I loved this show until McAllister was Red John.  Think how cool, calculated and fearless Red John was being portrayed as with unlimited resources, influence, etc. Jane's true equal in every way, someone high up in the "company" with real power, thats the red john i wanted Jane to overcome, instead we got McAllister, someone who was none of that even to the point where he ran from Jane and was snivelling like a coward to spare him. The end of the show wouldn't have been a total disappointment but the Red John reveal ruined the show and it became obvious that seasons 6 and 7 were there to tie up the lose ends.

Real Shame - could have been one of the best shows ever.

Heller...Sure, okay, let Jane & Lisbon start their newer life together. Yep we could've lived with that...IF...yes, IF...you'd had them drive away in the Airstream after the wedding all happy with their bundle of joy on the way...la de freaking da...okay fine...:)
BUT THEN show this end scene to only the viewers: Ray Haffner is following behind them in his car...
Now that would've been STUNNING.
(and the end credits roll...the last smiley face he leaves that we see is the one of him smiling as he drives behind them. ; )
that way it leaves it open-ended yet satisfying to more viewers. 
(WIRJ fans, please insert your own personal RJ where mine is)
I wish RJ would paint a smiley face on a certain someone. (most of us know exactly who i mean) haha
Laughter is still the best medicine. Or close to it. 

I've been enjoying following this forum for years, and this is the first time I've posted a comment.

I was holding out hope until the very end that we'd find out that Thomas McAllister as Red John was a really 'long con' and we'd finally have closure for all those unresolved clues. I told myself, '2 episodes are enough - it could be done in 2 episodes!' then, '1 episode is enough - it COULD be done in 1 episode!' When I finally had to accept there'd be no closure I was pretty disappointed.

It sounds to me from reading Bruno Heller's TVLine interview that Peter Roth at Warner Brothers forced him to prematurely end the Red John storyline at very short notice. Obviously Bruno Heller had to say that in a nice way in an interview, but I'd like to think he was as frustrated about it as many of us are.

I'd LOVE to have the opportunity to talk to Bruno Heller and ask him what his intentions were with many of the clues, for example, 'He is Mar'. I felt pretty certain that was going to turn out to be Marcus Pike, and maybe he'd REALLY be Michael Kirkland! I'd like to think Bruno Heller actually DID have intentions for all of those clues, and didn't just think, 'This will be an interesting clue and we'll worry about resolving it later!'

I've been reading the thementalist.wikia.com and there ARE actually some good answers there to clues I didn't think were ever resolved, for example, Bob Kirkland killing Jason Lennon has always bugged me, but I think there's a pretty good answer for that on the wiki.

I've heard that after a divorce it's healthy to 'grieve for what might have been' so I guess that's kind of what we're all doing by posting to this forum. It's certainly been therapeutic for me to write this post!

Interview excerpts lifted from ET online with smart-ass remarks from yours truly
Heller: It was very much designed as an encore, a curtain call for the show and the audience. You don’t come out for the encore and do death metal or dark stuff.
Quitthat: Unless you are Cannibal Corpse. Can you imagine the look on the faces of their fans at the concert hearing the band play "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang" or "Sound Of Music" with accordions and fully dressed like polka yodelers? Mentalist was dark, should have ended dark, in order to stay true to itself.

Tunney: Fans of TV shows are so committed to the characters and to the story. When you do something that’s drastic like this, bringing two characters together after six years of knowing them platonically, they can turn on you really easily.
Quitthat: You don't say!?

Tunney: It’s our best version of a romantic comedy with some crime thrown in. 
It’s for the fans. 
Quitthat: Why do I feel the sudden urge to quote Lloyd Christmas? "Auffiderschnitzel"

Tunney: There’s nothing more frustrating than being committed to something for seven years and they don’t give you definitive endings.
Quitthat: Ditto. Are you sure, you're not psychic?

ETO: Do you foresee 10 years down the line, a Mentalist 2.0?
Heller: Absolutely, it’s a date. We’ll all be there in 10 years. 
Quitthat: Dream on, buddy. As the saying goes; it's not done till the fat lady sings. 
Here is the 2.0 version of the saying; Once the boss, kick-ass strong female character is reduced to a housewife, you know it's done... like the bun in the oven.

Thank You WHO IS RED JOHN? It's was great pleasure reading and sharing theories here with intelligent and creative, like-minded, true fans of the show, like yourself. 

P.S. Mr. Heller I'm keeping my Brett Partridge vote as a small token of middle finger to you. I hope you don't mind it.

Now if someone wanted to make a really awesome spin-off, take Abbott, who is moving to DC, and White Collar's Peter Burke (who contemplated moving to DC in the series) and make a show about them.

Red John is Dead. It was McAllister. It is what it is. 

All Heller had to do was make Lazarus the Real Red John--instead of that actor/character, plug in Haffner/Reed D. (Man I would have been so elated!)  And/or plug in Styles...Rigsby or anyone else you guys here @ WIRJ thought would work. Plug in Red John's son (whomever that may have been), show a few flashbacks and have Jane kill him or RJ. That would have been such a thrilling surprise and would've given RJ'ers their satisfying and well-deserved finale. It would've given Jisbon'ers their happy E too with the wedding and baby-on-the-way. That's all he had to freaking do. Yeah, we will all hold onto our own theories and endings because almost anything else would've been better than how he ended S6.8. And now with how he ended the series finale, we will all hold our own and each others much better theories even dearer and closer to our hearts. Part I could've been the RJ reveal and flashbacks, and half of Part II could've been catch him and kill him...and the end half of Part II could've been the wedding/baby reveal. Why was that so hard for you, Heller?! Why was it so freaking hard for you to give answers to your own clues? I'm estimating probably half of us have already become better writers than he is. What sucks is that the first 5 1/2 years were fantastic and then he wimped out with the last ones. Now we all just have to join together, form a writing group, get a network to sign us and we can show him how it's supposed to be done! lol Wishful thinking? Probably...but maybe not. I mean hey, if he can end the series like this and get away with it, then anything is possible. ;-P 

It was not the final ending I had hoped for or not the ending I wanted.  They should have ended with at least 3 different alternative endings like the movie CLUE.  I also will not watch any more TV shows that are created/written by Bruno Heller.  Rest in peace-the cast of The Mentalist.