I think Robert Kirkland is NOT Red John but is a follower of Red John. That's why he killed Jason so that he can't tell Patrick who Red John. Any thoughts?

RED JOHN IS ELLIS MARS,

FIRST
- we know that Red John has had many associates, and some if not all of them
appear to have an almost fanatical devotion to him. How? How could seemingly
reasonable people in every other aspect of their life give up their own logic
for the murderous logic of Red John? The answer is -mind control. We've seen
Jane do it himself (Jane is not red john) and we've seen Rigsby under hynosis,
as well as the Russett potato guy and several others, including Christina Frye
(Christina is not red john). Christina Frye is a therapist, well versed in the
ways of mind control, and yet -she has been mentally overcome by her experience
with Red John. SO, RED JOHN is a master hynoptist, just like Jane is. 

TWO - If you go back through the episodes and
look at all the therapists, hypnotists, and mind-control people, eliminate the
women (red john is not a woman), you are left with only 4 people. 

THREE - The telling episode which gives away the
answer is "Red Moon" the first episode that Simon Baker directed by
the way. At the end of the episode, Todd, the killer, has a message for
Jane. But before Jane can get there, Todd is set ablaze, and then as
dying, quotes the Tyger, tyger poem that Red John uses. 



So why would Todd refuse to kill the patsy
that Jane accused (falsley on purpose) of being the murderer? He had
already killed 3 people to cover up his tracks, so why stop now? The
answer? The patsy was RED JOHN! That's why Todd wouldn't kill him, even at the
risk of implicating himself. And who was the patsy? Uh, just a guy named ELLIS
MARS (remember the episode with ..."...HE IS MAR..." ? And who is
Ellis Mars? He's a fake mentalist (supposedly), someone who predicted another death
would occur after the original three. How could he know this unless he was
either the murderer or controlling the murderer? In addition, he speaks in
"polite speak" just like red john did in the warehouse
"Christina would want me to send her love. She's very fond of you, despite
your differences." This type of formal English isn't used by Brett
Partridge, it's used by ELLIS MARS. Plus, Ellis Mars gives Jane a business card
with a tiger on it, which we see in the next scene as Jane holding it up to the
ceiling while lying on his bed and reciting the words "tiger, tiger".
Ellis Mars fits the speech, the age, the physical appearance, and the set of
skills necessary to pull it all off avoid suspicion. The reason that no one
considers him is that he comes across as bumbling, a fake, a wannabe, and he's
easy for us (and Jane) to dismiss. But this is exactly what RED JOHN WOULD do
-he wouldn't come in wearing a black cape and long moustache, he'd interject
himself quietly and unobtrusively into the scene (think of The Usual Suspects -
Kaiser Sosay). Ellis/Red John is playing a game, using his mentalism as a trick
to gain entry, just as Jane does. Remember when Lorelei told him that he and
Red John are similar? And the name Ellis (not my discovery) can be loosely
translated in spanish as "Ellis = "El es"= "He is"
MARS. It's just that we can't see it because it's right in front of
us. 

Alright, So I can definitely say that Red John is NOT Robert Kirkland.At this stage we know that Robert Kirkland is involved in something but we don't know what! In fact i believe that he might not even be involved with Red John. Think about it this is not the last season and it would be WAYYYYYY to obvious if he was in fact Red John. Heller and co. want to 
keep us guessing and on our feet, therefore we can def. say that Kirkland is NOT RED JOHN. Now it remains to be seen if he is or is not involved with Red John. I do no believe so.

I think as this season comes to an end we will find out what and who Robert Kirkland is/works for.

the identity of RJ has not yet been revealed, i believed it is not kirkland. he's up to something, but i also believe he is not an underling of RJ as well. kirkland has a motive behind this killing.

 

Alright, just to clarify a few things.

The Mentalist is a series that can be pictured as a cat and mouse scenario. The cat will constantly try to search for the mouse, when it can, but the mouse will always try to sneak away and in almost every case do so.

After watching the newest episode of The Mentalist I became very confused. Kirkland obviously has some deal with this man that was shot by Lorelei Martins (who I absolutely adored as a character and I shed a dear at her death).

There is more of The Mentalist to come and the game is pretty much just about Janes search for his familys killer. When he finds his murderer he will most likely end up in prison (when murdering him) or he will leave the unit, this I do believe he has said previously. Also, Bertrum has been clear on if Jane does something this drastic again, he will show no mercy.

On another note, what I did not understand is why the producer showed the scene where Kirkland injects some poison into the hospitalised man. Clearly Kirkland had some business with the man. Whether or not Kirkland is RJ, I hardly doubt. Killing him a minute (litteraly) before Jane arriving, knowing Jane would follow him, seems like a drastic measure. Again, what I do not understand is why he asked if he knew him, he said no, why would he then kill him? Did he want him to recognize him? If so, why did he have to be murdered.

In all fairness we can assume that Kirkland murdering this man was an action caused by one or two reasons. Either they have history that goes way back or he is an accomplice of RJ. We know that RJ have accomplices high in the system, CBI, FBI etc. so it makes sence he has someone in Homeland Security aswell. The look that Jane gives Kirkland after Kirkland told him what had happened, means he is onto him. He most likely knows he had something to do with his death and will further investigate this.

I also found one thing quite interesting. Kirkland showed psycopathic features when injecting the poison. It looked like he showed no remorse, no fear and no regret. When talking to Jane, he was fully relaxed. It wouldn't, because of this, surprise me if Kirkland has previously murdered someone other than work, as a killer/serial-killer.

But I do not think Bruno Heller would show RJ this obviously to the viewers. It would be honestly the most dissapointing series ending I've ever seen.

My prediction is that Kirkland has some connection to RJ. Jane will eventually tell Lisbon and the team will figure it out. When they do Kirkland will die, if Jane kills him, I doubt. It would be a bad repeat of the previous season ending where he killed someone he thought was RJ.

The season ending will have a strong connection to RJ, most likely with Kirkland as well, but again, Kirkland is not RJ!

Unless the producer is using a horrible reversed-psycology mentality, meaning that the most obvious character is the murderer he is not RJ. Of course, why would the producer work so hard to hide RJ and then suddenly reveal him when there is multiple episodes and even seasons to come? No Kirkland is not RJ.

Hope this clears up a little. Whoever you think is RJ, the chances he is RJ is so slim you wouldn't imagine. This is what I love about the show. You think you know something, but you don't. It is like Jane said to Bosco about RJ; "RJ doesn't make mistakes, if he leaves a clue he wants you to have it". If you have a clue, you're supposed to have it and it surely doesn't mean that you're closer to RJ.

Cheers :)

I've seen every single episode of the mentalist, and I remember reading somewhere that that Bruno Heller said that Red John would almost be a dissapointment, because it's not someone super secret; this is why i think Red John is Rob Kirkland, and for a number of reasons. 

First of all, we know RJ pretty much has the skillset of Jane, in terms of both hypnosis and intelligence; just used for a much different cause. 
Furthermore, a couple episodes back when Lisbon asks him(Rob) if he was on that visualize farm where RJ was known to have been years ago, he doesn't answer. 
At the end of Series 3, The guy who Jane killed, believing it was RJ, said he was going to move on and create a new identity, or something of the sort. 
Now, from last nights episode, the conversation is pretty much self explanatory, however what i find interesting is when he taps Jane on the arm walking away, and Jane's face looks almost as if he's remembered something. How many times have we seen Jane tap someone in a certain place for a trigger to come out of hypnosis. 
My theory is this - Rob knew jane on the Carnival years ago, and something went on between them; at some point in the future, he hypnotised Jane to forget his identity. He did the same to Jason, and that's why he wanted to know if he remembered him, to see if Jane could suspect him and could have broken this hypnosis.
That Lorelei was found in a clown/carnival environment is also significant.



Hey, i'm sure after the next episode all these theories will look crazy, but that's just my absurd theory right now. Likelihood is that the clues have been hidden throughout all 5 series' rather than the big sudden reveal. 

Why does Kirkland wait for Jason Lennon to wake up? Why not slip in while he is in a comma and kill him? If he is going to kill him anyways, why is it important for Kirkland to know if Jason recognizes him? If Jason knows Red John (and assuming Kirkland/Red John did not get some crazy face altering surgery), wouldn't Jason have recognized Kirkland if he was RJ?

I think Kirkland works for Red John. Plus, I thought RJ's thing was to cut people up and draw bloody smiley faces. Quietly injecting someone doesn't seem like RJ's style. 

How is Jane not suspicious of Kirkland!?! Seriously, come on.