The Morning After: Mind Over Matter

No comment on the Mentalist b/c I haven't seen it yet. But I was slightly excited to see an appearance by the Godfather from generation kill on Fringe last night. I think the show is starting to hit its stride, even though we once again found some way to interogate the dead guy, which is becoming about as common in this show as Bart writing on a chalkboard in the Simpsons...

Here's the difference between Fringe and The Mentalist for me: I don't have last night's Fringe on my Tivo because after last week's episode I canceled my Season Pass, whereas I cannot WAIT to watch the next episode of The Mentalist. I gave Fringe a full suspension of disbelief for several weeks but it has finally convinced me that it is all sizzle and no steak.

The Mentalist certainly is not a realistic show, especially the procedural elements, but I find it really entertaining.

The Mentalist is good for what it is, but every time I watch an episode (not quite bi-weekly, but almost) all I cannot get past how Psych does the same thing but with a lot more humor.
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Fringe has started to deteriorate into a redundant corpse. It has a few to many plot contriviances with laborious exposition. Like other mediocre science fiction I feel that there could be a great show that I love hidden somewhere in there, but greatness materialized yet.
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My Tuesday night highlight has been The Shield and that didn't disappoint last night. Could have done without the Julian storyline last night, it didn't quite fit. I am going to miss The Shield.

"Do you have a mint?"

I'm still "in like" with The Mentalist, but I just removed the recorded Fringe episodes from my DVR. Fringe has not pulled me in the way any of J.J. Abrams other shows have, and I just am not compelled by it. The Mentalist, however, doesn't pretend to be something it's not: it is entertaining and interesting, that's it.

Have not given Fringe any real chance, watched bits and pieces, but it is clearly a show to commit to. Mentalist is a different ball of wax than I expected. I am a big fan of Psych and thought the new concept was a dumb variation. But in fact, the set up for the lead (name escapes me this instant) is really quite amusing. Besides, who knew California had a mini-FBI. I live in CA and never heard of it once. This is never going to be Lost material, but the characters are solid, the stories unique and the premise really works. It is a series, not a mini-series. For those of us who can't make it every week because there is just not enough time (its not that the shows don't stack up on the DVR) it is a good hour.