The Mentalist's BRILLIANT Writing Trick

[@Lianpe98]

The show doesn't tell the viewer the plan BUT it ALSO gives the viewer all the clues and pieces that the protagonist uses, like any good old mistery story.

[@marcmeyer554]

Love the Mentalist. Great tip. It's maddening for the other characters to be in the dark all the time, but it does keep us guessing what's next.

[@jordiwrites]

Thanks! And yeah I agree. The way they always just go "Ah come on, can't you just tell us" is never not funny😂

[@ThomasEhrenberg-gp9dk]

Best TV series ever.

[@jordiwrites]

It's brilliant!

[@smartalek180]

One of them, anyway. We've had an embarrassment of riches these past few decades. Other candidates include: Sopranos; Battlestar Galactica; Dr Who; White Collar; Suits; Succession; Peaky Blinders; Breaking Bad; The Wire; Mad Men; Game of Thrones (except for the last season, obvsly); Sherlock; Friends; The West Wing; House of Cards; Better Call Saul; Downton Abbey; The Crown; The Newsroom; Yellowstone; The Expanse; The Americans; Seinfeld; The Simpsons; Buffy... YMMV.

[@Shadow8Crow]

​@@smartalek180lost? i mean the TV show

[@asterismss]

the mentalist is one of the best shows i've ever watched (which says quite a lot since i'm very picky). and this tip really hits the nail on the head as to why it does such a good job at keeping viewers guessing. i feel like in addition to this, most characters were just likeable, and while this trait may not always be an indicator of a good show, it really made the experience soo much better.

[@jordiwrites]

Hard agree here. It is such a fun show with a great cast!😁

[@arcanerecovery2567]

There was a detective show called Columbo where they showed you the crime in the first 5 or 10 minutes and then spent nearly 2 hours having the lead character finds clues and track down leads with a sort of bumbling forgetful way. At the end of encounters with suspects he would always say, "Oh, just one more thing..." and then he would hit them with something out of left field and most times say something to incriminate themselves. So both styles can work. If you can get the audience to be empathic toward the lead character then you can do almost anything and people will enjoy it to some degree and root for them to win. Another detective show, Monk, has a main character that has a plethora of fears, phobias, and allergies. Yet somehow people end up rooting for him to succeed and win the day. Of course brilliant writing doesn't hurt, good actors, etc. There are a number of factors that go into making a hit show.

[@smartalek180]

Huh. I had no idea that show had 2-hour episodes. Good for them! (I wonder if that made it easier, or tougher for the writers -- or some of each?) Thank you for giving me part of my daily internet edumacation.

[@abdulmohsin23]

Im binge the mentalist third time in a row. The brilliant of its writing is astonishing

[@daniellemhall1358]

The Mentalist is extremely bingeable.

[@jordiwrites]

100% Watched it all in way too short of a time period 😬

[@jamescraig3345]

We missed a lot of episodes when it was on, so last year we managed to stream the whole thing from start to finish. The list of other shows worthy of doing this: Mash, Northern Exposure and Monk. Actually, when Vera ends in January, we might start that one…

[@jordiwrites]

I love Monk! Very I've only seen a few episodes of and loved as well. Thanks for the suggestions!

[@akshayb9989]

I liked the tip. Keep up the good work.This was great TV show

[@jordiwrites]

Thanks! And it definitely was! One of my favourites I've seen this year

[@donovanwiebe2495]

I never even thought about it but I used this trick instinctively in my own script. It's good to put technique to my instincts, thanks for this video

[@jordiwrites]

I'm glad it helped! Thanks for watching 😁

[@diegodreossi1458]

I am rewatching the show. Season 5.

[@jordiwrites]

Nice! Have fun 😁

[@maningxl]

I really like Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, and I think Patrick Jane is the closest detective character (if I can call him that, because he is an assistant after all) I've ever seen because he uses psychology instead of physical evidence, and he never tells anyone what he thinks, but he solves every case.

[@jordiwrites]

I definitely agree with this! Poirot is great by the way. I've not read any of the books, but I did watch some episodes of the show!

[@bambostarla6259]

I'm a huge fan of both. I would say they are both my favourite police shows if I had to pick 2 out of the enormous pool

[@gaopinghu7332]

Quite a small channel, considering the quality of the editing. I'm impressed.

[@jordiwrites]

Thanks, I appreciate that!

[@gaopinghu7332]

@@jordiwrites No problem, I look forward to see how your channel develops.

[@swathedpyhton5296]

Peak fiction patrick jane is the greatest of all time

[@reeedim5278]

One of the things i theorized is why the mentalist episode name before Jane ended Red Jhon is always in the color red spectrum, is because that is all what Jane sees, he sees red, he’s thirsty for revenge. Idk somebody please correct me on this

[@jordiwrites]

I think that's an interesting theory, but I personally think it's much simpler than that. Red John is the red herring (lol also red) throughout this entire story. So the red already comes from "red john" No matter what, it's all about red john. With that in mind, it also makes for a coherent style of titles But that's just what I think!

[@annielalumiere783]

If I may suggest : Cash, a 2008 French movie with Jean Dujardin! Your whole video reminded me of that movie, I think you’d love it if you enjoyed the Mentalist for its writing! 😁

[@jordiwrites]

Thanks for the recommendation! Will add it to my watchlist😁

[@PetterAgren]

I love you so much Simon ❤❤❤

[@gameboyatron1405]

I make up a lot of unofficial rules when I watch tv shows for for the fun of it, trying to predict whats coming next. A good example is "if you dont see the body, theyre alive" haha. I never came up with this one though! Thats something Im going to have to keep an eye out for in future shows I watch

[@jordiwrites]

Oh yeah that's a solid one for sure! It does feel like gaslighting myself at times though😂 I do the same with another show. "This feels like a pointless conversation, but it must be important somehow because I'm seeing it." That then causes some domino effect in predicting the rest of the episode 😂 (Also I hope I didn't ruin a bunch of shows for you now lol)

[@gameboyatron1405]

@@jordiwrites Ahhh I'll still enjoy them, I have fun picking at common tropes

[@reda29100]

Neither tropes are always true. Good rule of thumb to remain skeptical, but not always to trust it. 2 examples. You've never, as a viewer, seen Charlotte's Patrick's corpse (for obvious reasons, a child around age 5-6 would've taken that role). However, Jane as well as everyone else state she's murdered by RJ, unlike his wife Angela that you do see hers. Jane asserts in Devil's Cherry (Belladonna hallucination episode where Jane sees his daughter in dream state) to Lisbon she did see his daughter's corpse and deadains how she and Chonfell for believing his daughter's story. You as a viewer never saw Charlotte's body, so do you suspect she's alive, despite Jane's assertion himself? The other not always true trope is, if you see the body, he's dead. Recall the trans guy thing and that exploded car the black bodyguard saw as soon as he left the building. All it proves is a real corpse with dna. Does it mean he's dead? You be the judge.

[@joshchacko7729]

Cool.

[@rubenlarochelle1881]

If they explain the plan, it will fail. If they say they have a plan but don't explain it, it will succeed. I consider this to be cursed knowledge, because a lot of shows and movies will now have less suspense for me.

[@DEX_99]

I finished Mentalist like two times, is there any show like that I missed to watch ? Someone pls comment back and suggest me

[@jordiwrites]

I don't think there's a show that so brilliantly combines wit, charm, and reading people. Although, you might like Psych (more focused on comedy), or Elementary (modern Sherlock Holmes, verrrrry fun), or for just the wits and medical mysteries, there's House! Hope this helps 😁

[@wojskowy1182]

Columbo

[@goldbug7127]

you are describing suspense.

[@jordiwrites]

Not quite. Suspense is the build up to something; a moment, or a conclusion. But this is, in a way, a misdirect. They set expectations through telling the viewer what they're going to do, and because of that it never succeeds, because they can't outsmart us. We already know because they told us. But if Jane makes it a little game and doesn't tell anyone (or at least the viewers), we get that feeling of surprise and wonder "how could this go". That's when the plan works, because 9/10 times, we can't predict it. Sure, this gives the feeling of suspense, but I think it goes deeper than that

[@goldbug7127]

@@jordiwrites Suspense is the heading. The others are sub-headings. Types of suspense. Suspense is anticipation.

[@GregInHouston2]

What they did to Agent Fisher? What did they do to her???? They simply wrote her out of the final season. Nothing more. I don't like what they did to Agent Vega! That was tragic!!!

[@jordiwrites]

Oh yeah Agent Vega was sad for sure, but I said it that way because I was upset she was written out of the show. She had a purpose originally (to create a love triangle with Lisbon and Jane), but because they eventually decided not to do that, she just got cut out of the show. Sucked because I loved her character!

[@hrishikeshms1891]

The writing and the characters arc along with Simon's acting was very brilliant. But the twist and revealing of red john was disappointing 💯💯💔

[@jordiwrites]

Definitely! I was a little disappointed with the reveal as well, and I would've been happy with the season 3 reveal, if it had been real. But because it wasn't real, and it kept going, it was doomed to always disappoint. Nobody was going to be a satisfying answer

[@hrishikeshms1891]

@@jordiwrites SPOILER**#ALERT to viewers Also the character Thomas mcallister had only appeared in second episode of season 1 and there was no knowledge about him for 4 seasons and suddenly revealing him as red john in season 6 was like adjustment and rush to somehow finish the series 💯💯

[@antonioarredondo9680]

I love the mentalist, but unrelated to the topic... you look like a friend I had in HS (in mexico) He was kind of a dick but a good friend. You're much nicer, and articulate... and like the mentalist anyway, new sub right here that was a great breakdown!

[@jordiwrites]

Thanks for watching and for the kind words😁

[@midhunkm1547]

really Good content considering subs on your channel! kEEP going man

[@jordiwrites]

Thanks so much! I promise I'll be making a new video soon😁