While Rigsby, Cho and Van Pelt attempt to protect Hightower long enough for her to turn herself in, Jane executes an elaborate scheme that could expose Red John's mole and potentially draw out the notorious murderer himself.
A very nervous-looking man (Jesse Lee Soffer) pulls up to JD's Gas & Go Food Mart in Sacramento in his car.
Jane (Simon Baker) deduces that the stolen cash was a ruse to hide the real item of interest in the robbery: CDs containing client transaction records.
She receives a call from a person speaking through a voice changer who instructs her to obtain the stolen CDs from CBI headquarters and deliver them to the speaker.
However, he somehow manages to free himself from his handcuffs in the car and attempts to flee, forcing LaRoche (Pruitt Taylor Vince) to shoot and kill him.
While searching James' house, the agents deduce that he was tortured to death by Gupta, who wanted information from him, before the Dinkler incident.
He enlists the help of Lisbon, Rigsby (Owain Yeoman), Cho (Tim Kang) and Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) in a scheme to find Red John's mole in the CBI.
He manages to obtain the list of suspects in the Todd Johnson murder case from LaRoche through a bluff: Assistant District Attorney Osvaldo 'Oscar' Ardiles (David Norona), CBI director Gale Bertram (Michael Gaston), FBI agent Craig O'Laughlin (Eric Winter), Van Pelt's fiance, and CBI media relations coordinator Brenda Shettrick (Rebecca Wisocky).
The following day, Van Pelt invites O'Laughlin to accompany her to her shift guarding Hightower, relieving Lisbon.
Meanwhile, Jane invites Bertram to the mall under the pretense of meeting Hightower to discuss turning herself in, hoping to lure out Red John.
Lisbon, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, recovers fast enough to throw a cushion at O'Laughlin, who is then shot and killed by Hightower and Van Pelt.
When Lisbon dials, the phone belonging to a man reading a newspaper (an uncredited Bradley Whitford) at a table in the mall near Jane rings, and he picks up and responds "Never mind.
The episode ends with Jane casually sitting back down to finish his tea, before surrendering to armed security officers who rush to the scene.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, creator Bruno Heller further added to the speculation by saying, "Jane wanted to know if this was Red John or not.
The Mentalist season finale gave us some serious closure on Red John with twists, turns—and an ending I didn't see coming..." She called the opening scene "terrifying" and appreciated a scene in which Lisbon prays, saying "I liked that Lisbon's Catholicism was brought into play... it was nice to see Jane take control in those moments, letting her know she wasn't alone.