Ok I'm sorry but to anyone saying the leaked episode is 'fake" is kidding themselves to be honest. I mean, why would a TV cannel make two versions of an episode? It would never happen. The reason everyone's saying it's not real is because they didn't like it so they're in denial. Face the facts. THAT EPISODE WAS REAL

Can someone give me a link to the leaked episode? im pretty sure its a taunt from heller , and i wanna be taunted to the max 

I have no shame in spoiling.
I just finished watching the episode in Tel Aviv. Jane announces that it's Bertram. So I guess the leaked episode in an alternate ending. McAllister died in the explosion. DNA confirmed it, according to Cho. While they identify Red John as Bertram, Jane doesn't actually catch him. Ends with Patrick seeming content that the FBI is after Bertram who is Red John.
Gale Bertram is RED JOHN!

The Mentalist episode 6.8 "Red John" just aired here in Dubai. I am an American working here.

If you didn't know, the only way to see "good" TV here is at a hotel. Luckily I work a lot from the hotel lobby with wifi.

Tonight, the TV in the lobby showed The Mentalist.

Let's just say that either they filmed another episode for different parts of the world, or the "leaked" episode is indeed FAKE.

Won't spoil it for anyone by naming the real Red John, but I am certain that my fellow Americans will be pleased!

I am a long-term fan, and I will still  be no matter what happens tonight.....
I've read and kept reading all theories I found around these sites (super brilliant people around here), I've also watched the leaked episode....and it didn't add up IMO, the acting, the attitude (van pelt banging her head against a car-window????patrick running at the end of the epi after he's done with what he's been waiting for for 10 years??where's is he going???), the whole plot....it felt like a joke...like they're playing with us.

The whole timing of this outburst, the way it was leaked, the promos before that....no press comments.....they know the kind of fans the mentalist has out there, there's frame by frame analysis of every video/interview/promo/sneak-peek that comes up, all sorts of theories floating around including some with an in-depth analysis of literature and mythological figures...etymology of each and every word that seems important....and all the sort....they know this since season one....they know they have smart and very hard-working fans....so I think it's all part of a very very brilliant trick.

This is one of the most important episodes in the history of the mentalist...and perhaps bruno and co. expected people to be noisy and trying to get their hands on it, perhaps they are giving us a tricky puzzle to solve before the real deal...I think they suspected all hell breaking loose and hence they acted on that suspicion....I realize perhaps it is wishful thinking in a way, but it makes sense to me nonetheless. And of course it could all be in jane's perspective like some other people pointed out and we won't know about clues or anything....but even if that was the case I think it still doesn't deliver in that sense...and i do have faith in the writers, we'll see.

I've made my mind up, I am eagerly waiting for tonights epi; which by the way brings me to a very important request:  any of you know a good streaming site for us non-US eager viewers? or at least know of someone that uploads the episodes regularly right after the airing? I usually wait til monday mornings....but tonight I won't be able to!

I am telling you, we'll be very pleasantly surprised by a new episode, or at least that's my hope....if not, well I'll let bygones be bygones, I will never stop caring for a nice 45 mins of patrick jane wittiness in further episodes

Peace

You had 8 episodes.
You had 7 live suspects
You had 6 resurrections.
You had 5 people in on Jane's Final Con
You had 4 seasons where Jane does not kill Partridge- barely even explained
You had 3 Roy Tagliaferro's.
You had 2 Red John's in a way.
You have 1 Disappointed Fan


Screw You Heller.

My friends, after reading some interviews from BH and Simon Baker, I re-watched the leaked episode and now fear it may be legit.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Mentalist-Simon-Baker-Red-John-Time-Jump-Bruno-Heller-1073793.aspx
- Black FBI agent is going to be a series regular going forward. This explains why they spent so much time on the bullshit FBI/CBI rivalry, to set up the backstory for the black FBI guy
- "It's a little like they're the children of divorce," Heller says of the disbanded CBI crew. Explains the childish "in-fighting" between Rigsby/Cho/Van Pelt in the car...sets the stage for the CBI team going their separate ways
- "Baker, who directed the first post-Red John episode, airing Dec. 1, said
he was adamant that the name "Red John" not even be uttered in the
hour." Doesn't look like we will get any explanations on "He is man", Rosalind's description, the coded list, Visualize connection etc. Everyone, BH and Baker included, seem to be sick of the RJ storyline and just want to move on. Baker: "Sometimes the frustration for me as an actor is that we're not going
anywhere, not moving forward. In this, we're definitely going somewhere,
and the stakes are high and it gives me something to do that I can
really get my teeth into."

Then I re-watched the leaked 6x8:
- Everyone expected Jane to have some grand plan to FIND OUT who RJ was. So when McAllister just shows up like that, obviously we're outraged because it was so easily given away. But if you think about it, Jane's grand plan was actually how to KILL RJ, which was executed by hiding the gun in the church, pigeon, breadcrumbs, etc.
- Obviously BH cares more about new viewers (rather than those of us who have been following from the beginning). That's why he's rebooting the series. From this point of view, the way the episode was constructed makes a lot of sense. All the stuff we think is "irrelevant" is designed to set up the next leg of the show. The amateur "twist" (McAllister not Bertram omg!) will probably thrill the average idiots that watch this show, but leave all of us on this website incredibly disappointed. Same thing with the chase scene. People that watch this show casually (maybe just started this season) will like to see the exciting chase scene; they don't give a damn about the clues from the last five season. My point is that that is exactly the demographic that BH cares about and is trying to capture, not us.

In sum, I feel like the leaked 6x8 makes a lot of sense from a forward-looking point of view, wrapping up the RJ storyline and setting up the next leg of the series. But if you look back and try to reconcile 6x8 with what has happened before, it is incredibly disappointing. Too bad BH only cares about money and new viewers, and thus went for the first approach.

We will see in a few hours...everyone who thinks the leaked 6x8 is the real one, vote green. If you still think this leaked episode is a red herring after reading my post, and the real one will be released tonight, vote red. Like all of you true Mentalist loyalists, I hope I'm wrong and Partridge/Kirkland comes back, but I fear for the worst.