Plot: What’s it about?
Dr. House, wait I mean Dr. Jack Gallagher (Chris Vance) is the Director of Psychiatric Services at Wharton Memorial. While he is a master of the field and generates incredible results, his methods are somewhat unusual, to say the least. So while he is often able to solve the problem, he also creates new ones that involve himself, his patients, his coworkers, and of course his boss. In this case, his boss also happens to be an old flame of his (Annabella Sciorra), with whom he often clashes over his methods. As if his work life wasn’t enough, Gallagher has issues in his personal life as well. So while he helps his patients recover their own lives, he struggles to discover the truth behind his own. Will his results be enough to justify his quirky style, or will Dr. Gallagher find himself with more trouble than his own patients?
If you’re a fan of House, well then you’ll…feel like this you’ve seen this all before. Mental takes the identical blueprint that House uses, then tries to make lightning strike twice. As good as House can be, Mental fails to live up to the show it aims to rip off, leaving us with a pale imitation. And while a lot of shows are similar are nature, make no mistake, Mental was designed to be a carbon copy of House, down to the letter. An eccentric doctor who plays by his own rules, sexual tension with the boss, out of left field cures that almost always work, its all here in spades. But whereas House makes it work most of the time, Mental struggles to even be competent in the basic areas. So I guess my recommendation is that if you know there is already a show that does what Mental does, only a hundred times better, why even bother with this one?
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a season hot off the presses, so as expected, these episodes look terrific. The prints are all pristine and show no flaws, even small nicks are absent and grain is never present. This means the visuals can shine throughout, since the materials have no defects to hinder the presentation. As such, the image is razor sharp and detail is very high at all times. I was impressed with the contrast, as black levels are replicated to perfection and never lapse in quality. These episodes simply look fantastic.
Audio: How does it sound?
Not much to talk about here, as aside from a few episodes that have some action, the audio is rather limited here. But for what the show is, the soundtrack can often be quite active, though in a smaller scope. I had no problems hearing the dialogue at any time, as vocals were clean and crisp with no volume issues in the least. The music and sound effects manage to create a decent enough atmosphere, which is welcome in a show such as this. I wasn’t blown away, but I was surprised with how active this track was. This release also includes subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This release includes an alternate unrated cut of the pilot, as well as a promotional featurette.
