Theories of Red-John-Is-Alive (9)

Holy fuck...please kill me.

Hello my fellow Mentalistos and Mentalistas. Typically this time of year the board would be swimming with theories but I suppose its an appropriate statement on where the show has gone that the board is mostly just complaints these days. I've written some fairly well-received theories in the past (You can click on my username to see them), and may attempt to do so next week prior to the finale. However, this post is not a theory, just some observations and a poll.

Like many of you, this show was my all time favorite and the Red John plot line was what made it that way for me. As you can see by some of my past theories, the Red John resolution shocked me, saddened me and resulted in some heavy denial for a long time that Red John was really dead. It would be fair to say this show has put me through the 5 stages of grief these past couple years. I'll hold out hope until the credits roll, but it's really not looking good for us Red John hopefuls these days.

With that said, I've been monitoring the web trying to get a feel for where this is all going. I'll start with the "bad" from my perspective and end with the "good" then get your thoughts. Links are bitly so they're short enough not to get shortened by the board.

Possible SPOILERS ahead, so stop here if you want to know absolutely nothing about the last 3 episodes.
THE BAD:
Simon Baker gave a recent interview on the ending of The Mentalist. He echoes a lot of my thoughts and I can't help but wish Simon Baker has been given the creative reigns to finish up the show. The TLDR is that kissing Lisbon feels like kissing his sister (No kidding) and that he would have ended the show differently, on a tragic note as he has always viewed Patrick Jane as a tragic character. (Thus implying it will end happily and likely with a wedding as many of us have thought.)
http://bit.ly/1yYQU5q Here's another interview with Tom Szentgyorgyi and Josie Loren. This further supports the previous information with the statement the series will end on a "Joyous" note and furthering that "We'd already killed off Red John and didn't want to bring that specter up again".http://bit.ly/1Db60d6 Overall, this largely seems to point towards a boring happy ever after ending, with a likely marriage or baby, in my opinion.

THE GOOD:
Still, there are some good aspects of what we know for a fact will occur over the next 3 episodes from various media sources, here's a short overview of things which are 100% confirmed:
- A "real" psychic will be in the next episode. (This is the first mention of psychic since Red John if I am not mistaken)
- Summer Edgecombe will return
- Grace Van Pelt and Rigsby will appear in the finale
- Jane will be back in his wife/daughters grave yard for some reason.
- There will be a serial killer named "Lazarus" which is a biblical reference to someone restored to life after death.
- In another interview Tom Szentgyorgyi describes the finale in 4 words as "All you've hoped for." http://bit.ly/1yKeN0E

In other information which is not 100% confirmed, I still can't get that image out of my head which was posted here a while back. It could be photoshopped, though it doesn't look it. It could be from a deleted scene or something. However, I'm fairly computer savvy and though I didn't spend a ton of time looking into it, a brief search seemed that the image didn't exist on the internet until it was posted here. It's also the only thing that RedJohn_Returns ever posted on this site. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it kind of seems like someone close to the show was throwing us a bone knowing how disappointed all of us were. Here's the image for reference: http://bit.ly/1C9D9UY it's really been bugging me and giving me hope. RedJohn_Returns, if you're still around here, I'd love an explanation for this one. :)

So, this post was fairly long, but could have been a lot longer with everything on my mind. Either way, it's been great discussing this show with you all over the last few years on this site, no matter how things turn out. But I'll leave it with a poll, we won't have to wait too long to find out this time.

GREEN: Red John is alive
RED: Red John is dead

Not a theory, just an observation. The opening scenes of both episodes have now prominently featured the color red. I'm hesitant to think anything of it at this point because of how brutal the last season has been and the quality of the writing dropping so drastically.

However, the old Mentalist fan in me would be hopeful about this, especially for a show which is ostensibly heavy on color symbolism (E.g. every episode title). One episode is hardly noteworthy, two episodes is a coincidence, but three would be a pattern. I'll be keeping a close eye out for the opening scene of episode three to see if it happens again.

The series finale is titled "White Orchids" and is written by Bruno Heller, Tom Szentgyorgi and Jordan Harper. https://twitter.com/jordan_harper/status/540347887855489024

And here I was praying for red. This sounds suspiciously like wedding bells. Blarg....

In response to the previous post, I have this to say: Despite the
terrible previous season, despite the interviews with the cast and
Heller, despite almost all of the viewers even believing he is dead at
this point there are some of us mentalistas know this to be true. Red
John is still alive and he will return this season. There is no
Mentalist without Red John and there is no way McAlister was the end of
the story. Mark my words.

Well, this is it. It's been a long ride of highs and particularly this season some lows, but I have high hopes for tonights episode. I've written some well received theories in the past but have refrained from actually taking a guess at Red John's identity until now. My final guess for the real Red John is none other than everyone's favorite dead forensic investigator: Brett Partridge. I've always deep down thought of him as Red John even if sometimes it seemed too obvious. I thought this was a trait the real Red John would posses, mocking Patrick with just enough questionable behavior to make us think, could it really be him? My gut says yes, so here is my final theory for Red John.

==== Background Story ====
Red John aka Brett Partridge was a distraught youth who became a member of the visualize cult. He was fascinated by the abilities of the higher ups such as stiles to seemingly control people's minds and behavior with hypnotism and other tricks. He learns from them and Brett Stiles realizes that Partridge is dangerous but tries to continue to help him anyway. Red John begins murders such as those which occurred at the Farm which were his first. Red John's smiley face is clearly influenced from the ascension ceremony Brett Stiles performed of which I am sure there were others throughout the years of a similar nature. The resemblance between how Red John constructs his smiley and what Brett Stiles did to the face of the second girl at the ceremony were uncanny (Both even use 3 fingers of the right hand to draw the blood on the face.) After the first murders occur, Brett Stiles realizes Red John is too dangerous to stay amongst the Visualize members and asks him to leave but continues to support and mentor him nonetheless. This is how Brett Stiles has seemingly had dynamite information on Red John throughout the show and knows how Red John thinks. Tonight's episode Blue Birds I believe is a reference to the blue shirt uniform of the Visaulize members and will center heavily around Viisualize and Red John back story.

What sets all of this in motion can be added to by an extended scene from the show's pilot. While on the talk show, Jane further describes Red John, but I believe this was cut because it made the suspect too obvious and sounded like Patrick Jane knew rather than was faking a psychic ability. Patrick states, "He is a very ordinary looking man, mid thirties, medium height, thinning brown hair. He’s methodical and tidy, keep himself very clean. He has a small speech impediment that he’s deeply ashamed of. He works at a clerical job, and lives with his mother or a sister in a single story blue house with a citrus tree in the front yard. Lemon, I think""

I believe it is this description which prompted Red John to kill Jane's wife and daughter. Not because Jane was clearly a fraud, but because this description was so spot on of Red John aka Brett Partridge, that he had to convince himself Jane wasn't psychic and leave him that taunting note. In doing this he was able to not only regain the upper hand but convince Patrick that his "fake" power had caused a tragedy when in fact it was his seemingly real power which spooked red John. I also believe this explains Red John's fascination with Patrick all these years, that he thinks Patrick might have some kind of actual power.

==== The Theory ====

This theory starts back with the death of Bosco and his team. I suspect the secret Bosco whispers to Jane which Jane apparently has never told anyone was this: He kept some of the evidence against Red John which Rebecca stole before sending it out for analysis. Unfortunately, it doesn't match anyone on record as Red John is too careful to be in the system. However, Bosco told Jane that if he could get a Red John suspect's DNA, he would be able to verify if it was in fact Red John. Patrick holds on to this evidence and this information for a crucial time when he is ready to set his plan in motion.

Fast-forward to season 6 episode 1, Jane has all but concluded that Brett Partridge is Red John and their confrontation at the dunes where Partridge asks Jane why he's been sullen with him lately and Patrick responds with "You really don't know?" Partridge realizes Patrick is on to him and sets into motion his own plan to fake his death before Patrick can kill him. This leads to the scene where Partridge is wounded at the house (But to me, doesn't really appear fatally wounded, just bleeding) before Theresa is abducted. Partridge wounds himself just enough to make it believable for Lisbon before having an accomplice help subdue her. (It's always been rumored there were two people in the room with Lisbon while Red John is on the phone with Patrick.) Red John then makes the one mistake Patrick has been waiting years for: He paints Lisbon's face with his own blood, as Red John would have done if he killed Partridge and painted the face on Lisbon. This gave Patrick the opportunity to get Red John aka Partridge's DNA to compare against the evidence from Bosco. This is why everyone felt that scene felt a bit weird when Patrick wipied the blood off of Lisbon's face. It wasn't out of concern for her as many thought, it was because he knew he had finally gotten his shot to prove Partridge was Red John.

Patrick then confirms Partridge is indeed Red John with the DNA taken from Lisbon and realizes he will now have to set into play a long con, of which Red John is also forming one of his own. Patrick continues with the remaining suspects all the while knowing none of them are Red John in order to convince Partridge he has succeeded in faking his death. When Patrick gathers all the suspects at his house, Red John worries about Stiles coming clean before he dies and hatches a plan to outwit Patrick once again. Red John stages the explosion and removes everyone from the room before the real bomb goes off to prevent Stiles (or Haffner had Stiles confided in him) from telling Jane the truth to save themselves.

it is at this point that Red John coerces or hypnotizes McAlister into the events which unfold at the church. This is why McAllister is so unconvincing as Red John and never even truly admits it himself. In fact, when offered the chance to gloat, he specifically uses phrasing that indicates he is not Red John. For example, "That's why your wife and child are dead" instead of "That's why I killed your wife and child". And when Jane comes out and says "You're Red John." McAllister says nothing, he just menacingly looks back. Additionally, if we take Jane at his own word from just a few episodes earlier he quotes "Red John would never break like that, not even as an act" which McAllister most certainly does by begging for his life, calling the police, apologizing for the murder of his wife and child etc. This to me clearly indicates the McAllister, while likely the real head of the Blake Association, is decidedly not Red John. Red John simply used his knowledge of the Blake Association to his own advantage and as a device to distract Patrick from his trail. This is why he sets it into Patrick's head back in the Season 2 finale when he recites the Tiger Tiger poem.

Jane proceeds to kill McAllister which is a bit dark, but I believe he knew he had to do this ever since he was kidnapped by Bob Kirkland. When Kirkland says there is a difference between him and Patrick in that he's willing to kill 7 people to get the job done, Patrick says nothing but realizes that he too may have to be willing to kill bad people in order to get to Red John. McAllister definitely is a bad guy who was probably done countless terrible things as part of the Blake Association, and Patrick makes the decision that in order to fool Red John for sure, he has to proceed with killing the man who claims to be Red John, lest he tip Red John off to the fact he know McAllister was a fake and Red John become wise to his plot.

Around this same time, Jane orchestrates the closing of the CBI by the FBI to rid himself of many of Red Johns sources of information and additionally get more information on his friends in the FBI. An astute viewer can recognize Patrick's tell-tale sign of hypnosis when he taps Abbot on the arm as their cleaning out the CBI and Abbot momentarily seems a bit dazed and confused. Patrick then orchestrates using the encoded list to bring himself back into the fold to continue his long con. Red John doesn't like this and gets a bit nervous as Patrick had seemingly lost all semblance of a life during the two years he was a fugitive. As Brett Stiles once said "It sounds like he's jealous, Patrick. It sounds like... he wants to take away everything and everyone that you care about. It's a form of love, you know?" At this point for Jane, that list only consists of one person really: Lisbon. As such, Red John has one of his friends from the FBI Marcus Pike proceed to try to take Lisbon away from Jane and once again leave him with nothing but Red John's potential friendship.

This all leads up to tonight's episode where their cons will finally come to a head and the real Red John will be revealed once and for all.

==== Conclusion ====
That's my theory everyone and Brett Partridge will always be Red John for me, even if Heller never fixes any of this. Thanks for making this show even more entertaining over the years everyone, even if it did go downhill these last few months. This time last year, the site would have been full of theories today as the season finale approaches. Let's just hope tonight will answer a lot of our questions. Cheers.