Hi
everybody! So i watched Mentalist from S1E1 until S6E21. Now before the final
episode in which i still hope for the reveal of the REAL Red John, i want to
share my theory with you.

My suspect
for Red John is Teresa Lisbon. Some of you may hate me for that, but i still
think it’s possible. There are so many clues that lead to Lisbon. Some of my
arguments have already been stated in earlier Theories on Lisbon, but i sum up
everything that is a clue for me.

First, you
can build “Red Jon”, if you use the letters from her name. Just use the L from “Lisbon”,
mirror it and you get “J”, do the same with the “b” and use it as “d”. If you
try with the other main characters’ names, you cannot do this trick. Maybe on
purpose? Also, Lisbon wears something red so often that it can’t be unseen. I
mean come on, McAllister who is supposed to be Red John, does not wear anything
red. In a show, where colour symbolism means something(look at Jane, he always
wears something blue, he ist the good guy) RJ should wear something red. And
there are very few people who wear something red in this show and no one does
it as often as Lisbon. Of course this could only be another one of Hellers
misleads. But there is more. Most of the time, when red john is mentioned, you
see Lisbons reaction and she just looks away in another direction than where
the one mentioning RJ stands. She is also likely the person who mentions RJ the
most(perhabs even more than Jane). Also in some episodes she suddenly
disappears and no one knows where she went. What was she doing all that time?
Murdering people?

Now lets
see some clues troughout the Red John episodes. In S1E23, when the guy who
works for RJ is arrested, he tries to shoot Lisbon. Why would he do that? Maybe
because he got arrested and RJ got away and he wanted revenge, so he tried to
shoot Lisbon, the real red john. In S2E23 when Jane is in the buidling with
these kids who fake red john, only Lisbon knows his location and then RJ
appears, wearing boots that look similar if not exactly the same as Lisbons
boots/shoes. RJ’s voice is maybe not a high pitched male voice, but a low
female voice. Lisbon could imitate that. In S3E24 O’laughlin fails at shooting
Lisbon from perhabs 2 metres, he only hits her shoulder. Shouldnt he be able to
aim better? Or did he do it on purpose, because he knew that this was the real
red john? In the end of season 4, RJ asks for Lisbons head as a gift. Lisbon
knows for sure that Jane would never kill her and take her head just to
possibly meet RJ. In the end it was Waynewright who sat in the limousine. He
argued with Lisbon about something before that and maybe she wanted to get rid
of him and therefore placed him in the limousine. Also, when Jane and Lisbon
sit in the Church at the beginning of the episode, he says “I told you i can
fool him” and she answers “you fooled me alright, well done”.

When Jane
works on his list for RJ suspects, she asks him if she is on that list too.
This is clearly an attempt to find out how much he already knows about her true
identity. In S5E21 the guy without tongue first says something like “i cant
talk” or “my tongue” but when he speaks again it clearly sounds like “red john”.
He looks at her and then Lisbon just has this diabolic smile. When Jane tells
her that he can identify RJ with the tattoo, she doesnt seem very happy, as if
she knew that he gets closer to revealing her true identity. She also tells
Jane that she has secrets he cant even imagine. She referrs to her alter ego
RJ. When Lorelei tells Jane that he hasnt become best friends with RJ since the
shook hands, maybe she means it ironically and in fact they are best friends.
And who is Janes best friend? Right, Lisbon. When Reese tells them everything
about the Blake Association, he says something and Lisbon suddenly answers “Tyger,
tyger” as if she was a member too. Then this whole Carmen Lee thing in the
hospital clearly has a meaning too. She could have burned that guy in the CBI
building too, she talked to him short time before he was burnt. In the episode,
where Jane has amnesia and only remembers after seeing the RJ smiley in his
house, Lisbon says “I’m sorry”, maybe she meant that she’s sorry for murdering
his family. You also never see something from Lisbons private life. Cho,
Rigsby, Van Pelt, also Jane, you see something from their private lives, but
never from Lisbon, except that one time with Mashburne. So what is she doing
the whole time when she’s not working? Killing people? In the first three
seasons, every time something new from RJ is discovered by Jane, he instantly yells
“Lisbon”. Maybe this was some sort of clue Heller left us, as if by yelling
Lisbon Jane would link her to RJ. In S5E22 when she and Jane investigate
another victim of RJ, Jane leaves the room and Lisbon stays one moment longer
to look at her great work again. Then she leaves and a strange sound is played.
I dont think that is just a coincidence. In S6E1 she uses McAllister, the fake
RJ to paint the smiley on her face. Which better way to say “here i am, the
real red john and my smiley is right on my face”

Then Lisbon
is always spared by RJ, but why exactly? He could’ve done Jane so much harm, if
he just killed Lisbon, but he couldnt because RJ is Lisbon. Lisbons actress has
the name Robin Jessica Tunney. That would be RJ Tunney. Also if you link her
real life name to robin the red bird and the last episode is called “Blue Birds”
so maybe something happens to her in that last episode. It could be that she
reveals to Jane that she is RJ and he kills her, which turns her into a blue
bird(blue as in the meaning of cold, because she is dead). She also mentions
McAllisters fear of heights too often. Clearly she tries to convince Jane that
McAllister is RJ. McAllister and Timothy Carter were only front men for Lisbon
and with them showing themselves to Jane she hoped that either they would kill
him or if he killed them he would go to jail so she would get rid of him. Bosco
also whispers something to Jane before he dies, that Lisbon shall not hear.
Maybe he told Jane an important clue. Also when Lisbon starts mentioning
pigeons and then in the park she looks at the pigeons and in the end McAllister
is defeated with the help of a pigeon this can’t be a coincidence. It is a
hidden clue to the real RJ, named Lisbon.

And now
some facts why McAllister was NOT RJ. At first why should a mastermind like RJ
finally show himself to Jane for no reason whatsoever? Also RJ would not fear
death and if he would be tired of his game he plays with Jane and would finally
reveal himself he would have no problem with dying. Then when McAllister runs
away and he says that he is sorry for murdering Janes wife and daughter this
also is unlikely. I don’t think that RJ realy regrets what he is doing nor that
he would ever run away. Also McAllister does not say that he is in fact RJ. He
only says that he is not RJ, when Jane gathers all suspects. But when Jane says
“you are RJ” in the church, all that comes from McAllister was some sort of
moan, but not a word that this is true. He only said “I am the Blake
Association”. Also Jane said to McAllister “you’re the one that made the truth
look like the opposite must be true”. He said it while thinking that the man
before him is Red John. If this sentence is true for the real Red John, then this
would also explain one weak point of my theory. I dont consider it a weak
point, but others could. Throughout the series it is always told that RJ is male.
But if you use this sentence, then RJ suddenly becomes female. Make the truth(female)
look like the opposite(male) must be true. Then in the last episode she could convince Abbott that everything Jane lied about was actually true. In the end she is a good liar and that supports her being RJ too. She is in fact so good at lying that she plays her roll as a cop perfect, while at the same time she is RJ, a serial killer. Or she just has two personalities, but that would be boring.

So now i am
at the end with my facts. If you read through the whole thing, thank you and i
hope you like my theory. If the finale of season 6 doesnt answer anything on RJ
and doesn’t prove me wrong, i will assume that Teresa Lisbon is the real Red
John. Don’t get me wrong, Lisbon is my favorite character of the show, right
after Patrick Jane. But it would be even better if she was the mastermind
behind Red John.