The Mentalist: Hulu’s Underrated Sherlock Meets Dexter Crime Thriller

Hulu has a seven-season crime thriller that’s a combination of Sherlock and Dexter, and it’s only aged well since it premiered in 2008. Hulu, like Netflix, has a large library of classic network shows from the first two decades of the 20th century, so that if their originals aren’t to your taste, you still have a reason to sign up.

Within the halls of this library are some excellent shows from networks like ABC, NBC, and Fox, as a result of its partnerships and mergers with Disney and the Fox Networks groups. The streamer also has a handful of CBS shows, including The Mentalist, a classic procedural that is worth returning to.

Fans of Sherlock and Dexter should take note. The series stars Simon Baker as Patrick Jane. A former celebrity psychic medium who was all over television, Simon retired from the stage after a serial killer known as Red John murdered his wife and his daughter. He now works for the California Bureau of Investigation.

Though he knows his “powers” are fraudulent, Patrick uses his skills for cold reading, hypnosis, and pickpocketing to solve real cases. Patrick is a veritable Sherlock Holmes, solving a new case every week using clues that other people miss, but like Dexter, his pursuit of a serial killer becomes a fixation.

The series premiered in 2008 and ran for seven seasons before ending, and received an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination during that time. It’s an easy binge and one of the great network procedurals of the era.

The Mentalist Puts The Classic Network Procedurals Of The 20th Century To Shame

The police procedural genre has yet to grow old, but it certainly has changed, with each decade bringing in a new flavor of this kind of show. The Mentalist is right at home in the genre, and its run put it up against Bones, CSI, Criminal Minds, NCIS, White Collar, and many other heavy hitters.

Even with such a packed group, The Mentalist stands out. The best of these procedurals attempt to weave together week-by-week stories with an overarching narrative, to varied success. The Mentalist manages this combination extremely well, with Patrick’s pursuit of Red John fitting in cleanly with the weekly stories.

There’s a natural line drawn between Patrick’s desire to see Red John in prison or worse, and the reality of not being able to pursue one man for 5+ years. It also helps to have Simon Baker in the lead role. He brings a charisma and world-weariness that a lot of similar shows don’t have the same access to.

Spoilers for The Mentalist ahead.

The Mentalist Did Not Overstay Its Welcome

Everett Collection

What also makes The Mentalist a show so easy to binge is that it knew when to end. You won’t get to a point in the seven-season series where you begin wondering when it’s going to end. After Patrick gets the justice he’s looking for, the show transitions to something more strictly procedural for a season and a half.

Just when that started to wear thin, the show ended. A lot of procedurals try to go on for as long as possible, and the last seasons see a steep decline in quality. The Mentalist told the story it wanted to and then ended things before they grew stale, leaving the show intact and much better able to withstand scrutiny.