Firstly, apologies for the formatting. I copied from a word document, and that clearly wasn't such a good idea.
Secondly, I’m not convinced that Alex Jane (Patrick's father) is Red John. However, I've
collected some evidence that suggests that Alex may be connected to RJ somehow. Here's some food for thought:
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We never do find out what happens to Patrick’s
parents.
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Evidence of ‘The Tyger.’ I believe that the tiger mentioned in the poem is Patrick
– intelligent (burning bright), fearsome, capable of great good and great evil.
The main question of this poem is – ‘what
immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry’? Or in other words,
who/what god would create such a creature? The answer – Patrick’s father! Red
John seems as obsessed about Patrick as vice versa, and perhaps this is Alex
who is continually obsessed with his son, seeing how far he can test his son
and ‘twist the sinews of thy heart…
furnace… thy brain… smile His work to see.’ This could be possible,
especially after Patrick spurned his father and carny life by running away with
his wife – inducing murderous rage in Alex, and ultimately resulting in the
death of Patrick’s family. If RJ believes himself to be the god in this poem,
this shows his superiority complex – where he thinks that he is allowed to kill
other people, or ‘lesser beings’ in his eyes.
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The people who are connected to RJ who die
continually whisper to Patrick ‘Tyger
tyger.’ This could be RJ’s way of greeting his creation – Patrick.
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In the pilot episode, Patrick says that ‘Red John thinks of himself as a showman; an
artist. He has a strong sense of theatre.’ Alex Jane, as a circus
performer, would fit this description.
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More than once, RJ has had twisted, intimate and
tender interactions with Patrick. Perhaps a strange father/son relationship? E.g. Rebecca tells Patrick that ‘Red John misses you.’
In Red Sky in the Morning, Red John saves
Patrick from the would-be murderous snuff-film directors, Dylan and Ruth. He
also tenderly touches Jane’s face as if hypnotising him.
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Red John has the same skills/likes as Patrick –
perhaps because he taught him them.
In Red Sails in the Sunset, Lorelei Martins reveals Patrick and Red John
are very much alike and she is surprised that they didn't become best friends
as soon as they shook hands. RJ is capable of coercing others (through
hypnosis, in some scenarios?). Both love tea. Patrick is loath to drink
anything else, and whenever ‘Roy Tagliaferro’ comes to see Rosalind, they drink
tea (e.g. Red is the New Black). Red John knows exactly how Patrick loves his
eggs (he instructed Lorelei how to do them perfectly in The Crimson Hat).
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The death of Eileen Turner (Patrick’s childhood
memory) in Red John’s Rules is understood, since Alex must have witnessed
Jane’s fascination as a child. But then, this can be discounted in the face of Sophie’s
death and J. Roth in the recent episode Black Winged Redbird.
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Sophie’s description of someone with a ‘damaged and narcissistic personality,’
who doesn’t deal with conflict and adversity, who is ‘deceptive and dark’ in his emotional makeup also matches Alex’s
proud, angry and superior personality in Patrick’s flashbacks.
Of course I realise this is a deeply flawed theory. There are many things that don’t fit. E.g. the physical descriptions: although
Rosalind Harker’s description of RJ reasonably fits Alex Jane, I really doubt
that he is middle aged, as Sophie stated. And unless Alex got plastic surgery
and a total makeover, how could he be one of the people on Patrick’s list of 7
(now 6?) people?
However, I still believe that RJ is deeply connected to
Patrick, whether he is friends with Alex Jane, is Alex Jane, or came from a
carny background too. We’ll see.
