Nov 17, 2013

TV Review: ‘The Mentalist’ (NY Daily News)

Simon Baker, as Patrick Jane, closes in on archfiend Red John but over the years on this CBS show, the villain has faded in significance.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, Colleen Hayes

Simon Baker’s longtime calling — the capture of Red John — may soon be realized in ‘The Mentalist.’ Robin Tunney co-stars.

THIS MAY sound like a terrible confession from a fan of “The Mentalist,” but the fact that Simon Baker’s Patrick Jane has apparently closed in on his archenemy Red John just doesn’t feel all that pulse-pounding.

For 5 1/2 seasons, the tortured Jane has been taunted by Red John, a sadistic psycho who killed his wife and daughter.

Not finding Red John has been the one epic failure in Jane’s otherwise annoyingly successful life.

Robin Tunney is at Simon Baker’s side when the going gets rough on ‘The Mentalist.’

But the chase has gone on for so long, and Red John has been abstract for so much of it, that I suspect many viewers have become much more invested in other parts of the show.

That would include the Sherlock Holmes-like cleverness with which Janes solves the weekly cases, as well as Jane’s intriguing relationship with his boss, Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney). The rest of the amusingly quirky and likable CBI team also feels closer to us than the Red John hunt.

All that said, Sunday’s episode does seem to bring us closer to a Red John resolution, which has been dangled as this fall’s big “Mentalist” prize.

Simon Baker makes his case as Patrick Jane in ‘The Mentalist.’

In contrast to last Sunday, when the Red John countdown started to get serious, this Sunday’s episode is fast-moving and action-packed even before the last 30 seconds.

We learn secrets. We also get more subtle, intriguing moments between Jane and Lisbon.

Earlier viewers who have drifted away from the show over the past couple of years might want to tune in for a quick catchup and a good reminder why we started watching in the first place.

If this season is the end, it’s traveling on the right track.

SRC: nydailynews.com/

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