‘The Mentalist’ Starts Streaming on Hulu Later This Month

There are various reasons why people act the way they do, and that sentiment applies to those in the business of fighting crime. Settle in armchair detectives of the early 2010s, one of the best minds in the California Bureau of Investigations is back to making crime solving a lot easier. Created by Bruno Heller, and a key member of CBS’ formidable Thursday lineup, alongside Survivor and CSI at the time of its launch – which was massively successful – The Mentalist ran for seven seasons, from 2008, before airing its series finale in February 2015. Nearly a decade later, the series is set to stream on Hulu from March 25.

Starring Simon Baker in the lead role, The Mentalist followed Baker’s Patrick Jane, a CBI consultant with a stunning track record for solving cases using his impressive observation skills, mentalist abilities, and previous status as a psychic. While Jane was driven to help bring justice to those in need of her, his main source of inspiration came from tracking down the serial killer Red John who murdered his wife and daughter. Despite being ridiculously good at his job, Jane does possess a notorious reputation within the bureau for his blatant lack of protocol. While he might have feigned possessing paranormal abilities during his days as a semi-celebrity psychic medium, his role in cracking tough high-profile cases was a gift greatly valued by his fellow agents.

For the majority of its run, much of The Mentalist‘s storyline revolved heavily around Jane’s desire to get his hands on the man who had wrecked his life, Red John aka the Napa County Sheriff Thomas McAllister (Xander Berkeley). Despite chalking up a victim count of 28, Red John was by no means your average serial killer. Embedded within the California law enforcement apparatus, McAllister also headed the Blake Association – a secret criminal enterprise of corrupt California law enforcement officials. Despite being the main antagonist for the majority of the show’s 151 episodes, McAllister’s Red John only appeared five times on the show before having his light dimmed by Jane midway through season six.

‘The Mentalist’ Had a Soft Reboot in Its Final Season

While The Mentalist can be praised for being an enthralling procedural, the show’s creative team deserve praise for the pivot it engineered for the final season. By the time the series ended, it did so seven years and 1,800 miles from where it started. The elimination of Red John in season six meant the show had to undergo a reboot mid-season, pivoting away from California towards Texas. After a 13 episode final season order, show creator Heller and co-showrunner, Tom Szentgyorgyi were able to bring the series to a fitting close with Patrick Jane wedding his long-time boss, Robin Tunney’s Teresa Lisbon in the series’ final scene. The Mentalist’s arrival on Hulu will see the series join a library that includes other fan-favorites including White Collar, Castle, and Veronica Mars.

The Mentalist will stream on Hulu from March 25.

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