Patrick Jane returns to DVD in the third season of the CBS crowd puller about a quasi-famous psychic who helps the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Jane playing with typical wave of charisma by the suave Simon Baker (The Devil Wears Prada). He has a track record for pinpointing the perp using razor sharp skills of psychological observation and body language analysis.
The show follows a familiar trend of police procedural; a crime is commited, Jane appears with his senior agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney - House) who takes the heat for Jane's non-protocol behaviour. Lisbon's initial refusal to work with a non-officer has slowly relented to include him in the cases more and more as he is able to crack more complex cases due to his unusual abilities.
The strength and lineage of Patrick Jane can be traced all the way back to the creation of Sherlock Holmes, the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a character who led many people it seemed down a darkened path before finding the light and the answers seemingly on a hunch, but really displaying major abilities of deduction. Jane like Holmes was also able to seek an answer from a witness/prisoner just by watching their physical behaviour and a look in their eye.
Critically, I would say the better the episodes are when Patrick Jane is left out of the loop and we the better audience are ahead of him as in the 'Red John' episodes, too often Jane can look smug and arrogant as a character who knows perhaps too much and suspects everyone. Also the glorification of the rich and their lifestyle give the majority of the plotlines, whilst other police procedurals do not mind looking at the lowlifes.
In the same vein clearly as the Tim Roth vehicle 'Lie to Me' but with a second string cast; and along the same set up as 'Castle' which features Nathan Filion (Firefly, Serenity) as a crime novelist suffering writer's block who helps police officers with their cases. Whilst not original by using a main character as anti-authority who is then used by said authority to help their deficiency in doing the job properly, the series now in its third season is nonetheless entertaining helped by the engaging performances and high production values.
Released by Warner Home Video on 10th October for £39.99RRP for the five disc set. Extras include deleted scenes; a portrait of Red John - the serial killer and key recurring character and a featurette on 'Red Moon' directed by Simon Baker.
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