The Mentalist Forums

It's Brett Partridge, the forensic specialist from the pilot episode and the season 2 finale. I'm not sure if somebody's already laid this out, but here's why:

1) The people who write The Mentalist like to be tricky (which makes some of the episodes predictable since you learn to expect the unexpected), so it makes sense for them to put Red John in the pilot so they can say at any point that Red John has been on the show since the beginning and get people questioning the main/recurring cast.

2) Partridge appears in two cases of murder involving a fake Red John. The real Red John would of course be interested in investigating and eliminating "cheap imitations of his work," and Partridge's job allows him to get close to the crime scenes.

3) The two biggest clues for me are the fact that Partridge has made more than one appearance despite not being a very developed/important character and Red John's voice. Both Partridge and Red John's voice have that weird, nasally quality.

4) I don't remember who Partridge works for, but if he works for the CBI then he could've easily killed his accomplice Rebecca after she killed Bosco's team. It also makes sense how he'd know that the Red John case was re-assigned to Bosco. If he doesn't work for the CBI, then it's even more suspicious that he was present for both the imposter Red John cases, assuming they weren't geographically close enough.

5) William Blake, the poet who wrote the poem Red John recited ("Tyger, tyger burning bright..."), did an oil painting called A Brace of Partridge.

I may be wrong, but I think a huge part of solving these kinds of things are thinking outside the framework of the show and thinking what the writers would do.

I completly agree with you Ace. When I saw the last episode of season 2 and he appeared I thought it was a bit weird that we hadn't really seen him before so why bother introducing him like that. But then I recently rewatched the very first episode and there he was again which made me really think he must be Red John. He's not a big enough character that he will attract attention but at the same time when Red John is revealed it needs to be someone the viewers have seen before or it is just going to seem like a random nobody. Red Johnalso needs to be someone who has some sort of an inside on the investigation, how else would he have known about the copycat-killers in the season 2 finale.

Well I like to speculate.

Tonights episode made me wonder if Red John is not 1 or even 2 people, but an entire group of people? Don't know why but the "secret" the killer shared with Jane at the end made me ponder it.

I totally agree with you. After watching almost all the episodes before the pilot show, I had a bit of a case study on red john. Then upon seeing the pilot episode for the first time, the young forensic examiner seemed to fit the profile. It makes alot of sense for him to be red john considering that they both sound very similar and he has the technology at his disposal to know about janes business.

When JJ LaRoche was introduced my blood froze, mainly because i remembered him from the movie identity.

Through the episode i kept thinking, that the series producers wouldnt use such an actor as the real Red John. and then again maybe they just would.

Apart from the actor it was the character that i felt was not an unlikely Red John. he is very astute but doesnt let that on. he is very like Jane, what both acknowledge and the questions he asks could be the ones Red John would ask in order to find out if Jane (and Lisbon) knows something new.

Also the fact that Jane goes outside to get information is not unlike him, but in this context just was another point in that direction.

JJ might be too heavy to be the same person that "rescued" Jane from the art-movie-serial-killer-students, but what the heck its just a feeling i have. And even if i am wrong the episode was really good and got me guessing again. Before that i didnt think to often about RJ anymore because i am not sure how the solution should come about and i really like watching the shows without any RJ references.

As to the theory of PJs Father being RJ, i wouldnt understand why. Nothing i have seen so far suggests it. I think the father is despicable but no murdering mastermind.

The forensics guy, well i dont think it is him. i can follow the reasoning but i just think that he works there and one should see some character or other more often because, how likely is it that they always get to go to new places/districts and not stumble over the same people because they all work in the same area.

The writers have no clue who Red John is, they make him up as they go. You can't fit RJ's personality, behavior into one person, because the writers just make up new RJ stories as they go, they haven't created his whole character beforehand.