Sure does seem hard to believe that Heller is going to deliver much at this point.  I wouldn't say all hope is gone, but many episodes have seemed to go by completely wasted:  episodes 9-16 have established what...?  

1.  Jane's "new life" amounts to...a new shirt and teacup, and not one word about what he did the previous 10 years? 

2.  Haibach [a low life pedophile] was really...a mastermind plotter/hacker/psychokiller with his hillbilly sister?   And it is truly sad that we were given more information [albeit improbable information] about Haibach than we ever got about RJ....

3.  Grigsby...[who once split to keep their jobs]  are happy to leave police work behind?

4.  Lisbon...[who has never had a boyfriend in 10 years] suddenly has a boyfriend after one episode

BUT I WILL SAY THIS -- there has been a hint of "Red" in almost every episode since Red John, the most noticeable in "Violets" -- in fact, if you really look, ALMOST EVERY SCENE has a noticeable red in it, the most memorable being:

LISBON in red PJs in a red bed with a red painting behind her [while talking to Marcus Pike AKA "red herring"]

Of course, I'd love to say that this is a hint to something deeper, something yet to come, something about RJ but we should all have learned by now, that in The Mentalist, these kinds of things are useless to wonder.   Heller caters to the masses, and apparently you can put lipstick on a pig [so long as it's red!]

Most likely, this red everywhere [besides being a cruel tease], is probably to show that Lisbon is experiencing attraction, passion and possibly love [ruled by red] since the show is now about "hopeful new beginnings"

I would have detailed the things I've noticed 9-16, but guessing and listing clues hasn't paid off well.

Perhaps it wiser to wait and see what happens.  If anything does happen [though I think highly doubtful], then and only then would it be worth while to go back and look at any clues leading up to that point.

I'd love to see old familiar faces come back [Stiles, Haffner...ANYBODY], but there, too, I have a sinking feeling that it will be for a lesser and/or demeaning purpose then what we'd be hoping for -- based on what they did with Ardiles, LaRoche and Haibach [which was truly awful]

So, I've left a little room for a bit of hope but mostly I'm not expecting much.

This is first part of something I wrote for fun, but since English is not my native language, I couldn't reflect everything I had in mind. What do you think? Would you like to see the rest?

-------------------------
The final curtain…

The man was sitting on a comfortable armchair, and looked
very calm, despite the million thoughts in his head. That was his thing, he
always seemed to be in control of everything. In the dimly lit room, the candle
light was not strong enough to make his red hair look anything more than dark
burgundy. Yet they were bright red, his hair, his eyebrows… Red from the blood
of his victims. It was a part of his ritual, a part that was not existent
before he started to get older. He looked at himself in the mirror, and
appreciated how scary he looks. Years have enhanced you, he said to himself. He
didn’t have much time, not for his final play, not for his life. Latest
treatments had bought him few more years, but that was it. But he wasn’t
leaving the world before a last touch. He checked the ropes that tied agent
Lisbon into her chair, they were tight. The rope reminded him of good old
memories. “A man who reached the end of his rope” was what Bertram told Jane,
which led Jane meeting Timothy Carter. The first time Jane thought he killed
Red John. And of course he remembered McAllister. Jane thought he had killed
Red John again, and he was wrong, again.

“Agent Lisbon, I am a complicated man of many layers, it is
hard to reach the core” he said, smiling. 
Lisbon could not respond of course, not without a tongue. “But this is
the end, I promise. The universe does not let me continue anyways.”

His final act was an intersection of his life and Jane’s. He
went to the entrance of the house, to check everything was properly designed.
On the right, there was the body of Rigsby, naked, sitting, with yellow flowers
in his hands. Just like Towlen Morning. He moved to the next room, to check the
body of Cho on the table. He pushed the play button to start the Bach music, it
was almost time.



He went back to Lisbon, put his mask on, and sat..

Ohh shit guys I just saw S06E18 Promo on Youtube!! but WTF!! You didn't air episode 17 yet!!

this is the promo link (:

http://youtu.be/HapjU7I4Aus

Hi guys . .

After reading episode 20 spoiler i think that Haffner And stiles are still alive
'cause we didn't see their bodies after the explosion, haffner is the right men for the job
and Haffner has a Insect phobia as we know RJ has a phobia, Stiles is too old to be Red John i think Stiles help RJ sometimes, Haffner did a mistake when he said to teresa "We still friends right? why you would ask me this qustion?" whatever everything 'll be revaled and i just saw in twitter The Mentalist offical acount Tweeted that episode 17 could be delayed!! i think the show 'll be cancelled.

My money on Haffner (:

Goodbay.

So, episode 20 is about Jane potentially standing trial for the murder of RJ.

Reading the comments below I found out that episodes 19,20 and 21 will be a "trilogy" of sorts all concerning a human trafficking ring.

This is what I thought when I read about episode 20:

That awkward moment when you realize that you could skip all episodes since episode 8, and still wouldn't have missed anything in this show. No character development. No information / explanations. Nothing.

What a waste these past (9 to 16) episodes have been. Damn. :(