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| Will Hart / NBC |
The time has finally come. Or has it? “The Blacklist” is teasing yet another mind-blowing reveal about Red in tonight’s June 4th episode. After nearly eight seasons of keeping quiet, Red is supposedly going to spill everything to Liz. Or at least, why he came into her life. Imagining this actually happens, will there be a critical enough reveal about Red to redeem Liz?
The key question is if the renewed drama will reveal anything at all. It is easy to imagine that “The Blacklist” will have Red primed to tell Liz the truth with her leaning in ever-so intensely before Townsend interrupts. Unfortunately, Season 8’s big bad will probably abscond with Liz, leading to yet another showdown and a missed opportunity for secret-sharing time.
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| Scott Gries / NBC |
Will There Be a Red Reveal?
Let’s say I am not optimistic that Red will truly get to reveal anything. There have been promos of “The Blacklist” teasing that Liz and/or the audience will learn something massive before, only to have it all fizzle. The best-case scenario is learning a partial truth while fans continue to debate who Red really is. Unfortunately, I doubt the show is about to reveal that.
Of course, I thought the whole (“why did Red come into Liz’s life?”) was already asked and answered. Red believed that Tom had gotten compromised by his nemesis Berlin and moved onto the scene to protect Liz from Berlin and her husband. Am I wrong? I have to be. Whatever is in store about Red, it will have to be massive to undo the damage Liz has done in Season 8.
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| Scott Gries / NBC |
Can Liz Get Redeemed?
All told, it will require a lot of groveling. Liz allied with her unhinged and murderous maybe-mom against Red, a man she has known for the better part of a decade and called a father figure. Along the way, there has been a loss of life that Liz is primarily to blame for causing. Meanwhile, Red has tried to reason with Liz, who has demanded full transparency about Red’s secrets.
My current guess is that Red is the real Raymond Reddington, after all. I believe the real Red’s identical twin got killed in the fire and buried. Hence, becoming the bag of bones that infamously led to the deaths of Tom, who wagered its secrets were worth anything. To the point, he risked his and Liz’s happiness to get Red out of their lives.
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| Scott Gries / NBC |
Bad Decisions Everywhere
It was the wrong play for Tom, and it has been the wrong play for Liz. Liz cannot see that because she would have to subsequently blame Tom for causing his death and herself for everything since. Liz refuses to do that. At the core of any reveal about Red that “The Blacklist” has to offer is that Liz’s own self-awareness has to be there too. Right?
In the tragic aftermath of Tom’s bad decision, Liz has tried to blame Red for everything. From Tom and her sister’s recent death to the rise in milk prices, Liz has “seen Red.” It is time for it to end, and hopefully, it will happen in tonight’s episode of “The Blacklist.” What would the truth mean for Liz?
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| Will Hart / NBC |
Liz Has A Lot To Regret
Viewers have been to this rodeo before. A desperate Liz on a quest for answers about Red that she feels entitled to have. “The Blacklist” Season 8 saw Liz’s warpath take no prisoners. In one of the season’s most bewildering developments, she planned and deeply regretted killing Townsend’s war criminal sister. Liz even got sick over it.
In stark contrast, Liz has shown barely any guilt over causing the death of Red’s sweet girlfriend, Anne. Instead, Liz made passive mention of what she did via a veiled comment to Ressler in the previous episode of “The Blacklist.” But, Liz has not gotten sick or apparently lost sleep over Anne’s tragic and preventable passing. It has been Liz’s lowest moment, in my opinion.
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| Will Hart / NBC |
Red Is Not A Villain
Aram hit the nail on the head in a recent episode when he championed Red to the Task Force. Nothing he said was wrong. Aram loves Liz, cares for Red, and values the truth. The veritas of it all is that Red is simply not the bad guy Liz has been screaming to the universe that he is.
“The Blacklist” has had Liz madly scream to anyone who can listen to her words of emotionally fueled bias in the matter. Yes, Red has caused unintended collateral damage, and I cannot entirely agree with every choice he has made. But he is the better of every evil and of, undoubtedly higher moral fabric than the Katarina Liz got to know.
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| Will Hart / NBC |
Will Red Get Vindicated?
Whoever Red is, they are undoubtedly incredibly close to Liz. Look no further than that Townsend went from being an ally of Liz to learning the whole truth and wanting her dead. He wants Red to suffer as he has suffered. Townsend wants Red to watch his child die helplessly. Why can Liz not see this? It is confirmation that Liz is, in fact, Red’s daughter.
How Liz is his daughter is the question. That said, for all the Red is Katarina (“Redstova”) theorists out there, I doubt that “Redstova” is the big reveal that will happen, if and when Red’s true identity is exposed. To its credit, “The Blacklist” has certainly teased things in a way that has kept the lingering theory alive.
Related: Liz and Ressler’s Kiss On ‘The Blacklist’ Was Pretty Tricky To Do
We will see, though. Tonight’s (supposedly) revelatory episode about Red’s origin story and why he appeared in Liz’s life airs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. If you miss Season 8, Episode 20 of “The Blacklist,” you can also watch it on Peacock later.
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