Viewers have wondered from "very early on in the first season" when the show would reveal Red John's identity, and Heller explains that the writers' room found themselves asking when was the right time to bring the story to a close, as well.

"There was no functional, formal protocol moment, where we said, ‘Okay, when this happens, we will set about closing off that chapter.' It's like a marriage, or any kind of partnership. How long is Red John driving the story forward, and at what point does it become an anchor?  It just seemed like this was the right time.  Ultimately, that's a subjective choice.  It just seemed like, from a storytelling point of view and from the audience's point of view, it was time to move the story forward."

And Baker says he's really "this last five to six months of working on the show" as it was building towards the big reveal.  "It has felt like the enthusiasm I had in the first season because it's new and fresh, from week to week, and it's going somewhere," he explains. "Sometimes the frustration for me, as an actor, is that we're not going anywhere or moving forward. This was definitely going somewhere.  The stakes are higher, and it gives me something to do that I can really get my teeth into."