The Mentalist
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