#impostor theory

[miss-musings]

Blacklist Bingo: Season 6 edition

The unofficial rules:

If you fill a slot, take a sip.

If you get a BINGO, take a shot.

However, I would caution everyone to play at their own pace (or not play at all). After all, given the S6 promos, it looks like we’d all get alcohol poisoning just from watching the premiere.

[iloveredmorethanever]

05x19 Impostor Theory Updated

“Everything you believed for the last 30 years has been a lie. You’ve spent a lifetime hiding for no reason.” Garvey to Jennifer, Episode 05x19

This is it. This is the key line in this episode. A line that helps unlock the puzzle that is The Blacklist. So here is my current theory, that I believe many others share:

First let’s list some facts the TBL has shared with us and that we assume are true:

Liz is the daughter of Raymond Reddington and Katarina Rostova

Jennifer is the daughter of Raymond Reddington and Naomi Hyland (formerly Carla Reddington)

Jennifer says she was abandoned by her father on Christmas Eve 28 years ago

In the Pilot episode Ressler says this about Reddington:  “Then in 1990, Reddington’s coming home to see his wife and his daughter for Christmas. He never arrives.” This matches exactly to what Jennifer says

Red blew up a house he used to live in after telling Luli that every day he tries to forget what happened here (01x07). Before that we see Red flashing back to memories of a little girl playing with bubbles in the yard.

Red tells Madeline Pratt the story of him going to see his family on Christmas Eve but pulling over to the side of the road because he ran out of gas. He told Madeline by the time he arrived home all he saw was blood and described what he remembered of his daughter .... (01x14)

Okay, now that we have established a few facts, let’s move forward. (Lots more below the break)

Jennifer told Liz that Garvey got her into Witness Protection to protect her from her father. (05x18). Then in (05x19) Jennifer tells Red that she is his long-lost daughter and that he abandoned her on Christmas Eve. She went on to say he became a traitor and she and her mother were sent into hiding because of him.

But Garvey had just told Jennifer that what she believed for the last 30 years was not true. She never had to hide from her father. Why? Because her father is dead. And Garvey has the bones and the DNA to prove it. Raymond Reddington is dead. Jennifer did not need to hide from anyone. So what really happened and why? Garvey sure wanted to know.  We need to start with the real Reddington.

The real Reddington had a daughter (Jennifer) with his wife Carla/Naomi. He was on the fast track to become Admiral. And he became a target. The super spy Katarina Rostova was sent to seduce him and to try to gain intelligence from him. He was a mark. But along the way Katarina fell for him, and got pregnant with his baby, Masha (Liz). So indeed Jennifer and Liz are half sisters who share the same father.

Now to our Red, or impostor Red if you will. Our Red had his own family. He was also in intelligence. Used to run spies. He had a wife and daughter.  And something terrible happened to them. And it happened around the same time that Masha/Liz shot her father, the night  the fire occurred.

So starting with the Masha/Katarina/fire story, we know our Red was there when this happened. Liz confirmed it during her memory extraction (02x10). We also know that Liz shot her father and he died. She remembered that in (02x22) and Red confirmed it in (03x14)

Red: Your parents loved each other very much. The Cold War was hard– too hard for your father. When the Soviet Union was collapsing, he took you from her. She gave up everything to follow him, to follow you. Liz: The night of the fire– that’s what they were arguing about? Red: Your mother, despite what he’d done, she wanted him back. She wanted them to be a family. As much as it pains me to say it, he was probably… the only man she ever really loved. Liz: And I shot him. Red: It was an accident. Liz: Tell me. I need to know. Red: Your mother was never the same after that. The man she loved killed by the child she adored– it was… just too much. Two months later, she went to Cape May and left her clothes on the beach, walked into the ocean, and was never seen again. Liz: So, that night, I killed both my parents. Red: You were a child. There should never have been a gun for you to grab.  

And he again confirmed it in (04x21) talking to Liz about Krilov:

Liz: I understand suppressing memories, helping someone to mute out a traumatic experience, but manipulating them? Red: The memory of an accident, a tragedy, a fire in which a 4-year-old girl killed her father. Liz: This man, is he the one who erased my memory of that night? Red: That’s how Kaplan knows him.

Back to the night of the fire (keep in mind that this happened around Christmas per Liz’s tangent memory (02x10)). Red was there. Perhaps he was Katarina’s handler and was working with her. Or perhaps he was only there to try to steal the Fulcrum. Or maybe he was there to try to kill the real Reddington himself. Katarina had said he was a bad man. (04x17) And maybe he turned traitor. And Red was sent to kill him. Or Red was just there to help Katarina and her family as her enemies were getting close. We don’t know yet. But what we do know is the Katarina got into a fight with Masha’s father that night, and Masha picked up a gun and shot her father. And per Red her father died.

Meanwhile Jennifer and her mother were waiting at home Christmas Eve for their father Raymond Reddington to arrive home. But he never got there, because he was killed by Masha. Jennifer never knew why Reddington did not show up. She thought he abandoned them. But unlike what Red talked about with his family, Jennifer and her mother were fine. So that leads us to Red’s family story....

It may be partially fabricated. Perhaps Red wasn’t delayed by running out of gas when he was going home for Christmas. If it was the same night that the real Reddington was shot our Red could have been delayed by that. We know he got burned in the fire. He may have taken Masha to Sam’s that night too.  Whatever the reason, he showed up late to his family’s house, too late to save them. 

It appears that Red’s family was killed (or taken - again we don’t know how much of the Madeline Pratt story is true), perhaps in retaliation for him trying to steal the Fulcrum or by allies of the real Reddington who found out Red was going after him. Or maybe Red just made a mess of things like Dom spoke about and stirred up a gigantic hornet’s nest. So maybe he doesn’t even know what really happened to his family as he and Diane Fowler spoke about (01x13)

So how and why did Red become Raymond Reddington? The how could have involved Red taking the real Reddington’s body after he died in the fire. He ending up hiding it, not reporting it.  Sounds like Red had plastic surgery (01x08) that could help make him pass for Reddington. After what happened to Red’s family, he needed to hide himself in a persona that would give him power and means ($) to help guide him to the truth and most likely revenge. Whoever harmed his family is very powerful and dangerous. And as I mentioned in past blogs, he and Dembe spoke of a mission. And the mission involved him becoming Reddington.

To pull this off he needed to convince Carla/Naomi to go along with impostor Red becoming Reddington. Pretend they were married. I don’t know why she did it and went along with it - perhaps she was involved in the spy game herself and they all knew each other - Red, the real Reddington, Katarina, Dom. And maybe the mission that Red is on was something she believed in herself. Or maybe when Red told her what happened to his family, she wanted to help because part of her blamed the real Reddington for this tragedy. Or perhaps she wanted revenge herself for the death of Reddington and our Red was the conduit for that. We don’t know yet. All we know at this point is Carla/Naomi knows what Red is up to and knows that Liz is involved in this.

Which brings us to Masha. This part is even more speculative as we have not been given many clues as to Red’s true connection with her as we have with the impostor theory. So I will briefly talk about my current theory.

After the fire, Red put her with Sam to keep her hidden from the people going after her mother (and her). Sam and Red changed her name to Elizabeth (perhaps Red’s real daughter’s name. He could have used his daughter’s ID to try to hide her. Just a possibility). Red then left her life to try to build his new life as Raymond Reddington. He disappeared for a while. Red needed time become him, build his empire, make people think he is Reddington.

And Red succeeded. Everyone thinks he is the real Reddington now. And he decides to get back into Liz’s life, 25 years later. So why is Liz so important now? Why did Red get back into her life? Here’s on theory: In addition to protecting her from Tom, Red needed her for something. Remember in (03x11) Red told Liz that her mother was a secret-keeper:

Red: Katarina Rostova was a name that had been lost to history. Masha Rostova was never more than suspicion and rumor. The manhunt and the publicity it generated changed all of that. Liz: But who would care that I’m Katarina Rostova’s daughter? Red: The daughter of a legendary spymaster, the secret-keeper who disappeared– Liz: Disappeared? You and Sam told me she’s dead. Red: The secrets she took with her could compromise any number of players on that map. They’ll be coming. They’ll be coming for you. Liz: But I don’t know anything. Red: They don’t know that. You can’t walk away, Lizzy. They won’t let you.

It appears that some think these secrets were passed on to Liz. Maybe locked in her memory. Perhaps Red believes this. And maybe he believes that also locked in Liz’s memories are the answers about what happened to his family. So Red needs her. Naomi/Carla told Liz that Red needs something from her. Red himself said so too:

In (01x21) Red’s comment to Liz about needing answers to questions:

There is a lot more to this of course, particularly about Red and Liz’s connection, especially now. But at least we are able to start putting the complicated puzzle together. Episode 05x19 finally dropped a big clue about the impostor theory.

Please feel free to add your thoughts about this theory, especially about the intertwining of the two families - Red’s and the real Reddington’s and of course about the impostor theory. Thanks for reading and maybe we can get a discussion going.

[lizzingtonclub]

The Arabs say: "The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on."

[miss-musings]

Lizzington after 5x22

Liz, thinking about Red: (ง •̀_•́)ง

Red, thinking about Liz: ヽ(♡‿♡)ノ

[miss-musings]

The Blacklist, Lizzington & The Weirdest Survey Ever

So... to support an upcoming “meta” (I use that term loosely) about Red’s romantic love for Liz, I sent what I dubbed “The Weirdest Survey Ever” to a male friend of mine. I wanted to get his perspective on how weird/inappropriate some of the things Red does to/for Liz if he ISN’T in love with her.

I wrote out several of the scenarios of things Red does on the show, and asked my friend how likely he would be to do those things to/for/with/about:

A good female friend

A daughter figure/mentee**

A woman you’re in love with but are not in a relationship with

A woman you’re in a relationship with (WHEN APPLICABLE)

(**-my friend initially envisioned his actual daughters during these scenarios, which I felt like skewed the results. I asked him to re-evaluate the questions under the consideration that the woman was not his biological daughter, adoptive daughter, daughter-in-law, stepdaughter, etc., but was simply the daughter of a friend or a student-type figure in his life. I have included his answers under these considerations.)

As you will see, my friend’s responses were that he would be more willing to do those things for a woman he was in a relationship with.

Now, a few clarifications: my friend is happily married to his wife of almost 20 years and they have four kids together (ages 16-4). He has never seen the show, really, but he’s heard me talk about it plenty. I told him exactly what the survey was for, but I asked him to push TBL out of his mind and be as objective as possible.

I will list the questions and his responses below. Feel free to share the survey with your friends, significant others, etc. I don’t have a significant other, or otherwise, I would’ve asked him these questions instead of my poor friend.

Again, keep in mind that this is by no means scientific, as the sample size is one person, and further respondents would help. So, please share the survey and post your friends’ or SO’s responses in a reblog!

P.S. I don’t agree with all of my friend’s answers, but I still think they’re interesting.

QUESTION ONE

Let's say a loved one is going through a personal crisis and you want to comfort and reassure her. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it that you would hold your loved one's hand if she was:

A good female friend: 3

A daughter figure/mentee: 3

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 0

A woman you're in a relationship with: 7

QUESTION TWO

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you be to spend hundreds of hours helping, protecting, looking after, and if necessary, raising, a child of the following women:

A good female friend: 8

A daughter figure/mentee: 5

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 9

A woman you're in a relationship with (BUT it's not your child): 10

QUESTION THREE

On a scale of 1 to 10, rate how likely it would be for you to describe the following women as "My life, my heart":

A good female friend: 0

A daughter figure/mentee: 0

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 8

A woman you're in a relationship with: 9

QUESTION FOUR

Let's say you have a secret that you're keeping from a loved one that she has a legal right to know, but you don't want to tell her that secret because you're afraid that once she knows the truth, she will hate you and want you out of her life forever. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate how likely it is that you will eventually give in and tell her the secret if she is:

A good female friend: 7

A daughter figure/mentee: 7

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 9

A woman you're in a relationship with: 10

QUESTION FIVE

Let's say you find out that the Significant Other (SO) of a loved one is a complete piece of shit, and you have the resources to extract that SO from your loved one's life (either by killing them, bribing them to leave, etc.). On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to allow that SO to remain in your loved one's life if your loved one is:

A good female friend: 8

A daughter figure/mentee: 3

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 5

QUESTION SIX

Let's say a female loved one is pregnant and has been in an accident. She's in the hospital, and you're waiting to find out how she and the baby are. Your best friend tries to reassure you by conjecturing that everything will be okay, and you flip your shit and yell at him/her that it won't be. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to do so if your loved one who's been in the accident is:

A good female friend: 3

A daughter figure/mentee: 5

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 5

A woman you're now in a relationship with: 10

QUESTION SEVEN

Let's say a loved one has died. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to go into a depression spiral that may include going on a drug bender, giving up most of your career pursuits/hobbies, and/or cutting yourself off from your friends/the world at large, if your loved one is:

A good female friend: 1

A daughter figure/mentee: 1

A woman you were in love with but not in a relationship with: 1

A woman you were in a relationship with: 4

QUESTION EIGHT

Let's say you are having a really nice, personal chat with a loved one and you are describing what she means to you. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it for you to compare your loved one to the North Star because she's your "way home" or to a ray of light in a dark cave, if your loved one is:

A good female friend: 2

A daughter figure/mentee: 1

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 8

A woman you're in a relationship with: 9

QUESTION NINE

Let's say a loved one is getting married and you have serious doubts about it because you believe her SO is keeping major secrets from her. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to ask her, to implore her not to marry her SO, if your loved one is:

A good female friend: 6

A daughter figure/mentee: 3

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 8

QUESTION TEN

Let's say you are reflecting on the fact that you almost watched another loved one die recently. You are standing at an open grave in a cemetery and talking about "foundational elements in our lives ... people who form the brick and mortar of who we are ... people who are so deeply embedded that we take their existence for granted until suddenly they're not there and we collapse into rubble." You also mention you have lost several loved ones, including a parent. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you be to do such a thing if the loved one who almost died was:

A good female friend: 5

A daughter figure/mentee: 3

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 6

A woman you're in a relationship with: 10

QUESTION ELEVEN

Let's say you're about to die. Your killer/executioner allows you just enough time to say some last words, so you say the name of a loved one. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to say the name of the following women:

A good female friend: 0

A daughter figure/mentee: 0

A woman you're in love with but not in a relationship with: 10

A woman you're in a relationship with: 10

QUESTION TWELVE

Let's say you have just watched your loved one die in an ambulance while en-route to the hospital. You must leave the ambulance and your loved one's body behind. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to kiss her forehead and eye socket (but not her lips!!!) as you depart, if she is:

A good female friend: 3.5

A daughter figure/mentee: 2

A woman you were in love with but not in a relationship with: 9

A woman you were in a relationship with: 10

[lizzingtonclub]

Perhaps, it’s Raymond Reddington leaving in the past. The one we knew for the five years.

[iloveredmorethanever]

Did you notice during the Red/Jennifer scene at the end of ep how Red told Jennifer .... You weren’t abandoned, you were protected .... Instead of saying…. I didn’t abandoned you, I protected you....

Correct. Red was very careful what he said to Jennifer (like he is with Liz most of the time). He never confirmed he was Jennifer’s father.

Lilly: No. Okay, here’s a question – Why am I here?Red: You want to know why your father abandoned you.

Red is talking in the 2nd person here. Says “your” father. He should have said why I abandoned you, if he is her father.

Lilly: How does you getting targeted by a scary group of people who think they rule the world explain why you abandoned us?Red: You weren’t abandoned. You were protected.

Again here Red deflects the question why “you” abandoned us with a generic “You weren’t abandoned. You were protected”.  Again he could have said I didn’t abandon you, I protected you.

Red: Being a fugitive from American law enforcement is a lot easier than being a fugitive from the two most powerful nations on Earth. And anyone close to a target of theirs becomes a target themselves.Lilly: Family.Red: Especially family. Unless they’re abandoned on the side of a road on Christmas Eve.

Again Red is talking to Jennifer like he is telling a story. And at the end he says Unless “they’re” abandoned on the side of the road. What is this “they’re”? Why not be specific and say who he is talking about?

Anyway, this is more fodder that Red is not Jennifer’s father who is  Raymond Reddington. Ergo, Red is not Liz’s father either as her father is Raymond Reddington. More clues to the Impostor Theory.

Thanks for your question #anon

[iloveredmorethanever]

More thoughts about Carla/Naomi and Impostor Theory

Jennifer’s return got me to look back at the S2 episodes with Carla/Naomi and look for clues about what Red is up to. Consider this initial conversation between them:

Red: You look so different. Naomi: Not as different as you.

I would imagine that Red becoming Reddington would involve him changing his appearance. He did mention back in S1. that he had “work done” with a plastic surgeon

And then this:

Red: I need to know where Jennifer is. Naomi: I kept my end of the bargain, didn’t say anything about you or Elizabeth. Red: How much does she know? Naomi: Very little.  Are the two of you, what, working together? I don’t even want to know how you pulled that off. Red: Listen to me about Jennifer, I can protect her. Naomi: I’m never going to tell you where my daughter is. Because of you, I’m forced to finally tell Frank, a man who’s never kept a secret from me not only that I was married before, but that I was married to — He sits me down, tells me he’s sorry for me. Try and wrap your warped mind around that. The man’s entire life is upended. All he can think about is me.

Carla/Naomi definitely knows what Red’s secret is and is keeping “her end of the bargain” but not saying anything. Also I don’t believe that Naomi called Red “Raymond” or “Reddington” to his face once. Could be that when Carla was married to Red he was under his own name then. But she is going along with his ruse now.

Next we have this conversation between Liz and Naomi:

Liz: The day Raymond Reddington walked into my life, everything changed – everything I believed about. You were married to the man. You had a life, a child. Naomi: Jennifer. Liz: Yeah. Liz: W- why doesn’t he want me to see you? Naomi: You tell me. Liz: I think it might be because you know something about how the two of us might be connected. Naomi: He wants something from you. It’s a game. It’s a manipulation. He’s made you feel a connection that makes you feel like you matter somehow. And there’s no one on earth who can make a woman feel like the center of his universe more than Raymond Reddington. I’ll tell you this, though. He’s not who you think he is. Liz: What does he want from me?

Naomi clearly says Red wants something from Liz and made her feel a connection towards him. She says Red is manipulating Liz. And he’s not who you think he is (another clue about Red being an impostor?). I had thought for a long time that part of the reason Red got back into Liz’s life was that he does need something from her, that she is a key to his mission. Back in 03x11 Red told Liz that her mother was a “secret-keeper” and that people would be coming after Liz because of this. I always wondered if some of Katarina’s secrets are trapped in Liz somehow. And Red needs some of those secrets - perhaps even to help answer what happened to his family.  In 01x21 Red told Liz he cannot get answers without her which also supports this theory.

So yes Red was using Liz. But I believe along the way he grew to love/care about her so much and I bet that was not part of his original plan. Remember what Liz said to Red in S1:  “ You understand that tight bonds can make you vulnerable, so you’re careful not to have any. And that’s why you’re so conflicted about me. You need me. And you hate that about yourself, because it makes you vulnerable.” And now that is exactly what Liz did to Red.

Anyway the good news about Jennifer coming back is that hopefully we will learn more about Red’s backstory. For more on my thoughts about Jennifer, go here: Jennifer

Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts.