The Mentalist vs. Bones
The Mentalist and Bones, to me, are both incredibly similar shows. A rather rough around the edges, strictly business, I-wanna-catch-the-bad-guy-no-matter-what agent teams up with a rather quirky specialist. The pair and their team solve murders. The credit usually goes to the quirky specialist, but it's usually half-and-half with the agent.
The similarities:
- Jane and Brennan are a lot alike. Both alienate those around them with their intelligence and intuition. And sometimes they just don't know when to stop weirding people out. Both manage to use their brilliance to bring justice.
- Lisbon and Booth are more alike than either would ever admit (if they were, you know, real and in the same universe). Both have a strict sense of justice, often in black and white, and both have a darker past than they'd share with their team.
- Lisbon and Jane are pretty much Booth and Brennan, with less bickering, chemistry, and flirting. Lisbon and Jane have a witty repartee, which often consists of him calling her stupid and her calling him immature. Booth and Brennan like to keep it a little less hostile.
The differences:
- Jane can be good with people when he wants to. He just rarely wants to. Brennan, on the other hand, can't help being totally completely awkward.
- Lisbon has less of the dark past, but also less of the humor. She takes her job extremely seriously. Not that Booth doesn't, but I can't imagine Lisbon just rocking out in her car on the way to the crime scene. Unless she was drunk and it was a Spice Girls CD.
- The Mentalist is much more of a team show. The team goes everywhere together, unlike in Bones where it's Booth and Brennan and then the squints back at the lab.
- Jane is quite lazy, whereas Brennan does more than she has to. I could never imagine Brennan just sleeping on the couch while everyone else was working, just as I could never imagine Jane picking apart a corpse. He'd probably end up puking.
There is no one as cool as Cho on Bones. On the other hand, there is no one as annoying as Van Pelt and/or Rigsby can be.
- The Mentalist does not deal with forensics, unless you count psychological forensics. Not that what Jane does is a science. He's just good at reading people.
Why I prefer The Mentalist:
- Brennan is superwoman, whereas Jane can't shoot a gun without getting massive recoil. Brennan kicks ass, whereas Jane often gets his ass kicked. Personally, I prefer the latter. You can't be a genius and a badass. That's too many Sue-ish qualities. Not that Brennan is a Sue, but those qualities are rather Sue-ish.
- You know that thing called a plot? Bones used to have one. Unfortunately, the producers and writers can't balance an amazing chemistry with good plots. It seems to be one or the other. I love Booth/Brennan, but it just seems a little lackluster nowadays. To be quite honest, it's boring. Yes, I get it. Booth and Brennan are meant to be. I totally support that. Um, in the meantime? Plot please. I mean, five seasons of "will they or won't they" is getting so ridiculously boring. And ridiculous. Um. Brennan wants Booth to be her baby daddy? What? I mean, it's starting to be less of a drama series and more of a chick flick. Which would be okay if it hadn't been five seasons already.
- The Mentalist manages to avoid this. Lisbon and Jane don't have that great chemistry. It's good, I'll admit, and if they hook up that would be awesome. But I hope it doesn't turn into a "will they or won't they" situation. But who knows, it's only season two.
- Jane is a more complex and darker character than Brennan. Yes, Brennan has daddy issues. Yes, she was adopted. But it's all very transparent. Jane's family was killed, and yet he hides it so well. And he isn't the champion of justice that Brennan is. He works on these cases because they are interesting, not because it's right to do so. He is manipulative and brutal and has no qualms about getting vengeance. He hurts every second we see him on screen, and it never gets boring because he never shows it.
- UM. CHO IS A BADASS.
- THREE PIECE SUITS. HECK YEAH.
That being said, if you put a gun to my head and said, "You must watch twenty-four hours straight of either one of these shows. Which one will you watch?" I'd say Bones. Because the actors are amazing (not that they aren't on The Mentalist), the chemistry is great, and Brennan's team annoys me less than Jane's does. And David Boreanaz is OMG LOVE.
I really hope that Lisbon and Jane do hook up, because I ship it and it would totally be such a mindfuck for Jane (like how he still loves his dead wife and all). But the "will they or won't they" I wouldn't be able to stand. My perfect set up would be as such: a little flirting now and then, and then very slow buildup. Then there's a hook up, and Lisbon and Jane are both all "OMG WTF." It's awkward and they don't talk about it until they do and they agree that it's best to just ignore it. Meanwhile, Jane goes back to being a monk, and Lisbon gets some cute lawyer boyfriend or something. Then she's all pissed when Jane doesn't seem to notice. Confrontation, and then everything goes back to normal, no hooking up or anything. Maybe later they can go steady, but inbetween THERE SHALL BE PLOT.
Actually, watching S1 right now, it's pretty obvious that they flirt and they know it, as opposed to Booth and Brennan who flirt and don't know it. It's cute.
The similarities:
- Jane and Brennan are a lot alike. Both alienate those around them with their intelligence and intuition. And sometimes they just don't know when to stop weirding people out. Both manage to use their brilliance to bring justice.
- Lisbon and Booth are more alike than either would ever admit (if they were, you know, real and in the same universe). Both have a strict sense of justice, often in black and white, and both have a darker past than they'd share with their team.
- Lisbon and Jane are pretty much Booth and Brennan, with less bickering, chemistry, and flirting. Lisbon and Jane have a witty repartee, which often consists of him calling her stupid and her calling him immature. Booth and Brennan like to keep it a little less hostile.
The differences:
- Jane can be good with people when he wants to. He just rarely wants to. Brennan, on the other hand, can't help being totally completely awkward.
- Lisbon has less of the dark past, but also less of the humor. She takes her job extremely seriously. Not that Booth doesn't, but I can't imagine Lisbon just rocking out in her car on the way to the crime scene. Unless she was drunk and it was a Spice Girls CD.
- The Mentalist is much more of a team show. The team goes everywhere together, unlike in Bones where it's Booth and Brennan and then the squints back at the lab.
- Jane is quite lazy, whereas Brennan does more than she has to. I could never imagine Brennan just sleeping on the couch while everyone else was working, just as I could never imagine Jane picking apart a corpse. He'd probably end up puking.
There is no one as cool as Cho on Bones. On the other hand, there is no one as annoying as Van Pelt and/or Rigsby can be.
- The Mentalist does not deal with forensics, unless you count psychological forensics. Not that what Jane does is a science. He's just good at reading people.
Why I prefer The Mentalist:
- Brennan is superwoman, whereas Jane can't shoot a gun without getting massive recoil. Brennan kicks ass, whereas Jane often gets his ass kicked. Personally, I prefer the latter. You can't be a genius and a badass. That's too many Sue-ish qualities. Not that Brennan is a Sue, but those qualities are rather Sue-ish.
- You know that thing called a plot? Bones used to have one. Unfortunately, the producers and writers can't balance an amazing chemistry with good plots. It seems to be one or the other. I love Booth/Brennan, but it just seems a little lackluster nowadays. To be quite honest, it's boring. Yes, I get it. Booth and Brennan are meant to be. I totally support that. Um, in the meantime? Plot please. I mean, five seasons of "will they or won't they" is getting so ridiculously boring. And ridiculous. Um. Brennan wants Booth to be her baby daddy? What? I mean, it's starting to be less of a drama series and more of a chick flick. Which would be okay if it hadn't been five seasons already.
- The Mentalist manages to avoid this. Lisbon and Jane don't have that great chemistry. It's good, I'll admit, and if they hook up that would be awesome. But I hope it doesn't turn into a "will they or won't they" situation. But who knows, it's only season two.
- Jane is a more complex and darker character than Brennan. Yes, Brennan has daddy issues. Yes, she was adopted. But it's all very transparent. Jane's family was killed, and yet he hides it so well. And he isn't the champion of justice that Brennan is. He works on these cases because they are interesting, not because it's right to do so. He is manipulative and brutal and has no qualms about getting vengeance. He hurts every second we see him on screen, and it never gets boring because he never shows it.
- UM. CHO IS A BADASS.
- THREE PIECE SUITS. HECK YEAH.
That being said, if you put a gun to my head and said, "You must watch twenty-four hours straight of either one of these shows. Which one will you watch?" I'd say Bones. Because the actors are amazing (not that they aren't on The Mentalist), the chemistry is great, and Brennan's team annoys me less than Jane's does. And David Boreanaz is OMG LOVE.
I really hope that Lisbon and Jane do hook up, because I ship it and it would totally be such a mindfuck for Jane (like how he still loves his dead wife and all). But the "will they or won't they" I wouldn't be able to stand. My perfect set up would be as such: a little flirting now and then, and then very slow buildup. Then there's a hook up, and Lisbon and Jane are both all "OMG WTF." It's awkward and they don't talk about it until they do and they agree that it's best to just ignore it. Meanwhile, Jane goes back to being a monk, and Lisbon gets some cute lawyer boyfriend or something. Then she's all pissed when Jane doesn't seem to notice. Confrontation, and then everything goes back to normal, no hooking up or anything. Maybe later they can go steady, but inbetween THERE SHALL BE PLOT.
Actually, watching S1 right now, it's pretty obvious that they flirt and they know it, as opposed to Booth and Brennan who flirt and don't know it. It's cute.