HOLY SHIT!!!! OH MY FUCKING GOOOOOOODDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!! I have just come to an epiphany. I am huge Bond fan. This last one Spectre kind of let me down. BUUUUUUUUTTTTT, then I had a FUCKING INCREDIBLE thought. (If you haven't seen the movie, PLEASE PLEEEEAASE SEE the movie so you can be mind BLOWN like me. All I'll say here (I'll elaborate more later) is that what they did with Christoph Waltz is EXAAAAACTLY what the Red John story. BUUUUUTTTTT, why am I not that mad, it's because they did TWO FUCKING THINGS DIFFERENTLY!!!!!! AND that makes HUUUGGE FUCKING DIFFRENCE.
I'm such a busy workaholic, so I won't have time to clarify in depth for a several days. I'm sure most you are probably thinking DA FUQ?!!, so if you still haven't seen the movie, PLEEEAASE, see it. Trust me it'll be worth it if only for getting legitimate, concrete closure on Red John. (Cant help with My Blue Heaven - White Orchids. Let's face it, even you Stoopkid, that was GAH-BAGE! Literally, that was just filler, escapist TV)
So, just give me till the end of the week, to share my article regarding the insanely coherent, connection between Waltz villian (won't say his name) and Red John. And The Blake Association (which I liked, I know you all hated) and SPECTRE. And some thoughts, realizations, and most importantly closure. So as I said, please go see the movie this week, so you can be part of the discussion and get closure like I have with Red John. Thank you all.

Anyone want to offer a theory as to when-before the Red John reveal episode-The show started going downhill? I've been trying to put my finger on it but haven't figured it out.

There is something that has been nagging at me since the episode Blinking Red Light first aired.

As we know, the season 3 finale has Red John manipulating Jane into believing Timothy Carter was Red John, which was the first time Jane proved his quest for vengeance was serious by killing Timothy without a second thought. At the beginning of season four, he realized he was played the fool, and admits to Lisbon that the real Red John is still at large.

Some time passes with scant mention of the real Red John, then Blinking Red Light comes around. This time, James Panzer (The SJK) outwits Jane, which forces Jane to try and goad Panzer into an incriminating reaction on live television. It nearly succeeds, but Panzer catches himself and it ultimately doesn't work. At his wits' end, Jane sees the titular blinking red light atop one of the studio cameras, and we immediately see just from his expression that he is reminded of Red John and what happened as a result of what he did. From here, Jane cleverly guides Panzer into making the same mistake he did. This is where it gets silly.

Jane KNOWS the real Red John cannot handle dissenters and will personally go after anyone who speaks ill of him. He KNOWS the real Red John is coming after Panzer.

Knowing that Jane truly wishes to kill Red John, knowing how much time he had between the end of the TV show up until the real Red John (who is just one man) could reasonably get to Panzer...Why did he not use this opportunity to trap, capture, or kill Red John?

Understandably, Jane might not want Red John getting caught by police out of fear of being unable to exact his vengeance, but with all of his remarkable creativity he does not need the CBI resources and could have formulated a trap to at least get Red John's identity out of it. He could have bugged Panzer, made a decoy, even just follow him with his gun ready to kill! And these are just some options off the top of my head! Instead, he chose to not even try, merely head home and await the inevitable. In fact, it seems like the thought never occurred to him. Why? Was Jane being facetious when he told Lisbon that the real Red John is still out there, but wasn't sure, and just needed evidence to prove it to himself? Or is it just another plot hole?

Just a thanks and farewell.  Your theories and comments provided many hours of pleasure.  I'm among those royally p***** at Heller's (random, unconvincing, illogical) choice of Red John.  Many theories posted here were magnitudes better in every way.  I'll re-watch episodes up till 6.8.  Everything after is pathetic.  Thanks for all the fish.

In response to Theory #18821: First I love that we get to vent, rant and rave here with each other Post-Finale. ;-P Next, I agree with all the plot holes you guys listed here as being the worst. I also wanna know why the HELL did Heller want to drive us all crazy? He already made his millions. Plus syndication. Got into our heads. For me and some others I know of, Heller is/was Red John. (in Haffner's body) but Bruno didn't have the grapes to see it through. *Friends, please add in your own RJ. ;-D Might as well hold onto our memories and dreams of what could have been. (or not.) Yeah, then again maybe we should just "feel our anger" and use the Dark side of the force like Bruno did. lol  I think Heller is the true Red John. He just messed with us and then gave us the double bird as he left us gasping for air on the ground. The End. -- I still enjoyed the first 6 1/2 years of The Mentalist, but it's kinda ruined by all the plot holes and his obvious disdain for detective-like fans of the show who he led around with his breadcrumbs for over 6 years and then said, Oh sh*t.. now where was I? Fu*k, I'm lost! Oh well, just grab the worst RJ possible and pass it off as "oh he wasn't so big and bad after all. They'll never know the difference." Riiiiiiight.....yeah we really fell for that one, Bruno. UM, NOT SO MUCH. But what can we do? Have a big freaking tea party together, that's what I say.

What to you guys is the biggest plot hole of the entire Red John storyline?

Well, I think enough people agreed with my last post, so I'm going to try to get a conversation going.

What was your favorite RJ-related scene/moment? Mine was in Blinking Red Light when Jane set up Panzer to insult RJ and then RJ killed Panzer. It was cool seeing Jane and RJ work together, even if it was indirectly. 

Let me know if you agree or disagree. And if you disagree, please comment and let me know your thoughts! Thank you!