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

Theory #8940 • By Wondorog
Show this theory

It's Michael Kirkland. There is a William Blake painting: The Brace of Partridge, but i think it doesn't refers to Partridge (he was a red herring). In the painting, there are two birds, and i think that is a referring to a twin. Maybe Stiles was Michael's mentor (Bob thought he was RJ), he maybe has the same creepy voice, as Bob. He could've shake his hand with Patrick (maybe it wasn't Bob), so some way he is on the list. 

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

1. We know Bertram knows Kirkland. Agent Kirkland asks "Can we trust her?" about Lisbon to Bertram.

(a) If its Michael, he's asking "Is she holding out on info about Lorelei Martins?"
(b) If its Robert, he's asking "Is she part of the corrupt group in law-enforcement?"

It is most probably Robert. Because Kirkland says "You'd know better, you've worked with her." And Bertram says "Can we trust anyone?"

2. We know Bertram calls himself seemingly "duplicitous" right in front of Patrick. That's not something a suspect/Redjohn should be saying.

3. We know Bertram wants to be there, when they catch Redjohn.

This all points to Bertram being the Snape of The Mentalist. He's a triple agent. He's actually a good guy.

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely
Theory #8934 • By Tygertygersleeptigh
Show this theory

Do you guys remember at the very beggining what rj victims had in common? The victims before janes family
He killed the families of the heads of secret societys , so i believe red john is a guy from tyger tyger fighting for the superiority of his secret organization. Comments flaws please

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely
Theory #8937 • By Tygertygersleeptight
Show this theory

Do you guys remember at the very beggining what rj victims had in common? The victims before janes family
He killed the families of the heads of secret societys , so i believe red john is a guy from tyger tyger fighting for the superiority of his secret organization. Either that or thats the reason for mcalister reed and bertram to be after red john , maybe one of his victims were tyger tyger heads
And vizualize is the one who rised because of rj , which would be much cooler after all that bloody rituals bret stiles did , in that case i would believe RJ Iis haffner , the security man for vizualize
Comments flaws please

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

Ok I havnt seen last nights episode yet, but i want to make a follow up thought on my previous theory.

i think that we have seen michael kirkland at least three times.

I believe that the kirkland we see at the end of red dawn was Michael Kirkland. 

the FBI agent says to him "the work is done" after Jane is accepted on at CBI. Did RJ use connections to get Jane involved at CBI from the very start so that he could play with him? This is a strange comment from Alexa.

the second time we see michael is the handshake with PJ.

the third time we see michael is when he kills jason lennon (not cooper). now this is important. he asks have you seen me before. lennon says no and a look of RELIEF is on kirklands face. Why? because he is red john and lennon is a loose end. 

how come lennon doesn't recognize him if he is red john? same reason accomplices kill themselves after being caught. Red john is either skilled in strong hypnosis or mind control or both.

red john is relieved his accomplice does not recognize him because it means that his identity is safe.

bob kirkland would not look relieved by lennon's answer because he is trying to find red john. therefore this person is not bob, its michael.

micheal kirkland people. michael kirkland


Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

It needs to be accepted that no-one in the list of seven is in fact Red John. At the moment the show has two main issues which require resolution:

1.  Who is Red John; and
2.  What is Tyger Tyger.

The nature of the show is such that these have to be interrelated. So, a third question requires resolution as to how they are connected. This theory will seek to address these three issues.

Firstly, it is suggested that Tyger Tyger is a group either controlled by Red John, or which Red John is an individual (senior) member of. It has been shown that members of the group have no qualms about killing, so either would fit.

Secondly, the first point has largely answered the second main question. Tyger Tyger is a group of law enforcement personnel who have been brought together for a common goal. What that common goal is is unknown. However, it is submitted that it is likely to do Red John's bidding. This explanation would very simply explain how Red John seems to be an omnipresent, omniscient, phantom-like person, who never leaves a trace, who never fails, and who possesses a skill set almost unbelievable in breadth and depth. Red John as a controlling force also explains why so many people are willing to abandon the oaths they swore when taking up their jobs - it cannot be denied that he is charismatic, if nothing else.

Who is Red John? This, as one would expect, is the biggest conundrum. However, several points can be made about this:

(a) all evidence as to identity should be regarded as unreliable.

No evidence has ever been separately corroborated. Thus, facial descriptions, voice descriptions, height descriptions, phobias; everything, could merely be the traits of a multiplicity of servants working for Red John. 

This means that the list of seven, derived from Lorelai's comment, could mean nothing; it could mean that the list is useless. It is clear that the tattoo is nothing special, as three of the above seven have them, as do many more people.

The point is, that someone as cunning as Red John would be more likely to deliberately plant evidence that to make so many vital mistakes.

(b) The reveal has to be shocking

The build up to this has been immense. To merely reveal Bertram, the Sheriff, or even Partridge would be anti-climactic.

Further, as stated above, the nature of the evidence revealed is such that it would be entirely plausible for it to be another person.

(c) Who planted the bomb?

If it was one of the six people in the room at the time, then Red John is either very confident of his physical ability to withstand a blast, or was not there. This means, the bomb was planted earlier and RJ escaped, the bomb was carried in by one of the 5 and RJ escaped, that RJ is not one of those people, of PJ planted it. All are plausible.

(d)  Some possibilities

I know that many people are reluctant to state that one of the CBS team is RJ. However, it is submitted that this is very likely, or it is likely that someone who has been involved from the very start has been involved. It must be remembered that this reveal has been years in the making.

It would make sense for RJ to be a master puppeteer, controlling an entire scene from the background, with the stinger for PJ that they were along for the ride the whole time. So, we need to find out who controls Tyger Tyger and I think we have a strong candidate... this is not any of the three list suspects with tattoos - they are soldiers.

(d)  Does PJ know more than he lets on?

It is a very real possibility that PJ has known from very early on who RJ is, but is playing a very long game (ten years) to ensure that he can catch and kill RJ, and/or do as much damage as possible to him/her.

(e) The solve

To solve the mystery, it needs to be ascertained who has been in the show from series one. All the regulars, including van pelt, fit this bill. So, it could be, Cho, Rigsby, Van Pelt, Jane or Lisbon. Of these only the former three are likely, and of those van pelt is the most obvious. She is very clever, has red-hair, and has the computer-smarts to pull it all off electronically.

Of the three suspects listed, one approach would be to identify the appearances of RJ in person, and see where they were, and what they were doing. It is suggested that at least some kills attributed to RJ would be personal kills, so an absence at such a time might raise suspicion.

If it is not a main character one could go through the cast for each episode and see whether there are multiple appearances from a person who isn't main. Hopefully Heller was setting this up the whole time, so there should be easter eggs to be found. It is also possible, though unlikely, that some people have not been named for their role to prevent this.




The upshot. Stop focusing where we are being told to focus, and think outside of the box, just like RJ and PJ do.

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