Hey guys, just wanna share some of my thoughts abt why i think it make sense for mcallister, among the 7 suspects, to be red john. Some of them are alrdy shared, some of them are of hindsight but dont mind me, im just dishing out everything on my mind now cause i might not watching the mentalist anymore since theres no more red john lol.

1. he has the oldest appearance in the show.

2. he has the most free time as a sheriff in Napa, compared to the rest except maybe partridge.

3. in season 6 epi 2, jane notes that he walks very quietly, similarly to the case where they first meet face to "face" at the end of season 2 (well, mask).

4. sophie miller mentioned that jay roth (red john) is middle aged and in good health, that pretty much rules out bertram and smith (somewhat fat), brett and haffner (too young), and stiles (too old), only mcallister and kirkland qualify.

5. he shaved his moustache from season 1. Why is that? Why not keep his original appearance? Might be nothing but i feel its possibly because he's gonna be involved in something big that requires his appearance to look "clean", like being red john himself.

6. he's the only one who kept quiet when jane shared his reason of gathering the remaining 5 at his house, the rest are either amused or skeptical. Abit of a giveaway here.

7. when jane asked him to meet him as a "favor", nothing else being mentioned, mcallister was casually calm, and immediately deduces that it is about red john. How could he know that, among other things? The other people were curious and/or frustrated, and they were also provided a half-truth (to give the latest info about red john). Giveaway also, on the writers' part.

8. when lorelei named the list of suspects, she addresses mcallister as "sheriff thomas mcallister". She didn't say "agent reede smith" or "agent robert kirkland" or "director gale bertram", why? Because mcallister is red john, and he is an authoritarian, enough for her to subconsciously address him as "sheriff".

9 when the bomb went off and it conveniently "kills" mcallister as well, him being one of the suspects with the tattoo, its quite the giveaway also. How can they kill off one of the strong suspects without explaining? Something is off, and we all know why now. 

All in all, i think jane already had a hunch that mcallister is red john the moment he called the 5 suspects to meet him. And im just disappointed that the writers decided not to disclose how red john knew abt the suspects list, kinda lame really. But overall nice episode, especially the part where jane kills him, really brings out the "revenge kill" feeling in us lol.

red john should of had hired these lot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSnzOOtHfDo

If they had just picked up any theory from this website they would have made a far better story-line.

Plot holes aside (terrible editing, perhaps even writing)- the final showdown with Red John was actually smart. It is a relief to see a show bucking the trend (read: torrent) of anti-hero veneration. Yes, the attractive, sickeningly interesting antagonist is interesting as a change, not as the norm. The exposure of Red John as a "mortal-after-all", played very well by X.B., was more than I could ask for. Personally, having followed the show since Day 1, I kinda expected a big, mindless, mythology-based finale- Deathly Hallows Part II style, and, after watching the ep. for the second time, am weirdly glad I didn't get that.  
HOWEVER: Plot Holes and weak writing. The whole season (and esp. this episode up until halfway through), came across as forced. Like many on this site, I think the RJ storyline should've ended with Carter. Since that hasn't happened, oh well- I guess The Mentalist has to move on. The diff. is, back then, they did not explain much, but the clever build-up of the finale more than made up for the "out-of-the-blue" RJ. Here, a terrific showdown, were RJ is finally downed by his ego (and Jane's simple thinking, ironically) and the brilliant X.B. and Baker, are all smudged by a terrible build-up. 

So, while I was happy with the conclusion, the episode as a whole was let down by the bad build-up, plot-holes, leaks and etc. I am however looking forward to the RJ-free Mentalist, since Heller and co. don't have a convoluted, drawn out plot to satisfy now. Hopefully they won't create another one right away. 

As for those hating the episode for making RJ come across as weak- well then. The Mentalist= PJ, the protagonist, hero of this tale. RJ was supposed to be exposed as pathetic (as all villains are). That's Patrick's triumph over RJ- reducing him to a terrified mortal like himself. I believe you have all fallen into the trap of RJ-worship, while what we should have been anticipating (from the hyperbolic build-up I despised) was RJ being stripped of his mask and halo, down to his flesh- and he's an old-fashioned criminal, no nuancing or grey-areas. And that was refreshing to me, and disappointing to those who believed in a Heath Ledger style Joker kind of RJ. This is the ultimate disappointment Heller talked about: criminals are just that: puny humans with over-sized egos and undersized balls. If you don't like the philosophy of the show's creator, maybe you shouldn't watch. 

So Red John was an old sheriff from a little California county.
He eluded FBI, CBI, Homeland Security for like twenty years and killed a lot of people gruesome ways for no reasons.
He erased the memory from witnesses, he entered the main character head to know what he thought, he hold in hand the entire Visualize cult and even a corrupted group of a thousand of law enforcers, who never tried to stop him in some way.
He mastered the use of poisons and sharp weapons.
He knew how to enter in the encrypted data bank of a federal agency not letting traces whatsoever, so he was also a top notch hacker.
He was a womanizer and was so charming that all the women in the series gave an altered description of him, because they looked at him through the eyes of love.
He never made a mistake because was a genius.
He was worshipped by a lot of disciples who constantly choose to die instead of talking to the police, because he was feared more than death.
He had a lot of resources, and was probably filthy rich.
He never shook hand with Patrick Jane for what I can remember, nonetheless he was included in a list near the big bosses of two governament agencies, the leader of a religion, two low class goons and a forensic expert, showing how clear was the vision of the aforementioned mentalist.


...


It makes perfect sense to me.

If you guys would like to watch a story line about a serial killer I would suggest watching the episodes based around this one:

http://criminalminds.wikia.com/wiki/George_Foyet

The story was completely chilling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLKo_IQLl_o

Does anybody know when the real episode is going on air?