I don't care that writing out these theories has become ridiculous because the probability that Heller would ever risk losing his audience by airing such a terrible episode is so low.

I just noticed that during the clip of Jane meeting Kim Swallow, she is reading Daughter of Time.  That book involves a researcher deciding that Richard III (II?) is not the terrible murderer that everyone thought he was.  He decides that history believes Richard to be such a terrible guy because the Tudors framed him.

Now for anyone left on this theory board, this suggests that McAllister is not RJ and that he was actually framed by Jane or RJ.

Is it possible for the writers to accidentally fill the episodes with clues that suggest that first the list was fake and second that RJ is not dead?  Are they just having fun screwing with us?  Or is there a purpose to everything they've done?

The list of names in Jane's notebook in Black Cherry that Lisbon never sees - suggested that Jane had a plan and secrets kept from both the audience and Lisbon which is actually what we've come to expect from him.

The show suddenly losing it's value for life by killing off Haffner and Stiles without showing any fallout and then Jane providing an explanation for how someone could fake their death in an explosion.

The inclusion of a fake list for Kirkland - could be brilliant foreshadowing or the writers screwing with us.

Heller's brilliant season finales in the past don't add up with the RJ episode we just watched.

Jane's lack of a brilliant scheme, RJ's dramatic change in MO, the lack of explanations, etc.

On one hand, everything points to the show crashing, dying, and turning into a soap opera.  It's so incredibly unlikely that Heller would con us for eight episodes and then air a ridiculous RJ episode and risk losing a large chunk of his audience.  But the other hand seems just as unlikely because when Heller has been so brilliant in the past, why would he ever write an episode like Red John.  An episode that got leaked, that everyone thought was fake, that left everyone angry and with no explanations and far too many inconsistencies.  To me this seems so unlikely that it becomes a balancing act of which side is more unlikely.  Heller coning us or Heller screwing us.  

If Heller did really get bored then why didn't the other writers object, the actors, the filmers, the CBS, etc?  Is it actually possible to write such a terrible episode without trying?  The Red John episode had so much potential with how RJ was caught, what Jane and RJ talked about, Lisbon's role in the meeting and her confrontation with RJ, RJ's last murders, RJ's backstory, etc.  RJ is not just a serial killer, he's the darkness in Jane.  RJ is supposed to be Jane's opposite mirror image.  His characterization is supposed to characterize Jane.  McAllister was a flat RJ and that reveal made Jane more one-dimensional.  The RJ episodes have been loved because we see more of Jane's inner self.  Now we're left to wonder why Jane bothered to chase RJ and why did it take him so long to catch RJ?  

I could draw a list out of the parallels between Jane and RJ.  I could map out the RJ characterization throughout the seasons.  I've written out theories that incorporate every clue we've been given.  I've analyzed the color symbolism and literary devices used in the show.  All of that would suggest that Jane's con hasn't been revealed yet and RJ is still alive and not McAllister.

Then you look at safe tv advertising/promotion and the recent statements Heller has made and everything looks like he just got bored and decided to wrap up the storyline as quickly as possible.

And that leaves me unable to decide if I should keep hoping or give up.  If it is still part of a con, then it might be revealed tonight with a major hint that Jane is up to something.  Most people assume that the RJ storyline is over so the hint can be more obvious because most people will ignore it.  And if the popular suspects start returning in these next few episodes . . . if we see Walter Mashburn in the next five episodes . . . 

It's likely that my slight hopes are wrong but hopefully tonight's episode will suggest one way or another whether I should keep hoping.