Red John would never try to kill Jane in such an
impersonal fashion as a bomb, even if the outcome would be leading everyone
stray of him. They have a bond; a relationship – one that Red John is bellbent
on furthering with Patrick. He wants Patrick to know him and to understand him –
nobody else ever will. His relationship with Jane is a strong, close one, as
far as Red John is concerned. Red John is determined to fulfil a dream that he
has, of Jane and him engaging on his terms. It’s entirely possible that Jane
has convinced everyone that Red John planted the bomb, when in fact Patrick had
done so beforehand, intentionally. Not only did he pick up a gun from the bloke
in the apartment block – he picked up explosives too. This was his plan all
along. He knows that Red John would never be so silly as to reveal himself with
a tattoo – this notion is a little flat. By laying the blame for the bomb on
Red John, he can convince Lisbon, Bertram, the team, and the public that Red
John is whoever he says he is and plant an effective decoy for his real plan to
take fold. This is also the reason why he tries to ensure that Lisbon cannot
make it to the house. He can control the group of supposed suspects, be she is
a wildcard, and one that he has feelings for. He could not risk her being
there.

 

If we work on this premise, then it becomes obvious that
Jane does not believe that Red John is any of the suspects on the infamous list
of 7. In fact I am sure that Jane still doesn’t know who he is, but by playing
Red John in the media with the bomb and the false accusation, he knows that he
can draw him out of the woodwork on terms that allows him to be the only one who
can identify him, while allowing the rest of the team to truly believe that
they are tracking and will catch the real Red John, who is the decoy.

 



But the question remains: why would Red John fall for
this? Why would he allow himself to be exposed on what are clearly Jane’s
terms? Is he truly irrational enough to allow his anger over false accusations to
allow this? I don’t think so. There is more to Jane’s plan that will only
unfold once we have seen the next episode. We also know that Jane goes on the
run later down the line. Why? Perhaps he’s not really hiding from law
enforcement, but is instead ashamed and riddled with guilt about the
repercussions of his actions. Perhaps his decoy attempt resulted in Rigsby
and/or Van Pelt’s death(s)?

 



Another alternative to the bomb planting is that it was
carried out by other Tyger, Tyger members, in an attempt to kill off the impending
investigation into them? I’m quite sure though that Red John is not responsible
for the bomb. If he is, then he would have ensured Jane’s safety somehow, and
that would have required him to have been in the house at the time, or to have
intervened in the tattoo reveal process. Perhaps that’s where the shotgun comes
into play?

 



What do we know about Red John? We know that he is a
meticulous planner. He is driven, I’d say, more by pride than ego, although he
does allow his inner-narcissist to come to the fore on occasion. He is duplicitous,
but to a degree far deeper and believable than the likes of Bertram appears
capable of pulling off. He hates women for some reason, or a certain type of
woman, at least. He only kills men when left with what he perceives as no other
option. He rapes women, which indicates that his hatred is deep-seated and
probably stems from childhood – he must feel complete power and control over
them. He is vengeful, but mindful of being in control over this vengeance that
could see him easily caught, or succumb to mistakes. He is patient. He is not a
psychopath by definition – he truly believes that what he does has merit and
purpose, and that his superior intellect is so far the only one capable of
understanding his motives, hence why the relationship with Jane is so
important. This relationship is not complete yet – Jane still does not
understand him the way Red John wants him to.

 



He is a master manipulator, and this would bleed over
into his personal and work life. He wouldn’t want to hide it. He’d seek out a
profession that allows him to express and take advantage of his ability to manipulate.
Perhaps a lawyer? DA? A politician? He truly believes in the mentor-mentee
roles and implants himself into the lives of others to fulfil this need to be
in control of other people. He probably didn’t teach this to himself – someone else
was at some point his mentor. Bret Stiles seems a perfect candidate, although I’d
hazard a guess at his mentor possibly being someone that Bret Stiles killed in
order to reach the top of Visualize. Hence why Bret Stiles cannot disclose Red
John’s identity without implicating himself in a murder. Now one might ask why
he would care about disclosing this if he’s dying, but it would destroy his
legacy, which is something he has worked hard for, and could destroy
Visaualize, an organisation he’s dedicated his life to. We know that Red John
at some point in his youth was a Visualize member, but for whatever reason
appears to have broken away from the group – this ties in with my theory about
Stiles’ murders. Red John does not believe that he is a psychic – he uses
trickery and deception. He feels that he was pivotal in assisting Patrick into
a more respectable life – away from the deception of being a psychic. He wants
others to see him as almost god-like, while suspending their belief in the
supernatural. In this latter sense he feels a further connection with Patrick –
he believes that he is Patrick’s mentor in many aspects, and that Patrick is
yet to open himself to this possibility. He likens it to a god vs devil
relationship, but relates more with the devil’s plight – this is an allegorical
relationship only, but the inherent symmetry is one that he embraces. There is
a lot more to say about Red John and who he might be, but I will leave it at
this for now.

 



Without Jane, Red John becomes purposeless to a large
extent. He would never intentionally destroy that dynamic for a short-term goal
of misdirecting the CBI. He is out there, and he is watching from the
sidelines. Right now both Patrick Jane and Red John believe that they’re one
step ahead of each other, but in reality they’re tied, just a few furlongs from
the finish-line. Something drastic in the next two episodes will change all of
that…

 

Hi,

how come nobody has ever thought about it:

Why would the creators of the show name TWO important characters with the same first name (save one 't'). I mean of course, Bret and Brett.

These things could never happen without a good reason, especially that both characters appeared in the first two seasons and remained important enough to end up on the Red John list eventually.

We kinda know that Bret Stiles knows much more about Red John than he tells, and with the link to the Elliston Farm he obviously has a clue on who the serial killer is. IF Brett Patridge is RJ, than he perhaps chose the name "Brett" to mirror his spiritual father's existence (RJ's following seems to be in a similar style to the whole Visualize thing, see Fire and Brimstone.) 

And of course the name "Partridge" refers to his love of William Blake (A Brace Of Partridge). His name is therefore not his real name, but an alias, just as Roy Tagliaferro is. And it is a name that says a lot, and a very important clue or hint to who he really is.

That's why Plotnick has said that Brett Patridge is over: the persona is dead, Red John remains.

Comment or whatever!

Thanks.

CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM TvGuide (newest):

" . . . but I've seen the penultimate hour of the current "Red John" arc on CBS's The Mentalist
(10/9c), which is quite eventful. With only one episode left until the
actual reveal and face-to-face showdown between the serial-killer fiend
and the vengeful Patrick Jane (Simon Baker),
it's fair to say that the list of suspects is narrowed considerably in
the wake of the explosion at Jane's house. The CBI team is in "do not
trust anyone in law enforcement" mode, as it becomes more clear just how
widespread the "Tiger Tiger" conspiracy is. There's plenty of action,
and another climactic reversal that leaves Jane and us praying for an
end to this ordeal. Unless there's another aggravating football overrun
next week to pre-empt the big reveal, we're all about to get our answer
and some much-needed closure."

So, we need to brace ourselves: things may not appear as they really are, at first!

You're wondering why Patrick Jane's head is on the front. I am going to attempt explain who Red John is from Patrick's point of view. If I get any greens at all, that'll be some achievement.

Seeing as we're in the mind of Patrick Jane, this may be the most elaborate theory you may ever read... and I fully understand the correlation between the detail of a theory and the number of implausible's it will receive :P 

In 5 x 8, Jane discovers he's shaken hands with Red John. Not much later, Jane figures out Red John is Brett Partridge, using Rosalynd Harker's description.

But he can't just go and shoot him. Someone will try and kill him in revenge. So he needs to bring down RJ's network of friends. So he makes a list of people he thinks are associated with Red John from law-enforcement and the cult Visualise. He already knows for certain Bret Stiles and Gale Bertram have been part of his plans. Next Jane uses the prodigious talent for observation he had displayed so frequently in seasons 1-3, to the connect the others to Red John and that is how "the list" was born.

He preempts Red John's next move. Someone is going to bug him or someone close to him to find out about if he knows who he is. Patrick pretends he never heard a description from Rosalynd Harker when he makes his supposed "list". He puts the real Red John onto the list of 7, so Red John knows he's close. According to Patrick's criteria, these are 7 random men that could be at the crime scenes. Yet they are all known to the audience now to have a link to Red John. 

When Patrick tells Teresa the list in Red John's Rules, and later that night, RJ's accomplice delivers a video predicting the list, Patrick has got him. He knows Partridge has fallen for his trap and Lisbon is the person who was bugged. He gave her false signals from Red Barn onwards, saying he remembered every person he ever met. 

And in the video Red John calls it 'a feat of memory,' confirming, Lisbon is the one who was bugged. For all we know, Patrick could have made that up (although we know he can do it, it might not be necessary). He is playing an elaborate charade. In Desert Rose, Red John keeps Teresa alive because he thinks Lisbon is a valuable source of information.

Then in Desert Rose, Patrick continues to maintain a charade. Black-Winged Redbird, he ignores the woman from Visualise dressed up like Patrick, he says Red John has "acrophobia" instead of acaraphobia on purpose. He is keen to see which suspects are going to fake a fear of heights, and which of them will begin whistling in front of him or Lisbon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then Patrick goes to investigate the "suspects". 

GO and rewatch "Red Lacquer Nail Polish." Jane already knows Partridge is Red John then. Then go and rewatch "Desert Rose," Jane knows Partridge is Red John. Patrick who is several steps ahead goes so far as to taunt him "You truly don't know, do you?" Partridge probably thinks Jane does that to everyone on the list.

Bertram calls himself duplicitous and calculating and he is very intent on catching Red John. This confuses Patrick. Then he sees a meeting of 3 suspects. When they don't respond to his "bugged...wired" suggestion, he knows they don't know who Red John is.

Sherriff McAllister saves his life after feigning a fear of heights. Patrick says to him "One of my many flaws is that I sometimes give mixed signals."

Bertram repeatedly reminds Patrick he wants to catch Red John.

When Reede Smith says its going to be "Jurisdictional clusterbomb," and says "No hard feelings to Jane," Jane begins to suspect everyone in the meeting was an undercover agent who work for Homeland Agent, Bob Kirkland, who is hunting Red John just like him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------



One day, Partridge is getting a bit bored. He knows he controls all the suspects, so he decides to play a little game with Patrick. What Partridge doesn't know is that he's once again falling into Jane's hands. Partridge thinks: "I'll give him a clue, I'll show him the Tyger Tyger tattoo. He'll go round shooting them all ahahaha, it will be like Timothy Carter 2.0. Man I'm such a genius. *talking to his pigeons*"

Once Patrick sees the tattoo, he goes and tells Lisbon straight away. Patrick, who guards intel on RJ so closely, just goes and makes a show in front of her. So Red John hears of course. He knows 3 of the suspects, who have the tattoo, will be good. But what he desperately needs is for Stiles and Haffner to attend. Stiles is the source of RJ's accomplices.

Well, next episode, Haffner and Stiles are both taken care off. And McAllister too. Whether they're dead or kidnapped it doesn't matter. STILES is out of the way. Reede Smith and Gale Bertram are on the run, and Patrick isn't terribly harmed. It's basically impossible for me to predict what happens next... but what Patrick would want is for Tyger Tyger to be completely exposed. The Visualise link is dead. Bret Stiles and Haffner are taken care of. So, I expect the next phase would be Red John's Tyger Tyger link.

Then Patrick can go and kill Red John in the park, once he has truly destroyed him in this final game of mental chess. Patrick was many steps ahead for a long, long time. The risk of revenge is so much is smaller now Visualise and Tyger Tyger have loose links to Red John.