Woo boy, where to even start! I am a huge fan of The Mentalist, which rapidly staked its claim as one of my favourite Holmesian TV shows during the opening seasons and has just consistently gone from strength to strength. If you enjoy deductive reasoning or procedural shows I would definitely recommend giving Patrick Jaynes' exploits a shot, especially now the storyline has actually come to a conclusion – and what a conclusion!

Obviously, I went into Season 6 knowing that there is also a Season 7, albeit a much shorter than normal one. As a result, I had expected Season 6 to play out the premise that had been set up at the end of the previous season, namely that Jayne had narrowed down the pool of Red John suspects to a manageable number. Honestly, I'd expected the whole setup to be yet another twist, one in which Red John had (once again) manipulated Jayne into doing his bidding; I had predicted that the "suspects" would actually be a rival organisation that had been preventing Red John's own clandestine network from spreading even further. Boy, oh boy was I wrong! The Mentalist has never been a slow show, even during the mid-seasons when the story was clearly elongated a bit to make the most of its booming popularity, but the start to Season 6 can only be described as rapid-fire. I guess they were worried about cancellation and wanted to wrap it all up ASAP, but the result is some riveting TV.

I'm not going to go into too many details, despite the spoiler warnings. If you like this kind of show, or watch The Mentalist at all, you deserve to watch it yourself without any knowledge of what is going to happen. Instead, I'll just say that it was one hell of conclusion to the show's longest-running plot thread. I have a great deal of respect that they kept the characters rooted in the behaviour we've seen develop since day one and allowed them the clear ending arcs that they've been setting up; there's no "Hollywood" ending here and there shouldn't have been. The good guys come out on top but Red John stays as manipulative and intelligent as ever, with his final unmasking being quick, clever and (crucially) not left open-ended. The final showdown between Jayne and John is brutal and definitely leaves some minor plot threads open/unexplained (you know the one I mean), but largely does a very good job of bringing both characters to a clear resolution.

And then there's the rest of the season... which is different, to be sure. Personally, I definitely felt a little at a loss as to why the show was continuing, almost up to the actual season finale, but now the dust has settled I have to give the show's team a massive thumbs up. They almost certainly saw a drop off in viewers once the "main" plotline was over, so the decision to focus half a season going in an entirely new direction for the show was ballsy, but it worked a charm. Most importantly, and why any fan should definitely stick it out and keep watching, the second half of the season helps resolve so much that I hadn't even realised had been left open. I guess Season 5, in particular, was so Red John heavy that the other plot threads bubbling away under the service became slightly forgotten, but the writers obviously still had plenty of plans for them. I guess this is one of the reasons the show was so great: it was very definitely not a one-trick pony.

In terms of the new direction that the show is going in, I love it. I know that it obviously didn't take commercially, as the show has officially ended now, but the whole FBI angle worked far better than I thought it could do. Importantly, it has finally made Jayne and Lisbon equals, enabling them to actually interact with each other in new ways, which has been amazingly refreshing. It was sad to see some characters get left behind, although their reasoning was very well explained and, again, their story arc was given the just amount of time to wrap up organically, rather than feeling forced. Plus, the new team members have slotted into new roles very neatly. Crucially, it doesn't feel like a reboot (which, lets face it, is what this is), it feels like a logical progression. So seriously well done to the writers and everyone else involved. I did not think that would have been possible.

A riveting conclusion to one of the series greatest plot lines, executed with surprising swiftness to allow for a wonderful level of closure for fans of the series. Season 6 was as strong as ever!

Now let's be clear here, before allegations start flying: I watched most of Season 6 during April, Season 7 is much shorter than normal and, no, I do not have a problem! At least, I guess I don't any more. It's taken quite a few days before I felt up to writing this review because The Mentalist has definitely become something special. The adventures of Patrick Jayne and Theresa Lisbon have slowly climbed up and up in my esteem, season on season, to cement themselves as one of my all-time favourite TV shows. The occasional filler episode aside, each week was a thrilling ride of intellectual curiosity wrapped up as a detective show, all neatly held together by fantastic, believable performances and scripting. Jayne may well be the greatest remodelling of Holmes in quite some time (Sherlock himself aside). Sure, way too many of their bosses were entirely corrupt or downright psychopathic and, sure, the office romances never really trod outside of the tried and tested. And yes, the show often set up subplots only to resolve them in a rush one or two episodes later, which often felt more like an admittance that the side cast rarely got any nuanced time on camera (wasn't Cho addicted to pain killers for about two days?).

Negatives aside, however, the show maintained its heart, character and (crucially) its vision. I was a little worried that the final season would have no ideas left, but actually, as with season 6, it concluded with a real sense of completeness. Yes, there are still some Red John threads left hanging, but the main characters all have closure to a degree that is seriously impressive. I'm not sure any other popular TV show has ever treated its ending with this much care, especially one that had been stretched out to abuse its popularity.

My season 6 notes have covered plenty, but there are a couple of points worth noting on season 7, mainly the one slight hitch in an otherwise perfect farewell: Michelle Vega. Don't get me wrong, I think her character was well done, well-acted and her own conclusion definitely created some much-needed tragedy. On the flip side, however, she did feel like a square peg in a Kim Fischer shaped hole at various points throughout the series. I have no idea what happened with the latter character, or why she was written out so abruptly, but it definitely felt a little strange. It also felt like it happened after earlier scripts had already been finalised, which could account for Vega's flip-flop of the heart away from Cho and towards Wylie (who, quickly, was an excellent foil throughout season 7). Whatever happened, it made her character arc a little rushed, borrowed too heavily from the early character development of Van Pelt/Rigsby and made her death feel less impactful than if, say, it had been Fischer i.e. a character with slightly more history with the cast.

That said, it was still a wonderful season, a fantastic ending (albeit painfully tense... I could barely watch the final episode) and a brilliant closing chapter to a fantastic detective show. I will miss Patrick Jayne and co. a great deal indeed and would urge any fan of Holmesian drama to give The Mentalist a watch: you won't be disappointed!