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SPOILERS

In the bloody good season finale, Red John remains one step ahead of the brilliant observer as the CBI tries to catch him and his new partner before they kill again.

Red John is never far from Patrick Jane’s mind. The keen observer wants the serial killer to pay dearly for the murder of his wife and daughter - a crime Jane still blames himself for.

Jane isn’t too far from Red John’s mind, either. The savvy murderer decides to challenge Jane with a murder and kidnapping - and with a new partner.

The CBI team heads to a murder scene in a state park in San Angelo, where a young woman is sliced and diced, her toenails painted with her blood. The Red John symbol immediately draws Jane in. The police never shared that little detail with the press (though they were so open about it at the crime scene, it would not take long for the papa-Nazis to pick it up in real life).

Placing the body in the state park was key to making sure Jane would be involved in the investigation. As Jane realizes the implications, a plane overhead sky writes a smiley face just above the crime scene - Red John smiling down at Jane as his team as they clean up the bloody mess he left behind.

The team discovers the girl is a twin - and her sister is missing. The countdown is on to find her before RJ chops her up, too.

Up to this point, Red John has been a solo act, save for his first killing. His partner was arrested, but would never tell who RJ really was. RJ continued his sinister kills. The last was the rich man in “Red John’s Friends” - a man who negotiated his freedom for the identity for Jane’s nemesis.

At one point, the county sheriff makes a point to turn around and watch Jane. He also makes comments about his terrible-tasting nicotine gum. These two are simply too blatant for anyone who watches enough crime shows to ignore, and suspicion about the sheriff beings to fester.

Jane immediately knows something is wrong with this set up. Red John doesn’t do twins. He also doesn’t put his prey in remote areas. They are always in their homes. The only other time he broke pattern was with Jane’s family - and only because it was personal. Lisbon, however, believes Red John has set a trap for Jane.

There is something personal about this killing - and Jane is willing to bet RJ is working once again with a partner.

The team eventually discovers a letter from a woman named Rosalind to Roy Tallifiero, a former lover she asks to come back - despite how he treated her. They go to visit the woman to get a description of Tallifiero, who must be Red John. The woman is blind.

She describes how he met the man and how he and his friend, Dumas, came over for Thanksgiving. Dumas as a chain smoker and had to go and buy cigarettes during the meal. In her sitting room, she is oblivious to the bloody smiley face looking down upon her from her wall - RJ’s creepy calling card.

Back at the office, Van Pelt is trying to track down Tallifiero. Minelli, the sort of chump supervisor, somehow knows that this means “cut iron” in English.

Van Pelt is able to track everything to a farm. Jane and Lisbon argue in front of the sheriff - an obvious trick - then she tells them both to stay away from the farm until others arrive. Jane gets the sheriff to take him there.

Of course, it is here Jane gets confirmation the sheriff is RJ’s partner. He has trapped the twin sister in a cage. He is in love with her and plans to keep her safe - forever. Dumas is his name and he is the son of Red John’s first partner.

Lisbon comes up behind the sheriff before he can hurt Jane. They get into a fight and she gets him down before the team arrives.

Jane is furious. Lisbon was supposed to wait until Red John showed up. He was willing to die at the hands of the killer so they could catch him. She was not going to let that happen and gives him the one-two about how too many people care about him for him to throw his life away to the killer. It was great to see a bit of emotion from her. Perhaps they will develop it more next season.

What Jane doesn’t know - but should be smart enough to detect - is that Red John was never near that place. We see the UNSUB watching the action from a remote location. At first, I thought it was on a video screen, but I’ve read that RJ had night vision goggles. I need to rewatch to confirm. Personally, I think it is doubtful he ever intended to be there to snag Jane. He is simply too smart to be caught that way. If he knows Jane so intimately, he would also know about Lisbon and be able to figure out any plans they could hatch to capture him.

Maybe I’m wrong, but it feels too easy for RJ to just be there at the farm, laying in wait for Jane, who is held at gunpoint by Dumas. Red John would want the credit all to himself. He would not want to share his cutting knife with anyone else.

In the very last moments, the sheriff is on a stretcher, bleeding from his wounds. He wiggles around and gets free, then grabs a gun to shoot Lisbon. Jane grabs the sheriff’s rifle and shoots. The sheriff dies, laughing as Jane tries to get him to give up Red John.

Jane throws the gun down like a sissy (from the mouth of a Midwestern girl who grew up around guns). I didn’t care too much for that. He should have felt empowered, but I guess shedding blood himself feels too icky.

The season finale to this year’s runaway freshman hit was fast-paced, a little creepy and predictable in some areas to fans of this genre. However, The Mentalist 23 leaves you wanting more from the show - and more from Red John.

I figured the show would not capture the killer this season. It is much too soon. Season Two would be good for that - and maybe with a slight cliffhanger that RJ has disciples like Manson. As long as Bruno Heller and the boys don’t drag it out like Jack of All Trades on The Profiler, they should be OK. The one thing that really irked me was I could not find an authorized still of the skywritten face for this review. It was creepy and should have been part of the (poorly-picked) photos for the finale on the CBS Web site.

The biggest mystery of the season: Who is Red John? We aren’t any closer to knowing - and neither is Jane, who would have rather died at his hand as punishment for the deaths of his wife and daughter.

But the clues throughout the 23-episode season give us enough ammunition to make a damn good guess. (Or two.)

What we do know is that RJ was a somehow associated with Dumas and his convicted father. RJ also intimately knows the Plaskett family from the season finale, because these killings were personal, too.

RJ went to a lot of trouble to spend time with Rosalind. He said he car broke down and he spent a few days with her. They dated for five months. Was she a potential victim, a play thing for future games with Jane or something else?

Rosalind tells us he likes Bach, is about 6 feet with a soft voice.

The killer was also somehow tied to Jared Renfro from “Red John’s Friends.” Before he bled out, Renfro used his own blood to write a message to Jane: “He is Man…” Of course he died before he could finish. Or RJ did it at the same time he put a bloody smiley face on the wall to throw them off.

“Red John’s Friends” made me suspect Minelli, the head of the CBI unit, but after watching the rerun for a second time, I realized Minelli was at CBI headquarters during the Renfro kill. He could only be behind it if he had a partner.

Enter Dumas?

Minelli also knew what Tallifiero meant. Who the hell would know that? I certainly wouldn’t think the semi-bumbling supervisor would. He doesn’t strike me as the type - at least with the persona in the office.

This episode also made me wonder if RJ was someone even closer to Jane. Certainly, Jane insulted Red John with his disparaging comments - which led to the death of his family - but RJ’s chess match with Jane seems more intimate - personal. Have we ever met Jane’s friend - the attorney general - who got him on to the CBI?

When Rosalind mentioned RJ had a soft voice, I wondered about the Plaskett’s son, Drake. He totally fit the bill and had a very soothing voice. His hair was also straight - like Red John’s.

Coincidence?

For some odd reason, one time this season I wondered about Agent Rigsby. Don’t ask me why, but I wondered if he could pull of the RJ killings. His persona would be completely the opposite - and no one would suspect him. Plus he has access to key info - and to Jane. He certainly would be an upset to the killer betting pool - totally unexpected.

Personally, I still like Minelli for it. It seems like they’ve built in enough clues for it to be him, but they could all be red herrings - or he could be an RJ disciple.

Once the show comes out on DVD, I plan to watch it through to pick up clues and see if I still feel the same way. Sometimes you miss things in the episodes because you are paying more attention

There were only a few episodes that were simply OK. Most were great. Jane’s smart aleck attitude and keen observation make it fun - and less like the overly-dramatic Law & Order series. Writers stepped away a bit from the humor in the final episodes. It was still there, but lurking rather than blatant.

If you didn’t get your fill of The Mentalist, do so. It is well worth the watch.

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