Hawaii 5-0 vs. The Mentalist (or the reason Amber & Chuck are going to disown us)

Mike and I had a serious discussion last night. And I mean serious, people. I had been thinking earlier in the day how awesome Hawaii 5-0 is as a new show. And then I started thinking about how much Amber loves the Mentalist. She just loves that Patrick Jane and Cho and that pretty but big boned Grace. And I have loved the Mentalist right along with her. I've followed the Red John story with loyalty, trepidation and glee. I even have a print in my house of a bird that I named Red John. See, I'm a big Mentalist fan. But then friends, Hawaii 5-0 entered my life and things just haven't been the same for me and Agent Rigsby. And why can't I think of the dykey side kick who's in charge of their little band of agents? Irish, short, cute but sort of masculine. Come on Aim think....agent....Agent...Lisbon!!!! I knew it was sort of lesbian-ish. I'm not saying she is or isn't I'm just saying. It's possible. And he's not exactly the most masculine dude in the world. Anybody that gets a perm and highlights and curls his hair with a flat iron and wears those little suit vests isn't screaming kick ass murder ace. But I've always been okay with that. He was more of a thinking man's hero. And he had gone through major trauma when his wife and daughter got killed by Red John. So let's cut him some slack.

But now...Hawaii 5-0. There's a show. Mike and I did a point by point comparison that I know will not be interesting to anyone but maybe Amber and possibly Chuck but here you go anyway.

Main Characters: Steve McGarrity vs. Patrick Jane

McGarrity Background: Navy SEAL, Mother killed by unknown persons when he was a kid, father murdered by brother of Irish terrorist that he, as a Navy SEAL, killed. Comes to back home to Hawaii to work on a special task force for the Governor getting rid of high end crime on the island. Has a sister.
Jane Background: An enigma. Former talk show host, con-artist turned mentalist performer. Wife and daughter stabbed to death after he talks about serial killer Red John on TV. He is obsessed with hunting down and catching Red John. He now works for the CBI (California Bureau of Investigations) helping a team of agents solve various homicides in California all the while working the Red John case on the side.

Sidekicks: Dano vs. Lisbon

"Dano": "Book Em Dano" is one of the best cop lines from any show ever. Now that it has returned to television you'd think it was cheesy and sugary nostalgia. But McGarrity and Danny Williams make it seem fresh every time. Dano is a single Dad from New Jersey who transfers to Hawaii as a detective to be near his daughter Gracie. He becomes McGarrity's partner. He bumbles through the cases, knowing nothing about Hawaii and the back and forth between him and McGarrity is awesome.
Lisbon: Patricia Lisbon is the head of the CBI team that Patrick Jane consults for. A real hard nosed no nonsense cop type of girl, you'd expect her in NYC rather than Sacramento. She wears a leather jacket and black jeans in every episode and delivers her lines with a perfect blend of sarcasm and unemotional cop speak. You sense some attraction between her and Jane, but wisely, the writers are taking it nice and slow. They deeply care for each other but there's no love story as of yet.

Hot Asian Team Member
Chin: Same actor as played Jin on Lost. I think his name is still Chin/Jin. He's hot in an intellectual nice Korean guy way. He is the computer tech guy for the team and is a fallen cop who is given a second chance by McGarrity to prove he's an upstanding fella.
Cho: Cho is the hottest asian dude to ever be on TV. Chinese, buff and a man of little words and even fewer emotions. However, when he gets pissed off...LOOK OUT. He's unstoppable. And you know he actually feels a lot more than the rest of them just by his eyes. A great actor and a great character.

Hot Female Team Rookie Team Member
Kono: The actress Grace Park played Athena/Sharon Volarie on Battlestar Gallactica. For that reason alone she is super awesome, kick ass and hot. (I know I'm a girl but she's hot.) She is a Hawaii street kid and the cousin to Chin. She grew up tough and manages to convey toughness and sweetness at the same time. She's a rookie so we get a to see a lot of this through her eyes for the first time. She is not jaded but not naive. She rocks.
Grace: She had brown hair, then red hair that looked like Ariel the Little Mermaid. She is doe eyed and always seems scared and shocked. She has kicked some butt, however it is rare. She is also the tech person in the unit and does not pull off the tech speak or the cop speak very well. She always seems to be talking in a whisper too. And her shirts are too tight for her rib cage. She reminds me of a giraffe. Can you tell which girl I like better?

Extra Characters:
The Governor: Played by Designing Woman Jean Smart. First she's from the South. I love the good people of Hawaii but they'd never elect a southern houlie as Governor. She has some ties to McGarrity's father and plays sort of a pseudo mother figure to him. She tries to be tough and very politician like but she can't quite pull it off.
Agent Rigsby: The final agent on the CBI team. Smokin' hot with a great partnership with Cho. Rigsby is all thumbs and fingers to Cho's cool calm. He also had an affair with Grace and it was secret and stuff and that was okay for awhile but I'm glad they broke them up.

The state of Hawaii: how freakin cool can it be to film exclusively in Hawaii? It makes me feel like I'm there every week. The producers do an amazing job of showcasing the very best of Oahu and setting the action in real towns, real parts of the island, real streets etc. They also could be so much more risque in how many bikini and skin shots they show and they are tasteful both in that area and in the gore part of the violence. They celebrate the people of Hawaii in a great way.
Sacramento: my home town. Sacramento is beautiful and is overshadowed by other California cities like LA, San Diego and San Francisco. We are the capitol and have rivers, bridges and tons of natural beauty. The only city in the world that has more trees per square foot in Paris which is known as "The City of Trees". Paris is our sister city. The problem with the Mentalist is they do one or two shots of the characters in Sacramento and the rest of the hour is either shot indoors, on some film set or in other places than Sacramento. Also, they travel to fictional towns all over California like Sierra River, Pleasantdale, Ocean View, Sierra Lake etc. None of these towns exist. Why not film in Lake Tahoe, Nevada City, Fairfield, Sonoma, Napa? These towns are picture post cards and would add so much credibility to the show.

Our final estimation is that Hawaii 5-0 kicks Mentalist butt. Luckily, CBS owns both shows. Sorry Amber, your boy Jane has gone down. The way I see it, the score is 5-1 with Cho being the only win for the Mentalist. He's a strong reason to keep watching but just about everything in Hawaii 5-0 is better. Steve McGarrity rules!