đ´ Season 5 Unanswered Questions
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Please see version of this list updated for Season 6 at: https://wp.me/pDKwi-9Hl
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Season 5 Unanswered ?s: â Page Down â
Season 4 Unanswered ?s: (with comments)
Season 3 Unanswered ?s: (original version)
Season 2 Unanswered ?s: (original version)
Season 1 (I did not start watching until Season 2)
Last Updated: 5/25/2018, 4:00am CT (Chicago Time) [ Corrected ]
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Please leave new questions in a comment. Iâll incorporate new questions into the list. Troy Heinritz of BlacklistExposed agreed to give this list to the writers/producers.
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Shortened Version of Questions
Red = âourâ Red; RR = the real Raymond Reddington. (Assuming RR was Jennifer/Lillyâs father, but that either Red or RR may be Lizâs father.)
â What is Redâs relationship to Dom? Is Dom still active as a spy? Was Red a double agent?
â Who is Lizâs father? Red or RR? Use of an old shirt from evidence for DNA raises questions.
â Whose death was Katarina referring to in Cape May when she said, âItâs not that he died. ⌠â RR?
ââ Why did Katarina call Red âRaymondâ in that episode? It was Redâs dream.
â Why didnât they go public with the bones? What is the âwhole truthâ Garvey wanted? He already
ââknew Red was an imposter.
â Why did Red have RRâs body/bones to bury?
â Why did Mr Kaplan say to Red, âYouâll find your wifeâ if Naomi was RRâs wife, not Redâs, and Kaplan
ââknew it?
â Why was there a âKâ on the tree at Tansi Farms if the bones were RRâs? Why did Kaplan say âSorry,
ââKatarinaâ?
â What was Redâs relationship to RR? Colleagues? Rivals? Relatives?
â What was Redâs relationship to Katarina? Who did Katarina love, if anyone?
â What did Red whisper to Kirk that so disarmed him? That he wasnât RR?
â A huge question is how Lizâs memories have been manipulated. Has Liz forgotten she shot her
ââfather? Did she actually shoot her father?
â Has Red been in Lizâs life just to keep his secret from being revealed? She seems to think so.
â Is there an existential threat remaining out there from which Red needs to protect Liz?
â Does Red love Liz? Or rather, how does Red love Liz?
â Can Lizâs âtheatricsâ fool Red for long? He reads people well. If he doesnât, will Dembe?
â Who was Seaduke? Did Dom (Oleander) know him?
â How much of what Red told Lilly/Jennifer is true? How much did he know versus surmise?
â Seeing as Garvey killed Tom (and Nik and Pete and Lena) and Liz killed both Garvey and RR, how can
ââLiz and Lilly/Jennifer possibly work together?
â What did Ian Garvey mean when he told Lilly/Jennifer âEverything you believed for the last 30 years
ââhas been a lie. Youâve spent a lifetime hiding for no reason.â?
â Did Red have a âthirdâ family? That is, not Naomi/Carla â Lilly/Jennifer or Katarina â Liz/Masha.
ââ (Lots of sub-questions below ⌠)
â Was the tale Red told to Madeline just a tale he told to Madeline?
â What happened the night of the fire? (Lots of sub-questions below ⌠)
â What was the meaning of the date on the Swan Lake program?
â What happened with the Cabal? Will they be back?
â Who stole Tom (Christopher Hargrave) from the beach when he was little? Why?
â Is Katarina still alive? What did Red âdo to Katarinaâ [Mr Kaplan, Pt 2] that Dembe thinks Liz would
âânever understand?
â Who killed Naomi Hyland/Carla Reddington?
â Why does Red never speak up for himself? Why did Red stop telling stories?
â Lizâs scar behaves weirdly. ⌠Redâs scarred back made a single appearance and has not been seen or
ââheard from since. Whut up?
â Lastly, if Red is not Raymond Reddington, who the hell is he? And why did he take on
ââRRâs identity?
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Full Version of Questions (with context, sub-questions)
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â What is Redâs relationship to Dom? Personal or professional? Both? The only person who can talk down to Red is Dom. And Dom was there when Red burned RRâs bones [5:22 Sutton Ross]. Is Dom still active as a spy? Was Red a Russian spy? A double agent?
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â Is Red or RR Lizâs father? Liz thinks RR, and not Red, is her father, but is that true? Redâs DNA is all over the place, so why did Cooper go to a 25yo shirt from a torture scene and took a single, unscientific snippet? [4:22 Mr Kaplan, Pt 2] If you took a current blood sample from Liz and âourâ Red today, what would it reveal?
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â Whose death was Katarina referring to in Cape May? In Cape May, Katarina says âItâs not that he died. Itâs not even the way he died. Itâs in the things I said to him⌠just before he diedâ [3:19] Who died? What did she say to him? Does this relate to RR? To the argument? To Liz shooting her father? Also, was the necklace real?
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â Why did Mr Kaplan say to Red, âYouâll find your wifeâ? In [2:2 Monarch Douglas Bank], refers to Naomi Hyland (Carla Reddington) as Redâs wife. Wouldnât she have known Naomi wasnât Redâs wife, but RRâs? Red showed Naomi a lot of affection. Had he known her?
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â What was Redâs relationship to RR?
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â What was Redâs relationship to Katarina? He knew her so well he could complete Alexander Kirkâs sentences about her and said âWe both miss herâ [Alexander Kirk, Pt 2]. Cape May [3:19] was all about Redâs memories about Katarina. [Why would she say âDonât be ridiculous, Raymondâ if Red is not RR?] Was Red another of Katarinaâs âassignmentsâ? [4:3 Miles McGrath] Were they colleagues? Relatives?
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â Who did Katarina love, if anyone? Red told Liz that her father was probably the only man her mother âreally loved.â He looked pained when he said this. Was he talking about himself; about RR? Katarina wrote in her diary âLook at meâ in love with the man I was sent to seduce and betray. An Americanâ [4:3 Miles McGrath], but when Kathryn (Mr Kaplan) asked her, she said she didnât know, that the only person she was sure she loved was Masha [4:17 Requiem].
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â What did Red whisper to Kirk that immediately disarmed him? [3:23 Alexander Kirk, Pt 2] That he wasnât RR, (though he didnât deny being Lizâs father)?
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â A huge question is how Lizâs memories have been manipulated. Has Liz forgotten she shot her father? Did she shoot her father? [2:22 Tom Connolly] Were these the memories erased two years ago (now three years) per Dr Bogdan Krilov [4:19]? This would have been some time post-Braxton.
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â Why didnât they go public with the bones? Who will find out? To get the âwhole truthâ [5:16 Capricorn Killer] from Red? (Which is what we all want!) Because Garvey would lose his leverage over Red? Who knows now? Who will Liz and Lilly/Jennifer tell? Sutton Ross knew the truth â and the two shots that hit him did not appear to be fatal [5:22].
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â Why did Red have RRâs body/bones to bury? (He could have taken advantage of Liz accidentally killing RR to stage the abandoned car. He could even have been trying to protect her)
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â Why was there a âKâ on the tree at Tansi Farms? Why did Mr Kaplan say âSorry, Katarinaâ [4:22 Mr Kaplan Pt 2]? @nathparis75 says that in Russian the word for âredâ begins with a âKâ (Kpachbin).
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â Has Red been in Lizâs life just to keep his secret from being revealed? (He might have thought sheâd use FBI resources to research her parents.) Yet he repeatedly puts her life before his own [e.g. 1:10 Anslo Garrick, Pt 2; 5:22 Sutton Ross].
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â âHit me. Hug me.â [5:22 Sutton Ross] Is this just Resslerâs view (and a #MeToo nod)? Does Red still need to protect Liz, other than to protect her from fallout from his various criminal escapades? Is there still an existential threat out there from which Red needs to protect Liz?
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â Does Red love Liz? Have to think so, even if heâs been acting to her, he canât have been âactingâ to us (the audience) â too many unrequired moments of concern and affection. How does he love her? Is Lizzington back on?
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â Can Lizâs âtheatricsâ [5:22 Sutton Ross] fool Red for long? Red reads people well. The final hugging scene in 5:22 may just be Lizâs view that she fooled him; itâs her memory relayed to Tom. Red may have seen through her already. If he doesnât, will Dembe?
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â Who was Seaduke? RR was tortured by âSeaduke.â [4:22 Mr Kaplan, Pt 2] Fans at Blacklist Exposed have found that âSeadukeâ is a Trojan virus described by NJCCIC as âhighly configurable and hid[ing] behind layers of encryption and obfuscation, facilitating the stealing and exfiltration of sensitive data from the compromised deviceâ http://bit.ly/2rZkn4x. Could the Russians have inserted a RR-look-alike (ie Red)?
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â How much of what Red told Lilly/Jennifer is true? [5:20 Nicholas Moore] He seemed detached, spoke in the passive voice (âYou were protectedâ).
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â Seeing as Garvey killed Tom [5:8] (and Nik and Pete and Lena) and Liz killed both Garvey [5:19] and RR [2:22], how can Liz and Lilly/Jennifer possibly work together? Liz blames Red for these deaths, but he didnât actually kill them. And he explicitly told Kaplan he wouldnât kill her (a second time, anyway) [4:22 Mr Kaplan, Pt 2] and he didnât shoot Tom after the stabbing even though he wanted to [5:8 Ian Garvey]. Does Lilly have to reckon with Garvey having been a bad guy? Will Liz tell Lilly she shot their father (if she remembers)? Sister troubles brewing.
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â What did Ian Garvey mean when he told Jennifer/Lilly âEverything you believed for the last 30 years has been a lieâ? [5:19 Ian Garvey, Pt 2] He added: Youâve spent a lifetime hiding for no reason.â [5:19 Ian Garvey Pt 2]
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â Did Red have a âthirdâ family? That is, not Naomi/Carla â Jennifer/Lilly or Katarina â Liz/Masha. In [2:9 Luther Braxton], Red talks about having had a fairly normal life (âplay dates,â etc), but he âlost all that.â Diane Fowler said she knew what happened to Redâs family [1:13 Cyprus Agency]. I thought she said âRedâ sarcastically, as if in quotation marks. He also blew up a house where he âraised my familyâ [1:7 Frederick Barnes] What family was Red talking about? Who was the bubble girl in the home films? [2:5 The Front] Was there one girl or two? Who was the woman he spliced out?
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â Was the tale Red told to Madeline Pratt [1:14] just a tale he told to Madeline Pratt?
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â What happened the night of the fire? Who sewed the Fulcrum in the bunny? Who put Liz in the closet? Who rescued Liz from the fire? Who âlay dying on the floorâ? âLiz: âYou were there.â Red: âYes.ââ Who were the men leaving the building? [2:10 Braxton Pt 2] Red said âI chose the child,â [3:19 Cape May] but it was Katarina who delivered Liz to Kaplan. How would Katarina and Red (or RR) have both known Sam? Who knew each other of these people: Sam, Katarina, Red, RR? This all needs to be cleared up.
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â What was the meaning of the date on the Swan Lake program (3/22/1987)? [1:16 Mako Tanida] Liz has referred to feeling âwatched overâ at her ballet performances [5:16 Capricorn Killer]. But the date itself figured prominently in the shot [in 1:16].
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â What happened with the Cabal? Red joined it at the end of [3:10 The Director Pt 2], but are we supposed to be cool with a shadow government running the world (even though maybe one does, eg the WEF that hosts Davos)? Are they still a threat to Liz, say, if her true identity is known?
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â Who stole Tom (Christopher Hargrave) from the beach when he was little? [3:22 Alexander Kirk] Why? (Sorry if this was covered under The Blacklist: Redemption)
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â Is Katarina still alive? Anton Velov said she left a photo of Liz in a hotel room in Prague [3:16 The Caretaker]. What did Red âdo to Katarinaâ [Mr Kaplan, Pt 2] that Dembe thinks Liz will never understand? Red obtained the âGlosnostâ file for âRostovaâ (Katarina, not Kirk) and then said âIt just keeps getting worseâ [3:14 Lady Ambrosia]. What did he learn?
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â Who killed Naomi? [5:20 Nicholas Moore] Is Red going after them? Might help get Jennifer/Lilly off his case.
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â Why does Red never speak up for himself? Why did Red stop telling stories?
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â Lizâs scar behaves weirdly: It seemed to appear magically (2:10 Braxton 2); didnât hurt much (4:17 Requiem); its shape appeared on âgoâ boxes (1:1 Pilot And 1:6 Gina Zanetakos) and an envelope left by Tom (1:20 Kingmaker); resembles the Baltic Sea or the Japanese character for fire; and comes and goes. Redâs scarred back made a single appearance and has not been seen or heard from since [1:22 Berlin Pt 2]. Whut up?
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â Lastly, if Red is not Raymond Reddington, who the hell is he? And why did he take on RRâs identity?
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đ Thisâď¸â Thanks to commenters here and fans on Twitter and The Blacklist Exposed!
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âThe test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.â â F Scott Fitzgerald
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As for the idea that [1:12] The Alchemist or [5:14] Mr Raleigh Sinclair III provide predicates for the Mother Theory, I find this unconvincing. The Alchemist staged crime scenes; his victims were dead (as were those in [2:20] Quon Zhang). And Raleigh Sinclairâs impersonators require hours of prep, which would have to be performed daily, not to mention the fact that Red only meets him in person in late in Season 5.
I may be wrong, but I didnât think this theory was likely enough to include in the questions. There is a general nod to the idea Red could be a ârelative.â
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đ žď¸ Season 5 Notes
âď¸ = Answered ( âââ how answered, pre-finale)
âď¸ = Answered ( âââ how answered, post-finale)
âď¸â= Answered, though some questions remain
đş = Unanswered
đť = Unanswered but may not be very important
âââââââ
Working Notes âŚ
âď¸ The Swan Lake program: What was the significance of the date (3/22/1987)? Who was the little dancer Red remembers? â Both Katarina and Liz liked to dance. Perhaps the date on the program was insignificant. Megan Boone was born 4/29/1983.
đťDoes the story of Swan Lake reflect the story of Red and Katarina?
âď¸ Why doesnât Red seem to care about Jennifer? Is he her father or just Naomiâs daughter? Technically, service academy students arenât supposed to have families (timeline issues). â Red is Jenniferâs (aka Lilly Rothâs) biological father with Naomi Hyland). The timeline appears to be off. Aha! Turns out Jennifer/Lilly is not Redâs daughter, after all.
đťWho was âSeadukeâ?
âď¸ Is Dom an American citizen? Originally Russian? How did Katarina become a KGB spy? Was Dom himself KGB? When Katarina refers to âfalling in love with an Americanâ it seems like sheâs referring to a foreigner. â Both Dom and Katarina were Russian. Dom has said he in now a naturalized American citizen, having taken a new name. His code name when he was in the KGB was Oleander. He may still be active.
đşWas Katarina in love with Red? She writes in her diary she was but evades answering when Kate asks her. â Itâs not clear now if Red or RR relate to Katarinaâs references to âThe Americanâ (the man in the car) or âThe blonde man.â If Katarina was a âMata Hari,â she had multiple assignments. (Think of Elizabeth Jennings in the series âThe Americans.â)
đş How did Red and Katarina both know Sam?
âď¸âIs Red really, really, really Lizâs father? What about âRed never lies to Liz?â (Per Daniel Knauf. (Do writers lie to fans?) Also, Red repeatedly insists he has never lied to Liz. â It seems he lied to her to keep her safe. The S5 Finale revealed that Red is not RR, so Liz assumes that means Red is not her father, but the DNA sample used to determine Lizâs paternity was taken from a 25 year old torture scene
đşIn Cape May, Katarina says âItâs not that he died. Itâs not even the way he died. Itâs in the things I said to him⌠just before he died.â Who died? What did she say to him? Also, was the necklace real?
đťWhat happened between Red and Alexander Rostov at Cape May (or elsewhere)?: âThat house by the water, holding a gun in your mouth⌠I should have pulled the trigger.â
đşWhy did Cooper use 30-year-old DNA? Youâd think theyâd have taken blood from him and stored samples from when he was in custody. Are the results from the DNA test Liz ordered still on file?
đşRed told Liz that her father was probably the only man her mother âreally loved.â He looked pained when he said this. Was he talking about himself; About RR?
đşWhat was Diane Fowler talking about (âI know the truth, Red, about that night â about what happened to your family. Do you want to know the truthâ)? Is it connected to the story Red told Madeline Pratt?) â
â In 5:20 Red made it sound like he planned (or let) Naomi and Jennifer go into WITSEC as the only way theyâd be protected. How does that jive with Fowler seeming to know what happened to Redâs family when Red doesnât â Itâs not clear that Red was involved in this decision.
đşWas the story Red told to Madeline just a trick on Madeline?
đşWhat happened in the house where Red raised his family that was so bad he wanted to blow it up? Naomi/Jennifer are okay. Liz is okay.
âď¸ Did Red have yet a third family? â Not that we know of. There are three families. RR+Naomi+Jennifer (Lilly); either RR or Red +Katarina+Liz; if Liz is not Redâs daughter, Red has a different family, with a daughter (âbubble girlâ), referenced in multiple cases, most notably Diane Fowlerâs reference and being the reason Red blew up the house.
đşRed agreed with Liz when she said she remembers her father saving her from the fire. If so, how did Katarina get her and take her to Kate? Who was âdying on the floor of a burning houseâ? Red âwas there.â Why?
đşWho sewed the Fulcrum in the bunny?
đťWill Liz ever see Redâs burn scars?
đşWhy did Liz remember shooting her father? Did she shoot someone else? Was a memory implanted? Red told Liz about Katarina that âThe man she loved [was] killed by the child she adored.â
âď¸ What was Red accused of doing (by the Cabal? the US govt?) that was a set-up? Selling secrets? Why was he set up? â The Cabal went after him for trying to destroy them. Russia and the US siccâd the KGB and CIA on him to destroy him (5:20)
đşThe Cabal has slipped into the background. Are they still coming for Liz? Shouldnât there be greater public uproar over the revelation of the Cabal? Will the Cabal be destroyed by the end of the series or are we not supposed to care about that?
âď¸ At the Summer Palace, Liz finds what seems to be the very drawing that in her dreams she sees burning in the fire. How is that possible? â Probably it was just burning in her flashback, reflecting her dream of a perfect family.
đťThings never explained: How Pepper got the key. How Red had access to a Presidential limo. What Red whispered to Kirk that kept him from killing him. The last is most important.
âď¸ Did Red kill Nik (the doctor, Lizâs ex-fiance)? â No. Nik reappeared in Season 5.
đş Red obtained the âGlosnostâ file for âRostovaâ (Katarina, not Kirk) and then said âIt just keeps getting worse.â What did he learn?
âď¸â What is the story behind Redâs âweird little apartmentâ? Was it Katarinaâs? (Russian books, Zhukov photo) â The Russian books and photo of General Zhukov and itâs being frozen in time imply it was Katarinaâs.
đşWas Velov right and Katarina didnât drown and showed up later in a hotel later?
đşDid Red have plastic surgery? Maltz says to Red: âYou look great, the elascitiy is amazing.â â
âď¸ Is Red or RR Lizâs father? â Still an open question, mainly because the writers had the DNA taken by an unscientific method from an old shirt from a torture scene rather than from a current sample with a reliable chain of custody.
đťIn two different episodes, Red mentions he âdied in Marrakech.â Is this significant?
đşDid Liz really have her memory tampered with only âtwo years agoâ? Also, what memories did Red originally try to have expunged?
âď¸ Whose bones are in the duffel bag and why are they so mangled? The âK â on the tree suggests it was Katarina. What did Red do to Katarina that Dembe thinks Liz will ânever understandâ? (I had a nightmare that Red was a cannibal ~ lol) â The bones belonged to Raymond Reddington, the real one. Red is an imposter. The K on the tree and Dembeâs statement are unexplained
đť Where is âhomeâ to Red? â Nebraska? Michigan! per Suzi Morelandâs timeline
đť Who killed Naomi? (Is Red going to go after them?)
âď¸ Why would Red think Ian Garvey would have given Naomi the suitcase? Because sheâd want to know Red is impersonating RR.
đş What was the âwhole truthâ Ian Garvey was looking for? We all want to know.
đť Why did Red stop telling stories?
đť Who kidnapped Christopher Hargrave (aka Jacob Phelps/Tom Keen? (Excuse me if this was answered in The Blacklist: Redemption)
đť Does the fact that the World Wide Web went live on 12/25/1990 play in? http://bit.ly/2wYLrql. It is layered on the Internet (originally Arpanet or Darpanet designed by the DoD) but was published by a Swiss company, CERN. Does this explain Redâs wariness about communications technology?
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