Mind Games

"Mind Games" is the old "Mission Impossible" with a soft, mushy heart and a helping of humorous lunacy.

I don't mind the mushy heart or humorous lunacy. What needs to be fixed is the setup & believability of the schemes employed and their eventual conclusion. With "Mission Impossible" the plans were very straightforward, understandable & clear, A+B=C. Problems would come up, and they'd have to adjust (just like in 'Mind Games'). The difference is Zahns character is so manic and all over the place one gets the sense his inspirations are founded perhaps less in logic and more in THC. In order for me to properly get engaged in the plot and suspense, I need to be able to believe in it. I think this can be fixed with a little better/longer setup of the initial plans.

The characters are interesting & good looking, the acting is good, direction is decent (didn't like the circular merry go round camera shot in the second episode) & Chicago is a great setting. The team aspect is a big attraction to me. Like the original "Mission Impossible" (not the Tom Cruise versions) having a group of different people covertly work together to passionately achieve ethical goals just makes me feel good.

The greatest asset going for this show is its theme of scientifically manipulating human behavior to achieve a goal. "Mind Games" is intelligent, identifiable and lends itself to interesting, compelling introspection. I hope the show improves and succeeds.

Wow, I just watched the first episode, and most shows typically take about 3-4 shows to really get going and develop the characters and story to a comfortable level. The whole cast is just great, but the chemistry between Christian Slater, Steve Zahn and Wynn Everett is stellar. I did enjoy Slater's last effort (Breaking In), but the show itself wasn't great, but Christian was. This show, "Mind Games" is excellent. The bi-polar issues, the ex-con issues, the exes, t's all in the in a believable, heart-felt and emotional way. You are immediately drawn into the characters and just root for them. Flawed characters are always the best, and the cast will not disappoint. Great job cast and director. The writing is excellent as well... thanks for such an excellent show it, I am already connected to it.

I'm afraid I was somewhat underwhelmed by the debut of Mind Games. At first it sounded like a version of "Psych", but the first few minutes of the show made it clear that the two precepts had nothing in common.

I really enjoyed Steve Zahn's performance in Treme, but I found him just a little too frenetic (and loud) as the bipolar brother here. And Christian Slater, who was supposed to be the "normal" brother, came off as a bit unhinged as well - in his case, more sociopathic.

I'm not writing it off after only one episode, but I'm hoping that these portrayals will mellow out just a bit as the series continues. If I want to see erratic behaviour and people bouncing off the walls, I can find something closer to home.

This show has a lot of great potential! I'm liking it more and more as the stories and cases become more personal for the characters. BUT, I am so sad that Claire (Wynn Everett) appears to have left on tonight's show (the 3rd episode). I love her role on the show, and it's fun to see how she interacts with Carl (Steve Zahn's character). It seems like there is a chance that she could come back at some point with the way it was left, so I hope that she does! Her character was smart, witty, sensitive, and light-hearted, which was a much-needed addition to the cast. I'm guessing that her reason for leaving for Florida was just an excuse to get away from her dishonest ex-husband (I don't blame her!). But, she seems to care too much about how the business is truly helping people to be able to stay away for long.

The premise of the show sounded REALLY amazing to me- Leverage with a bit of The Mentalist, House of Lies and a few other elements taken from other TV Shows- I was in for a good ride... I was mistaken.

The pilot was fairly decent. Introduced the brothers and a bit of the back story to get the viewers interested in the characters themselves. It was very loud and chaotic but not too much that it would make the show seem completely unwatchable.... and then I watched the second episode, well, part of it at least; I don't think I can finish it.

There is just TOO much chaos. The eccentric and bipolar brother is just completely out there, very loud and obnoxious to the point where you start to feel embarrassed for the rest of the cast. It's completely ridiculous! So much broken glass, unorganized schemes that go nowhere because one of the brothers completely ruins it and all in all, just a bunch of chaos.

I'd stay away from this one. I'm going to try to finish the second episode but I doubt I'll make it through it.