The only thing plausible now is that this is the 11,000th theory.
The only thing plausible now is that this is the 11,000th theory.
Here is why Red John cannot possibly be Sheriff Thomas Mcallister, and is in fact anyone on Jane's list BUT him:
-When Jared Renfrew is killed (season 1 episode 11), Jane and the crew are closer to Tijuana, Mexico in Sacremento than Thomas Mcallister is in Napa County, yet Red John gets there before they do, and Red John would have had to have determined Jared's location only after he used his cell phone to call the CBI, which was when they both left, meaning they left at the same time. Mcallister couldn't have reasonably got to Jared Renfrew let alone be able to murder both he and his prostitute, and manage to slip away before Jane arrived if he was Thomas Mcallister.
-Immediately after this, Red John calls Jane via Jared Renfrew's cell phone, with a laugh laced with Malcom Mcdowell's (Brett Stiles') iconic british accent, you can hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED9ngcO4cz4
-Red John is seen on multiple occasions in a nice suit much like Patrick Jane, and with a ring of his own (possibly a wedding ring) on one of his fingers, even in a deleted scene of the Pilot episode.
-In the same sequences as above, he is also seen drinking tea while with Rosalind Harker, and in the first season finale.
-Red John is a master of surveillance, as evidenced by his ability to break into the CBI's network, set up discrete cameras (season 1 finale), ability to bug phones, and trace cell phone signals (Jared Renfrew).
-Red John is just under six feet tall, with short, straight hair (Mcallister is balding), not muscular but not soft, either (Mcallister has too much belly fat, and hardly appears the least bit athletic enough to pull off what Red John has pulled off)
-Red John's disguised voice is not the same voice Thomas Mcallister uses. It isn't anywhere close, and the real thing sounds much more like Partridge, or something that can be achieved with a discreet squawk box.
Sheriff Thomas Mcallister is never seen in a suit, he is never seen drinking or even alludes to tea, his laugh was not the laugh we heard on the phone in Season 1 episode 11, his fake voice is not the same fake voice we hear during every other encounter, he has no ring on his fingers, he is too fat, too "soft", I doubt he is under six feet tall, he is the EXACT OPPOSITE of every clue we've ever been given about Red John. And these are reliable meta clues, clues the viewer can take to heart because they are portrayals of Red John in his privacy. No one on this site can be blamed for theorizing Red John's return, because as user RJResurrected pointed out Mcallister makes no sense as Red John. These clues also rule out a woman as Red John, which is why no woman was ever on Jane's list (even long list). The likeliest suspects then are those who have been "killed off", at least, off screen; Brett Stiles, Ray Haffner, possibly Bret Partridge, Reede Smith (who is still alive), and possibly Robert Kirkland. Gale Bertram and Thomas Mcallister never fit Red John to me.
Don't get me wrong, Xander Berkeley would have made an excellent Red John, it's just that his CHARACTER does. not. fit. Red. John. That, AND Bruno Heller wasted Xander Berkeley's potential by rushing the Red John episode. The showdown was supposed to be a riveting mental game of chess, but instead we got something far from a showdown. What we got was sixteen to twenty minutes of staring and inaction, followed by whimpering by Mcallister to Jane to spare him. Yes, as Heller says, serial killers are pathetic, they make this point in every. single. episode. But here's the thing, Red John is charismatic, cultured, and highly intelligent, all qualities that Sheriff Thomas Mcallister is not and does not have, and these are all qualities that justify why Red John is as likeable a character as he is, taking his serial killer persona aside. He is supposed to be the PARALLEL to Patrick Jane, I mean that's what all the clues tell us! The only thing pathetic about Red John is his killings. He is not a coward as Heller for some reason portrays in the Red John episode.
Do you guys really want to know what this is? LAZINESS. Heller is too fucking lazy to give proper closure to the Red John saga and put on a proper show like this is supposed to be, and once was.
It is inconceivable that Oscar Cordero did not find the pigeon in Jane's jacket pocket, it is inconceivable but somewhat forgivable that Red John did not find the second gun Jane hid under a church seat (being the master of surveillance that he is) and if Red John is scared enough of pigeons to completely lower his guard long enough for Jane to shoot him, how did he stay in the abandoned house full of pigeons long enough to capture Lisbon and taunt Jane? How did Lisbon not notice a car rushing out of Jane's driveway in Fire and Brimstone when the explosion occurred at Jane's house? Why was the woman at the church equipped with only a knife when EVERY SINGLE ONE of Red John's other disciples who are out to kill someone are seen with guns? You know, a gun that could have easily killed Jane in the event that Mcallister failed to kill him...Like I assume the role of the woman at the church was?
...???
Laziness, that's fucking why. Heller doesn't care about his series anymore. The fact that everyone on this site is far more creative about Red John than Heller is is a testamant to this. Let's return the favor, shall we? As far as I'm concerned, if this is the way it's going to remain, Red John successfully framed Mcallister to take the fall and retired from his life as a serial killer scott free like he wanted.