The Blacklist - Frederick Barnes Episode 1x8 - The Takoma Park House
I’m looking at this from the angle that Redarina WAS ALWAYS THE PLAN. not entertaining him being the real RR/Liz’s dad (although I was formerly DG) or a third man, for this little exercise. This is in retrospect as way back when, i had a completely different take on this house.
I will concede, the writers altered or dare I say... retconned this but it could in theory still work with Redarina with a little imagination.
Here’s what Katarina said in 821:
Katarina: The next two years were a blur of lies. I was married to a man I didn’t love. I had a child with the man I was targeting as a spy. My husband believed the baby was his, and my lover had no idea he was a mark. Real RR: We’d see each other when we could. Paris. Katarina: Moscow. Real RR: London. Katarina: St. Petersburg. Real RR: Berlin. Katarina: By then, I had lost any sense of myself. I was living a lie. Everything about me was pretend. Liz: And your wife, she never knew? Real RR: There were some close calls. Katarina: I even helped watch Jennifer one weekend while she was away. It was extremely uncomfortable, playing house.
So what I think looking at this from a Redarina pov and how this could work....
two things come to mind.
My first choice would be that when Red said he raised his family in that house... it was meant to be truthful story wise. This was ONLY the seventh episode in the series 8 years ago. My thought is that they hadn’t planned/mapped out Katarina’s (Red’s) backstory but this was supposed to be his house! HE SEEMS GENUINE. though we can’t rely on that. because criminals are notorious liars. Take the preposterous story he told Madeline Pratt for example that I’ve written about.
Anyways, It was later changed because well, Red is a Russian spy, it wouldn’t work him raising his family in America. Not to mention, he was busy raising Masha in Moscow and The Summer Palace with Alexander Kirk.
My second choice would be just to say that he’s speaking as the real RR but his identity is still Katarina.
Conclusion: We saw in Nachalo that the house ended up belonging to the real Raymond Reddington and his wife Carla. Red cannot be a third man raising his family in that house when it was the OG RR raising his family there. Katarina didn’t really raise her family there either.
Plot/writing sorta retcon. next up... Bubble Girl.
