🔴 S5 Unanswered Questions

🔴 Season 5 Unanswered Questions

 

Please see version of this list updated for Season 6 at: https://wp.me/pDKwi-9Hl

 

Season 5 Unanswered ?s: ⇊ Page Down ⇊
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 ]
 

Please leave new questions in a comment. I’ll incorporate new questions into the list. Troy Heinritz of BlacklistExposed agreed to give this list to the writers/producers.

 

Shortened Version of Questions

Red = “our” Red; RR = the real Raymond Reddington. (Assuming RR was Jennifer/Lilly’s father, but that either Red or RR may be Liz’s father.)

⭕ What is Red’s relationship to Dom? Is Dom still active as a spy? Was Red a double agent?

⭕ Who is Liz’s father? Red or RR? Use of an old shirt from evidence for DNA raises questions.

⭕ Whose death was Katarina referring to in Cape May when she said, “It’s not that he died. … ” RR?
   Why did Katarina call Red “Raymond” in that episode? It was Red’s dream.

⭕ Why didn’t they go public with the bones? What is the “whole truth” Garvey wanted? He already
  knew Red was an imposter.

⭕ Why did Red have RR’s body/bones to bury?

⭕ Why did Mr Kaplan say to Red, “You’ll find your wife” if Naomi was RR’s wife, not Red’s, and Kaplan
  knew it?

⭕ Why was there a “K” on the tree at Tansi Farms if the bones were RR’s? Why did Kaplan say “Sorry,
  Katarina”?

⭕ What was Red’s relationship to RR? Colleagues? Rivals? Relatives?

⭕ What was Red’s relationship to Katarina? Who did Katarina love, if anyone?

⭕ What did Red whisper to Kirk that so disarmed him? That he wasn’t RR?

⭕ A huge question is how Liz’s memories have been manipulated. Has Liz forgotten she shot her
  father? Did she actually shoot her father?

⭕ Has Red been in Liz’s life just to keep his secret from being revealed? She seems to think so.

⭕ Is there an existential threat remaining out there from which Red needs to protect Liz?

⭕ Does Red love Liz? Or rather, how does Red love Liz?

⭕ Can Liz’s “theatrics” fool Red for long? He reads people well. If he doesn’t, will Dembe?

⭕ Who was Seaduke? Did Dom (Oleander) know him?

⭕ How much of what Red told Lilly/Jennifer is true? How much did he know versus surmise?

⭕ Seeing as Garvey killed Tom (and Nik and Pete and Lena) and Liz killed both Garvey and RR, how can
  Liz and Lilly/Jennifer possibly work together?

⭕ What did Ian Garvey mean when he told Lilly/Jennifer “Everything you believed for the last 30 years
  has been a lie. You’ve spent a lifetime hiding for no reason.”?

⭕ Did Red have a ‘third’ family? That is, not Naomi/Carla ✛ Lilly/Jennifer or Katarina ✛ Liz/Masha.
   (Lots of sub-questions below … )

⭕ Was the tale Red told to Madeline just a tale he told to Madeline?

⭕ What happened the night of the fire? (Lots of sub-questions below … )

⭕ What was the meaning of the date on the Swan Lake program?

⭕ What happened with the Cabal? Will they be back?

⭕ Who stole Tom (Christopher Hargrave) from the beach when he was little? Why?

⭕ Is Katarina still alive? What did Red ‘do to Katarina’ [Mr Kaplan, Pt 2] that Dembe thinks Liz would
  never understand?

⭕ Who killed Naomi Hyland/Carla Reddington?

⭕ Why does Red never speak up for himself? Why did Red stop telling stories?

⭕ Liz’s scar behaves weirdly. … Red’s scarred back made a single appearance and has not been seen or
  heard from since. Whut up?

⭕ Lastly, if Red is not Raymond Reddington, who the hell is he? And why did he take on
  RR’s identity?

 

Full Version of Questions (with context, sub-questions)

 
⭕ What is Red’s 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 RR’s bones [5:22 Sutton Ross]. Is Dom still active as a spy? Was Red a Russian spy? A double agent?
 
⭕ Is Red or RR Liz’s father? Liz thinks RR, and not Red, is her father, but is that true? Red’s 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 “our” Red today, what would it reveal?
 
⭕ Whose death was Katarina referring to in Cape May? In Cape May, Katarina says “It’s not that he died. It’s not even the way he died. It’s in the things I said to him… just before he died” [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?
 
⭕ Why did Mr Kaplan say to Red, “You’ll find your wife”? In [2:2 Monarch Douglas Bank], refers to Naomi Hyland (Carla Reddington) as Red’s wife. Wouldn’t she have known Naomi wasn’t Red’s wife, but RR’s? Red showed Naomi a lot of affection. Had he known her?
 
⭕ What was Red’s relationship to RR?
 
⭕ What was Red’s relationship to Katarina? He knew her so well he could complete Alexander Kirk’s sentences about her and said “We both miss her” [Alexander Kirk, Pt 2]. Cape May [3:19] was all about Red’s memories about Katarina. [Why would she say “Don’t be ridiculous, Raymond” if Red is not RR?] Was Red another of Katarina’s ‘assignments’? [4:3 Miles McGrath] Were they colleagues? Relatives?
 
⭕ Who did Katarina love, if anyone? Red told Liz that her father was probably the only man her mother “really loved.” He looked pained when he said this. Was he talking about himself; about RR? Katarina wrote in her diary “Look at me– in love with the man I was sent to seduce and betray. An American” [4:3 Miles McGrath], but when Kathryn (Mr Kaplan) asked her, she said she didn’t know, that the only person she was sure she loved was Masha [4:17 Requiem].
 
⭕ What did Red whisper to Kirk that immediately disarmed him? [3:23 Alexander Kirk, Pt 2] That he wasn’t RR, (though he didn’t deny being Liz’s father)?
 
⭕ A huge question is how Liz’s 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.
 
⭕ Why didn’t they go public with the bones? Who will find out? To get the “whole truth” [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 – and the two shots that hit him did not appear to be fatal [5:22].
 
⭕ Why did Red have RR’s 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)
 
⭕ Why was there a “K” on the tree at Tansi Farms? Why did Mr Kaplan say “Sorry, Katarina” [4:22 Mr Kaplan Pt 2]? @nathparis75 says that in Russian the word for “red” begins with a “K” (Kpachbin).
 
⭕ Has Red been in Liz’s life just to keep his secret from being revealed? (He might have thought she’d 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].
 
⭕ “Hit me. Hug me.” [5:22 Sutton Ross] Is this just Ressler’s 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?
 
⭕ Does Red love Liz? Have to think so, even if he’s been acting to her, he can’t have been “acting” to us (the audience) – too many unrequired moments of concern and affection. How does he love her? Is Lizzington back on?
 
⭕ Can Liz’s “theatrics” [5:22 Sutton Ross] fool Red for long? Red reads people well. The final hugging scene in 5:22 may just be Liz’s view that she fooled him; it’s her memory relayed to Tom. Red may have seen through her already. If he doesn’t, will Dembe?
 
⭕ Who was Seaduke? RR was tortured by “Seaduke.” [4:22 Mr Kaplan, Pt 2] Fans at Blacklist Exposed have found that “Seaduke” is a Trojan virus described by NJCCIC as “highly configurable and hid[ing] behind layers of encryption and obfuscation, facilitating the stealing and exfiltration of sensitive data from the compromised device” http://bit.ly/2rZkn4x. Could the Russians have inserted a RR-look-alike (ie Red)?
 
⭕ How much of what Red told Lilly/Jennifer is true? [5:20 Nicholas Moore] He seemed detached, spoke in the passive voice (“You were protected”).
 
⭕ 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 didn’t actually kill them. And he explicitly told Kaplan he wouldn’t kill her (a second time, anyway) [4:22 Mr Kaplan, Pt 2] and he didn’t 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.
 
⭕ What did Ian Garvey mean when he told Jennifer/Lilly “Everything you believed for the last 30 years has been a lie”? [5:19 Ian Garvey, Pt 2] He added: You’ve spent a lifetime hiding for no reason.” [5:19 Ian Garvey Pt 2]
 
⭕ Did Red have a ‘third’ family? That is, not Naomi/Carla ✛ Jennifer/Lilly or Katarina ✛ Liz/Masha. In [2:9 Luther Braxton], Red talks about having had a fairly normal life (“play dates,” etc), but he “lost all that.” Diane Fowler said she knew what happened to Red’s family [1:13 Cyprus Agency]. I thought she said “Red” sarcastically, as if in quotation marks. He also blew up a house where he “raised my family” [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?
 
⭕ Was the tale Red told to Madeline Pratt [1:14] just a tale he told to Madeline Pratt?
 
⭕ 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 “lay dying on the floor”? “Liz: ‘You were there.’ Red: ‘Yes.’” Who were the men leaving the building? [2:10 Braxton Pt 2] Red said “I chose the child,” [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.
 
⭕ What was the meaning of the date on the Swan Lake program (3/22/1987)? [1:16 Mako Tanida] Liz has referred to feeling “watched over” at her ballet performances [5:16 Capricorn Killer]. But the date itself figured prominently in the shot [in 1:16].
 
⭕ 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?
 
⭕ 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)
 
⭕ 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 ‘do to Katarina’ [Mr Kaplan, Pt 2] that Dembe thinks Liz will never understand? Red obtained the “Glosnost” file for “Rostova” (Katarina, not Kirk) and then said “It just keeps getting worse” [3:14 Lady Ambrosia]. What did he learn?
 
⭕ Who killed Naomi? [5:20 Nicholas Moore] Is Red going after them? Might help get Jennifer/Lilly off his case.
 
⭕ Why does Red never speak up for himself? Why did Red stop telling stories?
 
⭕ Liz’s scar behaves weirdly: It seemed to appear magically (2:10 Braxton 2); didn’t hurt much (4:17 Requiem); its shape appeared on “go” 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. Red’s scarred back made a single appearance and has not been seen or heard from since [1:22 Berlin Pt 2]. Whut up?
 
⭕ Lastly, if Red is not Raymond Reddington, who the hell is he? And why did he take on RR’s identity?

 
🔆 This❗️⋙ Thanks to commenters here and fans on Twitter and The Blacklist Exposed!

 
“The 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.” – F Scott Fitzgerald

 
━━━━━━━

 

༺ ✿⊰ ♤ ⊱✿༻

 

🅾️ Season 5 Notes

☑️ = Answered ( “➔” how answered, pre-finale)
☑️ = Answered ( “➔” how answered, post-finale)
☑️❓= Answered, though some questions remain
🔺 = Unanswered
🔻 = Unanswered but may not be very important

━━━━━━━

Working Notes …

☑️ The Swan Lake program: What was the significance of the date (3/22/1987)? Who was the little dancer Red remembers? ➔ Both Katarina and Liz liked to dance. Perhaps the date on the program was insignificant. Megan Boone was born 4/29/1983.
🔻Does the story of Swan Lake reflect the story of Red and Katarina?
☑️ Why doesn’t Red seem to care about Jennifer? Is he her father or just Naomi’s daughter? Technically, service academy students aren’t supposed to have families (timeline issues). ➔ Red is Jennifer’s (aka Lilly Roth’s) biological father with Naomi Hyland). The timeline appears to be off. Aha! Turns out Jennifer/Lilly is not Red’s daughter, after all.
🔻Who was “Seaduke”?
☑️ Is Dom an American citizen? Originally Russian? How did Katarina become a KGB spy? Was Dom himself KGB? When Katarina refers to ‘falling in love with an American’ it seems like she’s referring to a foreigner. ➔ 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.
🔺Was Katarina in love with Red? She writes in her diary she was but evades answering when Kate asks her. ➔ It’s not clear now if Red or RR relate to Katarina’s references to “The American” (the man in the car) or “The blonde man.” If Katarina was a “Mata Hari,” she had multiple assignments. (Think of Elizabeth Jennings in the series “The Americans.”)
🔺 How did Red and Katarina both know Sam?
☑️❓Is Red really, really, really Liz’s father? What about “Red never lies to Liz?” (Per Daniel Knauf. (Do writers lie to fans?) Also, Red repeatedly insists he has never lied to Liz. ➔ 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 Liz’s paternity was taken from a 25 year old torture scene
🔺In Cape May, Katarina says “It’s not that he died. It’s not even the way he died. It’s in the things I said to him… just before he died.” Who died? What did she say to him? Also, was the necklace real?
🔻What happened between Red and Alexander Rostov at Cape May (or elsewhere)?: “That house by the water, holding a gun in your mouth… I should have pulled the trigger.”
🔺Why did Cooper use 30-year-old DNA? You’d think they’d 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?
🔺Red told Liz that her father was probably the only man her mother “really loved.” He looked pained when he said this. Was he talking about himself; About RR?
🔺What was Diane Fowler talking about (“I know the truth, Red, about that night – about what happened to your family. Do you want to know the truth”)? Is it connected to the story Red told Madeline Pratt?) ⇊
⭕ In 5:20 Red made it sound like he planned (or let) Naomi and Jennifer go into WITSEC as the only way they’d be protected. How does that jive with Fowler seeming to know what happened to Red’s family when Red doesn’t ➔ It’s not clear that Red was involved in this decision.
🔺Was the story Red told to Madeline just a trick on Madeline?
🔺What 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.
☑️ Did Red have yet a third family? ➔ Not that we know of. There are three families. RR+Naomi+Jennifer (Lilly); either RR or Red +Katarina+Liz; if Liz is not Red’s daughter, Red has a different family, with a daughter (“bubble girl”), referenced in multiple cases, most notably Diane Fowler’s reference and being the reason Red blew up the house.
🔺Red 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 ‘dying on the floor of a burning house’? Red ‘was there.’ Why?
🔺Who sewed the Fulcrum in the bunny?
🔻Will Liz ever see Red’s burn scars?
🔺Why did Liz remember shooting her father? Did she shoot someone else? Was a memory implanted? Red told Liz about Katarina that “The man she loved [was] killed by the child she adored.”
☑️ What was Red accused of doing (by the Cabal? the US govt?) that was a set-up? Selling secrets? Why was he set up? ➔ The Cabal went after him for trying to destroy them. Russia and the US sicc’d the KGB and CIA on him to destroy him (5:20)
🔺The Cabal has slipped into the background. Are they still coming for Liz? Shouldn’t 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?
☑️ 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? ➔ Probably it was just burning in her flashback, reflecting her dream of a perfect family.
🔻Things 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.
☑️ Did Red kill Nik (the doctor, Liz’s ex-fiance)? ➔ No. Nik reappeared in Season 5.
🔺 Red obtained the “Glosnost” file for “Rostova” (Katarina, not Kirk) and then said “It just keeps getting worse.” What did he learn?
☑️❓ What is the story behind Red’s “weird little apartment”? Was it Katarina’s? (Russian books, Zhukov photo) ➔ The Russian books and photo of General Zhukov and it’s being frozen in time imply it was Katarina’s.
🔺Was Velov right and Katarina didn’t drown and showed up later in a hotel later?
🔺Did Red have plastic surgery? Maltz says to Red: “You look great, the elascitiy is amazing.” ⇊
☑️ Is Red or RR Liz’s father? ➔ 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.
🔻In two different episodes, Red mentions he “died in Marrakech.” Is this significant?
🔺Did Liz really have her memory tampered with only “two years ago”? Also, what memories did Red originally try to have expunged?
☑️ Whose bones are in the duffel bag and why are they so mangled? The “K ” on the tree suggests it was Katarina. What did Red do to Katarina that Dembe thinks Liz will “never understand”? (I had a nightmare that Red was a cannibal ~ lol) ➔ The bones belonged to Raymond Reddington, the real one. Red is an imposter. The K on the tree and Dembe’s statement are unexplained
🔻 Where is “home” to Red? – Nebraska? Michigan! per Suzi Moreland’s timeline
🔻 Who killed Naomi? (Is Red going to go after them?)
☑️ Why would Red think Ian Garvey would have given Naomi the suitcase? Because she’d want to know Red is impersonating RR.
🔺 What was the “whole truth” Ian Garvey was looking for? We all want to know.
🔻 Why did Red stop telling stories?
🔻 Who kidnapped Christopher Hargrave (aka Jacob Phelps/Tom Keen? (Excuse me if this was answered in The Blacklist: Redemption)
🔻 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 Red’s wariness about communications technology?

 
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