| Simon Baker is the main character, and he is | | | | laugh every time they were able to go from the |
| someone you either love or hate (or love to | | | | CBI headquarters to the Crime Scene in only 5 |
| hate). Robin Tunney is great as the skeptical boss, | | | | minutes. (In a later episode, they mention that |
| & the supporting players are great (including | | | | they have a Helicopter available--- obviously |
| Gregory Itzin from "24" as the head of CBI | | | | inserted by the writers to "cover" their continuity |
| (California Bureau of Investigation). | | | | gaffe!) |
| However, I would like to point out some obvious | | | | 4) Yet another episode took place in Davis, CA (a |
| GOOFS in this show, as we live in Sacramento, | | | | small town only 20 miles from Sacramento). Yet |
| CA (where the fictional show takes place): | | | | the location shots were from Southern California: |
| 1) There is no such thing as CBI in California! We | | | | News flash, the city of Davis does NOT have |
| do not have a state police, but the California | | | | palm trees (palm trees would freeze dead in the |
| Highway Patrol (CHP, depicted in "Chips"), a state | | | | Northern California winters). The Davis police |
| police agency that are basically glorified traffic | | | | department has only ONE part-time detective, |
| cops who patrol the freeways and arrest people | | | | yet the "Mentalist" made it look like they had a |
| for speeding tickets.... California DOES NOT HAVE | | | | huge squad of detectives. (As a former University |
| a detective agency based in Sacramento, although | | | | of Davis CA student, having lived in the town of |
| a small department of CHP are assigned to guard | | | | Davis, it was very laughable!) |
| the State Capitol & governor Arnold | | | | I am sure the folks who live in Miami scream out |
| Schwartzenneger. | | | | "CSI investigators do not drive Hummers" and the |
| 2) The show supposedly takes place in | | | | Vegas residents probably howl that "there is |
| Sacramento, but fails to use real location shots! | | | | nobody who looks like Helgenberger working in |
| Its basically a Hollywood-ized version of the | | | | the LVPD." |
| California State Capitol. Some of the episodes use | | | | Hopefully, if the Mentalist makes it to a Third |
| city names of nearby towns and one episode | | | | Season, they will correct some of the goofs and |
| was in the Napa Valley. | | | | gaffes, and PLEASE do some real location shots in |
| 3) One episode involved a murder in San | | | | the Central Valley! |
| Francisco (2 hours from Sacramento)....it made us | | | | |