My expectations from Season 7 based on the label Bruno Heller leaked:

ENCORE- not a word usually associated with TV series, especially these days when shows get cancelled faster than you can say "bluebird". So what does it mean? The word itself is derived from French and it means "again". Interestingly enough the Italian version is Da Capo translated to "from the beginning". In relation to the show that would be Red John again, and explanations from the start. Does it mean EVERY clue? Some of the questions only exist in our minds, so NO, but the major ones, YES.
Encore is mostly associated with large arena concerts... and they are PLANNED. Meaning, the artist will not perform their "best" songs during the main frame. To further ensure further the demand for encore they "end" the concert with a mellow song forcing the audience to feel like they haven't got what they paid for... yet.

WHY WAS McALLISTER CHOSEN TO BE THE RED JOHN?- Because he was the least likely suspect. To understand the previous statement you have to analyze the opposite of that. What would have happened if they wanted Red John alive, but they also wanted the audience to believe you killed him... for good? You chose a patsy. Because if you chose a heavily suspected character like Partridge or Stiles for example; that would be CONVINCING. Would I watch the next 14 episodes after that? NO. For me, and quite possibly, for the rest of the RJ fanbase the show would have ended on the high note. Remember! the Jisbon was not a "thing", at the moment. Those who wanted to see them together would not be "in the bag"... yet. However, even with the low expectation of McAllister being Red John they made sure the reveal is done in a preposterous way, so the fans will have hope for the real deal. Let's face it, every suspect from the list can "come back" except one: McAllister.

WHY THE LONG INNUENDO?- To answer that question I have to go elsewhere, again. There was a movie that had the greatest surprise for me. (The movie itself was not to my liking so I won't mention the title). It had this long back and forth conversation between the 2 main character inside the car. It was perfectly calm and non confrontational. Then BOOM out of nowhere.. The first time I saw the T-Bone accident. Speechlessly, it caught me off guard. I have seen that many times later replicated, but none to the same effect. It only worked the first time, and no small thanks to the calm before the storm, set up. T-Bone is what comes next in Season 7.

JISBON vs. RED JOHN.- I can't understand the split in the fanbase like this is some sort of competition. Why cant the two coexist, especially when one depends on the other? Red John is coming back, because he wants to punish Jane, for the last time. The temptation is too big to be ignored. The only question is; How serious is the Jisbond? Perhaps they really fall in love. (Unlikely) Or Jane knows Red John is alive and uses Lisbon as a bait. (If you think that's not possible, then you watched the wrong show) Or they are both in it (Most likely, and perhaps a little bit attracted to each other- "like" brother and sister) Why the charade? Once again, let's look for the answer elsewhere. In many crime noir-pulp fiction stories the killer is one step ahead of the man in pursuit until... HE ISN'T. The cards must turn in good guys favor to catch the perpetrator. This is the scenario where Jane is, for the first time, not one but two steps ahead of Red John.
1. Jane knows Red John is alive, but Red John doesn't know he does, and
2. Jane is the one who set up the trap, and he will be waiting for the bastard.

24 Hours with Sheriff McAllister.

Today our crew will follow Sheriff McAllister to give our viewers a gimps of his daily routine.

4:20 His alarm clock goes off.
Sheriff puts his pants on, one leg at the time, and I bet he is going to brush his teeth next. 
No. He won't brush his teeth. Of course not. The last thing you want when you arrest a criminal telling straight to his face: "BUSTED!" is to swoosh his face with a minty breeze. You don't want that.

4:30 McAllister's phone ring.
We can't hear what's said from the other end of the phone, but we can focus on Sheriff's replies. Hopefully, that will be enough to clue us in to their conversation.

McAllister: "You? What do you want? You want me to pretend I'm you? All day? Where? OK get back to me on the exact place and time.... I'll leave right now... Yes, I have a question for you. What if I fall out of the character? You can do that? You can hypnotize me over the phone, so I'll stay in character? OK that should work, but before you do that let me just say. If I do this for you, we are square, right? With this my debt is paid in full."

-That was strange. Did we hear it right; you agreed to play a character, and who were you talking to, Sheriff?

McAllister: "Uhm... yes... I'm part of a Guerrilla Theater... and that was... uhm... that was my... my manager. Today's performance will be in Sacramento. So buckle up boys. We are taking a field trip"

4:45 McAllister practices his performance by watching a movie on the TV. It's one of those films based on funny books. You know... the one with the masked vigilante. McAllister is turning on the volume. Let's hear it... the clown from behind the screen says: " I'M BATMAN" and the clown infront of the screen... I meant Sheriff McAllister replies with a smirk in his voice: "thpt... and I'M RED JOHN"

- I think we know who the Sheriff is going to impersonate. For those who don't know who Red John is a brief background from wiki: " Red John is a serial killer, he's believed to have begun his killing spree in 1998, and has, with his operatives and acolytes, killed more than 50 people in California, Nevada, and Mexico, throughout his murder spree."

5:00 We are in Sheriff's car leaving Napa.

6:30 We arrived to Sacramento. We are sitting in the car, waiting.

7:00 We are still waiting... wait the phone rings. The Sheriff answers.
McAllister: "Alexandria Cemetery. Don't worry I got your text with all the info. I'll be there."

7:45 Chapel at the Alexandria Cemetery. McAllister walks in. From what we can gather, the performance already started. One man is on the floor one is sent out by the Sheriff, so our guess would be that the guy in the front row is the unsuspecting audience.

7:47 Sheriff walks up and takes the stage. He starts with a spot on Pee-wee Herman impersonation. The audience is not very impressed. Tough crowed. This guy is something. He still does not realize he's been played. Wonder if he ever will. He stares like a donkey in the fog

7:50 The sole audience finally decides to participate and pulls out something from his pocket, He hands it over to the Sheriff. Watch out McAllister, he might be part of the show and the joke might be on you. Hey... Watch Out!... He is reaching for his pocket... He has a knife... No, he has a gun... Oh NO, Oh NOOO he has a KILLER PIGEON. This guy is good. He must be a magician. Sheriff whatever you do, don't look the bird in the eyes! Damn, too late. He already did... Now he is probably seeing a dinosaur. Yep, judging by his reaction it's T-Rex.

7:51 The magician in the cheap suit goes for the hidden gun and shoots the good Sheriff. WOW. The event turned upside down. The guy McAllister sent out runs in and... he takes one from the magician, as well.

7:53 I told you the magician is part of the show. Now, it's him giving the lecture.

7:55 A female performer walks in. The question is what were her instructions? Is she on the Sheriff's payroll or not? Thank God she's on McAllisters side. Alright, now McAllister stands up while the woman fights his fight. Surely, McAllister will show him who's the boss, after she's done with him.
No. He won't show him nothing. At least not right now... Change of tactics. The Sheriff inconspicuously leaves the scene... obviously, trying to remove the magician from his comfort zone... Good thinking.

7:58 Yeah, the cemetery is good.
No the cemetery is not good. Sheriff want him out further.

8:02 Sheriff runs through the glass door... Evidently still under the influence of that Killer Pigeons gaze... or that window was spotlessly cleaned with Windex. *product placement*

8:03 Sheriff is still searching for the higher ground. A School Bus full of children... That's good. 
No. The School Bus is not good.

8:10 Sheriff McAllister's plan to tire out the magician is working. The guy is slowing down. Kudos to Sheriff for staying ahead of his pursuer for as long as he did, even wounded. The magician could use some lessons in tracking though.

8:20 McAllister reaches the Park. Yes, right under that tree... by the pond. That is where the Sheriff  takes his stand. But wait...why is he laying on the ground? CUT... CUT... I said CUT !!!!...

- I have to call the studio. Hi Boss. Yeah I'm not sure if you want me to continue the broadcast. Well... the magician is on top of the Sheriff and at this point I'm not sure if they are going to engage in a public sex or fight each other. It can go either way... Oh wait, never mind, We are back on the air... The Sheriff is going to stare the sh*t out of the magician.

8:25 The magician lost. He broke the staring contest and is now on the run. Yeah, run you cheap carny swindler and take your pathetic act with you. The good Sheriff won.

- OK Sheriff you can get up now. You won. He lost. He run away... Sheriff... Sheriff???
Cameraman: "I think his dead"
Host: "What? Was this for real? No way, it sure looked fake. Oh well, in that case there is only one thing to do- Thanks everyone for watching the 24 hours... ahem.. a partial day with Sheriff McAllister, and what a Glorious Day it was. CUT... I don't get it."
Cameraman: "What's that?"
Host: "Why haven't the Sheriff run to his car from the Chapel to flee from the murderer?"
Cameraman: "Beats me. He even left the car running when we got out."
Host: "He did? Oh?... OH!... Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Cameraman/Host: (in high five) JOYRIDE !

Jane did put explosives in his house... Did you see Rigsby's map of people when the second bomb exploded? Did you see the way Jane looks at the RJ smiley face and walks across his house with an air of finality? And I think Jane had recently come off a case where he helped a drone company, so he could have called in a favour for military-grade bombs. 

At the start of that episode, Red John sends a note to Bret Stiles saying "He's looking for you," the 'n's are notably the same as the murder note at Sophie Miller's house. Bret Stiles had been missing since the list of suspects tape was released. I don't think there's a coincidence. Red John asked Bret Stiles to disappear, using the FBI cold case as an excuse.  

When Jane gets the information about the 'three-dots,' he says he has *leverage*. That is not a word to say you've got a defining clue. It means, he knew the three-dots would not be enough to find Red John. Jane was after something else. Jane finally had an excuse to draw out Stiles.


If Red John was Brett Partridge, Stiles' knowledge is the best chance for Jane to find Partridge. But Stiles wasn't going to just give up his whereabouts. Stiles said, "I shall return!" 

Then there's a missing episode, where Jane should have captured and killed Partridge and we got the answers to the mystery. But in place of this episode, was a silly episode, which bordered on playful at times, but mainly silly.


Then, 2 years later, some guy called Roger is at the beach... he speaks English. "He's not a great talker," Jane said. Stiles said he'd return... was this his return? He looks a broken man. Did Jane break him? Did Stiles give up Red John? Since season 6 resumed, we find out Red John is dead. But Red John may not have been McAllister, as we hear that Jane never specifically admitted to killing McAllister by the testimony at Jane's fake trial. And Jane also says at one point, he's killed the man who killed his wife and kids. There's a lot of tip-toeing around the exactitude of the situtation.

In conclusion, episode 8 just doesn't fit with the story before or the story after and could easily be re-done. An alternate ending wouldn't actually hurt in this instance as it would be easy to fit in a Partridge ending, because it would fit in so seamlessly. 

It doesn't matter whichever way its being dressed up: Red John was working against the BA or working with the help of the BA. Either way, Jane killed the man who killed his wife and kids. And this man was a sad and whimpering disappointment. 

Timothy Carter knew what Jane's daughter and wife smelled like the night they were murdered. He got this information from whoever killed Jane's family. If Timothy Carter is BA, then he received this information from a fellow BA person. Then we find out McAllister is this man, the head of the BA. Jane killed McAllister, the man who killed his wife and kids.

Finding out there's another Red John who didn't actually kill Jane's family would just be another unnecessary low blow. Not to mention the majority of the viewing audience don't give a crap about generic corrupt cop associations.

If Red John returns- will there be a bloodbath?

One of these day there will be a TV series that will get it right. They will build up the plot and characters to an all out horror story. However the question stands: Is Mentalist "the one"?

Let's see:
FBI Johnny's come lately = bunch of uninteresting characters = yep, murder at will (heck, I'll even hire Red John to get rid of them)
Cho = needs a human companion to be funny, otherwise douchebag of lately = kill him... go ahead... see if I care
Lisbon = boss we all dream to have turned to a bi... ahem... love interest to two = sorry to break it to you Honey, you chose the wrong guy, this puts you on the murders list position #1. It's nothing personal... It's not you... It's who you with.
Jane = a loving Father and a husband on a revenge mission with shady past and with a double homicide track, engaged in law breaking left and right = is Red John the elephant in the room?

Well, so far so good, but I doubt the writers will take this route. Simply because they never heard the expression "when the cat's (BH) away the mice will play"

But...

I have high hopes for Sons Of Anarchy.

Chokim, AKA known as the greatest love scene ever.

Cho walks in the scene from behind the office corner, about 20 feet away from, at the moment, arguing Abbott and Kim. As Cho walks toward them, his motion slows down and the camera intermittently switches back and forth between him and Kim's sensual attention completely devoted to evaluating of Cho's figure from head to toe. Her lust is more dripping than the pen she unconsciously brought to her luscious lips. 

Kim's day dreaming is abruptly interrupted by Abbot's annoyed exclamation;
"Agent Fisher... was I clear enough?"

To what she replies:
"Sorry boss, can we discuss this later?"

Abbott shakes his head and walks away, meanwhile Cho reaches Kim and she adopts his speed of walk right beside him. Cho doesn't seems to notice her.
Fisher's question is direct and without beating around the bush:
"Cho... Wanna have sex?"

Cho gives her a quick glance and replies:
"Sure." while the second part of his answer comes as he turns his head straight ahead, again: "Why not?"

They continue to walk silently by each others side throughout the next two hallways when suddenly the hallway ends with a wall infront of them. It also branches to the left and right. The arrow pointing to the right reads: the interrogation room. Kim turns that way.

Cho turns left.

For few seconds the hallway is empty... then Kim runs back from right wing to catch up with Agent Cho. Finally, she's caught up with him when Cho sits down to his desk and starts flipping through the file in front of him. Kim halts at the desk. Irritated she utters: "So?"


Cho looks up to her with his trademark expressionless and comes to riveting conclusion;
"Oh, you mean right now!"

Her WTF countenance is more than enough to send the suggestive message even Agent Cho can't misinterpret. He stands up, gently touches Kim's elbow and invites her in the nearby direction:
"Let's do it."

They walk few feet further and Cho inquires:
"Would you mind?"

Jane looks up from his couch. Smiles, and vigorously jumps away, but hastily turns back and with playful tip-toe goes behind his beloved furniture, pulls a plastic wrap over the seat and implies:
"Go ahead, kids." then with grin on his face, for the last time before he leaves the scene gives the voice to every true fans expectations:
"It was about time."

Cho, in modestly uncomfortable manner but decisively firm decision wraps the love scene up:
"I'm on top."

None of the clues matter unless the RJ story comes back. It looks like a commercial decision to scrap that storyline was made, to try and cater to the majority. There were clues and plans, but if they're going to revisit it, it's definitely last double-episode material as they care too much about ratings.

That double episode is pivotal to the series. Noone wants a box set of Jisbon. If anything, season 7 will NEED
to engage and explain the RJ storyline, so fans worldwide revisit moments from every past season. This is what compels the average viewer, even Jisbon fans, to REWATCH.

Warner Bros knows this, that's why it was so important to get in one final season, so they could give a clean legitimate finish to the RJ Arc.