The Mentalist Season 6: Who's Had The 'Creepy Pleasure' of Playing Red John?

It's almost like the end of an era. The revenge story of Patrick Jane came to a conclusive end on November 24, 2013 as the true identity of menacing serial killer Red John finally got revealed.

The Mentalist 'Red John' Episode Spoilers

The prime Red John suspect Gale Bertram (Michael Gaston), as it turns out, is not the killer. It is Napa Sheriff Thomas McAllister, played by Xander Berkeley.

In the episode, McAllister shoots Bertram dead in the chapel of the cemetery where Jane's wife and daughter are buried. Patrick Jane eventually gets the drop on McAllister, wounding him. A Red John disciple distracts Jane long enough to allow McAllister to get away, but Jane eventually chases him down and ends his life as reported in Zap2it.

"Xander is a wonderfully subtle actor who can go deep — deep enough to be our Red John," says series creator/exec producer Bruno Heller, in a TV Guide report. He selected McAllister to be his Big Bad "about a year ago, after carefully weighing all other options.

When asked how he felt when he got the news about being picked to be Red John, Berkeley said, "Fantastic! I was stunned and flattered. Earning this little place in pop-culture history was the last thing I ever expected. Truth be told, I thought I was a red herring. I thought, surely, there was someone more deserving of the title."

Berkeley also tweeted on 25th November:

A big thanks to Bruno Heller for creating such a cool show and character. It's been a creepy pleasure playing #RedJohn.

For Bruno Heller, the end of Red John in Season 6, Episode 8 is not the end of The Mentalist. He hints a different flavour in the next episodes. There will be "less darkness" and "more freedom" in the post-RJ era, he said.

What can Simon Baker say about the final Red John chapter? The Aussie actor says filming the end of the Red John chapter felt "incredibly personal" to him.

"I've always been very invested in what my character does and how he reacts to his personal story, which is the Red John story," said Baker.