Hello fellow amateur theorists

This is my first posting so I hope to present my theory in a coherent and logical manner.

First, I'd like to state that I think the list of seven is one of the worst lists and presented an underwhelming and awful conclusion to The Mentalist. None of the suspects truly represented to me a suitable intellect or appearance to consider them Red John Therefore I consider Red John to be someone not on the list and believe like some of you others that in next  weeks episode Patrick is simply luring out Red John. It suits his character and his whole demeanour this season.

That being said I'd just like to say that for too long they have beaten around the bush and thrown every escape out of revealing Red John. Because of this I am hoping they can give a coherent and comprehensive explanation to HOW Red John pulled off everything he did in the past five seasons, any cop out or lack of explanation will damage the show (to be honest after we find out who Red John is I'm pretty sure the show will end as it is a mediocre show without the Red John subject matter).

In summary:

Red John is not one of the seven on the list

The reveal of Red John requires an extensive exposition on the HOW and WHY of his actions

The fact that Haffner is the prime suspect is disappointing and horrible, he'd be the worst Red John ever (so dumb that Jane got is whole team back from right under his nose).

Unless there is a twist that changes the suspects to someone outside of the seven I think we can all agree that it'll be a very underwhelming conclusion to the hunt for Red John.

Why would Red John bug the CBI office?

i think by doing that we can safely rule out:

1- CBI Ron, because why would Red  John bug the office that Ron is in it?
2- Ray Haffner, he had access to the entire office and he is an expert in surveillance,he wouldn't do it this poorly.
3- None of the CBI team is an accomplice.


***************************AND THE IMPORTANT PART:



From what we have saw from 6th episode promo someone  blow up the 5 remaining suspects

It could be :

1- Red John trying to eliminate  all remaining suspects(he is not on the list).
2- The Tiger Tiger group's attempt to end Red John for good.
3- Red John is one of the 5 and he will cleverly fake his death. 
4- Brett Partridge isn't dead and he is taking advantage of that.
5- Patrick Jane will go nuts and blow them all!!!!.


/Discuss 

The Tyger Tyger group uses "lower level guys too" sooo, I've been thinking lately maybe Van Pelts a part of the little secret society? I don't think she has anything to do with RJ specifically because of how she dealt with the Craig thing, but I could see her being a spy for the Tyger group. She was last on the team, we know less about her than anyone else on the team, and how awesome would it be for someone in the inner circle to be involved? I'd imagine the best way to keep an eye on Patrick would be to have a spy he could trust on the inside. Shes always been a bit off to me; her thoughts on Visualize and that odd moment with the Sheriff in one of the prior seasons. And didn't she go on some type of retreat recently?  It's a long shot but, I can see her having sapped loyalties to Jane and Lisbon after she'd been on the team a while. 

When Bruno Heller told us that we could "trust" the list of seven suspects, I believe that he DID mean that Red John was one of the seven suspects.

I believe Ray Haffner is Red John for a number of reasons:
1. He and RJ like to whistle.
2. RJ has a phobia (according to Jane's psychiatrist), Haffner is afraid of spiders
3. He and RJ are left-handed
4. He matches the physical descriptions we have of RJ
5. I think he and Jane are alike, and that he's almost a little jealous of Jane's sharpness. I think this is a large part of why RJ wants PJ to join him.
6. Haffner obviously has a fondness of Lisbon, I believe Haffner as RJ did not kill her for this reason.


Just a theory about what kill happen this season:
Van Pelt and Grigsby are too happy... married and living with Grigsby's child. I believe RJ will kill Van Pelt and the baby to get under Jane's skin, mirroring the murder of Jane's family.

Also:
Why has RJ been so careless? I believe RJ is a very smart person. I can only believe that he's been putting clues out there for PJ because he likes the chase and he's ready to be caught. I'm curious to know more about RJ's background.