OKAY. Time to start analyzing some of the more elaborate theories on here. Even those that can be classified as "spoilers." I came across this spoiler (or theory) just before seeing the recently leaked episode. Like many others I assumed the poster was making this up or--hopefully--had seen a different real episode altogether. Basing things just on the theory, and not any comments, since some of the comments might have been fake, I think the spoiler may have well seen the same episode that we saw, but was especially cryptic or misleading. It is true that if you look at some of the details a certain way, you're led to believe that Red John is Reede Smith with a Kirkland twin as the main accomplice.
But maybe not. My analysis in italics.
It's Theory 13389: http://www.whoisredjohn.com/See-a-theory-Red-John/13389
It answers the following questions to everyone satisfaction:
1. The "Identity" of Red John
Well, this one is kinda obvious, of course the episode "Red John" would reveal the identity of Red John. Not much of a stretch there.
2. What Really Happened in the House that Night It Blew Up
This is true. In the leaked episode, in the span of about 13 seconds, Jane explains it all.
3. Why Rosalind Harker's description conflicts with that of so many of the "suspects."
Only in the sense that so many of the other suspects didn't match her description...
4. Exactly how Red John has always been able to stay one step ahead of Jane, and how it's never been a fair fight.
Assuming this has more to do with the Blake Association that this author was willing to relay.
5. The true origin of the Blake Association.
Red John himself was the origin of the Blake Association.
6. Why Red John's "voice," what few times it's been featured, conflicts with the voices of the known "suspects."
Kinda like the way that Harker's description didn't match many suspects. But remember, Sheriff/Red John disguised his voice.
7. Why Lorelia Martins was used as a tool of misinformation.
Maybe this was explained in Red John's constant insistence that Jane ask him how he got the list of names. Maybe Lorelai was a misinformer.
8. Why Bruno Heller said that some would be "disappointed" by the identity of RJ. And why he lied, kinda, when he said that people would be disappointed because it would turn out that Red John is "just a man."
People were disappointed because they didn't want it to be Sheriff (they wanted it to be Partridge or Haffner or Kirkland). He wasn't "just a man" but was the man who built a secret empire and no one knew who he was.
9. The "real" clue (besides the Tyger, Tyger utterance) at the end of episode 6.1.
Pigeons? No, that wasn't it. It was the fact that (we learned in episode 6.7 and 6.8 that Blake Association members use burner phones that can't be traced when they're on the run or doing something illegal. Remember when Jane, after killing Red John, used his cell phone to call Lisbon. The caller id on her phone said: Unknown caller. This is how Red John was able to get around the bugs. Not carrying his real cell phone to his crime.
10. How you can figure out the identity of Red John too.
This guy totally uses misdirection. Tries to implicate Reede Smith as Red John with the Kirkland twin as his main accomplice.
As soon as I had the pleasure of previewing the next episode of The Mentalist: Red John, I was ready to get on here and spill the beans about everything. But of course I'd been sworn to secrecy, on most points, including the identity of Red John. Disclosing all, or even the most exciting parts, of what unfolded would have meant breaking a promise to the person who gifted me with this opportunity to see how it all unfolded so that i could get some sleep at night.
Again, this guy is way too excited and goes into way too much detail, even the misdirecting kind, to be totally making it up.
While I am not permitted to tell you overtly WHO Red John is, I will leave enough clues in here to lead you to think who it could be.
Yes, but the clues are left in such a way that Red John could be any of several people, but the clues lead heavily toward Smith.
You can comment your guesses, and while I cannot confirm nor deny their accuracy, I might be corrective in your logic (if you use logic.)
No time whatsoever to look at the comments. Can trust comments anyway, since trollers can use anyone's user name, including the user name of the theorist.
1. In this episode, we learn that the real "Red John" was born Roy Tagliaferro. However, he assumed another alias some years ago and has been a suspect under a different name. But the weird thing we learn is that his real name is Roy Tagliaferro.
This was only inferred by the theorist, based on the episode that was leaked. The name part I mean. I think what the theorist is trying to say here is that the Real Red John wasn't born McAllister, the name everyone knew the suspect by, but was Roy Tagliaferro. Which somewhat makes sense. However, the assumed another alias could suggest, assuming the name of McAllister OR having Brett Partridge switch the DNA in the system, thereby giving McAllister another identity.
2. I think too much will be given away so I will not go into detail here. Everybody can guess that what happened in the house was not fully disclosed in prior episodes, and this indeed was part of Jane's plan to deceive and draw out RJ.
Obviously, since the real Red John set the bomb, too much detail would have pointed to McAllister.
3. Remember when I said that some years ago that Roy Tagliaferro, the real name of Red John, assumed another identity, let's just say that at the same time, someone else assumed his, hence why people keep tripping over her description in relation to the other suspects.
I think this definitely has to do with the switching of bodies/DNA switch, the latter of which was carried out by Partridge on behalf of McAllister. So when you think about it, this point is definitely true, and does occur in the episode, but it is written in a very misleading way, making you think the switch happened long ago, like at the Visualize Barn.
4. This has a lot to do with point 9, too. Let's just say that the man, Red John, who killed Jane's family, has always been able to stay one step ahead of Jane because Jane has always been outnumbered. And no, this doesn't completely have to do with Blake Association.
5. It appears that the Blake Association, like HR on Person of Interest, will go on to be the over-arcing "villain" in the next episodes, beyond Red John's conclusion. While it's true that Red John is associated with BA, it doesn't solely exist for his benefit, and will be harder to dismantle than what one or two episodes can accommodate. We also learn in the next episode that Reede Smith, when being interrogated by Jane and Lisbon, wasn't completely accurate (truthful is more the word) when describing his involvement with Blake. And that there is a reason why Bertram is so hell bent on getting rid of Smith.
Not sure what Reede Smith was being dishonest about in the previous episode, could have been some or all of it. But I do get the line that the BA doesn't exist SOLELY for RJ's benefit. After all, part of the cliffhanger of episode 6.8 is that the woman who tried to stab Jane after he shot RJ is able to blend into the scene like an innocent bystander. I can also see how Blake still hangs on in one form or another with a successor, a new Don, at the helm. Maybe the theorist inferred something in the episode that I didn't see that points to Smith becoming the heir in the case that Rj and Bertram go down?
6. The voice actually (as well as Harker's description) involves the biggest twist, turn into the identity of Red John. Let's just say that when Rosalind described her "Roy Tagliaferro" she was being completely forthcoming. And when we hear the "voice" of Red John, whether when Jane was being rescued from copycats, on the phone in the limo with Lorelai, or on the phone when Lisbon was knocked out, we're hearing the voice of Red John/Roy Tagliaferro post-identity switch. Confused? It will all make sense in the finale. (Also, as people have speculated, indeed, the voice of Red John saying "The game is over and I have one" is NOT heard in the church nor in the first scene of episode 6.8. It is in fact near the end.)
Well, the theorist was right that the scene featuring the voice, set in the church, is not in the opening segment of the episode. Perhaps the "post-identity switch" has something to do with Red John coming up with the voice upon the moment that he either 1) begins to be the unseen "leader" of Blake, and it's the voice he uses on the instructional phone calls to give orders or 2) it's the point that he changes his mind about Patrick, and begins recruiting him. Remember the voice debuted on the Mentalist on the season 2 finale, when he saves Patrick's life.
7. If anything, the role that Lorelai Martins played as a source of clues for Jane's search was downplayed, if not discredited in this episode. We're even led to believe that her DVD speech about the suspects didn't line up with Jane's list, but that Jane finalized his list AFTER seeing the DVD. This didn't make complete sense at that time, and until I re-watch it, I don't think I will get it.
He's absolutely right here. It's like the episode completely ignores the Lorelai Martins' chapter of the show!
8. People will be "disappointed" in the WHO of Red John but not in HOW he is revealed. The HOW of it all more than makes up for any initial disappointment in the WHO. The "just a man" comment from Heller is more than misleading, but in some ways is true. There doesn't seem to be any superpowers or great mental abilities in the real Red John. But it all falls into place at the end.
The church scene is haunting, as well as Red John's opening line: "Thank you, Oscar. Now wait outside . . . " The fact that Jane defeats Red John using, of all things, a PIDGEON, I think this theorist was more impressed by than most of the other viewers. LOL.
9. As I hinted at in a previous theory, the big clue in the final scene of 6.1 is the GPS tracking, but it is also the "voice." Remember that no other Red John suspects from the list of 7 were at the house where Partridge was killed, before Teresa left her office, which makes it look like either Partridge faked his assault and death OR that Red John isn't one of the 7 phones that was bugged (or that he is but left his phone at home, after all, he used Teresa's to call Patrick.) It's actually only partially one of those. Let's just say that "timing" has a lot to do with it. And let's just say this is the secret to how Red John can be in two places at once. Easily. And any time he wants.
We know now that in the leaked episode, Jane twice uses a phone that isn't his. The one he traded with the boy on the bike, and then the burner phone that Red John brought with him to the church/park. I think this was the clue as to how Red John evaded the bugged cell phone. And remember he called Patrick using Teresa Lisbon's phone in 6.1 and in 6.8 Patrick called Teresa using Red John's (unknown called) phone. Irony there, I think.
10. Notice I've not said much about Bertram here. But let's also say that the first half of the episode the evidence continues to pile up against him for BEING Red John. While Patrick wonders if it can really be this easy, even he at least acts as though Bertram is. In fact, the explosion was part of flushing out the real identity of Red John. People have speculated if anyone presumed dead actually survived the blast, and if that person could be Red John. Let's just say that at least one person survived the blast unawares. But am I saying too much to tell you that that person is not Red John, but is shot in the next episode (and not by Jane). Toward the end of the episode, after another "suspect" is killed, Jane and the CBI/FBI team agree they have do something else to lure Red John out. They decide, therefore, to use Reede Smith as bait. Let's just say he's not for this idea at all. But then they promise him a better deal if he works with him (instead of a comfortable federal prison, witness protection, since he fears Tyger, Tyger most of all.) They promise him protection. They need him to lure Red John out into the open. They hatch the perfect plan.
I think there is some name switching going on here. Obviously Reede Smith isn't the one sent out to lure Red John. Instead, Jane eludes the FBI and gets the CBi to give him time to meet Bertram (and eventually Red John). Jane's only protection is the prop gun and the gun he velcroed to the bottom of the pew. The other "suspect" that is killed is Bertram. (Or maybe he's referring to Jane killing Oscar)
To figure out the real identity of Red John, you have to use the Roy Tagliaferro clue first.
(I think this is a red herring of the theorist. Sure, I could see McAllister's real name or past alias being Roy Tagliaferro. But if there is a clue in the episode pointing to this, I didn't see it.)
You then have to reconcile that conclusion with the voice.
Theorist doesn't specify what "that conclusion" is. Could be referring to something else in the theory. Obviously the voice is made up. You can hear Bertram, when he calls Jane say "I don't have to use the funny voice now, do I?" Meaning that until the famous Red John voice says something, we don't know who Red John is."
You then have to remember twin (without taking that clue too literally).
Another word for twin is Gemini. When you don't take "twin" too literally, you think of duplicity or multiple personalities. The suspect "Sheriff Thomas McAllister" was nothing more than a character that Red John made up so that he could hide "in the shadows." Thomas also means "twin." I think this is what the theorist was referring to here.
You then have to remember that it all started back at the Visualize barn YEARS ago. The think of why Stiles would be so bent on protecting Red John's identity. Remember that this really is a process of elimination and deaths of previous suspects are part of that elimination. But rest assured that only death can eliminate someone from the suspect list. Don't eliminate anyone too soon.
It wasn't until I got out of the shower this morning that I realized what the theorist was inferring here. I think the fact that Stiles and Haffner were the ONLY ones killed in the blast meant that they KNEW who Red John was because, Haffner was a young person (21 or so) there when Red John killed at the barn and that Stiles knew and covered it up so his young cult/organization could avoid controversy. I even think this was so much implied in the episode.
By the time it's all over, we know the meaning of "Tyger, Tyger." Meaning that Red John is himself founder and leader. OR, that Partridge said it to Lisbon, not as a cry for help, but as a way to tell her that he'd switched McAllister's DNA (fearful symmetry)
We know the original Roy Tagliaferro. That would be Red John.
We meet the second Roy Tagliaferro. That would be Sheriff Thomas McAllister, the invented character of Red John.
We go back to a familiar place. This could be the church/chapel that appears in episode 6.7 or the grave site of Angela and Charlotte.
All the really relevant clues (besides "He is Mar") fall into place. They all make sense and connect EXCEPT He is mar and the list.
Jane gets his revenge, killing Red John. But in some ways, it is a "truce."
Obviously this is not the first person Jane has killed, but the truce is that Red John succeeded in turning Jane, justifiable as he was, into a killer. Also, while Blake has been brought to its knees, so have the legitimate and honorable members of the CBI.
I was satisfied by the conclusion of Red John, but I don't know how everyone else's reaction will be. One thing's for sure. We see now why things have to pick up in the next episode, fast forwarded two years, with Jane in South America. There's no going back to normal in Sacramento, or all of California for that matter, at the end of this episode. The end of Red John means wholesale change for all of the regular characters on the show.
I didn't get this episode at first, but the more I think about it, and use theories like this as a filter, I have to admit, it's satisfying.
