It is a colossal mess. In Nachalo, Red takes Elizabeth to Latvia and spills some long-held secrets and a bombshell is dropped when Katarina reveals that she is not her real mother. That is why they teamed up together to try to get Red and to question Ivan. AsThe Blacklist nears its Season 8 finale, the most pressing questions might be coming from behind the scenes, following the news that Megan Boone will exit the series after Season 8. Despite all the hints that Katarina was the one to assume Reds identity 30 years ago, Liz still believes that someone else entirely became Red, while Katarina is living in hiding somewhere. Season 9 of The Blacklist has already been given the greenlight and Liz's death and the contents of Red's letter are likely to play a major role. I didn't mean to say Masha was N-13, but the Sikorsky Archive- that Katarina Rostova stole the 13 packets of intel, and gave them to Raymond Reddington, who hid them in Masha Rostova. He insisted on keeping the truth a secret, stating: "If you knew who I am you would never agree to kill me. * Young Katarina says shes made many mistakes in her life, but abandoning Liz wasnt one of them. Express. She wont be destroyed certainly not by the likes of you. And with that, Red presses a button, and upstairs, Townsend and his men all go up in flames. \That maneuver did get Liz back in the game as Neville invited him to join him in questioning Stepanov after she swore off any further cooperation with the FBI. Red and Harold were both wrong when they argued that the other was the dishonest one. There have been such an astounding abundance of you over my 150+ episodes that, ironically, I could not list you all here, but What a list. PMC Entertainment. So the legend of Agent N-13 remains secret. ': BBC boycott as viewers flock to GB News, Labour's Dodds brutally cut off by Charlie Stayt over pledges 'Can you commit to it? Fortunately, that was when Red and his forces chose to storm Townsend's hideout. ", A post shared by Megan Boone (@msmeganboone). I've assumed it was possible that we're dealing with macguffin technology here- that Red and Ivan need each other because somehow, the Archive communicates with Zaston, and Ivan gives the information to Red. How she took out Townsend's men with a rewired shock collar was perfectly MacGyverish. Elizabeth has previously discovered that her real mother is a Russian spy named Katarina Rostova (Lotte Verbeek and Laila Robins) and that her biological father is the real Reddington. Shouldn't everyone be focused on bringing down Townsend rather than fighting among themselves? Throughout the story, shes joined by Lizs visions of the real Raymond Reddington (meaning, Lizs biological father), as well as the present-day versions of Katarina, Dom and Ilya, all of whom add more detail to Young Katarinas tale and try to untangle some of the lies Liz has been told in recent years. Also, Dom said his daughter took the packets (not Masha) and Ivan states Red being N-13 is a fact people dont know (not Masha). But I feel like they are making an effort to tie up several of the loose ends by the end of this season. All things considered, the heated confrontation with Liz passionately declaring that they had an agreement ultimately cools down when Liz sees that Townsend has captured the mysterious Russian Ivan Stepanov, which viewers saw at the end of last week's episode. Red knows that he needs Coopers help and that they will take him into custody, but the risk is worth the reward. Still, there remained a lot of everyone attempting to use everyone else without revealing any more than was absolutely necessary. Wednesdays episode, though, got tantalizingly close to revealing the actual, serious, no-really-guys-this-time-we-mean-it answer to the question of Reds true persona, and unless the show is intentionally stretching out the misdirect of all misdirects, then the answer essentiallywas given to us without explicitly being said aloud: Red could very well be Katarina Rostova, Lizs biological mother, who presumably went under the knife to transform into the man whos been protecting and/or terrorizing Liz for the last eight years. Rather than killing Stepanov near the end to keep him from falling into the wrong hands, Reddington forgave him for breaking and putting both Red and Liz in danger. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. However, the duo were followed by Neville Townsend (Reg Rogers) after he placed a tracker on Liz's car. Liz recovered from her injuries and the trio focused their energies on who would replace Neville as Russia's biggest crime and drug lord following his death. I don't see why the rest of Team Townsend would be involved if killing Liz is just a matter of revenge. As for what this confrontation between Liz and Townsend means for the grand scheme of the episode, check out the official description of what's to come: Red tries desperately to rescue an old friend at all costs, while Liz and Townsend conduct an interrogation. See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. (sic). Will not time travel. If the Katarina that is Doms daughter is actually Red, then Liz is the daughter of Red-Katarina not dead blond Katarina. If Red and the Task Force had actually worked together rather than around each other, maybe, just maybe, they would have Neville in a vice by now. So Ressler and Aram were interrogating accountants when a badly outnumbered Red really needed the FBI's firepower. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). He should have routed them instead to the seat of the problem. I made fun of this theory at first. Laghari gives Red the address where Keen and Townsend are. And the new Directive does not target Red. Stepanov is in surgery, Laghari tells Red that she didnt make it in time. The real Katarina instead created a new version of Raymond Reddington to protect Elizabeth. Aiming the gun at Red, she exclaimed: "I can't do it. The Blacklist: Liz has failed to discover the real identity of red, but fans assume they are related in some way. And why does he trust Liz and the Task Force, but not other people? To me, it would seem that the Sikorsky Archive is still wrapped up in the new Directive. Priya also became Liz's protector because Red knew what would happen to her if Stepanov was made to talk. As Raymond's only soldier on the ground, Priya had to tail Neville and Liz when they left to go to the warehouse when Stepanov was held captive. Without clarifying they are two different Reddingtons. Dembe tells Red that they should call Cooper and Red says no and tells Chuck to call. And when Dom eventually told Tatiana where the real Katarina was, she was going to share that intel with Townsend, but Red killed her before she could. ', UK supermarket supply in chaos over 'catastrophic' delivery shortage, GB News backlash: Dan Wootton sparks Ofcom complaints over Covid comments. Townsend previously thought Lizs mother was the blond Katarina who was shot by Red. #TheBlacklist.. After the finale aired, Boone took to social media to address her exit from the show. June 16 2021, 8:00 PM PDT. The flaw in that logic was that Liz's cooperation with the Task Force had been revealed because of Ressler's hacked phone. (Whew. With speculation growing, and fans questioning whether or not Red is the real father of Elizabeth, Nachalo has inspired some incredibly interesting theories from fans that could change the entire relationship between Red and Elizabeth. The "Ivan Stepanov" episode of The Blacklist airs Friday, May 14 at 8 p.m. But all that means is that he will need to move to a different property and set up a new headquarters. The big question still to be answered is why didn't Liz cast her lot with the Task Force? She surely must know as well as viewers that Townsend's methods of getting that information are bound to be a lot dirtier and bloodier than Liz would have gone with in her FBI days, but those FBI days are behind her, at least for now. What a dream. Despite everything that has happened between them this season, Red still wants to protect Liz. One, if Liz is the Archive, how does Stepanov give Red a flash drive that he says is "fresh from the Archive?" The Blacklist: James Spader portrays Raymond 'Red' Reddington. Cinemablend is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Wow! That wasn't his "job". Despite Liz being hit by a bullet, Red and Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) were able to successfully fight off Neville and his crew, killing them all in a massive gas explosion. Thank you all. For example, Liz has been fully aware Red was the man who killed her mother Katarina (Lotte Verbeek) and that he was not the real Red Reddington. It's possible what he said was both. Check out the full recap of The Blacklist 817 below!

Ilya counters that Dom lied to Liz about who assumed Reds identity, but he was truthful when he said that Ilya framed Red as a traitor to his country. Has opinions about crossovers, Star Wars, and superheroes. Stepanov told Townsend that his question was moot- Rostova and Reddington stole the Sikorsky Archive and hid it in the last place someone would think they'd hide explosive intel: their daughter. In the next episode, Liz and Townsend will again be working together, but not without an intense confrontation, as seen in the clip above. Cooper arrives and says he is taking Stepanov into custody. Unfortunately, Liz's death meant she never found out the truth about why Red entered her life eight years ago, much to the audience's frustration. Priya had blown her cover as well, explaining that Red had sent her to warn Liz. Everyone is in Townsend's crosshairs now. Star Wars Kingdom Hearts World Should Focus on the Original Trilogy, Director of Uncharted, The Last of Us opens a new studio Wildflower Interactive, Netflix: all May 2021 releases in streaming, James Bond 26 will be a reinvention after Daniel Craigs departure. Masha cannot be N-13 because she was a small child when the packets were stolen. He might not know who Masha is, for sake of deniability, or to protect her (If he doesn't know, he can't tell), I had said after that episode when Katerina was torturing Dom that Liz could be N13 somehow, Then people were like no. What do you think, Blacklist fans: Is the show finally revealing that Red is indeed Katarina? Cooper takes over. Apparently, Raymond wasn't kidding when he described Stepanov as his oldest friend. * Katarina was the one to have Lizs memory erased, seeing as the night of the fire was deeply traumatic for Liz on multiple levels. The show had previously revealed that Red Reddington was not who he said he was, and fans finally got the confirmation a few seasons ago that this was, in fact, true. Laghari takes them out of the room, they get in a car and Townsend finds them before they can leave. Jeremy Vine clash erupts as guest blasts mandatory care home vaccine. New Amsterdam season 4: Max and Helen romance 'confirmed'? I certainly doubt he'd feel the loss of a non child to be equivalent to his loss. It sounds a bit ridiculous to say (or type) aloud, but this theory has prevailed amongBlacklist fans since the shows inception, and hints have been dropped in the past that suggest its accuracy. However, the latest episode has hinted that Red could have a very different role in Elizabeths life after all. As for whether Liz will survive her alliance with Townsend after Megan Boone's long absence in Season 8, or Red will survive the effects of his mysterious illness well, fans will just have to tune in to find out.