Yes fans, you will finally get to see him -- or her.

The multi-season arc (and basic impetus for the series to exist), which follows Patrick Jane (played by Simon Baker) looking for the serial killer who murdered his family, is featuring another major twist when the third season is put to bed.

In the episode “Strawberries and Cream, Part 1 & 2” (they sure are reaching with the “red” titles these days, aren’t they?), Jane finally confronts his nemesis face-to-face, while the CBI mole is finally discovered.

The finale airs Thursday, May 19 at 9pm ET, and will be available online at CTV.ca.

Talking to TVGuide, Executive Producer Ashley Gable promised that “Fans will be pleased with the way it plays out.”

Personally, as a long-time fan of “The Mentalist,” I’m expecting (as usual) a pretty dark and intense episode with a few Red John bread crumbs, but not too much… after all, in the last season finale, Red John was merely glimpsed by Jane, and he was wearing a very strange looking mask that obscured his face.

Because the finale is also going to show the marriage of Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) and FBI Agent Craig O’Laughlin (Eric Winter), I’m expecting something to go wrong there… call it another one of my hunches.

And you know what? I’m going to let you in on my biggest hunch of all: I’m willing to bet that Red John isn’t a man after all, and could very well be Van Pelt herself.

OK, maybe not Van Pelt, but considering the value “The Mentalist” places on the colour red (every episode title mentions “crimson” or “red” or something visually red), I’m betting that Van Pelt’s red hair colour is no accident. How would I know this? Because before “The Mentalist,” Righetti was sporting blonde hair, so the show would have made her change it… for some reason.

Now maybe they’ll make her “the mole” instead of Red John, but I’m still willing to bet that the Red John case features an all-new twist that no one has even considered!

Regardless, as the show will likely stretch on and on and on, for up to ten seasons or so, I won’t ever expect to see any resolution to the Red John case, at least until the last couple minutes of the series’ very last episode. Red John is on level with “One-Armed Man” status in terms of notorious television antagonists at this point, so the series isn’t likely to let this one go.

Or I could be wrong. I guess you’ll have to tune in to the finale in order to find out for sure!

Don’t forget, you can watch all of the CTV season finales online in the “Season Finale Screening Room.”

About Tyrone

Tyrone Warner has been with CTV.ca since 2005, covering news, entertainment and everything related to CTV. When he’s away from the computer, you can find him writing, recording and performing his own music, running his own record label and dabbling in photography, painting and creative collage. Follow him on Twitter!