Question not a Theory :)

When Jane got the list of the 7 men, why didn't he go to the little girl that red john gave to Jane, if red john was on that list the little girl could just point her out?

Has Fire and Brimstone been aired on US TV? Because I've got the impression it hasn't, even though it's available on online sites (I've watched it)...

After reading TVGuide's article,


*SPOILER*

- It looks like Gale Bertram is RJ.
- RJ is the head of "Tyger Tyger Organization".
- RJ is one of seven suspects.

**For me, this is a real disappointment if it turns out to be true. I would prefer Sherriff as RJ rather than Gale Bertram. As far as I see, the ones defending Bertram can't be RJ base their theories on his being "bald". This is unrealistic. Rosalind Harker is blind so Bertram had probably a wig on his head when he was with her. Consider this, as well.

- Unfortunately, if RJ is Bertram that would be a lame, poor and disappointing writing. Why? Once, Bruno would mess up a lot of thing he has built so far.  Being the leader of a group or having beeen involved in a group would be unrealistic for RJ's character. Especially "Tyger Tyger" is a huge risk for him because even one member could've exposed his identity. In this respect, it would be more logical for the members of Visualize to be his minions than the members of "Tyger Tyger Organization". If RJ is from both Tyger Tyger and Visualize, this would risk his  identity to be kept as a secret even more. Besides, RJ has always been reflected as "selfish and egoist" so he's not a type of killer to be a leader of a group. He just recruits minions and directs them according to his agenda. He's proud of himself and he is individual for his murders (apart from the fact that in any dangerous situation for his identity, he makes his minions  kill  the other minions). Shortly, he uses people, he doesn't lead or guide them.

- If RJ is Gale Bertram, this really humiliates Patrick because Patrick would've followed and investigated him even he had had a little suspect about him. OK, Patrick could have said he had a bad hunch for him but that's not enough. Think that he's his boss and RJ for all these years and Jane didn't notice anything about that. Come on, Jane's smarter than that.

- Also, Bertram is CBI Director so it must be hard for him to commit murders easily. He has an important job. I think that RJ must be someone to have more spare time than Bertram. I know some say his followers commit murders when he's not around but this is against his character if you ask me.

** I also want to state that this kind of narrative in season 6 is against the show's nature. There's always been twists, tricks, plays and surprises. Bruno couldn't have preferred this kind of pacing and narrative (Give the audience a confined list of suspects, eliminate the suspects one by one and find RJ step by step) as I mentioned before. This would lower the degree of surprise the audience would want. Even now (after TVGuide's article and 6x06), we are not excited enough because story is so restricted now for RJ's identity. There must be more than this. I think that Xander Berkeley  is a great actor so most of us would be inclined to be happy if McAllister turns out to be RJ. But Gale Bertram? Come on writers and Bruno.. You're better than that. Don't ruin everything.

- Finally, I hope RJ is not Gale Bertram but he's a very strong candidate in the light of TVGuide's article. I want to trust Bruno so I hope most of us would be surprised and satisfied after 6x08 (Red John).

**SPOILER**

The most plausible Red John Theory to date. 



I've probably read a thousand of these Red John theories, all very different. Some seem very convincing, others far-fetched. Some seem to add up until you take other things into consideration. After batting around many theories and suspects in my head, this is the only theory that holds up.



1. Red John is and is not on the list. (I will explain in 1A below.)

2. Red John is not a complicit member of Tiger, Tiger. (See 2A below)

3. Tiger, Tiger is about power (remember Bob Kirkland's and Reede Smith's convo on the park bench and later before Smith shoots Kirkland).

4. Bruno Heller and the writers intentionally created the "Brett Partridge" character to be the "favorite" suspect, so that even when he dies, people would believe he was Red John.

5. You cannot believe ALL the press clippings, as we get closer to the reveal, bc you can bet that media quotes by actors and writers, and Heller himself, are being used as misinformation. When Heller said that we would see Red John's face in the season 3 finale, he wanted you to believe that Bradley Whitford was Red John only bc Jane believed that it was in that moment (hence why he shot him). Jane realized his mistake at the start of the following season.



1A. Bruno Heller has been quoted as saying that we can "trust" the list of 7. He also said that in the season 5 finale, Red John's identity would be "revealed." Here's the problem with taking that at face value without reading more into it. If Jane indeed was able to narrow his list of possible Red John suspects down to 7, don't you think he'd be able to quickly deduce exactly who Red John is? The fact that he hasn't narrowed it down to 1 or 2 means that there is something about each of 7 suspects that doesn't add up. I believe therefore, that Red John was "revealed" but not necessarily "named" in that list of 7. I've seen other theories to this end, and I think it's likely.



2A. Red John and Tiger, Tiger do not work together. Tiger, Tiger uses the notoriety and killing style of Red John in order to carry out their killings. Throughout all 6 seasons of The Mentalist, Red John has been referred to consistently as a "serial killer." This is someone who kills because they can't resist the impulse. On the other hand Tiger, Tiger (who has carried out killings in the style of Red John) does so as a means of assassination and execution. I believe it was Tiger, Tiger that killed James Panzer in season 4, because they really didn't want him getting away with his crimes as SJK, and bc Jane provided the opening when he goaded "Red John" into committing the murder on TV.



3A. It is not to Tiger, Tiger's benefit that Red John be (publicly) caught. They like to use the legend of Red John to cover up their own doings. That's why Bertram, a confirmed member of Tiger, Tiger, keeps saying he wants to "be there" when Jane and company catch Red John. Maybe he wants to gum up the works and let Red John go. The members of Tiger, Tiger probably think they're doing something good with their deeds.



4A. It's impossible to watch almost any scene with Brett Partridge (except for the one in the desert where Jane glares at him) and not think "That's him!." His creepiness factor is just too good. I think Heller planned to have a character such as that in the pilot in order to divert everyone's attention from what was really going on. Heller was also quoted as saying that it was important that Brett die in episode 1 and that there was a big clue (in addition to him saying "Tiger, Tiger) in that final scene. Notice that Heller said "scene" and not "shot." The final scene, time-wise, was a very long one, maybe even interrupted by a commercial (which you obviously don't account for when filming). People are saying the big clue is "666" or the way the killer was wiping off the blade while talking to Jane on the phone or some trick involving the pigeons in the house. It's none of those. It's much simpler and a lot less symbolic than that.



5A. I think THE biggest clue (the one Heller refers to in a clandestine manner in the interview has to do with the GPS tracking devices that Lisbon is working on when she gets the call about the incident at the house on Wilson Street. As soon as we see that Partridge is there, we all say, "See, I KNEW he was Red John." Until Partidge winds up the victim instead. Please note that I do believe that it was Red john and not Tiger, Tiger that killed Partridge for two reasons. Heller said when asked, "Why did YOU kill Partridge?" "Actually Red John killed him." And Partridge said "Tiger, Tiger" to Lisbon as a way to warn the rest of his Tiger, Tiger group. Brett being a part of Tiger, Tiger is what got him killed. Heller did say that the list was "not a good list to be on." This must be why Red John seemed perfectly comfortable with Jane having this list of 7.



Other things:



Many people have stated that PJ has known this whole time who RJ is, or that the list of 7 is fake. Because that is like every other mentalist episode where Jane doesn't let the audience of members of Lisbon's team know what he's up to. I don't think that's the case here bc Jane is never emotionally involved in any of these other cases. The RJ case however, is deeply personal for him, and he's not likely to keep his cool, as we've seen in the episode 3 finale and 6.06. Jane is too close to the case to see what's really going on.



As far as who is in the credits of each show, that is also unreliable as again, the producers would have taken such assaults on secrecy into consideration when releasing the credits of future shows to the public.



THE APPLE DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE. 
Of all the suspects on the list of 7, only 1 has proved to be a ruthless killer (Bob Kirkland). While we do see Smith shooting Kirkland, his killing didn't have any of the sadism attached to it such as the way that Kirkland tortured and killed others. He tortured and killed Jane's list of fake suspects. When he couldn't be so open (like in a hospital) he poisoned. Kirkland has no qualms about killing. But we know from his end, that he was in pursuit of Red John. Notice that he asks everyone he's about to kill or torture. "Do you recognize me? Have you seen me before?" He even tells from of his victims that the question is important. This is because he isn't just pursuing Red John, he's trying to find his brother. He's either lost or dead. If someone recognizes Kirkland, they may know where his brother is. This is why he doesn't hesitate to kill them after they've said no.



I also believe that the reason Tiger, Tiger (Smith in this case) shot and killed Kirkland is because they do not know who Red John is. 



The "Tyger tyger" and the fearful symmetry are one set of clues. But the biggest clue is this one. Partridge was the only cell phone (bugged) that showed up in the vicinity the night he was killed. So, either Partridge is Red John (and faked his death) or someone whose cell phone was not bugged is Red John.  All of the named candidates had tracking on their cell phones that night. But there was one "pictured" candidate whose phone they didn't know or think to track. 



Michael Kirkland.



On the season 5 finale, Red John was "revealed" but not named.



It was important, according to Heller, for Partridge to die in that first episode. Why? Because Lisbon still had the GPS tracking turned on.



In fact, it's possible that Smith killed Kirkland (in the fashion he did, on a lonely road, under the cover of night, with a fellow Tiger, Tiger conspirator) because the group thought that Bob Kirkland might have been Red John, and didn't want him confessing while in custody, thus ruining their plan to continue to use the Red John legend to carry out their work.



The constant scrutiny on Visualize and its influence in California and law enforcement, I think, is just a veiled reference--even metaphor-- to the real life influence of Scientology on Hollywood and the entertainment profession.



Red John has been hard to catch, but Tiger, Tiger will be harder to bring down.

Titles
The Theory - RJ leads PJ
The Conspiracy Theory - Lisbon is the key


RJ leads PJ
Since PJ follows clues RJ's partners gave him, he he should know that those clues lead him to where RJ wants to PJ reach. If PJ believes these clues lead him to directly RJ than RJ is right. PJ is not as smarter as he thinks. Also it will be a shame for this serie, being a second "lost" case, in my opinion.

Lets look on the bright side. 
PJ is just pretending this list contains a "RJ". He needs to solve first what RJ wants from PJ. At the result point there are very few options wait us and PJ.

1) Tiger-Tiger vs. RJ : If there is a "war" between these two forces, PJ may want to heat up this "war". Eventually one of these forces will reveal itself. Or they lose too much power in this war. Either of two ways, it gets easier to reach RJ.

2) Tiger-Tiger hand to hand RJ : There are three options in this situation. 
     a) Partnership between these two forces
          If two forces in a mutual relationship, why RJ wants PJ reach the Tiger-Tiger? It is meaningless? So there must be a conflict.
     b) RJ is head of the Tiger-Tiger : May be RJ is head of the Tiger-Tiger. We know this organisation contains goverment people. So RJ must be a goverment people. In every kingdom there are plenty of forces wants to crown. This may be the reason why RJ led PJ to Tiger-Tiger.
     c) Someone else is head of the Tiger-Tiger : Maybe RJ want that crown for himself?
     d) Or another reason which fits the other 3 options. RJ wants to abolish Tiger-Tiger. 

In four way RJ may need PJ's help of to reveal Tiger-Tiger organisation in public.

Lets examine current list. 

Brett Partridge : Too tall, dead. Who sang the Tiger-Tiger poem to PJ.
Ray Haffner : Too tall, long hair. Not bright as RJ. Also a little bit coward.
Bob Kirkland : Dead, too excited.
Gale Bertram : Tallest man on the list, also bald, old.
Thomas McAllister : Moustache, old, distinct accent and voice. Harker should heve point these
Reede Smith : Fat. Harker should point this
Bret Stiles : Old. Harker should point this

Lisbon is the key
I know this will looks irrelevant but please pay attention something about Lisbon. 
Before that, please answer this question to yourselves. How many times you knock a door?  I think many of you going to say 4. A little part going to say 2-3. Too little part of you going to say 5.
Lisbon knock 7 times everytime. Why? Is it a clue? Why RJ didnt kill her? Why the list contains 7 people? 

The article pretty much told us who Red John is so it really can't be misunderstood in my opinion. It doesn't spell it out but it's close to it. I'm not going to give anything away but it's not so bad it could have been worse I guess. Still hopefully he can do him justice. I still had my preference though. I don't think they post the spoilers in the articles in TV GUIDE. The temptation is just too much. I haven't seen the last episode but from everyone's comments it seems that it is obvious who RJ is, when this really shouldn't be the case, we should still be left guessing until the very end.

I don't think it's all gonna add up but we'll wait and see.

can we plz stop the  number / name comparison

if u try tomatocheessandwich u get 165 but if u do redtomatocheessandwich u get 666

so we know red john loves TOMATO CHEESE SANDWICHES and tomato is red too!!

really.. the numbers makes no sense