korereview

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.

...not all of it, but definitely a good chunk. The most disappointing thing about this movie is that it contained many good elements, which could have raised it to the level of a classic Bond film, if certain other things hadn't been hopelessly cocked up. A lot of the cinematography was artful and beautiful, and they obviously had a good DOP. The editor should be burnt at the stake for taking all those beautiful shots and putting them into a blender. (It was about ten minutes into the film when I realized that I had absolutely no idea what had happened up to that point, because I couldn't tell who or what I was looking at on screen). The second most annoying thing about Quantum was its length: why on earth did they decide to shorten the satisfying 2+ hours of CR to a scant hour-and-a-half? It takes about 3/4 of that time just to figure out what the heck's going on, and then suddenly it's over, leaving you feeling disappointed and kind of ripped off. Not only that, but I think that most of the problems in the film could have been solved by just slowing it down and letting it run longer - the pace would have been much better, and it would have given the viewer time to digest and appreciate some of the finer elements. Just don't understand what happened here. Hope they sort it out for next time...

If this hadn't been a Joss Whedon project, I never would have sat through the pilot, let alone two further episodes. I'm a huge Buffy fan, tolerated Angel (mostly because it provided a vehicle for Spike to survive a little longer) and occasionally enjoyed Firefly (although it had some unbearably cheezy elements, some of which have been imported into Dollhouse). In general, it seems like Whedon's been moving further and further away from all the things he did well, and that each post-Buffy project has been increasingly watered-down and uninspired. I really wanted to like Dollhouse, but if it gets cancelled soon (which seems likely), I can't really say it's undeserved.

Things that are wrong with this show: The premise of the series is so contrived, unrealistic, and silly, that it's hard to care about anything that happens. Buffy had the far-fetched vampire angle, but set it in the context of very real-life situations and concerns that everyone (at least of a certain generation) could relate to.

You'd think that someone would have pointed out to Whedon that deliberately making the central character in his series a girl who (literally) has no personality might be a bad move. The fact that she takes on a new identity for the duration of each episode makes it even worse, as there's no continuity. Since most female TV characters are vacuous, empty shells anyway, this device hardly seems necessary. The effect is comparable to what it would have been like if Whedon had based Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the Buffy-bot instead of real Buffy (eek).

What made Buffy (and, at times, Angel) so good was the witty dialogue and cast of eclectic characters. Neither of these are present in Dollhouse. The dialogue is flat and the cast is populated by the usual generically attractive people you see in every TV show. For a show to be effective, you have to have more than one interesting character. So far, Dollhouse has none.

I don't know how other people feel about it, but personally I couldn't stand the character of Faith and used to cringe every time she appeared on Buffy, so I'm not so excited to see Eliza Dushku at the centre of this show. I'd rather watch a series based on the Chaos Demon than on her...

Last, given the premise of the show, it's hard to see where it can go: if Faith/Echo-bot eventually grows a real personality, then she won't be a "doll" in the dollhouse anymore, in which case the premise is trashed; and if she doesn't, then she will remain uninteresting. Either way, the show's hooped.

Here's hoping that it somehow turns out to be a good series anyway!