The Mentalist Season 5 finale, "Red John's Rules," will air in a week's time in the U.S. The CBS procedural series brings back J.J. LaRoche in its penultimate episode Sunday, Apr. 28. This develops as one of the top Red John suspects, Brett Partridge, returns next week for the finale.

The Mentalist Season 5 Finale: Brett Partridge Returns! (Photo: CBS via Wikia.com)

The Mentalist viewers are reminded this week that Patrick Jane and LaRoche made an exchange deal back in Season 3. Jane keeps quiet about LaRoche's Tupperware secret. The Internal Affair agent then gives Jane his list of suspected Red John moles. Who were on the list?

These characters were under LaRoche's watch back on The Mentalist Season 3: Brenda Shettrick, the CBI's media relations manager; Oscar Ardiles, Assistant District Attorney; Gale Bertram, Director of the CBI; and Craig O'Laughlin, the FBI's liason at the CBI. Viewers would recall this as the season when Van Pelt shot dead her fiancée Craig. The rest is history, though a question remains: Is everyone else on the list no longer a suspect?

On Jane's own list of Red John suspects, Ardiles's name is joined by retired CBI director Virgil Minelli, Jason Cooper of Visualize, and Brett Partridge, the forensic investigator from the pilot episode. Meanwhile, Brenda Shettrick returns this week. Just a couple of episodes ago, viewers learned that she is feeding intel to Lisbon's nemesis, Tommy Volker. Then next week, in The Mentalist Season 5 finale, Partridge will return, according to TV.com. Things are heating up, indeed.

What we've learned so far is that Jane's Red John hunt will make a leap in the Season 5 finale. From an entire little notebook of names, Jane's suspects will be trimmed to seven. Could any one of the seven match the rest of the names in LaRoche's list? Will Partridge be a stronger Red John candidate?

Related Articles:

The Mentalist Season 5 Finale Spoilers: Patrick Jane's Red John Hunt about to Change [READ]
The Mentalist Season 5 Finale Spoilers: 8 Things We Know, Patrick Jane's Red John List Down to 7 Names! [PHOTOS, VIDEOS]
The Mentalist Season 5: Red John and Agent Kirkland vs Patrick Jane? [READ]