In July of 2022, almost nine years after the episode revealing Red John's identity first aired, one Reddit user started a thread on the "Mentalist" subreddit titled, "After many years ive finally figured out why I didnt like the Red John reveal." In it, they outline how the supposedly definitive revelation that Thomas McAllister is Red John rings hollow to them in light of the Season 3 arc of a character named Timothy Carter (Bradley Whitford). Carter turns out to merely be a Red John impersonator and accomplice in spite of evidence initially suggesting that he is, in fact, the notorious serial killer. The series then doesn't provide enough evidence that this isn't also the case with McAllister, they argued, leaving the door open for a new Red John should the series ever continue.
User AScripturient agreed. "The problem wasn't so much as McAllister being Red John as it was that there were too many plot lines they had taken up previously that make it difficult for the elusive Red John to be caught in such a manner," they wrote. Meanwhile, user Biddy823 argued that a lack of hints earlier on in the series tying McAllister to Red John made the reveal all the more unbelievable.
