**WARNING: RED JOHN REVEAL SPOILERS FOLLOW**

Remember a couple of years ago, in the season three finale of The Mentalist, when we were supposed to be led to believe that Bradley Whitford’s character, Timothy Carter, was Red John? And then it turned out he wasn’t? I wasn’t convinced then .. and I’m even less convinced of Sheriff McAllister being Red John this season.

After everything we’ve learned up to this point about the elusive and infamous Red John, it turns out that everything lead to a cowardly, sniveling old coot with no remarkable traits to his name other than his fear of pigeons. There were several clues that led to McAllister being Red John throughout the season, but that’s not what I have a problem with. What do I have a problem with? Where do I start? …

First let’s consider everything Red John’s been up to since the first season of the show, and how we’ve gotten no answers to them whatsoever:

• Why has Red John been toying with Patrick Jane, essentially following him and continuing to make his life hell and reminding him of what he’d done to his family?
• What’s with his smiley face mark? Not a single insight into what made him use that as his calling card. What about the name “Red John” for that matter?
• The Blake Association seems to like to clear up loose ends quite quickly — wasn’t Red John a big ol’ loose end/canon that could ruin their organization? Why didn’t they just get rid of him long ago?
• All along we were led to believe Red John had a connection with mentalism in some way, perhaps having supernatural skills of mind reading. Not a peep of that, other than McAllister strangely interested in wanting Jane to know how he knew who was on his Red John suspect list.
• What about of all of the Red John disciples we’ve seen throughout the series. What the bloody hell did they see in this guy? How was this coward even remotely able to call people to sacrifice themselves for him?
• Why was Brett Partridge killed? I get that his tattoo served to allow McAllister to (very temporarily) elude the authorities, but that’s not why he was killed. …
• THIS was the guy eluding Patrick Jane all this time? Really?
• This now means Jane has killed two people due to being Red John suspects. How the hell could he ever be allowed back near the CBI?

There’s probably more, but to get into it all would just make me more sad. I think what pisses me off the most is that we’re supposed to believe that Red John is this guy who fled from Patrick Jane like some petty criminal, leading up to him actually attempting to … oh God, I can’t believe this happened .. call 9-1-1 for help. It can’t be. CAN’T! BE!

I’ve just decided that I refuse — RE-FUSE — to accept that McAllister is/was Red John. He’s simply not worthy of the title. Timothy Carter was a far more convincing Red John than McAllister in every way, and even then I wasn’t convinced. I get that creator Bruno Heller said that Jane’s list definitely had the name of Red John on it, but either Heller’s lying or it’s NOT McAllister.

Am I missing something here? Was Heller making a point that Red John should never have been such a big deal on the show, so he went and made him a wuss? Or will we start to follow a hell of a lot more clues into who the real Red John is, once we see what Bertram’s encrypted file translates to? Maybe that’s just the start to a whole new ongoing mystery for the show?

I’d still like to hold onto the Patrick Jane as Red John theory. I know a lot of people seem to hate that one, but this episode did nothing but enforce it in my eyes. How about McAllister’s “who are you?” question to Jane? The way it was asked, and then the way Jane answered, for someone like me who’d like to hold onto the Jane=John outcome, it sure felt like a hat tip in that direction. Jane’s Red John persona is so buried that McAllister questioned him that way to be sure it still held.

I get that a LOT of people are just done with the Red John plot and would be happy to see it end, and I can sympathize with that. But this isn’t how you go about it.

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I admit that I’m one of those odd folks who held very strongly onto the theory that Patrick Jane is actually Red John. Though I’m unable to cite the interview at the moment, I was sure at one time that The Mentalist creator Bruno Heller had said that the Red John story was intended as a series-long arc, whereby his identity would not be revealed until the show’s finale episode. It turns out that what I likely actually read — and perhaps what Heller meant — was that the Red John saga would end with the series, not that we’d know his identity at that time as well. Now that we know Red John’s identity will be revealed very soon and that this is likely not the show’s final season — and that Heller has said time and again that the “list of seven” includes the actual Red John — I’m definitely ready to drop my Jane-is-John cruscade. Not to mention Heller has gone on the record as saying my old theory is flat out wrong.

With the clues The Mentalist writers are throwing at us lately, it’s clear we’re at the home stretch toward the Red John reveal. The question is, though: who are these clues intended for?

As I said last week, I quickly deduced that the strange mention of “Carmen Lee” was meant to subtly say out loud “poem poem.” With the way Patrick reacted to that interruption, one would assume he was reflecting on it more than usual. Does that mean that Red John was throwing these clues at Patrick, or that it’s only meant as a fun guessing game for the viewers?

Something else that I noted from that episode — and something that’s been cropping up several times this season — is the presence of pigeons, or doves. Pigeons were present when Brett Partridge fell dead, in that abandoned house. They also showed up in an odd shot during last week’s episode. Then, in this week’s episode, they once again appeared toward the end, as Sheriff McAllister exited the bell tower of the church. Obviously the pigeons are not a coincidence, but what are they trying to tell us? I set out to find out.

Like with the Carmen Lee clue, I did some simply Google-foo to find out what the meaning of these birds might be in relation to what we already know. I’ll save you the minute details, but remember that familiar William Blake poem, “The Tyger?” It’s not the only poem Blake’s written. Search for “William Blake dove poem” and you’ll turn up one called “The Land of Dreams” — comes up quite quickly and easily, actually. In that poem is this:

Among the Lambs, clothed in white
She walk’d with her Thomas in sweet delight
I wept for joy like a dove I mourn
O when shall I again return

Thomas. Anyone on the list named Thomas? Yep: Sheriff Thomas McAllister. Hey, I’m just pointing out what I’m finding from the clues here, but it sure seems purposeful and in-your-face to me. In fact, it seems so obvious that one could easily conclude that it’s all a big, fat red herring.

There’s something else I wanted to point out from the clues lately. Remember at the end of last week’s episode, when Jane and Lisbon were listening to Sophie’s recording, we heard her note that her patient was suffering from “acrophobia.” Go back and watch that scene again, if you’re able. Now keep this in mind: conveniently, we’re left with only Sophie’s audio notes to work off of: that’s no accident. Why would we, the viewers, need to be left with audio-only notes of Sophie’s session with Red John? Think about that. Now consider that line where she supposedly says “acrophobia.” Jane makes a point of noting that acrophobia is “fear of heights.” Why did he bother to do this? Who doesn’t know that? Nobody — it was meant to lead us. Also note that, during the audio playback, they cut to scenes of all of the currently living suspects as Sophie rattles off personality traits of Red John … except when she notes acrophobia. That’s because we, the viewers, are being led to believe she said acrophobia, when in fact she said “agraphobia”: fear of sexual abuse. Jane is either knowingly pursuing the wrong phobia, or he’s purposely leading Lisbon in the wrong direction and knows, in fact, that it was “agra” Sophie said, not “acro” — they do sound very similar. The fact that this wasn’t written down anywhere means we only have to go on what it sounded like Sophia might have said, and what Jane himself says she said. Then again, didn’t Lisbon ask if the transcribing service kept copies of Sophie’s notes? What happened to those?

Take those clues and evidence with you as you see fit. I’m still not sure anyone can rely on what’s thrown at us, but it’s been fun watching for and collecting these clues, even if they don’t lead in any one particular direction. Maybe later I’ll wish I flat-out pointed toward McAllister as the prime suspect, but for now I’m sitting back and seeing what else turns up.

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I can’t be the only person who thought it odd that, while Patrick was in the hospital with Lisbon, a nurse entered the room merely looking for someone named “Mrs. Carmen Lee,” and then exited the room. The look on Jane’s face told it all: there was something very odd about that encounter, and it wasn’t just an accident. I believe I know what it was: a clear hint from Red John.

I’ve gone ahead and done some digging around for you, in case you’re not as insane as I am and decided to spend a late night searching for clues about this. It is quite obvious and simple, though. …

The name “Carmen,” in Latin, means “poem.” At least Wikipedia says so. The surname “Lee” … also means “poem,” but in Gaelic. This nurse entered the hospital room right after Lisbon mentioned the “Tyger, Tyger” line by Partridge (and, earlier, by Red John), essentially saying “poem poem.” If that’s a coincidence, I am Red John!

It could be that the writers threw that moment in as a clue to the viewers — to analyze the William Blake poem — but it could have also been Red John’s doing, sending that nurse in either with fake paperwork or as one of his minions. If you do read up on the analysis of the poem, though, it’s quite telling while at the same time being rather vague. It’s a worthwhile read for sure.

The other sort of out-of-the-blue moment was during the scene with Patrick and Lisbon on a park bench. There’s a red-headed woman at the bench next to them, feeding pigeons. The camera at one point isolates on the pigeons being fed, at which point Jane spaces out for a moment. That’s one scene I’m having difficulty figuring out the meaning of. My first thought is that it was to symbolize how Patrick is being “fed” clues by Red John, and he just needed to see them more clearly. I also thought that it may have been to symbolize how Jane is doing that very thing to Red John, feeding him false information (e.g., that he knows less or more than he’s letting on).

Unrelated to those two items, a loose end that needs tying up is the fact that the trackers VanPelt attached to the cars of the Red John suspects had audio on them. I was reminded of this in the “previously on” segment, where VanPelt mentions this. What would we get if they listen to Partridge’s tracker? What about the others? If that portion of this season is not addressed, they’ll have some ‘splainin’ to do.

Lastly, the biggest clue — or possibly biggest red herring — was the reveal from the late Sophie that Red John (or at least who Patrick thinks is probably Red John) is a good whistler. The rest of her analysis could relate to almost anyone, but one thing is for sure: we’ll all be on the lookout for who’s the best whistler this season.

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First of all, let me explain that photo above. I’m including that here because I have no freakin’ clue what it is, thought it’s apparently whatever Red John used to kill Brett Partridge. Or to hurt Lisbon. Anyone have an idea? Anyway, onto the point of this post. …

I — alone with many other believers in Brett Partridge as Red John — was pretty damned disappointed in the latest episode of The Mentalist, as we saw the creepy forensics man taken down by the real Red John. (Not disappointed in the episode itself, but that outcome of it.) I didn’t want to believe it. I replayed the scene over a few times, tying to see if there was a chance Partridge was faking it. That maybe he was the one who pulled Lisbon aside in the dark. Then the promo for next week’s episode hit: “the list is now down to six Red John suspects.” What?! No! Partridge could still be alive, dammit!

“I know! I’ll ask the actor, Jack Plotnick himself! He’ll know!”

Me: “Hey Jack! Wow that was a wild episode. So does this mean it’s the end of your time on Mentalist?”
Plotnick: “Yep. That’s it for me! Ah well, all good things must come to a (bloody) end. ;-P”
Me: “Aw … so there’s no chance of your character faking it? All is confirmed the next episode?”
JP: “…as a door nail.”

Gasp! It’s true … he’s officially done! Kaput. Over and out. Brett Partridge is through as being a Red John suspect.

But … I’m still skeptical. Not that he could be Red John or that even Plotnick will come back to reprise his role, but that Partridge is merely another cog in the giant Red John wheel-o-death. Why else would he have called out “Tiger, Tiger” (as Red John recited back in the “Red Sky in the Morning” episode)? What, was Red John dressed as a tiger?

I went on to ask Plotnick about one other thing he previously refused to discuss, but now with his character gone …

Me: “OK one last question: was that your voice on the phone either in previous seasons or last night’s?”
JP: “No, it was not.”

Well now, that’s put to bed. But could it be that Plotnick is just being kept seriously in the dark and will be back some day? I say it’s rather unlikely.

So what do you think? With Partridge now gone, who’s your top choice for Red John? Entertainment Weekly has a great interview with creator Bruno Heller on this most recent episode and what to expect later this season. It sure sounds like we might see a conclusion to this mystery this season, or at least get very close to an endgame.

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Remember back when at least some of us thought Red John had finally been confronted and killed, at the end of season three? It was Bradley Whitford who played the supposed Red John then, and I know of at least one person who was upset that we were fooled into thinking the Red John saga was over. Me … I never bought it. The Mentalist flows very well on its own as a crime-of-the-week procedural, but the Red John aspect never stuck out to me as being a crime that would be solved and forgotten. In fact, many fans already know that creator Bruno Heller has said that Red John was a series-long story arc. Did the Bradley Whitford rip-off trick many fans into thinking Jane had gotten his man? Probably. This time, though, the punch better connect.

Though we were presented with seven suspects for Red John, I doubt any of them are a surprise. Previous to perhaps halfway through this past season, I would have put LaRoche on that list, but his changing relationship with Jane and the reveal of what was in the Tupperware box all but ruled him out. I’ll admit I’m happy to see two of my top suspects are on that list — Brett Partridge and Gale Bertram — (I love that actor didn’t even know he was a suspect until I pointed it out to him!) but I am STILL holding out that Patrick Jane is the prime suspect.**

I’d say I get maybe 60% flack for continuing to support the Patrick Jane as Red John theory. There were a couple of instances in this episode in particular that really tried to throw us. For example, the writers of this episode clearly wanted us to see right where Patrick Jane was throughout the past 24 hours or so. He heads downstairs to take a nap, which lasts throughout the rest of that day and through the night. There was no other purpose for that scene than to prove to us — or at least attempt to prove to us — that there was no way Patrick Jane carried out the previous night’s homicide. To me that only serves to prove the writers are attempting to cover up the truth. What? No, I do not wear a tin foil hat!

So, how did Jane carry out the murder? The same way “he” carried out the rest of them — he had his followers do it. These followers do his work for him, with precision. They are brainwashed into not only doing exactly what they’re supposed to do, but to not even recognize that Patrick Jane is the very person they’re following. In fact, the theory I’m holding onto is that Patrick Jane himself doesn’t know he’s Red John — it’s a split-personality disorder.

What put an even bigger target on Patrick Jane’s back is the fact that Red John is now being touted as possibly having “powers” to read into his mind, to pull out happy thoughts he’d never told anyone before. Well, Patrick Jane knows about it. Why is this split-personality of Jane’s — Red John — playing with him? Likely it’s because he actually wants help. In the end, he’d be found out and get the help he needs.

The hunt through this list of seven suspects could very well last several seasons, but, in the end, there MUST be payoff. If The Mentalist show-runners don’t pull Red John from this list of seven (er, eight) to be the one Red John, I might not be the only one more than disappointed. It worked once for season three — it won’t work again.

** UPDATE: I hereby cease my ranting on about Patrick Jane being Red John. I’ll trust that Heller’s telling the truth, and that we can once and for all rule him out. You’re welcome.

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You may recall that I’m a huge supporter of the idea that Patrick Jane himself is Red John. I won’t get into that again here, because it can be a long conversation that sometimes upsets a lot of long-time Mentalist fans. Something else I’d gotten into at one time was my second-favorite theory about Red John: that he is forensics investigator Brett Partridge. Now, as you can see from the above image, it seems Partridge is on Patrick Jane’s radar as a person he’s met in the past (more specifically, someone he apparently shook hands with, as Lorelei Martins seemingly let slip out last week).

So, as I usually do when the thought of Brett Partridge coming back to the show comes up, I contacted actor Jack Plotnick for comment. Here’s how the basic back-and-forth went:

Me: Did you happen to catch what was written on Patrick Jane’s notebook at the end of the most recent episode? So NOW do you have any idea if you’re getting a call back?

JP: No… WHAT was written on his notebook???!!!!!

Me: Well, Jane is making a list of all the people he’s met that he suspects could be Red John, since he now has the hint that it’s someone he’s met before, or at least “shook hands” with. There’s a close-up of his notebook at the end of the last episode, and the first name: Brett Partridge. Did your character shake hands with Jane? I can’t remember! So I take it you’re still not called back?

JP: Nope, not yet…. Thanks for the heads up!!!!

Revealing? Not at all, really, unless you consider the possibility that Jane’s list is completely meaningless and he’s not going to pursue it at all, at least this season. Or it could mean that Partridge isn’t a contender at all, and the real Red John will show up before we’re ever able to get to investigating Partridge. To be honest, I mostly found it very cool that someone we’ve been suspected as possibly being Red John was noted on the show. I’ll just go ahead and think they’re shouting out to ol’ CliqueClack there … let me think it.

Another name on that list you might notice, one that had come up in the past here, as a possible Red John contender: Virgil Minelli. But where’s Gale Bertram?

How about the other names on that list? Any of them strike out to you as very good contenders for being Red John?

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