I had been waiting for weeks for the return of Mind Games, only to do some searching today and discover it was canceled.I'm really disappointed; even though the pilot was a little rough (Clark was manic for much of the episode and it was difficult to watch after a while), I've liked the episodes since and how the characters were growing. I also like the behavioral science aspect, trying to explain how the brain makes decisions. It's unfortunate that network execs are looking for a show with a quick payoff, rather than letting the show air it's 11 episodes and give it a chance to grow. After all, how many times was Castle on the chopping block at the end of a season before it became a hit? Great work to all the cast, writers and crew who worked so hard on this show. I really appreciated it and hope to see more shows like this in the future.

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.

While the last series with Christian Slater I watched (Breaking In) crashed and burned after a fabulous first season, I sure do hope that it won't this time. It is a promising and intriguing set up for a hopefully great first season. The whole dynamic between the to brothers - one borderline insane, the other an ex-con with truth issues - and the ex wife of said con artist who is beginning to develop feelings for the bipolar brother creates a whole lot of future possibilities. Add to that the sudden appearance of the "lost" girlfriend of the bipolar brother and you got yourself one hell of an emotional roller coaster. Moreover the idea of altering or influencing behavior of people in order to make them act the way you want them to is fascinating. Many shows before have benefited a lot from some form of mind/behavior controlling features (the early "The Mentalist", "Lie to me" etc.) so it stands to reason that it will do the same for "Mind Games"; at least if the creators of this promising show are able to keep up the balance between humorous and more sincere parts, between personal matters and the business part. The only fear I have so far is that the supporting actors will fade too much compared to the to brothers and the ex wife, since they don't seem to have that many connecting points to the main characters (or at least so far). Nonetheless this is one of my favorites this year and I strongly believe it will keep the level they set with the pilot maybe even exceed it!

UPDATED REVIEW: Third time is NOT the charm. This last episode I'm not sure how they can take credit for getting the girl out of the cult. However, on the flip side of this show, I put the TV on a timer and use Mind Games to put me to sleep in mere minutes. Or I watch it while doing doing dishes, working on the computer or whatever because I might as well do something productive so I can stay awake to see if the episode does get better...to be fair I'll keep recording it so if I have run out of other shows to watch, its something to consider as it's almost better than nothing. FIRST IMPRESSION: Absolutely chaotic and ultimately underwhelmed. As much as I adore Christian Slater, I'm a bit surprised that the other actor seems like the main actor. They replaced Killer Women after only a few episodes for this new show, but it wasn't that impressive of a premiere, and unless the second episode is dramatically better, this one will definitely will be on my ignore list.Since the network so quickly cancels the better show, but keeps the poor ones - regardless of the talent of the actors - I'll be curious as to which side of the network "brains" will win.