The series follows Patrick Jane, an independent consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) based in Sacramento, California. Although not an officer of the law, he uses his skills from his former career as a successful, yet admittedly fraudulent, psychic medium to help a team of CBI agents solve murders. The real reason for Jane’s involvement with law enforcement is to track down the serial killer, known as Red John, who was responsible for the brutal murders of his wife, Angela Ruskin Jane, and his daughter, Charlotte Anne Jane.
Before the murders, Jane had a lucrative career as a con man, successfully posing as a psychic medium and enjoying near-celebrity status. Five years before the events in the show’s pilot episode, he appeared on television to claim that his paranormal abilities helped the police profile a serial killer named Red John. Red John, angered by the perceived slight, murdered Jane’s wife and his young daughter in revenge.
Jane abandoned his career and teamed with the CBI, using his skills to help them solve various crimes. His main focus is on the cases involving Red John or Red John copycats. He admits to faking the supernatural aspects of his skills, often asserting, “there’s no such thing as psychics,” yet he has finely honed skills in cold reading, hypnosis, and picking pockets, as well as his intuitive observations and immense insight into the human psyche and the behavior of witnesses.
His associates at the CBI include colleagues Wayne Rigsby, Grace Van Pelt, and Kimball Cho, and their boss, Teresa Lisbon, with whom Jane shares a combative friendship with romantic undertones that develop in later seasons. Various directors and recurring civilians come across as the show unfolds, including: Bret Stiles, Gale Bertram, Virgil Minelli, Erica Flynn, Lorelei Martin, Kristina Frye, Madeleine Hightower, JJ Laroche, and Walter Mashburn.
As the show progresses, the focus shifts from general cases during seasons one to three, to solely catching Red John, throughout seasons four to six. At the midpoint of season six, the Red John case is solved, the FBI steps in, closing the CBI, and the show adopts a new track for two seasons, along with a few new characters. The show still focuses on case-solving with emotional episodes.
