“Psych” Vs. “The Mentalist”

When The Mentalist first aired in 2008 I was excited about it. My thinking was “Finally! A crime show that gives the viewer clues to figure out for themselves!”

And Simon Baker to boot! If ever there was an Aussie who could turn people’s heads, he’s definitely the man. Okay, so is Alex O’Laughlin, but I’ve never been a big Hawaii Five-O fan. Not even the original.

Simon Baker’s been around. Several years ago he was in a short-lived drama called “The Guardian.” His character never smiled.

But his character from The Mentalist, Patrick Jane, has plenty of opportunity to smile.

But The Mentalist simply didn’t deliver. At least, not for me. Being a keen observer myself, I looked forward to catching the clues the show promos touted. I quickly learned that the “clues” Patrick Jane spotted were so obscure as to be obtuse or practically nonexistent.

I was fascinated with the Red John storyline. I do feel that a lot more could have been done with that.

I stopped watching The Mentalist because it got boring. I did check out the season finale where Patrick Jane shot Red John in cold blood. Not only was I disappointed in who Red John was, I was also disappointed in Patrick Jane.

I don’t blame him. Anyone would be inclined to shoot the guy who killed his wife and daughter (or any other family member). However, the inclination and the actual act are two different things. Shooting him in cold blood puts you on his level and makes you no better person than him.

The show now, basically, is riding on the charisma and good looks of Simon Baker. Not that that’s a bad thing. I just expect more.

I’ve been hearing about the show “Psych” for years. Never had the chance to watch it because I can’t afford cable.

Recently, however, Psych was picked up for syndication on ION television.

I love this show. This is closer to what I imagined The Mentalist would be like.

Shawn Spencer and Gus Barton are childhood friends and partners in a detective agency. Shawn pretends to be a psychic, but, like Patrick Jane, he claims there are no such things as psychics.

Shawn’s father is a retired police detective (Corbin Bernson) who taught Shawn everything he knows about the powers of observation.

Where The Mentalist is slick and polished and best viewed with a glass of chilled Merlot, Psych is rough and ready and best watched with pizza and beer.

Shawn is irreverent, off-the-wall, clown-crazy with humor. Best friend Gus plays a good second banana but gets in a few good jabs of his own.

Almost every show opens with a flashback – something that not only gives insight into Shawn’s childhood but also gives a little preview of what lies ahead in the show.

What I really like about this show is that when Shawn uses his powers of hyper observation, the objects of that observation are illuminated and Shawn interprets the meaning of those objects. Usually in a hilarious, unusual way.

Some may view this as “simplifying” or “talking down” to an audience.

I say it’s better than waiting until the end of the show, pointing out miniscule clues which are not reshown in a flashback manner leaving the viewer wondering if the clue was actually even there or to question how the detective (or pseudo-psychic) reached that conclusion with that clue.

I like all my loose ends tied up and if you can make me laugh while you’re tying them, so much the better. I also like for them to make sense and like being given a chance to see how the clues all worked together to form the conclusion.

Psych isn’t polished. It doesn’t need to be and I, for one, am glad it isn’t. It’s more refreshing that way.

Psych first aired as an original series on the USA Network in 2006. Hmmm. It began two years prior to The Mentalist. That’s interesting.

Chances are that both ideas floated around Hollywood for some time. Someone waited to see how Psych would fare before accepting the idea for one of the major networks. You’d be surprised how often this happens (think “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” – two movies with the same basic premise but with very different characters and storylines released at almost the same time). Regardless of how the separate ideas came about, they each have their good points. Psych isn’t for everyone, but neither is The Mentalist.

I don’t have anything against The Mentalist. It’s good for an hour kill if I happen to be up that late on a Thursday night. But I’ll stay up half the night on Saturday to watch Psych on ION.

My only complaint is that ION keeps running the same dozen or so episodes over and over. You’d think if it were on since 2006 there would be a whole lot more episodes to choose from.

I guess I’ll just have to save up and get it on DVD.