Wow, I don't think I've ever watched a show before that jumps the shark every week. :-(

Typically a show jumps the shark once and then dies a quick death into oblivion whereas The Mentalist becomes magnitudes worse with every passing week.

It's almost like Heller is making a concerted effort do undo every bit of awesomeness the show once was.

The one positive outcome for me though is I know not to waste any time on Heller's new Gotham already knowing it will start off with a bang and then eventually degenerate into total suckdom.

I was huge Mentalist fan since season 1 (episode 1) but lost my enthusiasm after Jane's ridiculous acquittal in season 4 (episode 1), but kept hoping it would turn around and recapture what it once was. Of course it never did.

If the show had been canceled after season 3, it could have ended on the perfect high note and we could have all kept our happy memories of what had been a truly fantastic show. Now it's just painful (almost insulting) to watch, but I will watch it to the end of this season and ride the stock to the bottom (I'm sure it can get worse, Heller's proven that) because of all the time I invested.  Hopefully CBS will put it out of everybody's misery and not renew it.

I gave away my Season 1 DVD set to a friend so he could experience what a great show it once was. If I can find my season 2 DVDs I'll give those away as well.

Thankfully I never bought the other seasons, nor would I now.

If anybody visiting this site has never seen the earlier episodes, just watch the first 3 seasons and view the remaining seasons as a very, very bad dream that never happened.