The Blacklist Declassified

 

🔴 Unanswered Questions/Loose Ends

 

Return to Clues
Updated at end of Season 3: June 3, 2016
Permalink: http://wp.me/pDKwi-39B (“you are here”)
 
Daniel Cerone, writer and an Executive Producer of The Blacklist, wrote:

Before I joined #TheBlacklist this season, I had to know…Red…Liz…their connection. Is there was a plan? There is a plan. It's awesome.

— Daniel Cerone (@DanielVCerone) April 15, 2016

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⋘ and ⋙

.@momtobe23 All will be explained, but patience and attention to detail will be required. #TheBlacklist

— Daniel Cerone (@DanielVCerone) May 20, 2016

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Still, there is a ‘disturbance in the fandom’ – concern that certain story elements, especially from the first two seasons, may have been lost or subtly retconned out of existence. This list includes the most important of these. Here’s hoping that all will indeed be woven into the story’s endgame.
 
This list will be shared via Twitter with some of The Blacklist’s writers and producers. (Daniel Cerone, Daniel Knauf, Brandon Margolis, Dave Metzger, Brandon Sonnier, Jon Bokenkamp, plus the Blacklist Writers Room)
 
KEY: ● Unresolved, ❌ = Resolved, ✛= New since S2
 

⭕ These events seem to be central to the mythology:

 
[1:1 Pilot] Ressler says ” … Then in 1990, Reddington’s coming home to see his wife and his daughter for Christmas. He never arrives”
[1:7] Luli: “This place must hold a lot of memories for you.” Red: “I spend every day trying to forget what happened here.” 💥‼️ What happened in that house?
[1:13] Diane Fowler tells Red “I know the truth, Red, about that night – about what happened to your family”
[1:14] Red recalls a child (“I can still … feel her little fingers on my cheek”), tells Madeline Pratt “It was Christmas Eve. … I walked through the door. And there was just blood. All I saw was blood. All there was was blood.” [ May be just a ruse to fool Madeline ]
[1:17] Liz has memories of a fire in flashbacks and nightmares (evoked by the Sorrento music box Red built) of a fire at Christmas time. Liz: “I know this song. When I was a little girl, I had these terrible nightmares. I remembered flashes of– of fire and smoke.” Images: Christmas tree on fire, doll’s face melting, girl with stuffed bunny being led through fire.
[1:22] Red tells Liz her father “is dead. He died in that fire.” In the next scene, Red removes his shirt. There are terrible burn scars on his back.
[2:1] Naomi Hyland aka Carla Reddington said she was implicated in Red’s disappearance: “I had a life, you know? [ Voice breaking ] My daughter had a life with a house and a dog. And then I woke up one day. … They accused me of being a part of it? Somehow, I was a suspect.”
[2:9] Red tells Liz “I once had a relatively normal life– bills to pay, playdates, family, some friends, people to care about. Lost all that”
[2:10] In Braxton2, Liz undergoes memory recall therapy: she is four; her name is “Masha”. She sees the fire more vividly, hears an argument, is led through flames by man with gloved hand
[2:22] In Tom Connolly, Liz’s repressed memories are released as she shoots AG Connolly: she watches her parents argue. Liz remembers shooting her father.
[3:23] Alexander Kirk says he is Constantin Rostov. “Masha, I’m your father.” Liz’s Russian name is Masha Rostova (the female form of Rostov).

 
Related Questions:

● Are the Christmas events one event, two, three? An initial event plus a revenge event?
● Red lost or abandoned his family, yet Naomi and Jennifer are alive. Did he have another family?
● Was “Bloody Christmas Eve” real? What happened? This could be dismissed as a tall tale told by Red to Madeline, except Diane Fowler seemed to confirm something awful happened. [ see note #1 ]
● Who saved Liz from the fire? Red? Her father? Who were the other people there? Why was Red there? Who sewed the ‘interface unit’ of the Fulcrum into Liz’s bunny?
● Red told Liz, “I’m telling you, with no uncertainty, your father is dead. He died in that fire” [1:22] Yet Alexander Kirk now claims to be her father – both can’t be true.
 

༺✦ ♤ ✦༻

 

⭕ Other Questions:

 
● Who is the little ballerina? (timing issues suggest this cannot be Jennifer or Liz) [ see note #2 ] What is the significance of “Swan Lake” (the theme of the Dying Swan)?
● Who is the girl Red remembers at his old house & in his home movies? Who is the woman Red edited out of the film?
● What is Jennifer’s relationship to Red? Bio-daughter, step-daughter?
✛ Who was the male voice in the Braxton2 argument scene who insisted “her name is Elizabeth?” Alexander Kirk/Constantin Rostov calls her “Masha” in 3:23.
● Why does the shape of Liz’s scar resemble that on the two “go” boxes and bank envelope?
● Who was/is Liz’s father and what was/is his relationship to Red? Why would knowing his identity put Liz’s life “in grave danger”? Has the danger passed? ✛ Is Alexander Kirk/Constantin Rostov really her father?
● Was Katarina really a “Mata Hari”? ✛ (i.e. did she use sex to disarm enemies?) Red’s pained expression when he tells Liz her father was “the only man she ever really loved” – was Red a victim of this? Who was the ghost of Katarina referring to when she says “It wasn’t the way he died … ” in 3:19 Cape May
● Why has a DNA test never been done to see if Red is Liz’s father? [[ lol – waaaaay too easy! ]]
● What was Red’s relationship to Liz (if any) prior to the fire? Before someone takes her to Sam?
● What was Sam’s relationship to Red? ✛ In Pilot, Red says “I haven’t been home in years” – Where was “home”?
● What was Liz’s father’s “criminal background”? Was this Sam or her bio-dad? Why/how did he “abandon” her?
✛ How did Liz acquire her ability to do brush passes, etc? From Sam? From the FBI? On her own? Did Liz have a criminal background?
● Why did Tom tell Liz “Your father is alive”? Who does he believe Liz’s father was? Did Tom really say it or did Liz make it up?
● More about Red’s “weird little apartment” – whose was it, if not his? ✛ Why Russian medical books? ✛ Why a photo of Russian General Zhukov?
● Why would Red have access to a Presidential limo❓
● Is Liz even an American citizen? A Russian citizen?
● How was the Cabal established? Why?
● Why was Fitch in Russia? Was Red there? Is that where/when The Cabal was set up?
● How and why was Red framed? By whom?
● Who is Mr. Kaplan? Is she a forensic pathologist? What is her history with Red? She remembers Liz as an infant … [ “Kate” couldn’t be “Kat-e”rina? … Naw ]
● How has Red used: the Alchemist’s client list, Milton Bobbitt’s client list, the page from the Djinn’s journal?
● And of course: What explains Red’s fascination with Liz?
● P.S. What’s with Liz’s dog, Hudson❓️️️Animal lovers need to know‼️
 

༺✦ ♤ ✦༻

 

⭕ Resolved Questions

 
❌ If Red “never lies to Liz,” why did he say “yes” when she said her only memory of her father was of him pulling her from the fire? [ see note #3 ] ➔ Red doesn’t directly lie to Liz, but he is evasive and tells partial truths
❌ Why is the the argument dialogue when Liz shoots her father different from the argument dialogue in Braxton2? [ see note #4 ] ➔ ( assume writers didn’t expect Braxton2 dialogue to be decipherable )
❌ How did Liz and Red get their scars? Was Liz “branded”? ➔ Red’s and Liz’s burns are from the fire, though Liz’s scar has a mystery to it. [ note #5 ]
❌ Why did Liz tell Red she got the scar from a fire when she was 14 and not 4? ‼️

@BlacklistDCd got the scar at age 14 not 4 is due to changes after pilot was shot to actual show.

— TheBlacklist Exposed (@TheBlacklistGSM) June 1, 2016

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❌ More about Liz’s mother and her relationship to Red. Why did Red say she died “of weakness and shame”? ➔ If Katarina committed suicide by drowning, it kind of fits
❌ How does The Director know what Liz’s mother looked like? ➔ He knew Katarina. [ Liz doesn’t look like ghost Katarina in 3:19; Liz looks more like Alex Kirk or like Red (casting!)]
❌ Why does Liz’s mother wear a ring that Tom thinks looks like one Berlin wore? ➔ Both were KGB operatives
❌ Why would Pepper have the skeleton key for the Fulcrum? Did she know Red? ‼️

@BlacklistDCd a reasonable answer for pepper and the key was discussed in the Bokenkamp interview in December 2015 https://t.co/1J5yrWjwJQ

— TheBlacklist Exposed (@TheBlacklistGSM) June 1, 2016

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The entire interview is worth listening to. Jon Bokenkamp said that he thinks Pepper may have gotten the key from her father who had some association with Red. There is a possibility of this being explored in a future episode.
❌ Does Liz have the ‘warrior gene’ (the rarer type)? What does this imply about her mother? ➔ Closer look at 2:4 Linus Creel indicates “yes.” Both her mother and father must carry the gene (SNP). Katerina may have had the milder version.
❌ What is the Cabal’s goal (originally planned for 2017 but moved up)? ➔ apparently refers to attack on CIA counter-intel unit (Orea bombing)
❌ What is The Stewmaker’s backstory and is it related to Red’s own history? ➔ Apparently yes, metaphorically
❌ What happened with Cooper and Reddington in Kuwait where Reddington gave Cooper the only evidence on the USB drive? ➔ Additional info from 3:11 Gregory DeVry is likely sufficient
❌ Are the Germans and/(or the Major) still hunting Jacob/Tom? Why aren’t the Germans dead? ➔ the Major is dead; but what about the Germans? [ The Germans all seemed dead at the end of 2:16 Tom Keen, but they showed up fully healed in 2:17 The Longevity Initiative. I assume this was a goof. In any case, with the Major dead, not expecting them back ]
❌ Was episode 3:20 an extension of the dream sequence in 3:19 – is Dom real or another ghost? Will we see Katarina’s necklace again?

@BlacklistDCd 3:20 was not a dream sequence because he tells the very real metal detector guy he has to go see someone at the end of 3.19

— TheBlacklist Exposed (@TheBlacklistGSM) June 1, 2016

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༺✦ ♤ ✦༻

 

⭕ Notes:

 
 
Note 1: The story Red told to Madeline Pratt

The story Red told to Madeline Pratt seems to have been confirmed by Diane Fowler’s telling Red in [1:13 The Cyprus Agency] “I know the truth, Red, about that night – about what happened to your family. Do you want to know the truth?” and his emotional response, “More than anything in the world…” before shooting her dead. If not for this, the story could have been dismissed as simply a trick Red played on Madeline. Because of this corroboration, however, the story Red told to Madeline still needs an explanation.

 
 
Note 2: Age of the little ballerina in [1:16 Mako Tanida]

The service academies do not allow dependents of any kind. Nor do they – in the interest of group cohesion – allow skipping ahead of your class and graduating early. This means that Red could not have graduated prior to 1983, gotten married, and had a daughter before 1984. When he attends the performance of Swan Lake he holds a program for a March 1987 performance. The ballerinas have gossiped that his daughter performed in Swan Lake “years ago.” The girl Red remembers or imagines dancing among the older ballerinas could be as young as 8 or 9, though the actual age of the performer was 12. But Red’s own biological daughter could not have been more than three or four years old in 1987.

Did Red have a step daughter? This scene was one of the most beautiful of Season 1 and fans on many forums have noticed the age issue. Who was the little ballerina and why is Red holding the program to the March 22, 1987 performance while his voice in the voiceover offers condolences to Ressler on the loss of his fiancé?

 
 
Note 3: “Red never lies to Liz”

If “Red never lies to Liz,” why did he say “yes” when Liz said she remembered her father pulling her from the fire? On the wsj blog (comment dated stamped 2:52 am May 21, 2015 Masha Rostova discussion http://on.wsj.com/1HGFsEG), LizzieB90 gave this explanation:

Red has placed his highest value on blocking from Liz’s memory the fact that she shot her father. She was apparently having nightmares etc. There was a fire (we still need an explanation of why it started) the night that Liz’s father was shot. Liz says Tom told her that her father was alive. Red wants her to know her father is dead, but his highest priority prevents him from saying Liz shot him. So, instead of focusing on the immediate cause, he refers to the general context: “in that fire” or “the night of the fire” (a period of time rather than a cause).

It reflects Red putting one thing above telling the whole truth to her: “I think I will always do what is necessary to keep you safe.” When he decided (with Sam, presumably) to block her memory of what she did, he also committed to not telling her what he blocked. He is even willing to accept her opprobrium in allowing her to speculate that he killed her father because he was in love with her mother – even though we now know he did not kill her father. That’s quite a “sin” to “eat.” But this “lie” told by Red still stands out as blatant, compared to other half truths and misleads offered by Red and may need to be further explained.

Update: The very last line of Season 3 is Alexander Kirk (who says he was previously know as “Constantin Rostov”) saying: “Masha, I am your father.” Is he lying? Is Red lying? “Stay tuned.”

[ Cross-posted under “Writers Room” ]

 
 
Note 4: Two versions of the argument scene

Even a cursory look comparing the argument scenes between [2:10 Braxton2] and [2:22 Tom Connolly], differences are apparent. How much of the [2:10 Braxton2] version is to be trusted? Liz remembered “My father!” and, about Red, “You were there!” to which Red responds “Yes.” How much of the Braxton2 version remains intact through the caveats of 1) “the memories and a 4yo are unreliable,” 2) Red’s intervention to block Liz’s memories of the night, and 3) Dr Orchard’s caution to Liz about the tampering. It is a critical night in the story’s mythology that at least has to be revisited in light of Red’s admission to Liz that he was there.

One commenter, Nan at the WSJ blog, had her sons apply sound enhancement and voice recognition software to the argument scene in [2:10 Braxton2] which was considered as canon at that site. That transcript is here.

 
 
Note 5: Liz’s scar is peculiar

Some fans don’t believe the scar on Liz’s wrist could have been caused by the fire, intense though it was. It is too interior – other parts of her body would have burned first; her hair would have caught on fire. In [2:10 Braxton2] the burn appears mysteriously. The scar appears to be a chemical or plastic burn, like napalm, something that stuck to her skin. In any case, it is oddly shaped (similar, some have noted, to the shape of the Chinese symbol for fire http://pic.twitter.com/0y0vyCjtZK). AlyBlacklist noted a similarity to the shape of the Baltic Sea http://bit.ly/1P8uI1b.

The shape of Liz’s scar appears similar to the symbol carved on the two wooden “go” boxes, Tom’s and Gina Zanetakos’. It also appears on the Manila envelope Tom directs Liz to get from a bank vault which contains the photos proving that Red was at the hospital at the time of Sam’s death. What caused Liz’s burn? Did her father ‘give it to her’ as she tells Beth in the pilot? And who is behind the mysterious use of this symbol in Season 1?

 

༺ ♤ ༻

 
Note: After I finished this list (6:00 am Central/Chicago time 6/3/2016), I remembered I had copied a list from the WSJ blog. I looked it up. It’s by Tessa. I was pleased to note the list she put together covers very much the same questions listed here. I think that means there’s some consensus among attentive fans about what the loose ends are. All I had to add from her list were: ‘Who sewed the interface unit into the bunny?’ And the list of lists Red collected that may not have yet been used yet: from the Alchemist, Milton Bobbitt and the Djinn. Tessa’s blog is here. I set up an index to her site at the end of Black Sites.

 
Thank you – especially to Blacklist Exposed and Tessa. Also to all my other irrepressibly imaginative Twitter buddies.

 

⭕ Appendix: List of Unnumbered Bad Guys:

 
Because – why not?
 
№ ❓ “Apple Man” – led surveillance of Liz/Tom’s home for – ? (Shot and killed by Liz)
№ ❓ Floriana Campo – sex trafficker, exposed by Red (killed by Red w OD of drugs she used on her victims)
№ ❓ Cowboy – a tracker with a real bad attitude hired by Red (killed by Tom)
№ ❓ Laurence Dechambou – ex-French intel who Red flew out to annoy Cooper; w the freckle (escaped)
№ ❓ Diane Fowler – DOJ Director, mole (shot dead by Red for leaking info leading to breach of Post Office)
№ ❓ Laurel Hitchin – National Security Advisor to President, Cabal (still in power), murdered Asst AG Reven Wright
№ ❓ Kenneth Jasper – Cabal member, (likely killed by Red) in [2:21 Quon Zhang]
№ ❓ Milos Pavel Kinsky – “Fake-Berlin” (executed by Red)
№ ❓ Hector Lorca – the “little drug lord thug” Red flew out in order to save Liz (escaped); referred to as missing in 3:11
№ ❓ Jolene Parker – aka Lucy Brooks, worked for Berlin (killed by Tom)
№ ❓ Katarina Rostova – former KGB spy (Red says she “died of weakness and shame”); may have committed suicide, may be alive
№ ❓ Ranko Zamani – the bad guy in the pilot had no assigned number
——————–
№ ❓ Liz’s father (name unknown) – (dead, shot by Masha/Liz as child when beating Liz’s mother; good or bad unknown); in 3:23, Alexander Kirk tells Liz his real name is Constantin Rostov and that he is her father
№ ❓ The 3-5 men leaving the burning house – or were they good guys? (escaped?)
№ ❓ Whoever killed Red’s family – if someone did; Diane Fowler seemed to validate the tale Red told to Madeline Pratt, resulting in Red’s killing her (unknown)
 
[ For list of Blacklisters with numbers assigned ]
 
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༺ ✿⊰ ♤ ⊱✿༻

 

🔴 Clues & Sleuthing: Season 2 (June 2015)

 

⭕ Seriable’s List of Not Yet Answered Questions: http://bit.ly/1rPl5Yk
⭕ Seriable’s List of Answered Questions: http://bit.ly/1FTq7dS

⭕ List of Unanswered Questions from The Blacklist Wiki: http://bit.ly/1ecfKvl

 

⊰ ♤ ⊱

 

🔴 Unanswered Questions at End of Season 2

 
This list was compiled from suggestions from Twitter and the WSJ Blacklist blog and shared with several of The Blacklist’s writers and producers.
 
● Who is the little ballet dancer? (see note #1)
● Who is the girl Red remembers at his house & in his movies? Who was her mother?
● What is Jennifer’s relationship to Red? Daughter, step-daughter?
● Was “Bloody Christmas Eve” real? What happened? (see note #2)
● How/why did Red lose/abandon his family? Was the family he lost (above) different from the one he abandoned on 12/24/1990 (assumed to be Carla/Naomi & Jennifer)?
● Who saved Liz from the fire? Who were the other people there? Why was Red there?
● If Red “never lies to Liz,” why did he say “yes” when she said her only memory of her father was of him pulling her from the fire? (see note #3)
● Who was the man with the red signet ring?
● Why does the version of the argument when Liz shoots her father differ from the argument from Braxton2? (see note #4)
● How did Liz and Red get their scars? Was Liz “branded”? (see note #5)
● Why does the shape of Liz’s scar resemble that on the two “go” boxes and bank envelope?
● Why did Liz tell Red she got the scar from a fire when she was 14 and not 4?
● Who was Liz’s father and what was his relationship to Red? Why would knowing his identity put Liz’s life “in grave danger”? Has the danger passed?
● More about Liz’s mother and her relationship to Red. Was she really a “Mata Hari”? Why did Red say she died “of weakness and shame”? (see note #6)
● Why has a DNA test never been done to see if Red is Liz’s father?
● What was Red’s relationship to Liz (if any) prior to the fire?
● What was Sam’s relationship to Red?
● What was Liz’s father’s “criminal background”? Was this Sam or her bio-dad? Why/how did he “abandon” her?
● How does The Director know what Liz’s mother looked like?
● Why does Liz’s mother wear a ring that Tom thinks looks like one Berlin wore?
● Why did Tom tell Liz “Your father is alive”?
● More about Red’s “weird little apartment” – whose was it, if not his?
● Why would Pepper have the skeleton key for the Fulcrum?
● The Presidential limo ❗
● Is Liz even an American citizen? A Russian citizen?
● Does Liz have the ‘warrior gene’ (the rarer type)? What does this imply about her mother?
● How was the Cabal established? What is their goal (originally planned for 2017)?
● Why was Fitch in Russia? Was Red there? Is that where/when The Cabal was set up?
● Was Red framed?
● What is The Stewmaker’s backstory and is it related to Red’s own history?
● Who is Mr. Kaplan and why is she so good at cleaning up blood etc.?
● What happened with Cooper and Reddington in Kuwait where Reddington gave Cooper the only evidence on the USB drive?
● Are the Germans and/or the Major still hunting Jacob/Tom? Why aren’t the Germans dead?
● And of course: What explains Red’s fascination with Liz?
● P.S. What’s with Liz’s dog❓❗

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⭕ Notes:

 

Note 1: Age of the little ballerina in [1:16 Mako Tanida]

The service academies do not allow dependents of any kind. Nor do they – in the interest of group cohesion – allow skipping ahead of your class and graduating early. This means that Red could not have graduated prior to 1983, gotten married, and had a daughter before 1984. When he attends the performance of Swan Lake he holds a program for a March 1987 performance. The ballerinas have gossiped that his daughter performed in Swan Lake “years ago.” The girl Red remembers or imagines dancing among the older ballerinas could be as young as 8 or 9, though the actual age of the performer was 12. But Red’s own biological daughter could not have been more than three or four years old in 1987.

Did Red have a step daughter? This scene was one of the most beautiful of Season 1 and fans on many forums have noticed the age issue. Who was the little ballerina and why is Red holding the program to the 1987 performance while his voice in the voiceover offers condolences to Ressler on the loss of his fiancé?

 
Note 2: The story Red told to Madeline Pratt

The story Red told to Madeline Pratt seems to have been confirmed by Diane Fowler’s telling Red in [1:13 The Cypress Agency] “I know the truth, Red, about that night – about what happened to your family. Do you want to know the truth?” and his emotional response, “More than anything in the world…” before shooting her dead. If not for this, the story could have been dismissed as simply a trick Red played on Madeline. Because of this corroboration, however, the story Red told to Madeline still needs an explanation.

 
Note 3: “Red never lies to Liz”

If “Red never lies to Liz,” why did he say “yes” when Liz said she remembered her father pulling her from the fire? On the wsj blog (comment dated stamped 2:52 am May 21, 2015 Masha Rostova discussion http://on.wsj.com/1HGFsEG), LizzieB90 gave this explanation:

Red has placed his highest value on blocking from Liz’s memory the fact that she shot her father. She was apparently having nightmares etc. There was a fire (we still need an explanation of why it started) the night that Liz’s father was shot. Liz says Tom told her that her father was alive. Red wants her to know her father is dead, but his highest priority prevents him from saying Liz shot him. So, instead of focusing on the immediate cause, he refers to the general context: “in that fire” or “the night of the fire” (a period of time rather than a cause).

It reflects Red putting one thing above telling the whole truth to her: “I think I will always do what is necessary to keep you safe.” When he decided (with Sam, presumably) to block her memory of what she did, he also committed to not telling her what he blocked. He is even willing to accept her opprobrium in allowing her to speculate that he killed her father because he was in love with her mother – even though we now know he did not kill her father. That’s quite a “sin” to “eat.” But this “lie” told by Red still stands out as blatant, compared to other half truths and misleads offered by Red and may need to be further explained.

[ Cross-posted under “Writers Room” ]

 
Note 4: Two versions of the argument scene

Even a cursory look comparing the argument scenes between [2:10 Braxton2] and [2:22 Tom Connolly], differences are apparent. How much of the [2:10 Braxton2] version is to be trusted? Liz remembered “My father!” and, about Red, “You were there!” to which Red responds “Yes.” How much of the Braxton2 version remains intact through the caveats of 1) “the memories and a 4yo are unreliable,” 2) Red’s intervention to block Liz’s memories of the night, and 3) Dr Orchard’s caution to Liz about the tampering. It is a critical night in the story’s mythology that at least has to be revisited in light of Red’s admission to Liz that he was there.

One woman, Nan, at the WSJ blog, had her sons apply special sound enhancement and voice recognition software to the argument scene in [2:10 Braxton2] which is considered as canon at that site. That transcript is here: http://wp.me/pDKwi-Lt.

 
Note 5: Liz’s scar is peculiar

Some fans don’t believe the scar on Liz’s wrist could have been caused by the fire, intense as it was. It is too interior – other parts of her body would have burned first; her hair would have caught on fire. In [2:10 Braxton2] the burn appears mysteriously. The scar appears to be a chemical or plastic burn, like napalm, something that stuck to her skin. In any case, it is oddly shaped (similar, some have noted, to the shape of the Chinese symbol for fire http://pic.twitter.com/0y0vyCjtZK).

The shape of Liz’s scar appears similar to the symbol carved on the two wooden “go” boxes, Tom’s and Gina Zanetakos’. It also appears on the Manila envelope Tom directs Liz to get from a bank vault which contains the photos proving that Red was at the hospital at the time of Sam’s death. What caused Liz’s burn? Did her father ‘give it to her’ as she tells Beth in the pilot? Why does she tell Beth she was four when she got the scar but tells Red she was 14 (both in the pilot)? And who is behind the mysterious use of this symbol in Season 1?

 
Note 6: Liz’s mother died “of weakness and shame”

In [2:20 Kuon Zhang], Red confirms as he said in the pilot (which perhaps could be renamed “Ranko Zamani”) that Liz’s mother “died of weakness and shame.” In [2:21 Karakurt] Agent Masik refers to Liz’s mother, Katarina Rostova, as a mythical “pinko Mata Hari,” invoking the WWI spy who obtained secrets from officers by seducing them, a femme fatale. It was intimated in [2:4 Dr Linus Creel] that Liz may have “the warrior gene.” That would mean her mother would have had it too. Wikipedia http://bit.ly/1qZG6jX indicates the warrior gene is associated with alcoholism and drug abuse. In the original pilot script (but not in the actual show), it indicates that, Liz’s mother suffered from substance abuse. Red: “Abandoned by a father who was a career criminal. A mother who worked two jobs, despite her addiction, to keep you out of juvenile court. You’ve practically raised youself.” Were sexual adventurism and substance abuse the reasons Red said Liz’s mother died “of weakness and shame”?

 
Observation: Earlier in [2:8 The Decembrist], the show’s writers did provide an answer regarding the age of Berlin’s daughter when she was a “dissident” (very young) and her age in the photo in The Stewmaker’s book and, although it seemed a stretch, the answer was appreciated by the fandom and for the most part people were willing to move on.

 

⭕ Miscellaneous :)

● Is Red a woman? Did s/he have sex reassignment surgery? Is s/he Katarina Rostova?
● Is Mr Kaplan (“Kate”) Katarina Rostova? Is “Jelly Bean” Katarina Rostova? Is PeeWee Herman Katarina Rostova?
● Is Liz a Romanov? Is she related to General Zhukov? Was General Zhukov Katarina Rostova?
● And the perennial classic: Is Red Liz’s father?

(Prize goes to whoever can correctly guess the three possibilities that have NOT been seriously discussed on the WSJ Blacklist blog)
 
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༺ ✿⊰ 🔴 ⊱✿༻