‘The Mentalist’ season 6 spoilers: Exec on Red John tattoo reveal, next move for Patrick Jane

“The Mentalist” is not wasting any time at all this season when it comes to the story of Red John. Every episode so far in season 6 has at least contained one clue about the mystery, and takes a step forward in getting us to what is hopefully going to be some sort of exciting conclusion of the show’s long-term story.

So where do we go from here? Last night, the big reveal was that Red John had a tattoo on his left shoulder that was of three dots, at least according to a dying woman who really did not have any reason to lie. (We’re mostly surprised that John didn’t just brutally murder her prior to leaving the premises). Speaking to TVLine, executive producer Eoghan Mahony, who also wrote tonight’s episode, explained just what Simon Baker’s Patrick Jane is going to try and do now that he does have this much information at his disposal:

“That is the next step: Now that you know that information, how do you use it in a useful way? You’re just going to have to watch the next episode [to find out], but you’re going to enjoy it a lot. Jane’s going to tell the team what he’s found, and they’re going to ask exactly that: How do we figure out [who has the tattoo]? But luckily you’ve got Patrick Jane to find the best way to make that work.”

Based on what we have seen in the promo for next week’s “Fire and Brimstone,” Jane for whatever reason seems to feel that the “best way” is actually to lock all of the suspects up in a room, and then proceed to hammer them on a variety of different questions while holding a gun. We don’t really know how this is going to get the actual psychopath to admit to anything; the more likely scenario here is that one of the other suspects will rule themselves out of the running out of panic, and leave us with the other four instead. It’s a bold plan that could really backfire, and judging from what was in that promo, it will.

If you were in Jane’s shoes right now, how do you imagine that you would try to move on following this lead? Be sure to share your thoughts below!

Photo: CBS