I know, I know. Another Partridge theory. But I wouldn't waste my time writing this unless I felt I had something new to posit.
Bertrum: Unlikely for a score of reasons. While under the threat of torture a few episodes back, Jane refused to divulge his list of suspects to Kirkland. In what type of fevered dream could someone think Jane would divulge the identity of Red John to the media (the world), as was implied last week? Make no mistake: Jane wants Red John for himself. So it makes sense that he would give the media and the police a name he was certain was not that of Red John. And that's not to mention Bertrum's attempt on Jane's life in the hospital, and the way he sloppily murdered the bartender. Bertrum is a bad man -- a killer. But not our highly skilled serial killer.
Kirkland: Kirkland seems unlikely, as well, and so does his twin brother, or his clone, or any other device one could use to make this square peg fit a round hole. Unlike some of the characters I will touch on shortly, Kirkland's death is indisputable (we saw him shot repeatedly in the back). I admit, we can't be sure which Kirkland it was that died. We have to assume it was Bob, but perhaps Michael had been posing as Bob. We can't be certain. But one Kirkland is dead, and it seems bringing the other into the picture would be tedious and contrived. I don't think the writers will introduce twin Michael (Who just happens to walk, talk, dress, and look precisely like Bob!) as our man. That would be too soap opera-esque. It's difficult to pinpoint a way in which the writers could tie either of the Kirklands back into the story; we don't have enough information.
Smith: Nope. Just nope.
Stiles and Hafner: This is where I'm going to do a bit of guess work. Of the three presumed dead after the explosion at Jane's house, I trust McAllister was the only one to survive. It's been covered here ad nauseam, but it doesn't make sense for McAllister to be dead considering he was pulled aside with Bertrum and Smith, who came away unharmed. McAllister is alive and the promo seems to corroborate that. Now, it is my expectation that Stiles and Hafner are dead -- dead dead. We can assume Jane was standing in the middle of the room with his gun as the bomb went off (Stiles and Hafner were still seated and the three with the "Tyger Tyger" tattoo were positioned along the opposite wall. Jane's injuries were significant enough to land him in the hospital, but not for long. I doubt Stiles and Hafner were so fortunate. Most theories predict the bomb was placed by one of the suspects, meaning Stiles and Hafner would have taken the brunt of the explosion. If Jane was hospitalized with his injuries, Stiles and Hafner would likely have required care as well. I suspect the two are dead, or somehow managed to leave undetected with serious injuries -- injuries that would not have healed for Sunday's reveal. A bit of guess work there. Maybe I'm a bit slanted -- the thought of Jane strangling a 70-year-old and possibly injured Malcolm McDowell makes me cringe.
McAllister and Partridge: I group these two together because I believe they are both living (despite being presumed dead), and are the only realistic and redeeming suspects remaining from Jane's list. It can be assumed McAllister is alive through the promos and his location at the time of the explosion, but many are still skeptical as to Partridge's status. To those skeptics I ask this: Have I made any massive leaps or reached any unwarranted conclusions to this point? I might have taken a few wrong steps, but I think most of what I have theorized is logically based (you may disagree and please comment if you do). If what I have written holds true, then Partridge is almost certainly alive. This theory hasn't required a ton of guess work or time to conceive (it's taken me longer to type out than it did to think through), but I feel confident in dismissing the five suspects I mentioned above. If Red John is not one of those five, but still one of Jane's original seven, then he is either McAllister or Partridge. If Partridge is truly dead, I'm confident McAllister is Red John. But I give the writers a little more credit than that. I don't think they would enter Sunday with one realistic suspect (at least in my mind). That is why Partridge (aside from Cho not verifying his face, and Jane acting suspiciously after seeing the photo of his shoulder) must be alive. He has to be. Otherwise, I can say with a considerable level of confidence that McAllister is Red John, despite having only seen the 20-second promo.
If I'm correct and it comes down to McAllister and Partridge, I think the Fangoria-reading ghoul is our guy. McAllister is alive, but what are the chances CBS would spill the beans by picturing Red John in the promo? Please. McAllister will be in the episode in some capacity. The writers may even try to convince us (briefly) that he is Red John, though I doubt he is. Partridge fits the mold and a number of posts describe why in great detail. But whether Red John is Partridge or someone else, I have a strange feeling Jane has known for a while, and that he's been working through a plan that, once revealed, will fill a lot of plot holes from this season and throughout the series.
I'm not certain, but as a wise man once said, "I figured the odds were 70-30 I was right. I wouldn't call that terrible. A betting man would call that risky, but certainly not terrible."
