While I ultimately believe that amongst the seven names, Brett Partridge will be revealed to be Red John; that isn't quite what I am here to talk about.
Instead I want to present a theory about who Red John was before he became Red John (and whatever his alias is now).
Note: A better formatted version of this (with images) can be found at: http://angryragemonkey.com/post/66811979613/obsessions-about-obsessions-a-red-john-theory
After re-watching the episode The Red BarN, far more obsessively that I would like to admit, I believe Red John was Allan Charney (or Cherney, the spelling seems a bit inconsistent on the wikia).
The theory is based on the assumption that none of the things I am about to show you are errors in the episode. Additionally I am assuming that the third person omniscient moments scenes are, in point of fact, accurate. I don’t believe we have ever established that the camera is an unreliable narrator; but it is always a possibility. We could just be seeing what the characters are imagining.
But I don't think that is the case. I think of Bruno Heller a bit like Red John himself. He is a showman, manipulative, knows more about what is going on, and kills a lot of people. As Jane opined, when we learn something, the question isn't "what does it mean?", but "why does he want us to have it?"
Everything we see has to be interpreted though that lens. So when we learn important information, we can't just take it at face level, we have to try and see what is the intent of the information. In the case of "The Red Barn", I believe it is to set the backstory for Red John. Therefor his identity is most likely mentioned
The story — after the whole Lisbon 10 year anniversary and perverted stripper — begins with the report of three long dead bodies in a barn in Elliston, CA:
http://media.tumblr.com/ada0b6067e408eae0be64d34c19f6a6f/tumblr_inline_mw6cbzDOPn1qz4gjx.png
One of the bodies has a class ring, which Identifies the body as Lester Bradovich:
http://media.tumblr.com/d1a61cc87abf321b890ba9ae677617d1/tumblr_inline_mw6cd3I5tr1qz4gjx.png
So far so good, right?
Well, this is where things start to get a little interesting. Jane and Lisbon go off to Visualize, and talk with Brother Cooper. Cooper tells them that the Barn belonged to Visualize, and that Lester Bradovich ran the farm with Allan Charney (or Cherney, spellings seems to vary on the wiki), and Martin Talbot.
So lets look at the info Cooper hands to Lisbon. Here is Martin Talbot:
http://media.tumblr.com/fea8c75d386697700f2456fefbe348c4/tumblr_inline_mw6cdsVXc61qz4gjx.png
And here is Lester Bradovich:
http://media.tumblr.com/fea8c75d386697700f2456fefbe348c4/tumblr_inline_mw6cdsVXc61qz4gjx.png
(BTW check out the reason for joining Visualize: "Hitting Drugs")
Well that's odd. That doesn't look like the arrest record (see above), and it sure doesn't look like the man that Ellen Preston (the Vet's daughter) killed (and naming him as Bradovich):
http://media.tumblr.com/7e303fca8846beb3f69910bac43698ca/tumblr_inline_mw6cf2dJ861qz4gjx.png
Which is consistent with the arrest record.
So what happened? Well it is entirely possible that someone on the show made a mistake, and it wasn't worth going back and fixing. I am not sure it matters overall to this argument, but it helps in the sense that it makes it look like Visualize is trying to confuse the matter and make people think Bradovich is someone else.
It is odd that no one mentions this, but you can't have everything, alas.
OK, back to my point (and I do have one). Next Ellen Preston describes going down into the basement and finding the two other bodies. First we see what appear to be Talbot:
http://media.tumblr.com/0ab75ca2584f8b44229c4b407ec278d2/tumblr_inline_mw6cg0E3aj1qz4gjx.png
Lots of blood, hands clearly bound, and when we later see his skeleton, it is consistent with what we see here. Then we see Charney's body:
http://media.tumblr.com/a239e09a3d7035344913f352b3d5a816/tumblr_inline_mw6cgo48Y71qz4gjx.png
Not nearly as much blood on the body; especially for a guy supposedly shot with a shotgun. We see what could be a entry wound on the forehead, but a kind of low rent one. But also look at the hands, the binding isn't clear at all.
Ellen makes the observation that she had the feeling that someone was watching them, we hear breathing, and the camera moves back to look at Charney's face. It could be the perspective of someone hiding in the shadows, but the camera is very low to the ground so I think we are supposed to believe (if we believe anything) that it is Charney.
So all interesting, but not super convincing yet. Now real evidence that Charney was alive... well until we take a look at his supposed skeleton (Red circle):
http://media.tumblr.com/a60f7616c7647495dc2f8785adc7f2eb/tumblr_inline_mw6chlVFgs1qz4gjx.png
The skeleton on the bottom is consistent with Talbot's placement and disposition. It is hard to see but Bradovich's body was placed over Talbot's head and Charney's feet on the right of the image.
But look at Talbot. The head is turned, and the arms are apart. Now in the intervening 20+ years things could have happened, but the basement was hidden, there was no sign anyone had been there in the intervening time, nor any mention of predation. So, again, assuming this is accurate, I believe this episode is telling us one important thing:
Alan Charney is Red John.
Now we are fully in the world of speculation, but I think one of two things happened:
1) Charney kills Talbot, and is going to kill Bradovich. I speculate as to why in my previous email, but he does. He then hears Ellen and her mother coming. He then make it look like he is dead. It is dark, and he can always pop up and kill them too with the element of surprise.
They freak out and dump Bradovich's body and scarper off home. Charney then Kills another person at the farm and disappears.
2) Bradovich kills Talbot and thinks he has killed Charney who is injured and either passed out or pretending to be dead. He later puts another body in his place hoping it will be long enough before anyone discovers the body, so that people assume he is dead too.
I have... thoughts... about what happened after, how Red John came to be after that, and who of the seven I think Red John is (Partridge), but that is for another time — if ever.
It isn't a perfect theory. I am making a lot of assumptions, and I can see one real argument against Charney being Red John: When Talbot is asked by Pierre Dumond (the priest and former head of the Elliston farm) about the smiling face, he said "some kid" put it up there.
Charney was one of the original members of the farm. It is unclear if Talbot was added later, or was part of the original group when Dumond was in charge; but you would think he would know Charney.
Perhaps Talbot was covering, maybe he didn't know who drew the face, maybe one of a hundred other things. It is just an anomaly and it damages my theory. There are others, but that is perhaps the biggest.
