Contains Spoilers!


I believe there's a mole at CBS! Think about it:

1) 11/03: Due to a late football game, the decision is made to postpone "Fire & Brimstone." Yet, at the end of the substitute/repeat, they air the promo for "The Great Red Dragon" which spoils the tattoo reveal for fans. Simon Baker appeared on several talk shows that week, but was limited in what he could say because "F & B" had yet to air.

2) 11/17: The promo for "Red John" at the end of "The Great Red Dragon" contained spoilers. Surely someone knew a simple pause or slow motion would be revealing too much.

3) 11/21: CBS posted a Behind the Scenes Featurette to their press express page. The "Red John" episode was right there. Surely they knew some might know how to access it and wouldn't keep such news to themselves.

4) 11/22: Apparently CBS themselves made public a link to a picture of Red John, spoiling the reveal for fans:
From @aleee_o
Noooooooooo. CBS has leaked a picture of Red John on ow.ly
5:26pm - 22 Nov 13


Why would CBS do this? It doesn't make any sense. One slip up, maybe, but all these together? It looks like someone inside has set out to sabotage The Mentalist. Very unfortunate!

It's been very tricky navigating this site, over the past 2 days.  Everybody's talking about the leaked episode, which is totally understandable.  But I personally want to wait till Sunday, to see the truth for myself.  That's why it bums me out to keep reading spoilers, when I'm just looking for more theories to enjoy, as we enter the final countdown till Sunday.

Having said that, I went ahead and downloaded the leaked episode, which I plan to watch AFTER Sunday's episode.  I'm very interested to see if they turn out to be one and the same.

But for what it's worth, it's actually no big deal to shoot a few extraneous scenes with spurious dialogue, in the course of shooting a tv episode.  Heck, back in the 80's and 90's, adult movies used to shoot two versions:  one for cable which was more toned down, and one directly for video, which was more explicit.  Even today's movies often shoot more than one ending to test on audiences, before choosing the one that will be the OFFICIAL ending.

Given the phenomenal success of The Mentalist (its more recent ratings notwithstanding), I think it's personally plausible that CBS would allot Heller an extra amount of money to put together a dummy episode to fool all the piraters out there, so that when the REAL episode airs, it will be a brilliant promotional maneuver that will be the talk of the industry and The Mentalist will be back on top.

Heller always makes sure that Jane is one step ahead, and has produced some pretty brilliant episodes that showcase his genius to great effect.  It doesn't seem altogether far-fetched to think that he would deliberately concoct this ruse, knowing the HUGE amount of viewers who download, then go onto Facebook and Twitter and share their views about what they watched.

But being the clever guy he is, he wouldn't make it too obvious by just putting this episode out there, willy nilly, and then leaving it.  It would have to look like a mistake or a "leak" and then promptly be removed from sites, blogs, and filehosts, right away, in order to truly be received as a legitimate sneak preview of Sunday's episode.

Considering how silly your descriptions of the episode have been, it seems like a colossal stretch to accept that this is what Heller has been planning for us fans, as the finale to a saga we've been following for 6 years.  While I don't discount the possibility, it seems unlikely.  However, the idea that this is a decoy to frustrate illegal downloaders and use their viral reaction to propel this upcoming episode to legendary status, seems very "Jane" to me.

Even if it still turns out to be McAllister, I'll be okay if the story is wrapped up well, and the faceoff between Jane and RJ winds up being a true battle of wits and hand to hand combat, as well.  However, if what y'all are describing winds up being the ACTUAL episode, then I agree that Heller should be burned at the stake.  We'll all know, soon enough!

Pat shot the Sheriff
And he also shot at SAC PD
Pat shot the Sheriff
And he also shot at SAC PD

All around in his home town,

He was chasing Red John down,
They say that Gale Bertram was guilty
But it turns out it was a hillbilly
It turns out he hates birdies

I say:

Pat shot the Sheriff
And he also shot at SAC PD
Pat shot the Sheriff
And he also shot at SAC PD

Bruno Heller : "It wasn't my decision (to kill Partridge); it was Red John's decision," Heller told EW. "Why did he kill Partridge? What possible reason could he have for that? A very good reason will be revealed down the line," he added.

Did we see that in this episode???

So see you tomorrow for the real episode ;)

Ok, after having watched the leaked episode. There's only one conclusion I can come up with. I work in film as an actor, I know the steps directors and producers take when filming. This too me simply seems like a bunch of scenes just bunched together (maybe even a few out takes.) 

Jimmy Gadd also tweeted this: Just ignore the spoilers & watch the complete & finished episode this Sunday. I'm sorry it happened but thank you for being such great fans!

A lot of the time unfinished versions look poor compared to the episode airing, so guys calm down. We will see the real thing on Sunday. 

It all depends on what changes they make, what they add in etc. The only thing that doesn't make sense to me though is the promo. It literally reveals the entire episode. I'm sure about 99% of us figured out who RJ was just from that. 

Will this be different from the promo? Unlikely. It all depends on what they add in to the finished version to make what looked so simplistic, a typical mentalist episode. 

Also for those of you who have twitter feel free to follow me @officialwillw 

I can't seem to find any mentalist fans on there lol. 

Just chill guys, wait for the full version on sunday before you continue making judgments. Editing is a long process, and a lot of things can change.