Credit: Netflix

A crime show that ended more than a decade ago climbing the global charts of Netflix in 2026? Yes, it’s happening. The Mentalist has resurfaced on Netflix’s Top 10 series list and is currently ranking at number nine worldwide with about 2.2 million views in the latest weekly chart. For a series that ended in 2015, that number is pretty impressive.

Just for a refresher, The Mentalist originally aired on CBS from 2008 to 2015, running for seven seasons. During its network run, it was one of the channel’s biggest procedural dramas, which only makes sense because at its peak, the show regularly pulled in well over 10 million weekly viewers.

Leading the show, we have our protagonist Patrick Jane, played by Simon Baker, who works as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation. Before joining law enforcement, he made money posing as a psychic. Later on, he publicly admitted that he had no supernatural powers and used observation and psychological tricks to read suspects and witnesses instead. No wonder the psychic gig worked out.

But when we take a look at the larger story, we learn that he is on a hunt for a serial killer known as Red John, who is the man responsible for the murder of Jane’s wife and daughter. Thus, the revenge becomes personal. This became a pivotal reason behind the show’s long-time run because people were interested in following the storyline. The makers also stretched it through several seasons, which, again, kept fans hooked.

Still, the plot alone does not explain the show’s lasting appeal. Crime procedurals have existed for decades and have always received immense love from the audience, yet The Mentalist succeeded in forming a group of audience all thanks to its characters and performances. Simon Baker’s portrayal of Patrick Jane became the face of the show as it intended to. People loved his sharp wit and relaxed demeanour. While traditional police dramas at that time had a serious approach to the cases, Jane mixed playfulness into his interrogation, making him a rather popular character still loved in 2026.

His costars included Robin Tunney, who played Teresa Lisbon in The Mentalist. She played the senior CBI agent who leads the team Jane works with. Over seven seasons, the dynamic between Jane and Lisbon evolved into one of the show’s central relationships. The rest of the cast included Tim Kang, Owain Yeoman, and Amanda Righetti.

So why is a show from the late 2000s trending on Netflix right now? One of the biggest factors is the arrival of the show in many regions. It was streaming on various other platforms in different regions, and now that it’s finally available on Netflix, people are bingeing left, right and centre.

And of course, there is nostalgia, which is another likely possibility. Many viewers who watched The Mentalist during its original CBS run are now revisiting it on Netflix, while the new generation of viewers is discovering it for the first time.

You see, crime dramas have always performed well on Netflix. Series such as Lucifer and Suits have all experienced similar revisits years after their original releases. The Mentalist is just running the pattern.