Hi everyone

I submitted a theory yesterday that my suspect is still Patrick's father. 

I read a lot of theories where people accuse various guys because they fit the profile. When taking into consideration who you believe Red John is, always remember to also look at this from a writing point of view.  Bruno Hellar said that the rest of the season and the next will be about the chase. That means Red John will be revealed, but he will now be on the run from Jane and the CBI.

When you look at it that way, it already kind of excludes Bertram to me. Having the chief of the CBI on the run all of a sudden will not be a very believable story. 

In my opinion, from a writing point of view, it will be hard to tie certain suspects to Patrick Jane's past if they are revealed to be Red John. Like Haffner, Reede, McAllister. What would their connection to Jane be? 

We need to think who will be in the reveal shot painting those faces on the wall or gutting the victims or standing in the shadows looking down at Patrick or Lisbon. It will need to make us say "Oh yeah I remember now!" and if that was someone like McAllister it would just be very weak and disappointing and people would lose interest in the show.

Red John will be someone that draws us into the show until it's end. Not some random character that showed up in the fourth, fifth or sixth season. He was there from the start.

From the 7 suspects, this leaves Partridge, Stiles and long shot (at least for me) Bertram. Yes, I include Partridge, just like Jane included that dead doctor in his list once. I believe that may have been a clue not to dismiss those you think may be dead. 

Off the list, I still think a reveal that Patrick's father is Red John would be epic. From a story point of view, they could argue that Partridge (or one of the other suspects) was his prodigy after Jane. They could revisit the time he spent in Visualize and show him going after Brett Stiles. He could even have a past with Bertram. Maybe also the guy that Jane shot in season 3 thinking it was Red John.

We need to think past the road the writers are leading us down, and look at the mystery from a continuity point of view. Viewers' interest in the show must be maintained after the mystery is solved.

P.S. Did anyone else hear that one of Patrick's doctors once off patients was Washburn/Mashburn? Listen to the phone call with Rigsby again, I couldn't make out if it's an M or W.