Once you all find out that Partridge is REALLY dead and why is he killed....will you then STOP posting the "undead" Partridge theories? This is not the Walking dead...once you kill someone, he DOESNT come back.....unlike as much as you like, and GET OVER IT...PARTRIDGE IS DEAD....

Let's talk about the Season 3 finale where Jane kills the fake RJ Timothy Carter.  The buildup to the shooting in the mall all started when the cop killer, Todd Johnson, said the words "tiger, tiger" to Jane before he died from being burned alive.  Jane assumed that Johnson was working for RJ because RJ had recited the William Blake poem in the Season 2 finale.  We now know that tiger tiger is a California club of corrupt law enforcement officers which means that RJ not only saved Jane's life in the Season 2 finale but also warned him about tiger tiger.  Knowing all of this means that we can safely assume that Todd Johnson was a member of tiger tiger and was killed by another member of tiger tiger and not RJ.  Jane set up an elaborate plot to catch RJ but he was actually chasing tiger tiger who probably noticed Jane's interest and that's why they framed Hightower.  RJ is not involved but he does have a set of eyes in the form of Craig O'Laughlin.

Jane gets LaRoche's short list of suspects which include Gale Bertram and Craig O'Laughlin.  Knowing that Bertram is tiger tiger makes it safe to assume that he lit Todd Johnson on fire and he sent the assassin to the hotel.  Now I'm going to assume that Craig O'Laughlin was both a member of tiger tiger and RJ's man with his loyalties obviously lying more with RJ than tiger tiger.  This explains why tiger tiger knew there were two different hotel room numbers and sent the assassin with rope.  It also suggests that tiger tiger was getting desperate with Jane getting really close to figuring out who killed Todd Johnson.  So at the mall, Bertram's comment "you're at the end of your rope" is really tiger tiger framing Craig O'Laughlin and more importantly RJ.  RJ knew something was going on because like Jane suggested several episodes ago, RJ probably has Bertram's office bugged.  RJ knew Bertram and Jane would be at the mall and I'm guessing that he thought Jane was finally going to reveal tiger tiger so he sent Timothy Carter to watch.  

Instead RJ gets a call from O'Laughlin telling him that Jane's scheme is really to catch RJ.  I'm guessing that up till then RJ thought that he and Jane had a better relationship because RJ saved Jane's life and gave him a tiger tiger clue that Jane was following through on.  RJ realizes that tiger tiger framed him and Jane completely fell for it.  RJ is angry with Jane for not being as clever as he expected him to be and very angry with tiger tiger for messing with his plans for Jane.  This is why he orders O'Laughlin to kill Hightower, Lisbon, Van Pelt, the kids, the cops at the cabin to teach Jane one last lesson in humility.  This is assuming that RJ was communicating to Timothy Carter though an ear communication device and the conversation Jane had with Timothy Carter was really with RJ.  I don't think that RJ sent Timothy Carter to the mall to fake his own death.  I think it was a decision made in anger after his plan to have Jane reveal tiger tiger fell through.  I think RJ meant tiger tiger to be a gift to Jane to reach out and start a relationship.

Coming up to the current season, the events in the third season would explain why RJ gave Jane a list full of tiger tiger suspects.  He's finally getting his revenge on tiger tiger by setting Jane up to expose them, getting Kirkland off his back by including him on the list and knowing that Jane will force his hand, and including Visualize for some other reason.  I no longer think that the list of seven suspects was Jane's planted list for RJ to steal.  I think that it is completely RJ's list as a gift to Jane.  When Jane exposes tiger tiger, RJ is going to think that Jane has accepted his gift and that will make him more careless when Jane finally reaches out to him using the real list of names we saw in Jane's notebook.  Now I believe RJ to be Walter Mashburn but this theory is more about the origin of the seven suspects list and an explanation of the season 3 finale so choose plausible based on those.  There were always a lot of inconsistencies with season 3 and RJ's motives that are all neatly tied up with tiger tiger.  My theory would explain why a statement was made suggest that Strawberries and Cream was the most important episode (and I wish I could give the exact quote).

This site won't be over in two weeks it will only get better and more interesting when we all find out the truth behind Red John        I know it won't be what I want or would do it but I'm sure it will be awesome    so far the Mentalist hasn't let me down and I have faith that the next two episodes will be the best episodes of the series by far . . . . .unless they completly fuck up ala LOST       I hope this makes me feel like Breaking Bad(best ending ever) and not Phantom Menace(biggest dissapointment ever)     can't wait to visit this site sunday night     

I've watched a ton of old episodes the past few days...whomever posted that Red John hasn't actually killed anyone for most of the show - I AGREE with you. I think Rj killed the people at the barn, Patrick's family, Eileen, Sophie Miller, and Brett Partridge. That's it. I think tyger, tyger staged a great deal of the Rj killings for TWO reasons: 1 - Bertram and Minelli recognize the value in having Patrick on the team, keeping him after RJ is paramount to him staying at CBI. 2 - Some of those RJ murders were covers for tyger, tyger crimes. This leads to why "RJ chose to kill Partridge first" as Heller said. Partridge staged the crimes and crime scenes for Tyger, tyger. I believe RJ loathed him, was insulted by his inclusion on the list, hated that he made mistakes at certain crime scenes and most importantly, by killing Partridge RJ took away a valuable part of tyger, tyger and made the organization much weaker. I think Partridge was accurate when he said "Red John has been laying low for years." He knows this bc he has been the one staging the killings.RJ recites tyger, tyger when he saves to Patrick as his first attempt to push Patrick towards Bertram (who loves William Blake) and the organization that his been blaming him. Tyger, tyger was started by Minelli. Minelli resigns bc the Bosco team murder has put the spotlight directly on the team and he knows or is told this will unveil tyger, tyger.

CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM TvGuide (newest):

" . . . but I've seen the penultimate hour of the current "Red John" arc on CBS's The Mentalist
(10/9c), which is quite eventful. With only one episode left until the
actual reveal and face-to-face showdown between the serial-killer fiend
and the vengeful Patrick Jane (Simon Baker),
it's fair to say that the list of suspects is narrowed considerably in
the wake of the explosion at Jane's house. The CBI team is in "do not
trust anyone in law enforcement" mode, as it becomes more clear just how
widespread the "Tiger Tiger" conspiracy is. There's plenty of action,
and another climactic reversal that leaves Jane and us praying for an
end to this ordeal. Unless there's another aggravating football overrun
next week to pre-empt the big reveal, we're all about to get our answer
and some much-needed closure."

So, we need to brace ourselves: things may not appear as they really are, at first!

Bruno Heller said that it was very important for Partridge to die in the first episode, but i haven't find out a good explanation of this yet. OK so I will try to explain it.

Killing Partridge (everyone's favorite until season 6) at the first episode before giving away more clues about Red John and not clearly allowing us to see his death ensured that none can be 100% sure about who Red John is. Every theory about Partridge has a big question: "But. what if Partridge is really dead?" and every theory about every other suspect has another big question: "What if Partridge is not really dead?".
By doing this Bruno really ensured that none will be 100% sure about Red John before his actual reveal and he really succeeded. With the blurry death of Brett Partridge everyone asks himself either one of the 2 questions above after completing his thought about a suspect, none is sure.
That's why I tend to believe that Partridge is really dead and the reason above is why Bruno didn't really clearly show us that he is dead, but that's my opinion.

Ok I have three thoughts.

1) Has anyone thought of the possibility that "he is mar" if finished would say "he is marked"... as in the tattoos? (this is the one that I would like feedback on)

These two are just musings
2) I think that Tolman Bunting would have been a really fun Red John.

3) i think it would have been best if the series would have ended after season three. Timothy Carter was a perfect Red John.  He was just creepy enough without being too creepy, he had the right voice, and he fit the description better that most of the current suspects.