History WMG / TheMentalist

[[WMG: Lisbon is a witch.]]

Red John knows Jane is desperate to kill him, and in the end, he will force Jane into a position where Jane will have to go through Lisbon in order to exact his revenge.

The writers of season 2 wanted Red John to be a fan of William Blake. But the present writers has not mentioned this ever again or any other thing Red John has ever been accused of doing.

[[spoiler:And he's the one that made the call to Patrick and painted the blood smiley on Lisbon's face. The whole point is him fooling Patrick into looking at everyone else on the list first.]]

[[WMG: McAllister is Red John]]
Think about it, man. As a head writer, you can't plan too far ahead. Only two suspects of the seven appear in Season 1: Partridge and McAllister. Now that Partridge is out, only McAllister remains.

But they are ''all accomplices of his''. Jane isn't wrong to sense that these individuals have the capacity to be Red John. When one of the men that was on Jane's list [[spoiler: is killed by Red John]], he says "Tyger, Tyger..." aka the code for signifying a connection to Red John. This means that, while Jane was wrong about him actually being Red John, he was right to sense the possibility there. All of the people Jane has mentioned will turn out the same way, and Jane will eventually realize that there is an eighth person who may be pulling the strings of these other men.

Red John as an individual never existed, or at least died. Instead we deal with a vast cult composed of serial killers.

In keeping with the various ideas, it's not impossible that two or more would mesh. Look at all the various theories and then see the overlaps. Basically the original Red John had a specific agenda, but was willing to look at anyone who appeared to follow his(her?) ideas, just as long as any follower kept true to Red John's own vision. The reason for followers? It would prove easier to throw the CBI, and in particular Patrick Jane, off the RJ trail; more than one perpetrator means more than one set of details, the very thing Patrick fixates on, so the multiplicity keeps throwing him off. At the same time, Red John does have a ''very'' specific agenda, he does not approve of mere copycats, hence his killing off of the wanna-bes in "Red Sky in the Morning". Still, he might recognize at least one follower who makes it a life work to follow RJ's specific dark agenda to the letter, and to that one, and only that one, Red John entrusts his mission.

Taking the guess about Red John never having actually killed someone personally a step further. The Red John case is a [[GhostInTheShell Stand Alone Complex]]. All Red John killings are the work of copycats and "follower" who are following the whims of a man who doesn't exist and never really existed to begin with.
* There is no information of who or what Red John is. We don't know why, how or who, Red John kills. We have no idea of his motivations other than being evil once in a while (if and when it serves the writers). There's is no mentioning or explanation of Red John's skill set, back story, education or psychological profile. We have never seen any of this "intel" that the police, FBI or Jane himself has gathered on Red John. No accomplice has ever revealed anything that could point in any direction. A Cobra-like "New World Order" (Stallone's not G.I.Joe's) would be a some what cool twist. After 5 years of building nothing it's too late for anything else, anyway.

* As of the season finale, [[spoiler: Bret Stiles is indeed one of the names that Jane has narrowed down to possibly be Red John.]]

[[WMG: Agent Kirkland is Red John]]

The way I see it, once everything comes to a head next season, Red John and Jane will start [[XanatosGambit gambiting each other]] ala DeathNote, each spinning [[GambitPileup dozens of ploys to catch the other]]. In the end, Lisbon is the key. Lisbon is the one person, the ONLY other person, that Jane trusts fully. He trusts the other team members but not in the same way. He trusts that Lisbon is willing to go all the way with helping him catch Red John, as revealed by him [[spoiler: showing her the video that Red John left for him, as well as letting her know the list of seven suspects.]]Red John knows this. He knows that Lisbon is Jane's best friend and possible love interest. Getting to Lisbon will be the final act of Red John's gambit, when he knows that Jane is close enough to take him out. However, Lisbon is the ActionGirl for a reason, and she may be the key to upending whatever plans Red John has for Jane. Or, Jane may know that involving Lisbon is his best chance for actually stopping Red John, as he's learned he can't do it by himself.

[[WMG: Red John is not a person]]

* The part about Jane's daughter might be a kind lie and Kristina's other 'psychic' messages could be from cold reading, which she might be doing subconsciously, genuinely believing herself to be psychic - apart the conversation with the waiter on her date with Jane. That was so specific that it can only mean either (a) Kristina is genuinely in contact with the dead or (b) Kristina staged the whole thing. Assuming for a second that the writers haven't decided to make real psychic powers exist in canon and Kristina staged it - why would she do that? If you're a con artist on a date with someone you know really hates fake psychics, it seems like an odd moment to try and convince him you're the real thing... all it seems to achieve, in fact, is introducing the phrase 'roll tide' so that Red John can say it later to imply he's kidnapped Kristina. Which seems kind of convenient.

* Also, for the person that said they thought Jane was red john: Isn't it creepy that red john's smiley face with the sleepy eyes looks alot like Jane? most of the time anyway. the one on his bedroom wall, for example, did but there's a lot of times where the face changes into a normal smiley. to off put us maybe? i hope he isn't red john, though. i really wouldn't be able to watch the series again.

* Actually, that forensics guy, Brett Patridge, appears in the Pilot as well. That being the case, the writers can avoid AssPull since they can just say, "Hey, we already give it to you in the first episode!". [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6hU_l2wWwQ This video supports this theory.]]

[[WMG: Red John someone we've never met before, and never will meet until the last episode]]
By either lack of creativity, fear by the producers that if it actually was one of the characters we've met, or fear by the producers that if they decide on someone being Red John early on, and the actor declines to work for them for the final episode, no one who actually controls the plot or creation of the series actually has someone pegged out as Red John. And when he is revealed, it will be an actor that has never been shown on a single episode of the Mentalist (or maybe the actor from the Season 2 finale, but not necessarily since he was more covered than an eskimo) before the series finale.

[[WMG: Red John is a duck]]

[[WMG: Red John is the waiter]]

* Sam Bosco kills someone, a criminal who could not be arrested, and Lisbon helps him cover it up.
My guess, these events are connected.
** I second with Minelli--though his correct title is Special Agent in Charge, just below the CBI Director--he has definitely his hand in the Red John conspiracy. In "Red Queen", Hightower reveals to Jane that Minelli, her predecessor, has told her to beware of Red John's MOLES in the CBI. When did Minelli resign? When Rebecca, Bosco's secretary and Red John's mole, kills Bosco and his unit.

** In later seasons, Bertram working with Homeland Securtiy to catch Lorelei seems a little out of place... and in at least one scene, the lead Homeland agent and Bertram speak alone in his office, and the tone of the meeting is oddly sinister. It could easily be a hint that Bertram is Red John or is working for him, and wants to catch Lorelei to stop her from being a liability. [[spoiler: And in the season finale, Bertram is one of the seven people Jane has narrowed down to be Red John suspects.]]

The way I see it, once everything comes to a head next season, Red John and Jane will start [[XanatosGambit gambiting each other]] ala DeathNote, each spinning [[GambitPileup dozens of ploys to catch the other]]. In the end, Lisbon is the key. Lisbon is the one person, the ONLY other person, that Jane trusts fully. He trusts the other team members but not in the same way. He trusts that Lisbon is willing to go all the way with helping him catch Red John, as revealed by him [[spoiler: showing her the video that Red John left for him, as well as letting her know the list of seven suspects.]]

Red John knows this. He knows that Lisbon is Jane's best friend and possible love interest. Getting to Lisbon will be the final act of Red John's gambit, when he knows that Jane is close enough to take him out. However, Lisbon is the ActionGirl for a reason, and she may be the key to upending whatever plans Red John has for Jane. Or, Jane may know that involving Lisbon is his best chance for actually stopping Red John, as he's learned he can't do it by himself.

Red John knows this. He knows that Lisbon is Jane's best friend and possible love interest. Getting to Lisbon will be the final act of Red John's gambit, when he knows that Jane is close enough to take him out. However, Lisbon is the ActionGirl for a reason, and she may be the key to upending whatever plans Red John has for Jane. Or, Jane may know that involving Lisbon is his best chance for actually stopping Red John, as he's learned he can't do it by himself.

** Wait, we're talking about the same[[LyingCreator Bruno Heller]] who said Season 4 would be entirely about how Jane extricates himself from the events of the Season 3 finale? And many more examples besides?

There has been a lot of focus on how they are very similar. And then the fearful symmetry. And in the season 1 end, the sheriff dies making a "shuuus" gesture, as if telling Patrick "I'm keeping your little secret...".

** [[spoiler:revealed as a RedHerring as of the end of Season Three.]] Or is it?

In "Behind The Red Curtain", Kirkland [[spoiler:asks Jason Lennon if he recognizes him]], then [[spoiler:kills him, telling him he is doing him a favor by doing so]]. Given Jason Lennon's link to Red John, the only reason Kirkland would ask that is if he were Red John.

And he'll back Team Lisbon against Tommy Volker.

[[WMG: Red John is [[Series/The Following Joe Carroll]].]]

[[WMG: Red John is Joe Carroll, the serial killer antagonist of the upcoming Fox drama, ''The Following.'']]

No, not just {{The Wonka}}. The WONKA. Watch Gene Wilder's Wonka and Jane back to back and say that they're not the same person. Curly blond hair, fondness for waistcoats, sadistic glee in messing with people's heads, and they speak with almost the same inflection in their voices. Especially when they're really messing with people and pretending to be innocent.

We will find out in the end that it is all a speculation had by Jane in the past when he is asked about Red John for the first time, and reconsidering his taunt, even complimenting the killer on how wily he is in a limited way. He then joins CBI quietly, taking deliberate steps to avoid letting Red John know he has a worthy opponent. He had already done cold readings of the CBI team, so he took what might happen from this.

Given the new information that Jane [[spoiler: has met Red John]], this seems like the most logical choice. Stiles has shown an incredible ability to influence people. He's the leader of what is (more or less) a cult and has hundreds of followers. We've seen the steps he's taken in the past to weed out unloyalty in his upper echelons - not unlike how Red John offs his accomplices once they're no longer useful. Taking into account Lorelei's information [[spoiler: that she's surprised Jane and Red John didn't become friends the moment they shook hands]] still works, as Stiles was kind of opposed to Jane in their early encounters, and Jane didn't like him much. Over their multiple dealings with each other, Jane has come to at least respect Stiles's opinion/talents enough to [[spoiler: ask for advice on how to break Lorelei out of jail. Thus, they weren't friends at first, but now are, which still meets the definition of Lorelei's message]]. It would also make [[spoiler: Stiles's appearance at the beginning of the episode]] have a lot more symbolic meaning. From a more meta perspective, he's also an important recurring character, and it would be an AssPull to use some random one-off villain from an earlier episode. [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow Unless the writers know we'll think that, and want to surprise us]].

Based on what is known about ''The Following,'' that show's antagonist seems very similar to Red John - highly murderous, has attracted a large cult of new killers that's growing exponentially, Manson-style. The ratings for ''TheMentalist'' have been plunging to new lows, so CBS may end up canceling it after the current season concludes in spring 2013. It's likely that Heller et al. won't be able to wrap up the Red John storyline properly, so they whispered the details in the ears of Kevin Williamson so he can continue the story himself, on a different network.

And as per his usual manner, will take thing just a little too far, becoming [[TheFundamentalist The Funda]][[TheMentalist Mentalist]].

** [[spoiler: Joshed, the blind woman denies its him]].