What happens when you don't watch where you're going

[icepixie]

So. I appear to have tripped and fallen headfirst into The Mentalist fandom. Well, just the fic, really, and nothing else. I...actually have no plans to watch the show, for the following combination of reasons:

1.) I need another cop show like I need a hole in the head.
2.) I need another cop show with an unorthodox investigator like I need a really big hole in the head.
3.) Patrick Jane appears to be a dick of the highest caliber, and while they can sometimes be amusing and lovable if written with a certain amount of sympathy (see: my GIANT AND INEXPLICABLE LOVE for Megan Hunt), in general, I'm not a fan.
4.) I am especially not a fan of The Jerkass character with the oh-so-angsty past, and Jane falls squarely into that category. Again, I need a character bent on revenge for a serial killer's murdering his wife and child about as much as I need a puncture in my pate.
5.) Between Jane's past, Lisbon's past (dead mother and abusive/alcoholic father, wheee), and Rigsby and Van Pelt's star-crossed lovers thing, it sounds angstier than BSG. That's saying something.
6.) What I have gleaned of the emotional dynamic of the two lead characters reminds me waaaaay too much of the codependent angst-fest that was Mulder & Scully: The Later Years, without the sci-fi and the goofiness to leaven it. (I don't mind that so much in fic, but on a show itself it drives me a bit mad.)

BUT, I have somehow gotten sucked into the world of Jane/Lisbon fic. I don't. even. know.

However, this one is quite nice. And there is a steampunk AU novella that I haven't read yet, but which is very intriguing.

(Dear Self, you could be being productive, why are you doing this, why why why)

Comments

[bessemerprocess]

The Steampunk AU is really good and totally worth reading, I think, even if you aren't into steampunk.

Jane is totally an ass. But I feel like once his and Lisbon's dynamic changes from asshole!genius and minder to asshole!genius and co-conspirator that I end up liking the show more. (I didn't watch later X-files, but, oh yeah, to me, Jane and Lisbon can be pretty co-dependent. For me, it's totally in ways that hit all my buttons, so YMMV. And when they break out of that mold, well, the things that happen are even more interesting.)

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

Dear Self, you could be being productive, why are you doing this, why why why

I've been asking myself that question for the past couple weeks. I can't say I don't have a certain amount of schadenfreude for you right now. ;D

[alethialia.livejournal.com]

Not that I'm invested, since I've dropped that show, but Jane himself actually doesn't come off like a jerk (unlike House, for example). He says incredibly jackass things in such an understanding/sympathetic/empathetic way that it makes you like him. Partly on the strength of the actor's charm.

[elflore.livejournal.com]

Speaking of unorthodox investigators, I can't remember if we've ever talked about - did you watch "Life"? With Damian Lewis as a detective framed for murder, sent to prison for 12 years, becoming a zen Buddhist while there, and then using that perspective to solve crimes and hunt the conspiracy that framed him? It only lasted two seasons, but it was sooooo good. Rachael and I are rewatching it now. I'd say it just beats out Due South for my favorite quirky cop show.

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

I am especially not a fan of The Jerkass character with the oh-so-angsty past, and Jane falls squarely into that category

Though, for all that Patrick Jane is that character, he honestly doesn't come off that way so much. He certainly is a jerk in the way that he will play the rest of the team to reach his conclusion, but he really doesn't come off that way. And while he's certainly claimed to want revenge for his wife and daughter's death, it's not like he goes around seeing red or anything.

And in many ways I like The Mentalist because it's a much lighter toned show than most cop shows these days. I'd probably put at the Castle end of the spectrum - where Criminal Minds would be the dark end. In other words, I enjoy watching it, while there are times that many crime shows these days are rather too dark.

it sounds angstier than BSG

There are moments, but for the most part it's not even in the same ballpark as BSG for angst - BSG leaves The Mentalist far behind on that scale.