Who is Red John?

Share your own theory and rate other people’s

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

I am probably being paranoid, since I really don't want Red John to be dead.  Until I started reading people's theories on this website, I never actually looked into who Red John would be.  But I decided to look at something.   Since episode 13 on this season has yet to be named, or it hasn't been released, I looked at what other episodes the Randy Zisk directed.  One was when Jane hallucinated, another one where he lost his memory from almost being drowned, and a few other ones that have to do with Loriel and Red John in general.  It may have nothing to do with anything, but just thought I would bring it up to stir the pot a little bit.  Don't bitch at me and say I am stupid.  Yes, I am probably completely wrong, but I just thought it was interesting.  :)

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

Different explanations on how Red John predicted that list :-

1) Red John and Jane made the list together so BA would be taken down.The tape was made to convince Lisbon.

2) Jane is Red John and he made that list to deceive the cops.

3) Someone who knows Jane extremely well is Red John,therefore knows his every move and can predict Jane's next move.

Other than these 3,if you have any more suggestions please comment.............
There are no such things as psychics!!

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

Ok, Im a great believer of The Mentalist but theres just one thing bugging me....

Red John is a psychopath. Theres no doubt about that. He has no empathy for others, he's manipulative, he has superficial charm down to a T and he is ,of course, glib. These are all big signs of a psycopath but there is one more, psychopaths are fearless - they have no phobias. This is the major point that bothers me about RJ (McAllister). He is scared of death, heights and of course,pigeons.

If McAllister was Red John, he wouldn't be scared. Would he?

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

Red John is a group of serial killers headed by Patrick Jane.  They are all playing the role of Red John all of them are made to play a "game" with Jane.  Jane the leader of Red John ends this sick game he's playing with himself by killing each "Red John" and getting away with it    that's why Timothy Carter was so surprised when Jane shot him    and McAllister pissed himself and begged for his life   and after Carter is killed Jane smiles and sits back down and after Jane chokes McAllister to death with his bare hands he goes on a two year vacation in paradise     everything comes in threes and McAllister was the second RJ fake reveal / death  and the third and final one will somehow expose Jane as the mastermind of "Red John"                   I called it when I first heard Red John's voice that it was Simon Baker's voice just whispered  the RJ voice McAllister did was not Baker's voice      every time we hear Red John's voice it's Jane's    talking to himself   playing a game with himself       Luthor Wainwright called Jane a sociopath and he was kidnapped and set up to be killed   why Wainwright ? cause he insulted Jane      what about Bosco? he stole the RJ case from Jane and was mean to him and shut him out    why would RJ go from killing Jane's family to teach him a lesson to helping Jane out by killing Bosco's team so Jane can have the case back?  then he wants Jane to join him and promises him a new better life... a new beginning   sends a hot chick to fuck him and then she helps him out...  . . .   Jane's behind everything   Red John has to be Jane's equal . . .the symmetry     the only person in the show's history who has shown Jane's level of skill and power is Patrick Jane          the only person who could lure out and hypnotize Kristina Frye     He has a sleeping disorder       he had a mental breakdown     how creepy would it be to see Jane painting the RJ smiley face with his wife's blood in a flashback?     JANE IS RED JOHN        The Rigsby's are going to die       the season is in three parts  the first is Red John: The Final Chapter     the second is A New Beginning   and the third will be The Return of Red John      

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

Most of us following the show thought the reveal of Red John would be like Murder on the Orient Express.  In that story a trainload of apparently unrelated people contributed to the killing of the bad guy (who needed killing).  A very complicated scenario was woven into a tight believable clever story.  This isn't what Mentalist fans got.  Instead of Agatha Christy, we got something more like Larry McMurtry.  It caused much frustration, got us off balance, and left us wanting something more.I disagree with everyone that thought Sheriff McAllister was an unlikely Red John suspect who was chosen at the last minute.  If you recall, in Season 1 Episode 2 when he first appeared, the CBI set a trap to expose a killer by using Van Pelt as bait.  The sheriff showed up, but talked his way out of it.  Patrick eventually trapped the couple as the real killers and the sheriff was dropped from consideration.  I remember thinking that if the sheriff really was Red John, the way Patrick embarrassed him with the rock, paper, scissors could bring serious retaliation later.  However, just like CBI, I got distracted and forgot about him as a suspect.  Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, what better job could he have to hide his activities?Just think - CBI was within a whisker of catching him, but he slipped away.  Along similar lines, this is one reason that I think the lady in the chapel will become a major player in the story.Hopefully Bruno Heller hasn't used up his bag of tricks, so I'm going to keep watching.

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

just my two cents: As much as many of you didn't like the Red John episode, I really think the way they close this series will be even worse.  Yeah, the RJ episode would have been a disappointing series finale, but this new beginning thing doesnt seem to have enough steam.  The only ending I can think of that would please most fans would be Jane and Lisbon ending up together but I think most people on this website dont even care about that part of the Mentalist.  I just hope the show makes it to the end of the season so we have and ending that makes sense.  It feels like the way things are going they should have just made the RJ episode the series finale but explained the clues better and made it up to par with the other season finales

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

Just a few thoughts - I suspected McAllister was Red John as soon as I saw the list, but I was not satisfied with the reveal. However, the fact that none of the evidence - nor was heading anywhere according to Heller - was elaborated upon means that it is entirely possible to warp the facts to fit any of the suspects, or any of the other characters.
I could create a theory that Red John was any of Jane's suspects, Mashburn. Virgil, Rigsby, Jane... and so forth, using the facts we have to support them.

As a thought for the list, is it not plausible that, as soon as Red John learned that Jane possessed the knowledge they had met, he followed the same way of thinking as Jane. We know that effectively everyone was keeping tabs on him, so it is possible McAllister could've kept himself informed of the people Jane met. Thusly, he could've eliminated people that had alibis, etc - my solution to Red John's knowledge of the list is simply that he deduced it.

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely
Follow us on