# Bones or Castle? Life after The Mentalist



## tivotvaddict (Aug 11, 2005)

My teenage daughter and I find ourselves very sad to be at the end of available Netflix DVDs of The Mentalist. We watch about 20 minutes a day, so t's been a part of our daily viewing for a while....

Bones and Castle seem to be similar. Thoughts on which we should try - or other suggestions? DD occasionally gets nightmares fom The Mentalist so unfortunately nothing more intense (I love, say Dexter or Sopranos but that's not gonna work. ). 

tta


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

I vote Castle. 

Both are good shows but if there are nightmares involved then Bones can be sometimes a bit free with decaying skin and bones and body parts. Castle is lots of fun.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Castle will be especially fun because of the family interaction with Castle, his daughter, and his mom.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Castle is IMO a much more enjoyable series.


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## madscientist (Nov 12, 2003)

+Castle


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Bones and Castle really aren't that much alike.

But Bones isn't all that much like the books, either.

And, so far, Castle hasn't pulled a big retcon the way Bones did.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

I vote Castle.
Bones is more visual with the gore of dead bodies.


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## Jesda (Feb 12, 2005)

Give up on Bones after season 4. Trust me.


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## jamesl (Jul 12, 2012)

tivotvaddict said:


> ... - or other suggestions?
> 
> DD occasionally gets nightmares fom The Mentalist .


Monk
Psych
Elementary

all fun, all good, and I think all more similar to The Mentalist than Bones is

Psych is the only one that has a little romance occasionally going on

neither Monk nor Psych are as gruesome, gory as Bones is (and Bones can be very messy -- decaying bodies wrapped in plastic bags and then the bags cut open and the liquified contents gushing out)

Elementary not very gory but is still in the middle of the first season

Psych and Monk very often mix comedy in with the detective work (Psych's running joke of him making fun of another detective's skepticism and his hard-nose straight by the book style -- Monk's comedy comes from his idiosyncrasies -- fear of germs, heights, small spaces, abandonment, round things, milk)


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

Castle even though I watch both.


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## dcheesi (Apr 6, 2001)

I've only watched Castle, but I think it's a great show. 

Slightly OT, but having only watched an episode or two of The Mentalist: what is it in that show that produces nightmares? Looked pretty tame to me


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## Test (Dec 8, 2004)

jamesl said:


> *Monk
> Psych*
> Elementary
> 
> ...


I would vote Psych then Monk. Especially because the Mentalist seems like it copied a major plot point from Psych which they've made a few jokes about on the show.

Also, both of those are on Netflix Watch Instant.


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## SnakeVargas (Feb 8, 2013)

I would say Castle. It still cracks me up to see the guy wandering around crimes scenes with WRITER written on his vest.

Also check out Burn Notice and Leverage if you havent yet. I was sad to see Leverage canceled.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

Bones went to crap after season 3 (writers strike a few years ago) I dropped it in season 4.


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## mlippert (Apr 3, 2010)

Castle is a good choice. I might also suggest NCIS (and NCIS is in season 10, so if you like it, there's a lot to catch up on available on DVD). It does occasionally get intense, but I think in a similar ratio to the mentalist.

And for NCIS, like the mentalist, it's the camaraderie of the team which makes the show.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

Castle.

Unlike Bones, Castle doesn't see the need to destroy the characters.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

JYoung said:


> Castle.
> 
> Unlike Bones, Castle doesn't see the need to destroy the characters.


I recommend watching Castle in original order because of the character development.

And definitely watch Bones in order to avoid severe confusion considering where some of the characters go.


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## tivotvaddict (Aug 11, 2005)

Castle it is!! Although I should consider Psych - she will think that they are cute.  Monk is another good option. Thanks for the suggestions!

Hard to explain the nightmares. She doesn't have a ton of them, but every so often after an intense episode. It's not the gore, at all - but the fact that characters (ok, mainly Patrick) she's grown to like could be the target of someone who is trying to kill them and that there are really people like some of the villains out in the world. She can watch Saw or any of those icky horror movies without nightmares, but something like Dexter where the guy is posing as a "normal" person would be incredibly unsettling to her. Besides, i want to have something a little more on the light-hearted side if we're watching it every day. 

Thanks again everyone!
tta


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## Ozzie72 (Aug 9, 2008)

Another vote for _Castle_, and another affirmation to stop after S3 if you watch _Bones_. I don't know how they scored enough acid for the whole writing staff, but those guys have been off the rails ever since.

I think the chemistry between Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic is great, and it doesn't hurt that the writers acknowledge Nathan's _Firefly_ past at least once a season. :up;


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## SNJpage1 (May 25, 2006)

I agree, you should watch Castle and start with the first showing. However, I would also suggest watching Firefly first if you can get it. I didnt see Firefly until this year and I realise now that there are a lot of things on Castle that are a throw back to Firefly that you will only enjoy if you see Firefly first. If you cant get it done worry the show is great anyways. I think you will enjoy the relationship btween Castle and his daughter.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

SNJpage1 said:


> I agree, you should watch Castle and start with the first showing. However, I would also suggest watching Firefly first if you can get it. I didnt see Firefly until this year and I realise now that there are a lot of things on Castle that are a throw back to Firefly that you will only enjoy if you see Firefly first. If you cant get it done worry the show is great anyways. I think you will enjoy the relationship btween Castle and his daughter.


One must never recommend Firefly without warning about the order in which the episodes should be watched, because that's not the order in which the idiots at Fox first aired them.


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## Fixer (Mar 29, 2005)

It's interesting to see Firefly and Castle being talked about in the same thread. FYI, Gina Torres (Zoe from Firefly) guest stars on the next ep of Castle. Hoping to see some winks to Nathan and Gina's old gig. :up:



unitron said:


> One must never recommend Firefly without warning about the order in which the episodes should be watched, because that's not the order in which the idiots at Fox first aired them.


When the Science Channel does a Firefly marathon, they usually show the eps in production order, not original broadcast order. :up:

___


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## madscientist (Nov 12, 2003)

Firefly is available on Netflix, both DVD and streaming.


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

unitron said:


> One must never recommend Firefly without warning about the order in which the episodes should be watched, because that's not the order in which the idiots at Fox first aired them.


Good point. I guess I always thought they were in Netflix in the correct order now. I have seen them all so I just skip around to my favorites. Wait, they are all my favorites. I just skip around to my most favorites.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

Fixer said:


> It's interesting to see Firefly and Castle being talked about in the same thread.


You're joking right? It's hard to see people discuss Castle (except for specific episode) and not bring up Firefly.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

tivotvaddict said:


> Hard to explain the nightmares. She doesn't have a ton of them, but every so often after an intense episode. It's not the gore, at all - but the fact that characters (ok, mainly Patrick) she's grown to like could be the target of someone who is trying to kill them and that there are really people like some of the villains out in the world.


Just FYI, a lot of TV shows pull out the 'one of the main characters is in danger' card eventually, so in the later seasons you will see this motif show up on Castle.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

In addition to Castle (which I heartily also vote for) 
I'll recommend Leverage, a lot of seasons, a light touch, and a very stable cast that makes it easy to get to love them all.


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## SNJpage1 (May 25, 2006)

There are a couple of shows on the Smithsonan channel, Aerial America, Mighty Ships and Mighty Planes that are interesting.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

I'd say both, though I "gave up on" Bones years ago.. it's one of the ones I intend to catch up on some eon.

20 minutes a day? Wow, even though there have been times when I've watched a feature length movie in 2 parts (not often), I don't *that* regularly watch a single episode of a show in multiple parts. The closest is when I'm walking on the treadmill, but even then I usually do something like a few sitcom episodes or 1 "hr" show (~4x minutes) + an ep of Jeopardy&#8230; Once in a while I will continue on another ep of an hour long show, but then finish it for sure the next day.


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## tivotvaddict (Aug 11, 2005)

murgatroyd said:


> Just FYI, a lot of TV shows pull out the 'one of the main characters is in danger' card eventually, so in the later seasons you will see this motif show up on Castle.


Ha - so true.  Just didn't want to go down the path of anything more intense than that.



dianebrat said:


> In addition to Castle (which I heartily also vote for)
> I'll recommend Leverage, a lot of seasons, a light touch, and a very stable cast that makes it easy to get to love them all.


I didn't realize Leverage had a ton of seasons - I've only seen a few in the past year.



SNJpage1 said:


> There are a couple of shows on the Smithsonan channel, Aerial America, Mighty Ships and Mighty Planes that are interesting.






mattack said:


> I'd say both, though I "gave up on" Bones years ago.. it's one of the ones I intend to catch up on some eon.
> 
> 20 minutes a day? Wow, even though there have been times when I've watched a feature length movie in 2 parts (not often), I don't *that* regularly watch a single episode of a show in multiple parts. The closest is when I'm walking on the treadmill, but even then I usually do something like a few sitcom episodes or 1 "hr" show (~4x minutes) + an ep of Jeopardy Once in a while I will continue on another ep of an hour long show, but then finish it for sure the next day.


Drives me a little crazy, but that pretty much means an episode lasts 2 days given that most are about 40ish minutes without commercials. I would not be able to watch a movie across more than a day - even that is too much for me.

tta


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## Fixer (Mar 29, 2005)

robojerk said:


> You're joking right? It's hard to see people discuss Castle (except for specific episode) and not bring up Firefly.


My intent was "tongue in cheek" since Firefly gets mentioned quite a bit in this forum. 

___


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## Jesda (Feb 12, 2005)

Never heard of Firefly. Is that some Mike Rowe insect show?


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

tivotvaddict said:


> I didn't realize Leverage had a ton of seasons - I've only seen a few in the past year.


 5 seasons, and a real ending, so be careful to not watch the finale just to be safe since it does close the loop (it was intended to be either series or season finale)


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

Another show to consider would be Rizzoli & Isles. The interaction between the two main characters is great.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

JimSpence said:


> Another show to consider would be Rizzoli & Isles. The interaction between the two main characters is great.


I liked it better when it was Women's Murder Club, although this version has the advantage of having Bruce McGill.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

I watch both Castle and Bones. Prefer Castle now that Emily's character is going a bit too far with the obsessive logic. She has no people skills and its irritating to me and the other characters on the show.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

tivotvaddict said:


> Ha - so true.  Just didn't want to go down the path of anything more intense than that.


Spoiler for Season 5 episode 15:


Spoiler



The teaser for next week's episode last night hinted that next week's episode, Season 5 #15, OAD 18/Feb/13 "Target" may be especially problematic. Someone is after Castle's daughter.


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## madscientist (Nov 12, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> Spoiler for Season 5 episode 15:


Yes that looks very intense.


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## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

Castle for sure.


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## Zevida (Nov 8, 2003)

I'll plus one the recommendation for Psych. It is very light and even when the main cast is in danger, it is still very light. The only episodes that get dark are the Yin and Yang episodes and that is only I think three episodes over the course of seven seasons.


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## mlippert (Apr 3, 2010)

unitron said:


> One must never recommend Firefly without warning about the order in which the episodes should be watched, because that's not the order in which the idiots at Fox first aired them.


So true! If they had aired them in the correct order they might not have alienated so many viewers who didn't know to stick around because it was Joss Whedon.

Speaking of Firefly references, Gina Torres guest starred on Monday's episode (which I'm planning on watching tonight!)

(Edit: I see others said the same thing, what can I say I saw firefly mentioned and replied immediately before I read the rest of the thread!)


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