Message from The Mentalist's Creator Bruno Heller

Bruno Heller, The Mentalist's Creator, has left a message for the fans, on the CBS' website

Let me start by saying thank you to all of our fans who are a large part of why we’ve made it to Season 6. And this season will definitely be the most exciting thus far for you, as we wrap up the Red John storyline. You’ll definitely want to tune in because we’re bringing out all the bells and whistles for the final hunt of Red John. 
This first episode of this season was exciting to write and shoot mainly because we were able to move the story along in a concrete way. This episode is also the beginning of the end of the Red John story, which will play out in a series of fast-paced, nail-biting episodes. The end of the Red John story made writing and shooting this episode that much more exhilarating because we are able to connect each episode as if it were a giant jigsaw puzzle. Every episode from here on is particularly important to piecing this puzzle together – so you won’t want to miss any of them. Episodes this season are built on each other, each with an exciting cliffhanger. Stories are moving at a faster pace as the search for Red John heats up. Normally the timeline between episodes can be several weeks to months, but in these early episodes, the timeline is cut down to only a couple weeks. Drama and emotions will be running at a fever pitch. 
For the season premiere, we took a field trip to The Salton Sea, a remote lake surrounded by desert in California, to shoot the out of town case. The Salton Sea, for those who’ve never been, is brutally hot with flies everywhere… far away from the glam and glitz in Hollywood. You can usually find us shooting in the pristine environment of the Warner Brothers lot, here in beautiful downtown Burbank. Needless to say, this was a very exhausting shooting day for the entire cast and crew. But, as you’ll see, the finished product was well worth the sweat and tears! 
Each cast member is especially enthusiastic for this season, and all have challenging and interesting scenes and stories to develop. From the episodes we’ve shot so far, I can tell you this, all the actors are giving some of their best performances of the series to date. 
Written By: Bruno Heller