This is an attempt to wrap up the character of Walter Mashburn. So I've posted quite a bit about Mashburn, but I think I can tie a few more pieces of his personality to Red John, so here I go. Typically when a person rapidly acquires wealth (as Mashburn did) they enter a new type of social class called Nouveau Riche, meaning new rich. This social class is basically rich people who don't know how to behave, they lack manners, they aren't cultured, they are too gaudy, etc. They are frowned upon by their "superiors," the old rich. The old rich have etiquette, "modesty," and are cultured. Sometimes people who have recently acquired wealth find themselves alone and socially ostracized (most of this from http://www.wisegeek.com/who-are-the-nouveau-riche.htm). So, one who sought to rise above the Nouveau Riche class into the old rich class must learn quickly and have several "debuts." 

Some things to note about Mashburn, he is a member at the Catamaran Club in Marin County. This club is obviously for the very wealthy, otherwise Mashburn wouldn't attend this private club. Furthermore, the club is sharply contrasted from a Nouveau Riche club in that it isn't gaudy (http://www.dba-oracle.com/golf_travel/joining_a_country_club.htm). If you notice, the people around Mashburn (as he eats with Jane and Lisbon) are a slightly old couple (latter middle age). They both have wrinkles and are dressed in a sweater vest (the man) and a sweater tied around by the arms (the woman). Very old moneyesque. Furthermore, Mashburn himself doesn't dress in a show-off manner. A blazer not matching his slacks, with a vertically striped button down. Mashburn also has a recognition for art, as he bought Liselle a very expensive painting to reward her for finding him a rare car. He propositioned her for sex, but his gift was a painting, not jewelry or something fancy that you might think a rich guy would give a girl he's interested in. Very peculiar in my opinion. In "red hot," Mashburn throws a party around other people that don't dress is a gaudy fashion (far from social ostracism) that don't appear to be part of the new rich. (A little note: the new rich typically give to charity as a means to ascend from their "lowly" status as the new rich [as mashburn does].)

So, Mashburn (in my opinion) has demonstrated that he has quickly moved out of the nouveau riche class, which is quite a social feat without having the ancestry. One might think of the things he had to do to move from reform school student to socially accepted billionaire: acquire culture, etiquette, and dress "fashionably." The first two entail a good amount of education. Learning the classics (like Bach), poetry (like William Blake), and how to decipher quality art (like the painting he gave Liselle) would seemingly be good ways to culture one's self. 

In summary, Mashburn's quick rise to socially accepted billionaire was probably not just a result of his money (given the way social classes work), but rather his money and personal effort to integrate (which makes perfect sense giving his level of ambition). His personal effort probably included cultural education (literature, art, history, poetry, music, etc.), which accounts for RJ's enjoyment of Bach and his recitation of William Blake. 

I've written a theory for Mashburn previously so in this theory I'll just focus on some small details that would support Mashburn being RJ.

First, RJ is very careful not to leave any real clues as to his identity.  He would not arrange to meet Jane because it would be too risky.  This is why I believe that RJ meeting Jane was a coincidence.  Mashburn just happened to be one of the team's suspects for the murder in Redline.  Redline is full of clues/evidence for RJ being Mashburn but I'd like to focus on how this coincidental meeting changed RJ's relationship with Jane.  A few episodes before, RJ has Rebecca kill Bosco and his team to cover up the evidence uncover when Carter Peak's body was found.  RJ was forced to do that to keep himself safe instead of it being a directed mind game toward Jane like we see in later RJ episodes.  Rebecca killing the team and telling Jane that RJ missed him just means that RJ wanted to use Rebecca to the fullest extent seeing as she would have to be killed after Jane caught on.  At the end of that episode, I believe that RJ's first concern was his safety and playing with Jane was fun but not his top concern.  Then comes the episode Redline where RJ/Mashburn meets Jane by coincidence and RJ experiences real risk as he talks with Jane and manages to slide past Jane's radar.  This is what triggers the change in RJ and Jane's relationship.  RJ finds that he enjoys the risk of really playing with Jane.  That is why in the second season final, RJ takes the very risky action of following Jane, intervening to save Jane's life, allowing Jane to see him (albeit with a mask - but body shape & height), actually speaking to him and taunting him in person.  Remember in Pilot, RJ was content to let Jane catch his copycats but in S2 final RJ wanted to play with Jane.  The difference is that Mashburn/RJ had met Jane and acquired a taste for playing risky games.

Second, when Mashburn returns in Red Hot, he at first pretends not to remember Lisbon's name and Jane has to remind him with "Agent Lisbon."  Later when he's stepping into the room with the bomb, he steps out again and suggests that he and Lisbon should get together, calling her Teresa.  Mashburn/RJ would have tried to throw Jane off guard by looking like he'd forgotten Lisbon when RJ obviously would know a lot about Jane's team.  I think that Mashburn/RJ somehow guessed that there was a bomb and had to quickly invent an excuse for stepping back outside.  Mashburn is very familiar with bombs (starting making small ones in Reform School) as is RJ who presumably made the jacket bombs that were used in the first part of Strawberries and Cream (S3 final).  Mashburn could have guessed Yuri would try something like that (which is why he took the opportunity to get Jane/Lisbon on the case), smelled or noticed something in the office that meant bomb, or read Yuri's anxiety about the bomb.  What I'm saying is that RJ/Mashburn pretended not to know Lisbon but stopped that pretension as a way to get out of the room. 

Third, Mashburn took the time to flirt with Lisbon and he even slept with her.  RJ would have known how risky it was that he had actually met Jane so I believe that to throw any suspician off of himself, RJ/Mashburn developed a relationship with Lisbon in Red Hot and then ordered O'Laughlin to kill Hightower, Lisbon, and others in S3 final and tried to get Jane to kill Lisbon in S4 final.  RJ is very clever.  He is clever enough to throw suspicion off of himself by liking Lisbon as Mashburn and nearly getting her killed as RJ.  That would throw off Jane's suspicion.  Also note that Mashburn is the only suspect with the same power of seduction that RJ has shown in seducing women over to his side and inspiring trust.

Fourth, in Red Hot, Mashburn stops Else from stabbing Lisbon with a knife.  After Lisbon arrests Else and leaves, Mashburn holds the knife naturally in his left hand.  I think most people would put a knife down immediently but Mashburn naturally lets it rest in his left hand - most people think RJ is left handed.  I think Mashburn is the only suspect that we've seen holding a knife. 

These are just observations that support my theory which can be looked up on the website.  Thoughts?

I think that that the show will continue progressing in a slooooow way like it has been happening last seasons.

1 out of 8 episodes continue with the RJ story and the others are just random non interesting cases.

I have been thinking and untill the end of the show it last season 4 finale and the hole 5 season, so I amagine that season 4 finale would make thinks a little bit more confusing instead of easier in order to have enough elements for the 5 season.

I predict that the end of the story will be simple. I can't imagine a "super tricky i cant believe it" ending like RJ being PJ or similiar. I think that it is going to be 1 person that we know and that we wouldn't believe it's him.

So how would the story progress in this chapters? I think that a lot of old characters will appear again in orther to make the decition more difficult, so Mashburn will come back, Lorelei, Kristina, Rosalind... And a lot of non story episodes too till the season 5 finale that I imagine will be hurried and dissapointing for us with many things without explanation.

That's my opinion floks :)

My choice? Mashburn, for me he is the character with more posibilities. Second choice Minelli and Third Rosalind. I think that Van Pelt won't be involve but they will make us think that she is. 

Definitely think it's Mashburn. And I have since the moment he was first introduced as a character on the show. And for me it's not just the power and the affluence that make me think it's him; more than anything it's the charisma, and personality. Because the power, and the affluence and the fact that he wears a lot of red shirts (and even the fact that he slept with Lisbon) could all just be a coincidence, false clues Bruno loves to set up for his fake RJ suspects. And especially with Bruno Heller, it's extremely important to be vigilant and take everything with a pinch of salt - despite Jane's declaration (I think it was Jane?) that there are no 'coincidences.' I mean, I don't know if it's just me but I've really begun to become very careful of the 'clues' to RJ and all of the different 'plausible' suspects, because they are only plausible because they happen to coincide with what we've heard of RJ from others. (For example those saying it's Brett Partridge because of the voice similarity and the fact that Partridge is also the name of one of W Blake's paintings, or people saying it's so-and-so because of their age, look, height, money, etc. Or people saying it's so-and-so because they also shook hands with Jane.) Listen, similarities like that could all just be mere coincidences planted by Heller to mislead us, and thus they can easily be refuted. Which is why I don't want to go on about the fact that Mashburn has money and affluence and thus that fits RJ bc it could just be a coincidence. Also why I don't want to go on about how he wears red shirts and slept with Lisbon, one of Jane's 'loved ones,' because those could easily just be coincidences too, "false clues" put there by Heller to mislead us into thinking he's RJ bc he fits the 'part'. Once again, we have to remember that while RJ is playing mind games with Jane and misleading him, Heller is doing the same with us by always integrating new evidence about RJ and new possible suspects that could 'fit the part.' So it's easy to get lost and find yourself, after several seasons of the show, with a long list of suspects just because "it could be him" because "he also has so-and-so, like RJ does." That's a trap! Heller probably has 2 more seasons, so trust me, there's always going to be new evidence about RJ, and you're going to consistently find yourself trying to match what you've heard about RJ with people you've seen on the show, and by the end of it you'll be left with a long list of people who could only be RJ bc of a number of things they have in common. And then you'll be more lost than ever and won't know what to do. Actually, proof of that is the number of RJ suspects, and how immense the RJ file is. It's basically a compilation of everything found about him ever, tied to trying to match that with people who fit that 'criteria.' Proof #2 is that this is kind of the trap Jane is himself falling into now. (Especially in most recent episodes.) He's taken 'shaken hands' very literally, has made a list, and he is matching everyone's he's met to that list to narrow it down to a few. It's a vicious cycle that he - and we - are falling into. And it's one I'd like to avoid because then my theory would easily refutable; the same way I could easily tell anyone saying that, for instance, Ray Heffner is RJ because he was a member of Visualize in 1988, and the name 'Ray' is similar to 'Roy', that it could just be a coincidence. A false little one to misguide us into thinking he could be RJ. But as I said before, the problem with that, is that if we proceed that way, anyone can easily become RJ, because we're simply compiling clues. And then we end up with a never-ending list of suspects. (Which is what has been the pb with the RJ case all along, obviously. It's not that they know who he is and can't find/catch him - it's that they don't even know who it is yet. Their suspect list is too long/vague.)
However, one thing that cannot be refuted is someone's personality. And that is why I think Mashburn is RJ. He is the strongest character to have all of the 'personality' qualities similar to those described of RJ. And he is definitely likeable and attractive - he has this 'je ne sais quoi' that draws you to him. He is a good conversationalist, has a way with words, and loves to play games. Honestly, there is no one we've seen on the show so far more fitting. But more than anything, he is extremely, extremely similar to PJ. And that is the main quality described of RJ throughout the series consistently (and so it cannot be a false clue): that he is similar to PJ, and has a lot of his traits. Mashburn is exactly that - he loves the thrill of misleading, just like Patrick does. He loves the mindgames, like Patrick does. He is incredibly smart and perceptive, just like Jane. He loves judging people and outsmarting them, and he does it with such subtlety and prowess that even Jane doesn't doubt or suspect him. It's really insane because I saw the minute they met how strangely similar they are, and yet I was surprised Jane didn't pick up on it. No surprise Lorelei said 'I only wonder why the two of you didn't become lifelong friends the moment you shook hands' ! But more than that, they both have fun playing with people and their perceptions.
What's interesting to me is that Jane is so blind when it comes to the RJ case because it is personal to him, obviously. Nevertheless, it's weird because although in this case, he's been extremely 'police-like' by assimilating evidence and 'routining' it out to find out who RJ is, that's not how PJ usually is. Usually, when he's solving cases, he picks up on a small detail and goes with it, or, in most cases, he goes with his gut and follows his instincts, rather than facts and hard evidence. That's what makes him different - he finds out who it is based on how he feels about them, and what he senses. He doesn't listen to the facts. But what's interesting here is that with the RJ case, he's doing the opposite and not being his usual 'mentalist' self. Instead of employing his judgment and instincts to guess who it is and retrace his steps, he's in a way following protocol and simply assimilating evidence. (Especially in the last episodes, now that he has his little book with a detailed list.) And I feel like that's precisely what he needs to be doing - because by following evidence, he'll constantly be mislead, and RJ will always have the upper hand and be one step ahead of him. BUT if he drops this crazy list of 'everyone he's ever met or shook hands with' and actually starts following his gut and dealing with the case Mentalist-style, he might get somewhere! I mean let's be honest, what better way to deal with someone who plays mind-games than playing mind-games back? You gotta outshine him at his own game, PJ.
Anyways, bottom line, I do strongly believe it's Mashburn because I think his personality has something going for him that is impossible to deny. And I'm not going to lie, if the show ends and it's not him, I will be extremely disappointed. But we'll see! 

I couldn't help myself... I had to stop doing homework to write this up, so anyway, here it is. Mashburn's ring. It's bothered me quite a bit for some time (the lack of a solid explanation), so here I go. 

First, we have to take into account what we know. 
1 - His ring is plain and gold. 
2 - He wears his ring on his right hand. 

So, first we have to ask ourselves, what kind of ring is this? http://www.ehow.com/facts_5004268_what-right-hand-ring.html This link explains how to choose a right hand ring and their purpose ("dress ring"). They tend to be elaborate. There doesn't even seem to be an example of a right hand ring that doesn't have a stone. Furthermore, if one were to be very rich (billionaire) a plain gold ring on their right hand would be embarrassing due to its function (dress ring). Bear in mind that Mashburn has been extremely wealthy for ~15 years (ages 30-45). There's no way that he still operates as a freshly wealthy person. He's been in the in crowd for too long to not understand how to dress/decorate himself. We can also consider him someone who is deeply concerned with his personal appearance from 3 pieces of evidence. Jane says he has, "a mild dirt phobia and thinks he sweats two much." Those two things indicate someone who is self conscious. The third thing is that Mashburn is narcissitic, by his own analysis. Those three things in combination with how long he's been rich make it highly unlikely that he doesn't know how to dress/decorate himself. 

So why would an someone who is smart/has been rich for a good while/narcissitic wear a plain cheap wedding ring? Well, because it is a wedding band. Not only does it look like a wedding band, but a man like Walter Mashburn would not be seen wearing a cheap looking band unless it had sentimental value. Here's a link that describes why people wear a wedding ring on their right hand: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5150243_do-wedding-ring-right-hand_.html Among the list are 2 major possibilities: Widowhood, and Left handedness. First I'll explain why I don't consider the other 3 to be viable reasons. Culture: Walter isn't from Greece, India, Poland, etc. He seems to have been living in America for a very long time and is probably very American. Infidelity: Walter isn't married. Gay: It's pretty clear that Walter is heterosexual. Family Heirloom: I do not believe this to be reasonable. First, I don't even know if it applies to male wedding bands. However, we don't know anything about his family history beyond his mother. Furthermore, Walter is new money and I will explain the importance of that later. So we are left with only one real possibility. Although left handedness is quite possible, Walter is not married, so we can't conclude that it SHOULD be on his left hand. So, we can conclude that Walter wore the ring on his right hand because he is still has strong sentiments toward the woman he loved. It is important to note that you don't buy a wedding band the day of your marriage, you buy one when you plan on getting married (engagement). Furthermore, many people like to buy engagement rings with their wedding band so that they can wear them together post marriage. So it makes perfect sense for Walter to pick up the wedding band while buying the wedding band for his fiance. 

So I'd like to stop here and move on to the hooker that I believe wrote, "he is mar." I've written arguments for it being the hooker and for it being "married" before, so I won't waste my time doing it here. If you wish to argue this point, please divert your attention to my theory (1370). So the first point I do want to focus on is, would she consider a ring on his right hand married? Well she is a hooker, and that means she's probably encountered men who are cheating on their wives. One of the six reasons listed for wearing a ring on your right hand was infidelity. It's not unlikely that she's seen men wearing a wedding band on their right hand while they were cheating. Furthermore, she could believe that he was wearing the ring on his right hand because he was left handed, which is also another reason that people wear a wedding ring on their righ thand. Then there's the fact that she wasn't casually examining him, she was being murdered by him. All three of those arguments could explain her declaring a wedding band on the right hand as a statement of marriage. But that's not the only question we have to ask. When was Walter last married? We don't see Walter until season 2 and by then Jared had been killed a year ago. He could have been married when he killed Jared. 

Moving away from the hooker, I want to bring up why Walter took his ring off between s2e13 and s3e7. I'm going to offer all the reasons I can. He didn't want Jane to see it, or because he wanted to try to get Lisbon (not that the ring impaired him before, just that it might be a ticking time bomb if he spent more time around her). He may have lost the need for the ring (it could have been a reminder that of his loss to Yuri) and now he had finally won, he was good enough to take it off. He could have fallen in love with someone else (bear in mind Miranda Martins was killed in 2007 and we first see lorelei in 2012. This means that Mashburn got with her sometime within that timeframe. The question isn't how long would it take him to win her, it's how long would it take her to win him (if this was the case). I do not personally believe that Lorelei could win RJ over, however, I want to point out that she calls RJ out on his, "relentless manipulation," which seems to be something exclusive to her. No one else indicates that RJ has a bad side, except for Roslind calling him cruel for leaving without a trace. It could indicate a number of things, none of which I'm going to comment on, I'll leave it to you. He could have not wanted Yuri to see him wearing the ring that symbolizes his defeat to him (this episode takes place within the time frame of 1-2 days I think, and the final night Walter is seen at a hotel, which might indicate that he stayed in that side of town over night prior to sleeping with Lisbon).
 
It might also be important to note that Mashburn still hates Yuri, after all this time. The fact that he still harbors that type of hate for Yuri indicates two things. One, that he lost a sense of his self worth because he couldn't keep his woman from leaving him for Yuri, and two, that he cares for Mrs. Bajoran (if not, why wouldn't he hate her too for leaving him and why would he harbor such hatred for Yuri if Yuri didn't still have what he wanted [his wife]). Super long sentence... 

Well, that was quite a bit of text, but I'm ready to conclude now. I'll tell you what I think to be the case. I think Mashburn wears the ring because it has sentimental value (similar to Mercedes' promise to Edmond in the Count of Monte Cristo or as a remind to himself that he wasn't good enough to win Mrs. Bajoran), and I think that he didn't wear the ring to see Yuri because he either didn't need to given that he'd finally beat Yuri and redeemed his self worth that he lost with Mrs. Bajoran, or because he didn't want Yuri to potentially see his weakness, especially when it was supposed to be his moment of triumph. 

When I first saw Redline, the episode where Walter Mashburn
is introduced, I thought that he would become a regular character for sure. I
noticed that his relationship with jane and lisbon was very different than any
other murder suspect in any other episode. He enjoyed their company. He was
affable. It seemed that he could be good friends with jane. But then after that
episode he disappeared for a while. I thought that was kind of strange. It
seemed to me that the writers wanted to make him somewhat memorable but not
necessarily expected to be seen again. Then when he reappeared in Red Hot, I
thought "Aha! There he is!" But why did the writers bring him in
again? They could've chosen another character to fill his role in the episode,
right? And then after that episode, he was gone again! Even though he slept with Lisbon! That's when I started to suspect him of being RJ. The more I've thought
about it, the more I am convinced and have come up with the following
conclusions.



I cannot think of anybody throughout the entire series that is more like Jane
than Walter Mashburn. He is likeable. He likes to have fun. In the Redline
episode he joked at the thought of being a murder suspect. He enjoyed it. Could
you see Jane doing the same thing if he were in that situation? Absolutely!
Anybody else would be scared witless, angry, they might even laugh at the idea if
they knew they were innocent but they certainly wouldn't joke about it the way
Mashburn did. It was as if he was saying, "Come on! Try and catch me! I dare you!" But he did it in such an innocent way that you liked the guy for it. Just like you like Jane even though he's being a pest. Also in the redline episode as jane and Mashburn are walking on
the beach mashburn admits to being arrogant, hates to be ignored, cunning,
ruthless, etc. Sound like Jane to you? Sure does! At the end of the episode,
Mashburn says that in order to top the fun he and jane had together during the
investigation that maybe next time "I'll be the killer". So Patrick
Jane! Light and jovial on the outside but very dark and twisted on the inside,
assuming Mashburn is RJ, of course.



Why do I bring this up? Lorelai said that jane and RJ are a lot alike.
Manipulative and deceitful. she said it's no wonder they're not lifelong
friends. Can you imagine anybody who could be better friends with Jane than
Mashburn, based on personality alone? I can't! Then the question begs, why
aren't they best friends already? The answer is because they've only been
around each other twice. Given more time I'm sure they would be. But I think
Mashburn is purposely keeping some distance because he wants Jane to seek him
out rather than vice versa. But you also have to get into Heller's head a
little bit (not just red john's) as to why Mashburn is not seen more on the
show if he really is RJ. Because that would give it away! Once it's obvious who
RJ is the show has lost its appeal and thus would lose viewers. That's not what
Heller wants!



Another thing that convinces me that it's mashburn is that he slept with
lisbon. Again, I'm getting into Heller's head here but he could've chosen
anybody for Lisbon to be intimate with, but how much of a plot twister would it
be if it was Red John?  It's genious because the scene is very light and
somewhat comical, which is what Heller wants you to think. He wants you to
think, "Oh! She slept with that charlatan! That's funny!". And then
you forget about it because it was just a comedic side story. The scene plays
light music and becomes even more humorous once lisbon walks out of mashburn's
place taking the phone call as if this was only a one night stand. As if she is
in complete control of the relationship. Mashburn manipulated her to think that
she was. Heller is a master of distraction. Could you imagine that scene having
a completely different mood if the music were scary and we knew that mashburn
was RJ? Don't be surprised if that exact thing happens later in the show as a
flashback, once we've discovered that Mashburn is RJ.



The last clue, though subtle and maybe even a little far fetched, is the color
of the two cars in Redline (and colors involving Mashburn, in general). The
first is mashburn's yellow lambourghini. The second is the red car that was
used to commit the murder. If mashburn really is RJ, then there are obviously
two sides to him: the side that we see as mashburn who is fun and entertaining
(yellow), and the dark side that is a twisted serial killer (red). Right after
Mashburn says that maybe next time "I'll be the killer", the camera
focuses on the red car in the background. Masburn wears red clothes in a couple
scenes including that very red turtle neck on Red Hot, and he owns that red
speed boat. Do you think that maybe Heller is trying to give us a symbolic clue
here? Maybe. I don't know. The thing is... it's not blatantly obvious, it's
very subtle. You have to be paying attention to catch it.



Bottom line. If mashburn is not RJ I'll be shocked. he's the perfect candidate.
Not because there is a lot of hard evidence against him so far, but because he
would make for the best story. It would be ironic, and it would also be a
"how did I not see that before! It was so obvious the whole time!"
moment once you discovered it was him. If RJ is somebody else and all of these
clues about mashburn are just a coincidence, then that's a very huge
coincidence in my opinion. All these people that think Partridge is RJ just
because of his voice must think that the writers are pretty shallow. Do you
really think they would make it that obvious? Giv'em a little more credit than
that!

In the pilot episode why did they focus on the paramedics forearm tattoo? In Red John's Friends it's obvious the girl wrote the message (blood on hands, facing the wall) and she was mexican so maybe her english wasn't very good. Could she have been trying to describe her killer as "He is marked"? 

I do like Walter Mashburn for Red John though.