Having briefly perused some of the recent Mentalist reviews, I see it's been a long time since anyone posted any serious (or even coherent) comments about the show, so here goes.
"5" doesn't exactly represent my feelings about this show; in fact, I am a fan - or at least trying to be, and that is why I find this show so frustrating. Most series of this type (bland, predictable, major network police procedurals) are simply bad, and may be ignored. Out of every season of the Mentalist, at least 19 of the 23 episodes fall into this category. The problem is that Episodes 1, 23, and usually one or two mid-season ones are very good. The reason for this is simple: these are the only episodes that deal with the show's main narrative, the Red John storyline. The series is so schizophrenic in this regard, it's almost like two separate shows in one. I don't know of any other series which is so divided.
The other "filler" episodes are either one-offs that have nothing to do with any continuous narrative, or aim at developing the show's supporting characters. Unfortunately for the latter approach, every character apart from Patrick Jane, Red John, and possibly Lisbon, is utterly generic and as dull as dishwater. Do the makers of this show really think that the same viewers who are drawn to Jane's morally-ambiguous character and the tense revenge narrative of Red John (the only person who can actually outwit him) will be remotely engaged by the clownish foibles of Wayne Rigsby having a baby, or Cho having relationship problems with a ditsy girlfriend? Not that Patrick Jane is much more interesting most of the time, since all he does in those 19 out of 23 episodes is act coy and recycle a narrow repertoire of what are now (after four seasons) VERY tired parlor tricks.
And then, just when you've basically given up on the show and forgotten about it, they pull an awesome season-ender out of the hat (the last two have been great), and as a viewer, you're left scratching your head as to how a show that is so god-awful 90 percent of the time can suddenly be so good.
I can only assume that the reasons for this have to do with the blandness requirements of major-networks. It's a shame this show wasn't on FX or AMC instead; it probably would have been much better. It's no coincidence that most of the best shows on television right now are focusing much more on developing a single narrative stream - like Breaking Bad, Hell on Wheels, Sons of Anarchy - even Justified, which started out much more as a regular police procedural. The random-episode structure is just played out. People want an engaging, continuous story.
At any rate, I doubt the Mentalist will run for too much longer unless they start to focus more on the show's one real strong point, as I expect even those who enjoy the filler episodes (is this really possible?) must be getting tired of hearing Jane say "the killer is in this room right now!" In short, if every episode of the Mentalist was like episode 23 of any given season, I'd happily give the show a 10. But because the remaining episodes are essentially unwatchable, it averages out to a 5. It's a shame.
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