Simon Baker stars as Patrick Jane in The Mentalist
Simon Baker stars as Patrick Jane in The Mentalist (Photo: TheMentalist/facebook)

Looks like The Mentalist fans will soon be able to find out the true identity of Red John with the suspect list getting narrower with each episode. The last episode, FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, shed some light on Visualize's deeper connection with Red John, and whether Bret Stiles (Malcolm McDowell) knew who Red John was, or was he Red John himself.

The very last clue that Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) got about Red John is that he has a tattoo of three dots on his left shoulder. Thanks to Kira Tinsley (Beth Riesgraf), who was killed after Jane discovered the bug she planted under Cho's desk.

But who really killed Kira, Red John or Tyger, Tyger?

Jane brought together the remaining Red John suspects after he got a hold of the final clue, and he hoped this gathering will allow him to identify the elusive serial killer.

In the new episode, The Great Red Dragon, Jane finally thinks he knows Red John's identity. But the truth may uncover a bigger lie (yet again). After gathering the five remaining suspects at Jane's house, he manages to narrow the Red John suspect list further and the CBI's main priority becomes the remaining suspects.

According to a theory stated in Television Blend, Red John is none other than Kirkland's twin brother. And here's how, "Red John is kirklands brother he was a twin and never saw him for a long time. That explains why he had access to files and homeland security. Tiger tiger burning bright......he speaks of William Blake the poem. A sheep and a tiger ...this means two people or creatures made by the same god could be so different. It's kirklands brother and he's red John," commented a viewer.

Writer Ken Woodruff speaks

As per a report in The Inquisitr, Woodruff focused on Bret Stiles, who hinted in the episode that he does not fear an FBI investigation because he is dying.

"I think he's been one of the strongest Red John suspects since his character's introduction, and you get to see him I think in a vulnerable way that we haven't really seen him in before," Woodruff said. "He's on the run. He's trapped by the FBI. He's forced to live sort of like Julian Assange in this consulate. So maybe what we're hoping is you think a little bit less of him. You think maybe he is on his way out and not capable, just because you sort of seem to feel a little empathy for him."

Episode writer Ken Woodruff's been having fun with these last run of episodes, "I think they're easier, to be honest with you. Making a Red John episode a good episode is easier than starting from scratch," he says to Yahoo.

Baker has directed four episodes of the show, including Episode 9 of this season and an episode last season that was written by Woodruff which, like this episode, features very little of Jane's trademark lightness. "He has really, really great ideas; he's a very accomplished director and a great storyteller," he says of Baker.

Meanwhile, there are only two more episodes to go, until Red John is revealed.