Bucknut24;1707312; said:
not sure if I liked the season finale or not, overall it was a good episode, but it seemed to lack something for a season finale. I guess I was expecting a bit more.
I'm not sure how closely you have followed the plot, but for someone who has dissected the episodes in hopes of determining Red John's identity, it was a very illuminating finale.
The previous recap that I linked earlier missed out on many of the allusions that the writers inserted, most notably of which was Red John's recitation of William Blake's
Tyger. The poem marvels at the creation of such a majestic & deadly creature as the Tiger, wondering how God could have created the perfect killing machine. The four relevant lines of the poem:
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Red John's use of the poem confirms two things- that he views himself as a result of someone else's (society?) creation, and that he is educated. The former is a new revelation, but the latter has been suspicioned for some time. We know that he is an accomplished pianist from last season's series finale, and Jane has stated that he views himself as a showman. Red John's words to the student filmmakers before he executed them indicates that he thinks of himself as an artist-
if there's one thing I can't stand, it's cheap imitation of my work.
Red John saving Jane's life also further confirms what was revealed in
His Red Right Hand; Red John saved Jane's life because he enjoys playing this game with him. Jane is the only person that truly understands Red John, and he enjoys the deductive repartee that they engage in.
The motif used in this episode-
Roll Tide! - was very interesting as well. Some less astute viewers took it as a sign that the waiter was Red John, which is obviously wrong.
Roll Tide! was representative of the Alabama Crimson Tide, crimson being the important word there as it is a synonym for red. Red John's last words to Jane were
Roll Tide, which he said with narcissistic relish, as it revealed to Jane that he knew about Jane & Kristina Fry's dinner where
Roll Tide! was first introduced. Red John repeating it has the dual effect of frightening Jane personally and letting it be known that the crimson will flow again, meaning that Red John will continue to kill.
From an artistic standpoint, I enjoyed this episode very much. There was a lot to dig into, and it eschewed the typical procedure for a different effect. It also created the theory that Red John is Brett Partridge, the forensic scientist that has only made two appearances on the show- in the very first episode and the latest. Both times he was admiring Red John's work, which disgusted Jane. It's interesting to note that there's a symmetrical element to this as both episodes involved a Red John copycat. A dedicated fan (not me, I swear!) even made a
voice comparison video yesterday.
I believe this is a valid theory but a red herring, nonetheless. I'm sticking with the theory that Virgil Minelli is Red John, and that the producers cut him out of the show to remove him as a suspect, only to bring him back in a later season.
This was a very long post, but it's been helpful to put my thoughts in writing, and, as you can tell, I have a mild obsession with figuring out Red John's identity.
