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As a lawyer, I'm glad that they at least mentioned the fact that such a confession is most likely inadmissible, as it was involuntary and made under duress. Yeah, the state might win such an argument in court and on appeal, but at least that fact was mentioned. Jane may not be a "cop" but he is a de facto law enforcement officer when he's working cases with the CBI. The fact that he coerces a confession while working a case, rather than Lisbon or any of the other agents, doesn't make a bit of difference under the law in terms of making the confession valid. He's working on behalf of law enforcement, so he can violate a suspect's rights just as much as a "real" cop can.

It was nice to see the fact that Jane's antics are legally questionable brought up on the show. I also liked hearing that Jane's antics have been a pain in the ass of the state attorneys who handle the trials and appeals of such cases.

For what it's worth, a case could be made that the confession was legal, since Jane, said "tell me who killed him" rather than "tell me that YOU killed him" while pointing the gun at the two men. That in and of itself doesn't force either of them to confess, but it does force one of them to implicate themselves, at least as an accessory after the fact. I think such an argument by the state would be quite weak, and any half-decent attorney should be able to get the chancellor's confession thrown out of court. Though there may be other evidence which was not the fruit of the confession that would still be admissible.

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Bruce the lawyer's comments are interesting and a refreshing change of pace from the usual 'Simon Baker is hot' comments one usually finds.

Any neuroscientists in the house? Was all that medical mumbo jumbo legit?

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Thrillhouse: I think the nerological issue is a moot point since they acknowledged at the end that it never worked.

The one thing that bugs me about cop/criminal tv shows is that they often try to have some clever way of solving the crime (usually getting someone to confess) but they never touch on the legality of their clever little plan. I know it's just TV and they don't have to make sure every little thing is compatable with the most recent decisions of the highest court in the given jurisdiction of the TV show. But at least acknowledge that there could be some legal issues.

Bones usually does a really good job of this. However, they used to be very diligent about explaining why federal jurisdiction exists for Booth and the FBI to have (federal) authority over a murder case. Unless the state police specifically request federal assistance, the FBI typically has no jurisdiction over murder cases. In the last season or two, however, Bones has gotten kinda lazy about explaining how Booth has jurisdiction. I guess there can only be so many murders in national parks and stuff like that. D.C. is a federal enclave, but most of the murders they solve take place in Virginia and other surrounding states. It bugs me when they don't set forth the basis of Booth's federal jurisdiction over a state murder case. They used to do it very well, very clearly, and in every episode.

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Wow. So this is what passes for a "good" episode of The Mentalist?

I haven't been watching this show because I've been watching The Biggest Loser. Say what you will about my taste in TV. But I've been wanting to watch The Mentalist, and since I despise grandiose reality TV finalies, I chose to pass on TBL and watch my first episode of TM instead.

This show, beyond being horribly formulaic, seemed preposterous. I didn't see any wonderfully clever mental tricks that led to solving the case. Instead, I saw some stupid Fringe-like psychological experiment that was beyond stupid. And the last act where they trick the bad guy into a confession? Embarrassing.

If last night's show was "no exception" to how great The Mentalist is, may the good Lord forgive us all.

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I thought on Bones, Booth's status as Brennan's handler explained it. They ask for a consult from Brennan and that gets Booth.

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I watched this show as my wife kept telling me how great it was and was very dissapointed. The acting was amateurish and the story line was boring. Not sure why she likes it so much its the last time I will watch it.

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to the haters above. you are missing the point of this show. most of the cases are just "MacGuffins". for those not in the know, a MacGuffin was coined by Alfred Hitchcock as a device (usually stolen uranium, a murder, whatever) that move the story along. the real story was watching the stars interact with one another. simon baker is mesmerizing and his costars circling around him makes for an enjoyable hour.

it's no coincidence that this is a no. one show now. some people have "IT" and baker has it in spades.

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Actually, I thought last night's show was one of the weakest of the season. I did like the interaction with Sophie, and Jane and Lisbon's interaction. But the rest of the squad were used very poorly (actually they could lose one of them and make the show a bit tighter). The plot was more convoluted than usual and the macguffins more obvious that usual. Jane is best when trying to unravel complex social relationships, not science (faux or not). Leave that to Fringe and Eleventh Hour please.

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despite all the talk about this show I have never seen it and have not really been interested.

The picture on the top of this article is not helping.

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I have to admit, I thought it was Stutzer all along. I knew it wasn't the animal rights group, and I was sure Kerry didn't commit suicide, but I was so convinced it was Stutzer that I didn't even allow myself to think it might be anyone else. That's what I get for not paying attention.

The part that seemed too obvious for me was the opening scene. As soon as he took a drink from his water bottle I knew he was going to die, of poisoning.

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I would just as soon they not bring the Sophie character back. Or, at the very least get a different actress to play her; Elizabeth Rohm can't act her way out of a paper bag.

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This was the first episode of the series I have watched.

It will be my last.

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The show is definitely overrated. Considering how so many people call it the best new show on TV, along with other such similar raves, I'd say it's the most overrated show on TV. I watch it b/c nothing else I like is on opposite it (nothing else to watch) but it's really not that great of a show. Simon Baker plays his character well, but the character is not all that fantastic to begin with. If those CBI cops really need him, then they're shitty cops.

I think dumb people are just fascinated with psychics and mental powers and magic crystals and chi-forces and homeopathic mind-reading and astrology and other such idiocies. This show touches on mental powers (even though Jane contends he has no powers, I think the audience tends to disbelieve him, as does Van Pelt on the show) so dumb people gravitate to it, and thus it gets good ratings.

But it's a substandard show. "Life" is several orders of magnitude better a show than "Mentalist" yet Life's ratings are sub-par, to say the least. Maybe if NBC said Charlie Crews got magical mental crime-solving powers while he was in prison, more people would watch "Life" and it would have a real chance at a 3rd season. Meanwhile, Mentalist will be on for the next 20 years.

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My $0.02: I too did not think they used the other cops too well this episode, but the flashback (glimpses) we see of the past, the glibness of the Jane now, and the acting between Jane and Sophie and Jane and Lisbon was fantastic and more than made up for it (we'll get the other cops going back to ribbing each other next week).

I have watched a lot of shows, and the reason I love this show is not because it has the complexity or grittiness (an example of the former being West Wing), but its brilliance is Jane's charm, the way he manipulates me as an audience in the exact way he manipulates his suspects into wanting to get close to him, as well as the depth of Baker's acting (he makes this a character that is both tragic but charming/amusing). I wore a smile the entire time I was watching last night's episode, precisely because I love watching what's going on the surface of Jane and in the depth of him. Plus, the chemistry of the cast is kewl.

My point is this: relax. You may not enjoy the show, but it is a fantastically written, fantastically acted show of its style, subject and genre, (and if I may add, even outside of those constraints, it still stands up). I was recently watching West Wing reruns (that was a fantastically written and acted show in and out of its style, subject and genre, though it probably stands up more than TM out of it). I love and watch Brothers and Sisters, which has terrifyingly discombobulated (i don't know if that's how to spell that word) story lines, but what draws me more than anything is the terrificness of its casts' chemistry.

Now Life is also a show I love (but I don't really compare the two, because though the format of sorts might be the same (central character, interesting past), I see their style and topic and leads as different: instead of charm, Charlie brings quirky. Instead of concentrating on the interrelations of the characters, Life concentrates (or I concentrate) on their amazing murder set-ups. I remember the guy frozen with liquid nitrogen, and the guy with multiple lives blown up by the oven near the fridge, etc. We know whodunit with The Mentalist, but I have a lot of fun watching the flashbacks, so much so that I am not hungup on using each episode to try to find Red John. In fact, each flashback (ie the mystery in TM) is not to find the identity of Red John but to define the character of Jane. This is a different mechanism than Life, where the mystery is to find the identity of who framed Charlie, and I have as much fun watching Charlie put the pieces together too. To me, this shows have different traveling routes, so I don't really compare, but enjoy both.

That said, I know shows get stale when they are around forever, so I hope Life and The Mentalist get a nice finite amount of seasons (let's keep it in the lower units), and a nice wrap-up.

*This was more like $1.00, oops.

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The big problem I have with the Mentalist now is that I never know if Jane is pulling a fast one on Lisbon or if he's telling the truth. It lessons the impact of his description of his relationship with Sophie when I can't trust that it's true.

I agree that this episode was the worst of the season. The acting was great and the further exposition of Jane was nice but the case was horrible. Heck, I was hoping that the monkey did it by the end of the show.

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To all of you who are saying the Mentalist is a very deep show centered around the interrelationships between the various CBI agents and Jane, as well as a profound study of Jane's persona ... it's not. The CBI agents are dull and uninteresting (especially Lisbon - I hate Robin Tunney and my favorite moment in the 4 seasons of prison break was when she and her twingly upper lip were shot and killed), and Jane just smiles at awkward and inappropriate times.

I mean, are you really going to sit there and tell me that Patrick Jane is as interesting, unique, and well-developed character as Gregory House (from "House")? If you do, I'll use my mentalist powers and call you out as either lying or being a moron.

And for what it's worth, House is more of a "mentalist" than Jane is. House screws around with Cuddy (and Wilson and everyone else at the hospital) infinitely more often and more deeply than Jane screws around with Lisbon. When Jane makes Lisbon cry, let me know and I'll have a bit more respect for the show. Guessing what shape someone is thinking of is not deep character development. Sorry. It's not. The type of person who thinks the Mentalist is the greatest new show of the season and that Jane is the greatest character on TV is the type of person who goes to a chiropractor, accupucturist, and shells out $399.99 for a magneto-crystal bowel regulator, and then comes home and reads their horoscope with the type of enthusiasm only moderate brain damage can provide.

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I'd like to see more of Jane and Sophie, there's some energy between those two.

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