i was REALLY keen on haffner being RJ, but now there is one thing that puzzles me (and maybe i'm overanalzying). rosalind harker said that red john was NOT muscular, and at the end of 06x02, we see haffner lifting weights and obviously looking wayyy buff. besides that, i really like haffner (or kirkland) as RJ, but the lifting weights thing threw me off. thoughts?

Regarding the aftermath, something big must happen if CBI crumbles. From what i've seen on the Mentalist Wikia page (which is normally pretty good for future plot points), the 2 new characters being introduced are FBI agents, which to me suggests that Jane, Lisbon and Cho must join the FBI, and the CBI completely folds in on itself. For that to happen though, something major must happen, and the only thing that could cause that is Red John. Either Gale Bertram is RJ, or he, Van Pelt, Rigsby AND Ron are accomplices, that would equal corruption on every level, and would be the only serious enough problem. 

Problem is, i don't see Bertram as RJ. I've always seen him as a red herring, with Haffner being my pick. Bertram has shown he doesn't care about Lisbon, he was willing to fire her in Season 4, whereas RJ has refused to kill her for some reason. Plus we know that RJ is a damaged narcissist, Narcissists have feelings, so it can't be Kirkland or Bertram, as they have major sociopathic tendencies. Smith is too fat, The sheriff and Stiles are too old, leaving us with 1 man, a man who has shown to have emotions, has been on the recieving end of PJ and not handled it well.

And i posted a theory earlier asking what RJ was up to in the 10 year gap, having done some thinking, i surmise that he was either:

A) In Prison
B) Busy with Visualize
C) In the military
D) Training to be an FBI agent.

Still doesn't explain what changed his personality so much though. The first murders were definitely out of spite over working conditions, otherwise he would have massacred the whole farm. Maybe he cracked under the pressure of being an FBI agent?

I believe it's Ray Haffner for the following reasons:

1.) When he temporarily took over for Lisbon and was running the team pretty much everything he did or said revolved around Jane. He clearly wanted to work with Jane, observe him etc. He questioned Cho about Jane and if he thought he was smarter. For a man so high up in the CBI he acted foolishly falling for Jane's trick thus getting replaced with Lisbon who was put back in her old job. I believe this was his chance to work with Jane up close, really get to know him and his team and have a bit of a joke playing a "buffoon" they all underestimated (while having the last laugh). He didn't want the job long term and played along so he would get fired after learning what he needed to.

2.) Lorelei, who had never met Lisbon before, makes the statement "I think you're a little bit in love with her" to Patrick Jane. Why would she conclude this so quickly? I believe it's Red John's opinion she is repeating. It's also why Red John requested Teresa's head as proof of his loyalty. He knows how much Jane cares for her and was asking him to make the ultimate sacrifice to prove Jane was truly on his side knowing he probably wouldn't. Red John learned exactly how much. Jane cared for Lisbon when he worked so hard to get Lisbon her job back.

3.) When. Ray. Haffner appears again he tries to lure Lisbon away from the CBI with the offer of a lucrative job. When she declines he asks her if the real reason isn't that she loves her job but because of Jane. He says she "deserves better" and that Jane will eventually leave her. He makes no secret of the fact he thinks a lot of her and makes it as much about a choice between jane and him.

4.) In the Red Barn episode one of the first things he asks Lisbon about is how Jane pulled off the trick with the Red john symbol. He also doesn't answer lisbons question about working on the farm and asks if they are still friends.

5.) in one of the first episodes with Bret Stiles he implies he knows so much about Red John and that RJ wants to "take away" everyone that Jane cares about (like Ray is trying to do). He also says it's a kind of love RJ has for Jane. That's why RJ had kidnapped (Kristine?) the psychic. Ray and RJ have a similar fixation with. Lisbon in the last few seasons.

6.) Ray was involved with visualize and still is? Bret Stiles could be his father or former mentor which is why he knows so much and protects him.

7.) Red John "marked" Lisbon but didn't otherwise harm her. Does this mean he ran out of time or that he wants to "claim" her from Jane? He's never left anyone unharmed before.

8.) Ray has the most outwardly pleasant demeanor and is the best fit of the "descriptions" of Red. John. It's hard to imagine many of the other suspects being the romantic figure described by the women who have defended him, been brainwashed and killed for him.

9). He was in the CBI and would have had the knowledge to infiltrate the teams and turn Sam Bosco's secretary so she would murder him and Jane would get his case back.

I'm a bit confused at the moment! Jane has narrowed the suspect pool down to 7 persons - or 6 now Partridge is dead. If he believes, that he can trust Rosalind Harker - which I personally think, that he - and we can! (since we saw Red John in her house sitting on a lounge chair with a cup of tea in the episode "Red Is The New Black" and the fact that Jane believes her, when he called her to a morgue to identyfy the body of Timothy Carter as not being Red John in "Little Red Book")
Then why this broard suspect pool? Rosalind describes RJ as: very charming personality, "just under 6 feet tall" with short straight hair and I know that she is blind, but she has to be able to put an average age and bodytype on him. And why didn't Jane just record the suspects voices, have Lisbon locate her in witness protection, and then go have her identify RJ by his voice? I mean she spent 5 month living with the guy!

Being a genious I don't understand why Jane doesn't take this into consideration. Have I missed anything?

My primesuspect for quite sometime has been Bertram, but I recently switched my focus to Haffner. I think Bertram might be to old, I wouldn't necessarily call him a charming personality and I don't really see him as this charismatic persona, who can get so many people to do his bidding  :-D
But then again Haffner did act extremely suspicios in the hospital, so he might be killed of soon ;-)

Guys I've found another strong connection between RJ and Ray Haffner.

Look at how Ray Haffner claps on Cho's shirt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKWkOauew4A (0:27-0:28)

And then look at RJ when he claps at PJ's shirt at season two finale:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns_DWnqrEdI (2:10-2:11)

Amazing, isn't it?

I think the only way to solve this
is to eliminate the suspects one after the other. I did this for every suspect
I could think of but I will present here only the arguments concerning our
glorious Seven.
1) Brett Patridge - He is dead and
therefore not guilty.
2) Reede Smith - He doesn't fit the
description of Red John (not muscular, but not soft either) and the actor is
too tall.
3) Gale Betram - He is balding. I
think a lover would have noticed that and not told us that he has short,
straight hair.
 4) Robert Kirkland - He got the
information on Janes research after RJ killed Lorelei and before Jane narrowed
it down to the seven suspects. So, why bother if he is RJ?
5) Bret Stiles - He was my favorite
choice for RJ but things really do not add up. A) He is clever enough to kill
and get away with it. Why have another identity to kill? B) He has a vast network
through Visualize. Why go to the trouble to have another? C) He is too old. D)
He would not have needed Jane to flush out his potential enemies in Visualize.
He could have done it through his RJ personality much more easy. The Verdict:
Guilty, very guilty even, but he is not guilty of being RJ. But he might have
been the inspiration for the guy that ultimately became RJ.
6) Thomas McAllister - This was a
hard one. He fits the description, he is law enforcement. But is he mobile
enough? I'm no American, so I really don't know about this, but I think he
would have been in a lot of trouble hiding his second life to his people (Have
a look at Dexter and you see in how much trouble he is when he kills not in his
own arena). Then of course there was this episode back in season 2 where
Rebecca killed Boscos Team. Before she was poisoned, she saw who was coming
towards her and smiled. I think she saw RJ. So, we need someone who can just be
in the CBI offices for a while without being looked upon in a suspicious
manner. This clearly rules out Bret Stiles but I think it also rules out
McAllister. He could not have been standing by in the CBI office every time he
might have been needed. Therefore RJ is either CBI or FBI or Homeland or even
Forensics but not the boss of the sheriff's office of Napa County.
7) This leaves Ray Haffner. I don't
want him to be RJ. He seemed to be an idiot. Jane had no problem to get him
reassigned when he wanted Lisbon back. Haffner also seemed not to be too
competent. But here is the thing: RJ operated for all these years without being
identified. So yes, he is should be prepared to look stupid in his official
capacity to keep his RJ identity safe. In retribution he kills anybody who
messes with RJ …

In any other way he just fits what we
know about RJ. So, unless I see some really good arguments, Ray is RJ for me.

Please note: I did not include any
traits that were shown when anybody else was watching. Haffner's attitude could
be show and him being a Visualize member does not make him guilty. It might
only explain where he learned some of the stuff he relied on as Red John. When
Bertram let Jane teach him Poker that might have been a clever trick to make Jane
believe he would need it. Of course Bret Stiles shows all the traits RJ has, but
this is no proof that he is RJ. Kirkland might have had some reasons to kill
that man in the hospital and some other reason to keep an eye on Jane. And
don't forget: Every of our suspects might be a RJ operative. So every evil deed
might have been just a chore for them.

I think this has been mentioned before but it deserves to be again:

Why does Lorelei pause (for quite long) before mentioning Raymond Haffner when reading the names on the list? She doesn't do that before any of the other names. Is it because she is surprised that Red John would put his own name on the list?