Seeing this website isn't down since RJ reveal, I might aswell share you a couple of thoughts I have on my mind.
There is a lot of things that bugs me about the 8th episode. Heck, with season 6 itself.
The whole thing seems to be very rushed in order to finish the RJ Saga as soon as possible and move on quickly.
Why is that? It's either
A) They didn't care anymore
B) They planned something else
As a writer, there's a few things a mystery show needs to have to be ''alright''.
1) A smart viewer MUST be able to discover the killer's identity
2) A killer with a background of 5 whole seasons must be a recurring character
3) You CAN'T take a random character that everybody forgot about and make him the killer
Thus, in the RJ case, you have these 3 problems. Prior to the 7 suspects list, who the hell remembered McAllister? And who remembered Reede Smith?
Well, somebody with a great memory, of course. But, I always find it odd when a list of suspect to be the main vilain has TWO characters who were only seen for one episode each. It doesn't sounds right to me.
Sure they made them come back for season 6, but it's clearly to trick people. Because before the 6th season, why would the writers CHOOSE an underdevelopped character to be the ultimate serial killer?
We clearly had NO CHANCE of guessing his identity before their name were mentionned on the list.
It was obvious that Smith wasn't Red John for almost everyone. And it was obvious to me that Sheriff wasn't Red John.
How is that even possible?
Again, prior the list, who were the prime suspects? I would expect names like
Brett Partridge
Walter Mashburn
Bob Kirkland (even though he appeared late on the show)
Bret Stiles
etc.
Characters that appeared a few times. And on those times, you could think to yourself «Maybe he IS the killer...»
These thought probably never crossed your head when thinking about McAllister because he was absent for 5 long seasons.
I never had any doubt about Berkley portraying a sadistic psychopath. He's an awesome actor. I just have a ton of doubts about the relevance of the character itself. Xander could have been cast for another recurring role who would have been an amazing RJ suspect. And in the end, I would've been happy if it was him.
It's the sheriff character that bugs me. Simply because he hasn't appeared since ages and prior the list, we had NO CLUES or NO HINTS that could lead us to believe that McAllister was Red John.
Get it?
My guess is (thumbs down are coming) that he is simply not Red John.
The longer the mystery lasts, the bigger the twist must be. Bringing back a long forgotten character and making him the killer is NOT a twist. It's terrible writting.
Almost as laughable as Bertram's death. Really. WORST. DEATH. EVER.
It's almost as bad as Talia's death in the 3rd Batman movie.
This season, and the 8th episode in particular, seems truly rushed and hints at the laziness of the writers. I just don't want to believe that Heller and his team suddenly became all retarded and forgot how to write.
He is planning something.
RJ has followers that would die for him. Wouldn't be too surprising if Thomas took the blame for RJ's murder.
RJ always wanted to retire. Red John gave Patrick a list of suspects, tricking him into believing he was one of them. In the end, Jane kills his final suspect, thinking he has finally got rid of his arch enemy.
RJ can now retire, peacefully, Jane no longer chasing him because he thinks he killed him.
Just before he dies, RJ paints his Smile Logo somewhere. Jane sees it and understand he killed the wrong person. The FBI believe it's a hoax.
Jane meets the real RJ and explains him everything, all the clues/hints. RJ dies of sickness or natural cause and Jane is forever haunted by the fact he didn't really solve the mystery and he didn't kill the real RJ.
Thus, the fight between those never comes to an end because death divided them.
Red John, the arch enemy that *got away*.
A dark victory. Victory because he is dead and he won't hurt anymore. But dark because Jane didn't get the pleasure of killing the man and feels worthless for not solving the case.
--
This is why I think Sheriff cannot be Red John. There are so many theories that would have been far better than the 8th episode. RJ-PJ was all about a mind chess game, and in the end, it turned into a chase in the park with no explaination, foreshadow or whatsoever. Doesn't compute.
So my hypothesis:
A) They didn't care anymore
B) Sheriff is NOT Red John
C) Writers suddenly lose all their talent
D) I'm stupid
Pick your choice. I'd go with B).
