Who is Red John?

All theories about

« See the other suspects

Unrevealed suspect

Unrevealed suspect
Suspected in 1k+ theories

THE THEORIES

The only two guest stars in the episode titled "Red John" is the actors that play Reede Smith and Gale Bertram. Heller can't already be revealing who Red John is? And is it then one of those? That would be truly boring, especially if it was Reede Smith. Smith is not only the character everyone never thought was Red John but also the character everyone never hoped to be Red John. He's fat, ugly and a lousy actor. I can't really imagine him as RJ. 

Perhaps Heller did as the director of Seven and not revealing all actors in the opening credits, or perhaps "Red John" is not about revealing Red John's identity but rather about his young days. Either way it's in my opinion a really interesting observation. 

What do you think? 










Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

After the past few episodes I'm starting to think is not anyone on the list or even anyone in particular, I'm thinking it's a group effort. And my assumption red John is the name of a group of people that they specify the last episode and that is their cover name I think a lot of the people on Janes List are included in it and even some people not on the list so in conclusion I think red John is not a singular person but a group of people altogether. With Tiger Tiger being the password to gain entry into the group or otherwise have a group perform something needed to be done.

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

After the past few episodes I'm starting to think is not anyone on the list or even anyone in particular, I'm thinking it's a group effort. And my assumption red John is the name of a group of people that they specify the last episode and that is their cover name I think a lot of the people on James Lister on it including somebody been hard but I soon read John is not a singular person but a group of people altogether. With Tiger Tiger being the password to gain entry into the group or otherwise have a group perform something needed to be done

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

Lets for a moment think of the Red John case as we would any Mentalist case. In each case, there is a certain amount of information and misinformation. Jane controls what the characters see and don't see...often misleading them in order for another truth to ultimiately reveal itself. Same goes for each case at the level of the show. As viewers we are led to believe one thing, be it through a suspicous behavior, thematic continuity, or outright misdirection. The hope is that the ultimate outcome will be satisfying and surprising.

There is a lot of information or "clues" our there as to Who Is Red John. It can't all be true because the sum total of all the subtext, symbolism, and concrete clues do not all point to the same thing. Much of it (or most of it) is misdirection and this manipulation is happening at many levels - plot, thematically, and what is being said about the show by those who make it.

With all this in mind and assuming you have been reading all of the fantastic theories on this board of which this is a synthesis, I think there are three options for who is red john, depending on what information I choose to believe:

1. Ray Haffner - the above the board, overt clues and deductive reasoning point to him. If you trust the show (and and the list), then he is your guy. The misdirection is happening at a symbolic and thematic level (pigeons, for instance) and its purpose is distract us.
2. Brett Partridge - the symbolic and "under the radar" clues apear to point to him (such as the 7-headed dragon theory, which is great). Dead or alive. Of the seven suspects, he best fits Heller's statements about him being a person who has been around from the start. The misdirection is happening at the plot level. His death serves to thwart expectations and cause us to mistrust our judgement.

Option 1 and 2 actively work against eachother, distracting us from our third option:

3. A non-List person. In this case, the show itself would be propagating misinformation. We tend to think we can trust Hellor, as show creator and mouth piece, as well as CBS advertising and press releases. But why do we assume this is a sacred contract? This is the only reason we have to believe the the list is for real. It is not neccessarily supported by the plot. There is precedence for Jane lying to the team in order to solve their case. And Hellor, as a proxy Jane, would be lying to us for the good of his show. One could argue that this list being fake is foreshadowed by the presence of a fake list in episode 4. Jane's fake list is full of men guilty of other crimes, and so is Heller's fake list. One is full of pediphiles and drug dealers; the other of corrupt cops and cultists - probably people who RJ wants dead anyway. Like a good mentalist case, we are being lied to in order to create a wrong impression so that the ultimate reveal will be both surprising and satisfying.

My optimistic lean is for option 3.

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

I'm just throwing this out there, obviously, I haven't had time to think all the "what ifs" through.

But what if Red John is some sort of invented persona by the Tiger Tiger Conspiracy?  Kirkland said he suspected it existed so that they could "get away with murder"?  What if they cover their tracks by making it look like a serial killer, aka RJ, did them?  What if they killed Patrick's family so that they could lure him in, having him as an official expert on the case to track a person that technically doesn't exist in order to cover their tracks?  There's a person posing as Roy, Jay, RJ, etc., but the conspiracy uses RJ to cover their tracks for their own sinister purposes.  But they keep Jane and Lisbon alive because they need a team to track RJ, making it look as if they're really interested in catching this sinister individual.

Having said that, I'm personally leaning toward McAllister for RJ, but I'm just mulling over this possibility, too.
 

Argue on this theory or rate it.
plausible
unlikely

I don't think it's any of the 7 suspects that Patrick believes. Why as the director of the mentalist would not want any viewers getting it right and when red John is revealed all viewers will be in shock.

Now it makes you think how did red John know the 7 that Patrick would choose. I believe it's someone related to Patrick ie a lost brother he never knew or his dad but has had surgery.

Other reasons why it ain't the 7 is many of them it's been to obvious for some of them it is red John and the others are not smart enough like Patrick. As it was said in an episode red John is very much like Patrick

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