Who is Red John?

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List of seven

Thomas McAllister
Thomas McAllister
Reede Smith
Reede Smith
Ray Haffner
Ray Haffner
Gale Bertram
Gale Bertram
Brett Partridge
Brett Partridge
Bret Stiles
Bret Stiles
Bob Kirkland
Bob Kirkland

LATEST THEORIES

Partridge's tattoo was cut off after he was killed, presumably by someone in Tiger Tiger. A good reason for this would be if he had betrayed the "club", perhaps threatening to expose them. It was decided he should not carry the tattoo to his grave after he was killed by a Tiger Tiger member to prevent him from talking.


Just before Red John phones Patrick, right after Partridge has been killed, CBI Ron has a phone in his hand, and disappears round the corner.



However, when we hear the audio of the call from "Red John"'s side, we are shown a video of a person at the scene of the murder, with Lisbon/Partridge. He is holding a knife in one hand, and wiping the blood off with his other hand (in a glove) - therefore leaving no hand to hold a phone in.



Therefore, the phone call itself came from somewhere else. CBI Ron has to be the leading suspect for this phone call, and therefore the Red John voice.



That is part of the theory from the perspective of events in the show. Now for evidence we have from elsewhere! Here's a recent quote from Bruno Heller:



"Sometimes you're forced to hate the conclusions or the wrapping things up in silly, absurd ways or in fact — naming no shows — it turns out they didn't have any idea how they were going to end the show or what the secret was or why there were polar bears. We have the answers and it's very important to us, for those people who have been following us from the start, to revealnot in a series of cryptic moments that leave a lot of questions begged. We're going to tell the story and explain who Red John is and what happened and what is going to happen as clearly as possible because the audience deserves that."



An obvious dig at Lost! This quote strongly implies that the writing staff have known Red John's identity for some time. It would be unsatisfying to viewers, and make Heller look highly hypocritical, if someone who had first appeared at least later than season 3 turned out to be Red John. On this basis we rule out Hafner, Stiles, Bertram, Reede, and the Kirklands.


This leaves us with 3 people who fit the Red John description, feasibly, and who have appeared in the show for some time: Partridge, McAlister, and CBI Ron.



Partridge, if the first part of this theory is correct, cannot be Red John.



McAlister in our opinion would be a fairly rubbish Red John. Why not get him back for more episodes in seasons 2-5 if Heller really wanted a satisfying conclusion?



Finally, on leaving the hospital after abandoning his attempt to kill Patrick, CBI Ron is entering the building as Bertram leaves. Ron says "hi Boss" - Bertram noticeably smirks. Because he is humored by the irony that CBI Ron, as Red John, is actually Bertram's boss in Tiger Tiger.



Imagine a reveal of CBI Ron - there's plenty of flashbacks we could be shown.



Lastly, I don't care that he wasn't on Patrick's list. Clearly Patrick has had another list for quite some time that we will be shown. That whole list concept can be blown apart now that the showrunners are basically trying to make us choose between Bertram/Reede this week.

Also, against the list - either this is going to be the worst reveal ever (Smith or Bertram), or the writers have lied to us at some point - either about the list, or the death of at least one of Kirkland/Partridge/Stiles/Hafner.


Just to finish, obviously the promo hasn't shown us anything outside of the first 20 minutes or so of the show, that's the whole thing about promos. It's like the passage on the back of the book - always from the first half. The scenes in the church are Patrick's meeting with Bertram. The "and now you want mercy, after all you've done" quote is obviously Patrick to Bertram (it's fairly clear it's Bertram walking down the aisle). Patrick probably kills him as the Tiger Tiger leader under Red John, doesn't really matter, it's fairly irrelevant. This isn't the Red John showdown.

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If theres one thing we know, its that Red John is original. He likes to be acknowledged. If people try to copy or take credit for his work, they die. Therefore, i doubt he is going to have a tattoo the hundreds of other people have. Dont You?

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First of all let me say that I am not a Partridge fanboy. I always prefered the calm but overwhelming presence of Thomas or the "act" of "regular" Ray. 

But after reading some theories about Partridge was shown to us dead a second time and all the fuzz about Cho just checking the tattoo, I couldn't help but think that maybe Cho didn't chech the face because he knows that this guy isn't Partridge and he is an associate of his.

That is based on the fact that I'm guessing someone from the team will have connections to RJ. Thoughts?

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Hello everybody!
As the end is coming, I'd like to share some thoughts after reading all your interesting theories.
Firstly, for me, RJ is an important character in a TV show, so I would like to see him as someone important in the (police) organization, for instances same grade as Haffner or Bertram or Kirkland. I think Partridge and the sheriff and the cop are a little low in the food chain and I'd be disappointed if RJ is one of these. Moreover, as the story goes, RJ seems as intelligent as PJ and honestly when looking at these 3, I don't see any sight of a brillant/intelligent mind.  
Secondly, I think RJ might use the tatoo to blame the Blake Association: who in earth would reveal his tattoo on his shoulder when meeting with the female detective? I mean you go to a meeting and dont wear a shirt ? because it's the only way for others to see your tattoo! This leads me to think that RJ might or might not in Tyger Tyger circle but he wants to use this secret organization to serve his purposes. The others in the group dont know who is RJ and like Jane they want to find out who he is. So this leaves out the 3 tattoo cops
Thirdly, IMO, Stiles is a little old and even though his character fits RJ's description, he isn't strong enough to pull off these kind of killing. In the first espisode of season 6, RJ didn't kill Lisbon so it might mean that she is an asset (bugged) or RJ has a thing for her. 
For all of these reasons I think RJ would be Haffner. If it turns out that he is Kirkland, I'd be happy as well :-)

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Am i the only one who felt sorry for Kirkland?

He was only trying to avenge his brother and he got shot in the back! 6 TIMES!!!
Yes he kidnapped and tourtured people to get answers but are you seriously telling me that Jane wouldn't do the same if he thought someone had information on Red John?

Were getting close to the big reveal and we all have one question in mind...
WHO IS RED JOHN?

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brett partridge
being exposed as RJ would be the crappiest plot twist ever - in a show
supposedly starring a mentalist. in fact it wouldn t even be a twist, just
plain dumb. there would be nothing to reveal, his creepiness jumps
right into your face- in fact no mentalism needed.

bp theories are based on pigeons and the fact that he happens to stand right next to rj smilies at the crime scene (which is by the way his job), his name and of course - we didn t see his face last episode.


you people get so easily distracted.




it would be such a let down if the big finale of the mentalist, the big mentaltwist turns out to be something like - oops so bp wasn t really dead, he faked his death - here we go, it was the creepy one, we ALL KNEW IT - again, no mentalism needed.


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Look at the end scene in season 6 episode 1.the general public assumes that Red John has killed partridge. but  It is known that Red John is almost 6 feet tall and look at the way Lisbon was snatched. it clearly looks that someone pulled her from below... So the person who pulled Lisbon wasnt standing, obviously as Lisbon is short in height. Red John doesnt seem like a person who'd crouch and attack.. No, since Lisbon was pulled from below, it implies that the one pulling her was on the floor. And who was on the floor gentlemen?! Brett Partridge... There are various other clues as well. BP says in the pilot episode that "He's stoked to see one in the flesh", but he later says that he has been at all the RJ murder scenes.. Why would he say that?! I think his pilot episode dialogue was meant to target Patrick Jane, as he was meeting him for the 1st time there... Not the RJ murder.

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