(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.)
All signs point to the “Redarina” fan theory that has been circulating online among “Blacklist” fans for years. (At one point in Wednesday’s episode Liz asks Red if he knew her mother well, and he responds that he knew her “better than anyone.”) But as always with “The Blacklist,” the full truth remains elusive and fans will have to tune in for Season 9 to find out more.
Though the origin of Red’s connection to Liz isn’t fully explained by the end of Wednesday’s Season 8 finale, the hints laid out across the last two episodes of the season strongly suggest that Raymond Reddington is actually Liz’s mother, Katarina Rostova (played in flashbacks by Lotte Verbeek).
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.
Tonight’s finale episode, titled “Konets,” saw Red hatch a plan to have Liz kill him and take over his operation. Red is convinced that his mysterious illness is terminal and the only way to keep the criminal underworld at bay in the wake of Townsend’s death is for Liz to rise up as a formidable enough threat herself. He shows her a letter from her mother, promising that it will answer all her questions once the plan is complete.
THE BLACKLIST fans are convinced Red will soon be exposed as Liz’s uncle in season By
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NBC’s hit thriller The Blacklist came to an emotional end in May when fans were forced to say goodbye to two beloved characters. After a season focused on the death of Liz Keen (played by Megan Boone), season 10 could finally refocus on the main mystery after fans spotted a major clue.
After Liz’s jaw-dropping death in the season eight finale, viewers watched as the task force dedicated the majority of season nine to finding her murderer.
The instalment returned with a two-year time jump which showed how the agents coped with the death of their friend.
Red Reddington (James Spader) went into hiding, Donald Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) relapsed and Aram (Amir Arison) founded a new business.
However, they agreed to get back to work and find out who killed their beloved friend.
Near the end of the season, it was finally revealed Marvin Gerard (Fisher Stevens) was the one who pulled the fatal trigger.
Although fans had predicted his motive was revenge against Red for torturing him in season eight, this wasn’t the case
Knowing Red was planning to leave Liz tapes so she could run a criminal empire, Marvin became jealous because he wanted full control of Red’s business.
So, he killed Liz to get her out of the way, which would put him next in line.
However, after uncovering the betrayal, Red let Marvin shoot himself in the car.
With Liz’s death finally resolved, fans are hoping the series will get back to the main mystery of the show, Red’s true identity.
Viewers have long wondered about his real identity after it was revealed, Red assumed the identity he currently sports and the real Red Reddington had died years ago.
His closeness to Liz, led many to believe he was her biological father, while others have predicted Red is her mother, Katarina Rostova (Lotte Verbeek).
However, with the wait for season 10, fans have come up with fresher ideas and are convinced Red is actually Liz’s uncle.
Taking to Reddit, user 607Primaries wrote: “Anything is possible on the Blacklist.
“So when Dom talked about the ‘son he never had’ he could have been talking figuratively expressing disappointment.
“Its also possible he had a son much later, perhaps 10-15 years younger than Kat.”
The user added: “Or if you wanted to get Blacklist-level ridiculous, Dom had an unknown son (Kats half-brother) who was part of a Soviet program to infiltrate US government and would have grown up in the US.
“Its even possible that, as a spy himself, Dom might have been forced to give up his son to that program.”
Domonic Wilson (Brian Dennehy) was Katarina’s father and therefore Liz’s grandfather, who trained Katarina to become a KGB agent just like him.
As a result, this theory could come to fruition, however, fans will have to stay tuned after season 10 premieres.
The Blacklist is available on NBC. A UK release date has yet to be announced.
Once and for all — is Raymond Reddington Liz’s father?
“Nachalo” traveled back in time to when the real Katerina fell in love with her mark. Liz was “conceived from a lie,” and born into the chaotic world of two spies secretly working against one another. In “Nachalo,” Katerina confirmed that yes — Raymond Reddington is Liz’s real father. Only, it’s not the Raymond Reddington she’s known for the previous eight years.
That “Red” allegedly died the night Liz shot him. It’s the same night of the fire that caused the scar on Liz’s palm and Red’s back if you defer to season 1), and the night the coveted Fulcrum first became a real issue. Katerina revealed she tried to save Raymond but failed. And, because she betrayed the KGB, America, and others, people were after her and would stop at nothing to hunt her down — including go after Liz.
Since no one knew of Raymond’s death, Dom and Ilya took the opportunity to make a new plan: get Liz somewhere safe (with Sam, who raised her) and make Katerina disappear. They created a new Raymond Reddington to watch over Liz and keep her safe from the Townsend directive and anyone after the Fulcrum.
While the technicality of Raymond Reddington as Liz’s birth father was some answer, it wasn’t the answer. Both “Nachalo” and “Konets” hinted at long-suspected fan theories that Katerina became Reddington without direct confirmation. Even worse, after eight years of searching for answers to these questions, Liz died without them. We won’t get into why some of these revelations contradict what’s previously been said, but we hope season 9 fixes some of the “holes” many continue pointing out.
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