TV Review: Mental Lapse

Perhaps the most difficult human condition to understand is mental illness. Lots of movies and TV shows have tried to paint us a picture. The newest creation to try this is the TV show Mental (FOX).

British actor Chris Vance as Dr. Jack Gallagher leads the cast of Mental. You may recognize Vance from Prison Break where he played the character James Whistler. Other cast members of Mental include Derek Webster, Annabella Sciorra, and Jacqueline McKenzie.

The pilot episode follows newly hired director Dr. Jack Gallagher as he shakes up the staff at a Los Angeles hospital specializing in treating the mentally ill. Dr. Gallagher is part detective, part rebel, and all around miracle worker. Dr. Gallagher's hospital staff is extremely rigid and somewhat institutionalized themselves. The plot of this pilot focuses on Vincent, a talented patient who has gone off his meds. It's Dr. Gallagher's job to figure out why.

My first impression of this show is that it is very stiff. The characters, the patients, and the plot are as rigid as an icicle in January. And except for the first incident with Vincent, this is the most orderly, quiet, and sterile psych unit in the world. I'm thinking that the producers, the director, and the cast of this show are over-medicated.

My second impression is that, intentionally or not, the producers of Mental have cloned the TV show House. You have a British actor portraying a brilliant and rebellious doctor. You have a smart, dark-haired woman who is the hospital administrator and romantically linked to the good doctor. The doctor had a rough childhood. The rest of the staff is cute but clueless. Sound like House?

Article Author: The Crow

I live in Madison, Wisconsin. Once in a while, I leave the coal mine and see a movie, eat dinner out, and mix with other crows. The rest of the time, I'm on my computer.

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