Mind Games

Another series based on using psychology on people. It's a lot more light hearted than most series... and it stars Christian Slater, so of course it only lasted one season. Man, that guy is death to series.

Clark is a rather unhinged psychology professor, who studied psychology to learn what was wrong with him. His brother, Ross, is a con artist who wants what's best for his brother... going to rather underhanded techniques to get the job done. Together, with their team, they help people change other people's minds. (Because free will? Who gets to decide that doing this is a good thing? In the format of the show, it turns out all right, but the end few episodes do touch on how it could go wrong.) While there is a 'case of the week', there's an ongoing arc about the lies Ross told to Clark, and Clark's relationship with Beth, and Ross' relationships to everyone else, and it progresses every episode.

The arc feels new, because I've seen so many other 'X of the week' shows... and it isn't done that often. (Dexter comes to mind, but other than that...) The through line helps keep things changing, with never being quite sure who will be in the episodes from week to week. And the acting is decent, and Slater is likeable (okay, I didn't only pick this because he was in it, but that was a large factor), so that helps keep me watching.

But yeah, no second season, so we never got to see if that final relationship ever got resolved... hey ho, fanfic time!

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