Red John would never try to kill Jane in such an
impersonal fashion as a bomb, even if the outcome would be leading everyone
stray of him. They have a bond; a relationship – one that Red John is bellbent
on furthering with Patrick. He wants Patrick to know him and to understand him –
nobody else ever will. His relationship with Jane is a strong, close one, as
far as Red John is concerned. Red John is determined to fulfil a dream that he
has, of Jane and him engaging on his terms. It’s entirely possible that Jane
has convinced everyone that Red John planted the bomb, when in fact Patrick had
done so beforehand, intentionally. Not only did he pick up a gun from the bloke
in the apartment block – he picked up explosives too. This was his plan all
along. He knows that Red John would never be so silly as to reveal himself with
a tattoo – this notion is a little flat. By laying the blame for the bomb on
Red John, he can convince Lisbon, Bertram, the team, and the public that Red
John is whoever he says he is and plant an effective decoy for his real plan to
take fold. This is also the reason why he tries to ensure that Lisbon cannot
make it to the house. He can control the group of supposed suspects, be she is
a wildcard, and one that he has feelings for. He could not risk her being
there.
If we work on this premise, then it becomes obvious that
Jane does not believe that Red John is any of the suspects on the infamous list
of 7. In fact I am sure that Jane still doesn’t know who he is, but by playing
Red John in the media with the bomb and the false accusation, he knows that he
can draw him out of the woodwork on terms that allows him to be the only one who
can identify him, while allowing the rest of the team to truly believe that
they are tracking and will catch the real Red John, who is the decoy.
But the question remains: why would Red John fall for
this? Why would he allow himself to be exposed on what are clearly Jane’s
terms? Is he truly irrational enough to allow his anger over false accusations to
allow this? I don’t think so. There is more to Jane’s plan that will only
unfold once we have seen the next episode. We also know that Jane goes on the
run later down the line. Why? Perhaps he’s not really hiding from law
enforcement, but is instead ashamed and riddled with guilt about the
repercussions of his actions. Perhaps his decoy attempt resulted in Rigsby
and/or Van Pelt’s death(s)?
Another alternative to the bomb planting is that it was
carried out by other Tyger, Tyger members, in an attempt to kill off the impending
investigation into them? I’m quite sure though that Red John is not responsible
for the bomb. If he is, then he would have ensured Jane’s safety somehow, and
that would have required him to have been in the house at the time, or to have
intervened in the tattoo reveal process. Perhaps that’s where the shotgun comes
into play?
What do we know about Red John? We know that he is a
meticulous planner. He is driven, I’d say, more by pride than ego, although he
does allow his inner-narcissist to come to the fore on occasion. He is duplicitous,
but to a degree far deeper and believable than the likes of Bertram appears
capable of pulling off. He hates women for some reason, or a certain type of
woman, at least. He only kills men when left with what he perceives as no other
option. He rapes women, which indicates that his hatred is deep-seated and
probably stems from childhood – he must feel complete power and control over
them. He is vengeful, but mindful of being in control over this vengeance that
could see him easily caught, or succumb to mistakes. He is patient. He is not a
psychopath by definition – he truly believes that what he does has merit and
purpose, and that his superior intellect is so far the only one capable of
understanding his motives, hence why the relationship with Jane is so
important. This relationship is not complete yet – Jane still does not
understand him the way Red John wants him to.
He is a master manipulator, and this would bleed over
into his personal and work life. He wouldn’t want to hide it. He’d seek out a
profession that allows him to express and take advantage of his ability to manipulate.
Perhaps a lawyer? DA? A politician? He truly believes in the mentor-mentee
roles and implants himself into the lives of others to fulfil this need to be
in control of other people. He probably didn’t teach this to himself – someone else
was at some point his mentor. Bret Stiles seems a perfect candidate, although I’d
hazard a guess at his mentor possibly being someone that Bret Stiles killed in
order to reach the top of Visualize. Hence why Bret Stiles cannot disclose Red
John’s identity without implicating himself in a murder. Now one might ask why
he would care about disclosing this if he’s dying, but it would destroy his
legacy, which is something he has worked hard for, and could destroy
Visaualize, an organisation he’s dedicated his life to. We know that Red John
at some point in his youth was a Visualize member, but for whatever reason
appears to have broken away from the group – this ties in with my theory about
Stiles’ murders. Red John does not believe that he is a psychic – he uses
trickery and deception. He feels that he was pivotal in assisting Patrick into
a more respectable life – away from the deception of being a psychic. He wants
others to see him as almost god-like, while suspending their belief in the
supernatural. In this latter sense he feels a further connection with Patrick –
he believes that he is Patrick’s mentor in many aspects, and that Patrick is
yet to open himself to this possibility. He likens it to a god vs devil
relationship, but relates more with the devil’s plight – this is an allegorical
relationship only, but the inherent symmetry is one that he embraces. There is
a lot more to say about Red John and who he might be, but I will leave it at
this for now.
Without Jane, Red John becomes purposeless to a large
extent. He would never intentionally destroy that dynamic for a short-term goal
of misdirecting the CBI. He is out there, and he is watching from the
sidelines. Right now both Patrick Jane and Red John believe that they’re one
step ahead of each other, but in reality they’re tied, just a few furlongs from
the finish-line. Something drastic in the next two episodes will change all of
that…
