Who is Red John

I don't understand why people are giving this episode such a hard time. I thought it was a brilliant ending to the saga. There was always something sinister about McAllister and masquerading as a hillbilly cop was genius. Yes, there are questions unanswered, but yes there are still episodes to come and we will find the answers we are looking for. This episode was about revenge- one man's battle to conquer his demons by going through with murder. There were poignant scenes of mothers with their daughters and we saw Red John's 'delusions of grandeur' exposed. Patrick didn't just kill him- he reduced him to a sad, desperate figure crying out for mercy- appealing to Patrick's morality and to the police authority that he had worked so hard to corrupt. I think Brice Heller and the team really made this work and the look in Patrick's face as he literally squeezed the life out of Red John was startlingly moving.

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This is more a series of observations on the current season than a theory.

I have always been a fan of the show. The Red John mystery has kept us engaged for so many years because clues have been released slowly and poignantly. The current series has undermined that system, by throwing a blizzard of half-baked clues and red herrings at us to the point that each of the names on the list of seven (and at least three not on the list) could be Red John. After such a slow, laboured and brilliant build-up, things suddenly feel rushed and careless.

The joy of the show was deduction. A quick look at the latest theories posted on this site shows us how far this series has removed itself from that. We are now left to suspect the likes of Michael Kirkland- a character of which we had no knowledge up until a few weeks ago. This isn't crime-writing at its best.

The Tiger / Tiger conspiracy has been a let-down of epic proportions. For me, the scene in which Reede Smith utters 'Tiger, Tiger' to the prison van driver who immediately repeats the words is the worst in The Mentalist's history. I literally didn't know whether to laugh or cry that all of the subtleties of the past seasons had been reduced to a such a farcical conclusion.

I will of course keep watching and really, really hope that Heller and the team manage to pull this series back.

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Theories of BB10 (2)