Before starting I just
wanted to express my admiration for the work Bruno Heller and his
writer did on this show. Until I started researching my theory I
thought the Red John storyline was made up as they went along without
any of them knowing who he is until the very end. I have since
changed my mind and must give them a tip of the hat for the way they
managed integrate major clues without us knowing. They themselves are
the true mentalists.


OK lets get started.



This a pretty complex
theory, so it's gonna be a longer post. Pleas bear with me I think it
might be worth your while.



Spoiler Alert: Should the
theory prove to be right it could reveal major storyline elements for
one or even two seasons. First off here are my claims:

1.Sheriff
Thomas McAllister is RJ!

2.The victim in 6.03 was actually
killed by RJ!


3. Bret Stiles is both RJs
and PJ's Father!

4.Raymond Haffner is either RJs Son or
Brother!


5. RJ is not the ultimate
shot caller himself!



6. RJ is part of
Visualize!


7. The Tiger Tiger group
is also part Visualize is lead by high ranking members!


8. RJ is part of Tyger
Tyger!



As you can see some of
those claims are pretty far outside the box. For that reason I tried
gathering a lot of supporting evidence to back it up.

I. The
RJ Connection

1. Entry
He was established early in the
series (1.02).

2. Hand switching
He uses his right hand to
shoot and his left hand for other stuff you typically do with your
dominant hand (in 1.02 he grabs van pelt left handed and in 6.03 he
pulls Jane)

3. Red Johns Girl
The girl killed in 1.02 was
a red head and her father also reddish hair was called Jo, a short
form of John.

4.  The Quail Hunters Dog
When waling to
the corpse McAllister says the following:

" A quail
hunters dog found her this morning at 5:30.  Wasn't meant to be
hunting quail, but he was."

With the prior knowledge that
RJ often uses human tools in his crimes the dog could be interpreted
as his underlings. Also the word quail has double meaning as a noun
it stands for a certain kind of bird and as a verb it means "To
shrink back in fear. " This would elegantly introduce both the
"fear of birds" idea and the motive to hunt fearful and
cowardly people. When Red John kills Jane's family his note talks
about slandering via the media by a dishonest little worm. While not
expressed directly the accusation of cowardice towards Jane is
clearly in there. Following the metaphor to the end McAllister states
that some of his minions found her and killed her without his say
so.


5. John 5:30


Now if we suspect 5:30 to
have a hidden meaning as well, the most natural thing would be to
look at John 5:30 which reads like this:



"I can of mine own
self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because
I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent
me."


With the context the
viewer has at season 6 I find it hard to discard this connection as a
mere coincidence.


It can be viewed as clear
message, that RJ sees himself acting out will of a higher power. That
god or his own father in the flesh. I suspect the latter which would
also explain why Bret Stiles is not afraid of RJ.

6. The List
of 7
All suspect hold titles or positions that would warrant
mentioning them (Cult-Leader, CBI Director FBI/Homeland
Security-Agent), but the only suspect who has his title both spoken
in the video and written on the pictures that are placed on the
laptop is Sheriff Thomas McAllister.

7. Anagram
When you
combine the names of Ray Haffner and Bret Stiles you can build the
words Sheriff and Barn. With the left over letters you can build
either "set reality" or "leary test".

8. I
catch you
In the Season 5 Finale RJ's Message to PJ is "I am
going to start killing again, often, until you catch me (Pause) or i
catch you." In 6.03 McAllister pulls up PJ on the roof of the
church. You can see that as catching him before he falls.

9.
Setting up Charley
Soon after the supposed murderer "Charlie
from Florida" took Jane hostage he commands him to "go
upstairs now". This feels like he could have been hypnotized. If
you think about it, trying to escape via the roof of a really tall
church while handling a hostage seems like the worst plan in the
world.

10. No confessions
Neither the murder couple in 1.02
nor "Charlie from Florida" ever confessed to the murder
they supposedly committed and both ended up dead so there wouldn't be
any further investigation beyond the obvious.

11. Unusual self
confidence

McAllister acts more self confident than you would
expect it from a small town sheriff. When he met with Bertram and
Smith they were both seated in chairs Smith in a relatively simple
wooden chair, Bertram in a regular office chair, only McAllister was
seated layed back on a black leather sofa. Also notice the seating
position McAllister is constantly facing off with Jane in that scene.
I am not sure about it, but i don't remember seeing the sofa before
so it could be new. McAllister is far outranked by both the FBI agent
and the CBI director, still he acts among them as an equal or even
superior.


12. Steering the case
Hi
first guess who the killer could be was a "methhead from the
city" a description that well fits hector Ramirez.

13.
The Boyfriend
In 1.02 Hector (the boyfriend) trades glances with
McAllister before he starts talking.

14. Setup helpers?

We
know RJ likes redheads because Rosalind Harker is one. The chefs wife
from 1.02 is a redhead. The preparation of the kill room makes the
two look guilty, but it doesn't exclude the possibility that they
prepared the room for RJ.

Remember how surprised they were to
see Jane there. What Jane and the audience interprets as getting
caught unsuspected could also have different explanation. They were
expecting RJ but didn't know what he looked like and were surprised
that Jane was RJ. Jane waves his phone at them and tells them to stay
were they are, trying to hypnotize them or just to buy time.
Surprisingly it works and with the RJ context this makes perfect
sense. They see "stay were you are" as a direct order from
RJ and therefore comply, only after they see PJ moving for the door
they realize he is not RJ.

Within the context of the quail
hunters metaphor it could be seen as RJ using PJ to dispose of his
disobedient dog(s).

15. Shot
When you look closely at the
scene where "Charley from Florida" is shot you can see
shortly that Charley has his gun already pointed at McAllister when
he tells him to drop the gun. After that closeup is a cut and his gun
is already lowered when he raises it the movement looks more like an
attempted tossing then trying to shoot.

16. Jesus
McAllister
then states: "Now he's talking directly to Jesus!" On one
level that expression fits perfectly with the folksy southern
hillbilly image the sheriff likes to bathe, but it works on an other
level as well. RJ and PJ are seen as opposites. The lamb is mentioned
in the tyger poem as the tygers counterpart and there is also the
sister poem by that name. The lamb is an age old symbol of Jesus and
since RJ sees PJ as a fraud the emphasis on directly make perfect
sense.

17. Rock Paper Scissors:
Many people point to
Patrick beating McAllister in the rock, paper, scissors game as an
obstacle to him being RJ, i see it just the other way around. While
at first glance it may seem that PJ is dominating McAllister, but it
must be noted that this game can be manipulated from both ends. Why
would RJ humiliate himself by loosing to Jane this dramatically? In
my mind there are two very plausible reasons  to do that. By
loosing a children's game he further establishes himself as incapable
(second sentence hes spoke "we are sorrowly ill prepared for
this kind of deal") at the same time he feeds Patrick’s
biggest weakness, his arrogance and hybris to cloud his judgment. It
may very well be that this early manipulation was the crucial element
that kept PJ from looking at the sheriffs role more seriously. Seeing
McAllister as intellectually inferior had a big influence on how PJ
perceived the sheriffs intervention in their sting. Instead of being
alarmed he sees it more as slapstick.


18. Speech
impediment

Jane mentioned earlier on that he suspect RJ to
have a speech impediment. If you listen closely you can hear the
sheriff mumble a lot or speak in an unclear manner

19. The
Intervention
While McAllister approaches Van Pelt you can see a
blue van driving past them that seems very similar to the delivery
van the restaurant used. Knowing how accurate his read on the pizza
delivery driver in 603 was it's not unreasonable to assume he noticed
that it was a sting. It would then follow that he intervened
knowingly to avoid the capture of the murder couple. Also the
dialogue with his deputy (Everything ok/It is now) is pretty fishy.
Whether the intention was to save them or to create a situation where
they'd be killed with a higher degree of certainty is hard to
say.

20. The Name

In the season 5 finale Sean Barlow
reinforces the idea that RJ may be a true psychic. A Scottish name
would open up the option of an "old home" carnie
backstory.

21. The duck pond killer

Through the episode
McAllister mocks Jane. The first round start at the pond with remarks
as "marveling at your insides who the killer is" "surprised
I’d have thought you'd have him cuffed by now." Second round
takes place at the Bella vista. They way he speaks about "the
duck pond killer case" is full of spite. Before the context that
RJ has taunted PJ to find him i see it as open mockery by RJ, amused
that PJ neither sees that RJ is the killer or that he is standing
right in front of him reinforcing the hunter image opened in his very
first appearance. When Jane explains that he will reveal the killer
McAllister replies by saying thank you for making my job easier. He
doesn't even have to mislead PJ to the suspect he wants him to catch.
Additionally he also gets time and location for that happening from
an unsuspecting Jane.

22. Fear of Heights
The fact that
McAllister could save Jane on the roof of the church doesn't
necessarily eliminates the possibility of him having a fear of
heights. Even people suffering from a phobia like this can overcome
them with the right tools, motivation and self discipline. He has
avoided height 3x times when he was forced to confront them (1x
ladder, 2x Bella vista). He even tells Jane how he manages his fear
of heights, by not looking down.


23. Age
Many people discard
McAllister as a suspect because of his age. We know character to be
50 in 2013 which would make him 25 at the time of the barn murders in
1988. Even though RJ is referred to as a kid PJ states, that because
the boss of the farm was 50 at the time, he would most likely call
anybody below 30 a kid.


II. The Visualize
Connection


The Visualize Connection
of both “Tyger Tyger” and RJ is one of the key elements of my
theory and I must admit I am not completely certain of the exact
proportions, but I am confident that it exists.





1. Bret Stiles
introduction image
The first image we see of him shows a giant
blue eye while a spotlight shines above his head. We see him standing
in between two rainbow colored rays, as if he himself split the light
in two. Add to that the dramatic tone of voice he uses and it is hard
to imagine a more godlike image. Bret Stiles fits perfectly the
double image as father in the flesh and godlike figure described in
John 5:30.


2. Bret Stiles
introduction message
The first two words we hear from Bret Stiles
are “the eye” and it is the center of his speech as well. The
statement that the eye is the key is repeated three times. In fact
Jane cuts him off just after saying “it is the key to unlocking”.
We can make a mental, note that (blue) eye(s) could be an important
key.


3. Blue Eyes


My working theory is that
within Tyger Tyger blue eyed visualize members are filling the top
ranks. The Tyger Tyger exclamation is always initiated by the higher
ranking member. This way the blue eyed thing could also explain why
Robert Kirkland wasn't able to fool Reede Smith into believing he
himself was a member of Tyger Tyger. Eye color is determined by the
genetic setup. At Visualize the members call each other brother or
sister. While it is a common way cult members address one other,
there could also be some genetic truth behind that adress as well. A
different explanation could be that they found a way to change the
eye color as an open symbol that they moved up the ranks. Looking at
our list of suspects we can see that Stiles, Partidge, McAllister,
Smith and Haffner are all blue eyed. Looking at those who initiated
the use of the short Tyger Tyger exclamations leads us to Todd
Johnson, also a blue eyed character. Many known associates of RJ are
blue eyed as well.



In the most recent episode
both Chad Parkman and the killed private detective were blue eyed,
only Frost wasn't. Also note that if the assumption that blue eyes
are a sign of a high rank within visualize proves to be true Jason
Cooper must be a decoy. A curious side note Jason Cooper uses the
phrase “Chads eyes were opened to the truth only recently” to
describe him becoming a member.




Final remarks:


I have the gut feeling
that the blue eyed theme goes far beyond just tyger, tyger or RJ, but
that it has a more universal message.



To see more clearly I lack
the necessary data. So far I have managed to piece together the first
5 Episodes and the results regarding eye color and hair color are the
following:


Out of the 11 killers 8
had blue and 3 brown eyes. Of the 7 victims 4 had blue eye one hazel
(Morgan Tolliver) and two unknown (Jason Sand and Mercy Tolliver).




If you have any solid info
about eye or hair color of victims and killers, it would be a great
help.