Warning: This story contains major spoilers from the season finale of The Blacklist. Read at your own risk.
After four seasons of wondering, The Blacklist season finale confirmed what — lets be honest — most fans have suspected from the beginning about Raymond Reddingtons (James Spader) relation to Liz Keen (Megan Boone): Hes her father!
During the finale, Cooper (Harry Lennix) decided to settle the debate once and for all by using a blood sample locked up in evidence from a mission decades prior that Red worked before turning into a criminal mastermind. The blood test confirmed that Raymond Reddington is, in fact, Lizs father, but is the man weve come to know over the last four seasons actually Raymond Reddington?
“Liz has learned that Red is her father, and yet there is a much bigger secret that is out there that presents a real problem,” EP Jon Bokenkamp tells EW, referring to the bones Mr. Kaplan (Susan Blommaert) unearthed that are now en route to Liz, much to Reds chagrin.
Odds are the bones belong to Lizs presumed-dead mother Katarina (Lotte Verbeek), but Bokenkamp doesnt balk at the suggestion they could belong to, say, the real Red, and that this Red is someone else entirely. “This imposter theory is one thats alive among our fan base,” Bokenkamp says. After all, the DNA results proving Reds parentage come from a decades-old sample that is not necessarily from the man we know now. Whats really going on here? Bokenkamp teases whats in store for season 5. (Read our postmortem with Megan Boone.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Red has been revealed as Lizs father. Has this been the plan from the beginning?
JON BOKENKAMP: Yes, it has been. Exactly where that would fall, we werent always certain, but it became clear this season as we were arcing out the stories that this point in the mythology of the timeline was the right moment.
This show is full of secrets, so its always difficult to talk about the storylines without giving away answers. We unpacked another big one tonight — this suitcase and its contents — its all connected and its all difficult to talk about. I always feel its probably best to let the episodes speak best for themselves.
Isnt this the obvious answer the fans have been expecting from the beginning? Why confirm what everyone has basically said since season 1?
Because it is part of the truth, but not the entire [thing]. There is a larger reason for him entering her life, a bigger secret that is also revealed in this episode, so while it is part of the story, it is not the entire story.
That bigger secret involves, in part, some bones that were dug up by Mr. Kaplan, and that Elizabeth Keen is unaware of, and that Red is desperate to keep Liz from finding. That bag of bones represents a much larger story that is the ultimate hook of the show. So yes, the paternal issue is something that perhaps one might have expected, but in hindsight, when we look back on the entire series, it will make sense in a way that perhaps it doesnt now. All I can really say is, it is a piece of a much larger puzzle.
Tom has the suitcase. Can you talk about whether hell struggle with the decision to give Liz the suitcase?
Oh, yeah, Im confident Tom will struggle. He has no idea what hes gotten into. That suitcase is packed full of nothing but problems for Reddington.
Given that the tree is marked with the letter K, are we to believe they are Katarinas bones?
Thats a good road to go down. That seems like a logical explanation. Katarina was never seen again, so yes, thats a good theory probably.
That could also be a good theory. I love the way you look at this. Look, they could be anyone, right? But theyre going to be a problem, a real problem, if Liz finds out about them. These bones are a key to unlocking everything, and Red is not ready for that yet.
I think so. Thats why we anchored that so far in the past that the DNA of Raymond Reddington from this bloody shirt all these years ago gives us that answer. So yes, I think we should trust that.
Ultimately you are saying Red is her father, so will Liz be operating under the news that she is Reds daughter next season?
Yes, Liz learned that Raymond Reddington is her father and yet theres a much bigger secret that is out there that presents a real problem.
Hes incredibly conflicted, because theres this enormous emotional bombshell, and yet, at the same time, he has always withheld partial truths. Hes withholding the biggest secret from Liz, so not only is there a lot of conflicted emotional things happening between he and Elizabeth Keen, theres always this much larger secret that has him entirely on his heels, terrified, and presents a problem in a way that hes never dealt with before. Kaplan was his most trusted confidante, knew deep truths. Even now, her death presents a catastrophic problem. I think hes terrified. By the way, the other thing thats interesting is, he has been reduced to rubble. His empire has been ripped apart, hes left with nothing. Weve seen him destroy all of his aliases, hes living in a dumpy motel, so he won the war, but it has really shifted who he is in a way that is going to be fun looking ahead at how he handles this, and what he does in terms of moving forward.
How will this change Liz going into next season now knowing who Red is to her?
I dont entirely know, but I would expect to see her explore that. Shes recognized that the devil is her father, and shes had incredible windows into that in the past, including murdering the attorney general and going on the run and being a criminal. So I would expect her to explore that darker side that is in her blood.
The team doesnt know anything about it yet. Cooper knows about it, but as far as the rest of the team, it hasnt been revealed. I think theyd all react in very different ways. Theyve also all got their own problems — or good situations. Aram and Samar have acknowledged something between them with the kiss, Ressler is left a blacklister to basically clean up the mess of Laurel Hitchins death, so hes not in a good place, and Cooper is the one who knows the secret. I think theyll all react in different ways and itll be incredibly complex. Itll be a great pull for our people to try to rally together. Remember, Julian Gale is still out there with his investigation of the task force. He was thwarted by Reddington and the investigation was stopped, but hes still out there and hes still a loose end. Thats going to be a good story.
Theres been a theory that the person we see as Red is not actually her father, but Lizs mother. Is this still a possibility considering the twist that you have in store for us?
That makes me smile. Look, it is one of the theories that Ive obviously heard. There is a big camp that [believes the] Raymond Reddington imposter theory, that Red is not who he says he is. I mean, I cant deny that that all still adds up and is one of the theories that makes sense. Its out there, its cool, Id love to have you walk me through the whole thing. But this imposter theory is one thats alive among our fan base. This season, we have really motored ahead. Each season, weve given real concrete pieces of this puzzle, and this season is no exception. Some episodes were heavy in that mythology than others. The Mr. Kaplan episode was certainly an episode that had a lot of big moves in it. This last episode has some big moves. Again, theyre all pieces of this puzzle that is slowly coming together to paint one large picture. But its a blast seeing it come together, and its also a lot of fun to read comments and threads and tweets and see the theories, because theres a lot of them, and theyre really a blast to read.
I love Brian Dennehy, so its hard to resist bringing him in. Hes a great actor and were lucky to have him on the show. He definitely is part of the landscape and occupies an important space. You see that play out on screen. All these answers, what ends up airing is far better than answering these questions than I am because thats whats really canon for the show. He is somebody who obviously does not like Reddington. They have a fraught relationship. Hes hurt. He was told that Elizabeth Keen was dead, and found out she faked her death — Red didnt even tell Dom until this season that Liz is actually alive, so this guy is living with all kinds of baggage. Hes an important character in the mythology.
Is Mr. Kaplan actually dead? And can you talk about the reason why she went over the bridge?
I love how far shes willing to go for Liz, that she was willing to die for what she believed in and that was part of her plan, that her death would effectively trigger a death switch that would unravel Reddington. Even with her dead, her plan is marching forward. That was the most compelling thing, that she was willing to die to carry out the promise that she had made all these years ago to keep Liz safe. And so is she really dead? I think so. It would be hard to bring her back, but with that said, I love Susan Blommaert so much. Its like when Alan Alda died, it broke my heart. We blew up Alan Alda, who is a TV legend. Sometimes you have to listen to the show and where it wants to go. That was a really hard death in the show, and this one as well. If we were smart enough to find a way to bring her back that felt real, fantastic, but I think her tombstone has been written.
Circling back to the task force, Laurel Hitchin dies right after closing the investigation. Will that raise some red flags?
That depends on how her death is handled. Well see how well Mr. Prescott gets rid of her body. Reven Wright just disappeared; nobody else knows shes actually dead, so well have to see how well her disappearance/death is swept under the rug. But Im sure there will be questions raised. Even Julian Gale would probably be very curious to know what happened to the woman who just shut him down.
Even with the investigation closed, with the news out there, will the task force be disbanded?
The news is out there in a closed grand jury investigation, which is containable. I dont think it was out there as in, Liz murdered the attorney general and is a fugitive. Its not that out there to the public. Its contained within the intelligence community that was confusing this investigation. The bigger problem is that Reddington has really no resources. Baz was killed, Mr. Kaplan is gone. Its basically he and Dembe, and hes starting over, in a way. Thats the bigger problem for the task force is, the man that its built around is reduced to rubble.
What kind of danger does this put Liz in as Reds organization is all but non-existent now? Will we see Red rebuilding next year?
Thats the thing Im most excited about really, looking ahead, is the show has always been dark in its own odd way and dangerous and high-staked, but were spring-boarding forward in the fifth season in a way where Red is stripped down to nothing and is forced to rebuild. Does Liz join him in that rebuilding? What does that look like? The only thing I know for sure about it is its going to be a hell of a lot of fun because he has nothing left to lose. We almost want to step back in terms of who the character was and how much joy he takes in his life and how he moves and operates. He built a criminal empire once and I think watching him go out and try to scratch and put back together some sort of criminal business is going to be a really fun ride that weve never gone on. Hes got to rebuild his team, which means populating it with new people. Hes not just taking down blacklisters because they stand in his way. I would imagine that he might go after people that could help him reboot his empire. Its been one of the things that we talk about in the room is just having a lot of fun with the character and it almost feels like an opportunity for us to reboot the tone in a way that can be a lot of fun.
Red has an escape plan with that island. Will that come back into play next season?
Well, I hadnt thought about it until now, but yeah, thats a great idea! Red in a crisp white suit. Drinks in coconuts with umbrellas. Bottle episode on the island!
Liz is Red’s daughter, but the Red we know is not her father.
Liz’s is Red’s daughter but not the Red we’ve all come to know, or so it seems. In Season 5, Episode 22 of The Blacklist, the truth was apparently revealed. Yes, Liz and Raymond are father and daughter, but the man she thought to be Red wasn’t her father at all. The actual Red had been in a relationship with Liz’s mother, Katarina Rostova (Laila Robins), a KGB agent sent to seduce him and begin a romance with him.
Liz, when she was 4 years old, is said to have shot her father while he was attacking her mother. A fire had erupted during the shooting, and Red ended up dying from his wounds later. The duffle bag of bones that is discovered is not another blacklister but instead her biological father. But if the real Red was in the bag, then who was the man with whom Liz had this roller-coaster relationship? Article continues below advertisement
In the same season, The Blacklist then disclosed that Katarina’s friend and lover Ilya Koslov (Brett Cullen), also a KBG agent, took Red’s place following his demise and changed his face with extensive plastic surgery. However, in Season 7, viewers learned that Red isn’t Ilya when he appears in the form of actor Brett Cullen, who’s a good friend of the supposed Red phony.
“The Blacklist” has at long last revealed the answer to the show’s central question — who is Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader) and how is he connected to Elizabeth “Liz” Keen (Megan Boone). Well, kind of.
An emotional montage closes out the finale, with highlights from Liz’s life and relationships replaying on screen. Particularly notable are the tender moments from Liz’s early life with her mother, which get cut together with scenes of Liz and Red from the last eight seasons.
Through black-and-white scenes featuring multiple “Blacklist” characters we know and love reliving events in front of us, Liz is given a detailed explanation of how her then-married mother, Katarina Rostova, became a spy and struck up a relationship with her father, the real Raymond Reddington, to gather intelligence on the U.S. operative at the request of Dom, Katarina’s father, and the KGB.
Unfortunately for Liz and for viewers hoping for concrete answers, she never gets a chance to read the letter and find out the full truth. As she’s about to go through with the plan and kill Red, Liz is shot through the chest by Townsend’s right-hand man Vandyke (Lukas Hassel).
(As TheWrap previously reported, Wednesday’s finale is the last episode of “The Blacklist” to feature Boone as a series regular. She is exiting the show, which was renewed in January for Season 9, after eight seasons of co-starring with Spader.)
In the penultimate episode, after revealing that he is N-13, the elusive spy that Liz (Megan Boone) had been searching for all these years, Red brings her to the headquarters of his operation in Latvia. There, he helps tell the story of her past and provides clarity regarding their connection.
Could Red actually be Katarina or is it someone else we have yet to uncover? It’s clear viewers are on the brink of an answer and with Boone exiting the show as a series regular, it would only make sense that Red’s true identity would be unveiled before she departs. The reveal could also set up where the show will go in Season 9. Tune in to the Season 8 finale, “Konets,” when it airs June 23 to hopefully find out.
The culprit of the interruption is Neville Townsend (Reg Rogers), who shows up in Latvia with his own motivations. With the help of Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq), Red gets Liz into a bunker before setting decades of intelligence, Neville, and his men on fire in the space above them.
The Blacklist is delving into long sought-after answers in its final Season 8 installments and the most recent episode, “Nachalo,” is teasing Red’s (James Spader) true identity.
Among the episode’s biggest takeaways are that Liz’s mother Katarina Rostova is still alive, and the woman she believed was her mother is actually a spy named Tatiana Petrova (Laila Robins). Where Liz’s mother actually is remains unclear, but Tatiana initially assumed Katarina’s identity to help the woman escape and protect Liz.
FAQ
Does Liz ever find out the truth about red?
Does Liz Find out Red’s secret?
When did Elizabeth Keen find out Reddington is her father?
The Blacklist season 6 seemingly revealed the truth, revealing that yes, Raymond Reddington IS Liz’s father — but the man Liz knows isn’t Reddington.
