I'm with you on that one.
You can measure the decline of a show by how the themes of episodes start changing. Burn notice had the perfect formula years ago. There was a complete story in each episode and a small sub-plot that ran from episode to episode as kind of a back ground thing. Then the sub-plots start to take over and the shows get more and more personal and less and less practical and/or believable until they devolve into a dramatic late night soap opera that runs a plot week to week for months until you end up with "Lost".
Suits went this way in one season, unfortunately. The writers forgot that the genius kid had a photographic memory that would be helpful to win legal cases. The characters all changed so the kid is a loser. Harvey grew a heart, etc. It became a soap opera wholly dependent on the previous show. It's not about solving cases anymore, it's about a law firm and their internal battles and survival.
NCIS has started down this road. Law and Order went this way and tried to recover when the formula failed. I quit watching Burn Notice after they were left in South America and the CIA tried to have them killed. Too much for me.
The Mentalist is in the same category but seems to be barely keeping some balance. If I find myself having to watch recorded episodes in order they aired to follow what's going on, I'm out. To much effort. :o)