The mystery of Liz’s missing memories - a theory.
Krilov: You don't remember me, do you? Liz: From 25 years ago? No. But then, you wouldn't be very good at your job if I did. Krilov: No. Not 25 years ago. Just two. Liz: What are you talking about? Krilov: You were brought to me by a mutual acquaintance of ours who wanted me to take certain memories away from you. Liz: What memories? Krilov: Let's just say, you had uncovered certain truths about Raymond Reddington. And he couldn't have that. Liz: You're lying. Krilov: No. I'm not lying. And I think you know that. So let’s make a deal. Full immunity. I walk. In exchange for the memories I took from you. Liz: That’s not going to happen. Krilov: That is a shame for all of us. But more so for you than for me, I suspect.
When Liz confronts Red about Krilov and the new memory manipulation he flatly denies it.
Liz: Two years ago? Two, not 25. Two. Red: Kaplan is using Krilov. Liz: What was the secret you needed Krilov to take away? Red: Nothing. She’s using him to pull at threads to continue to unravel my life. He sidelined Ressler. He’s trying to do the same to you. Liz: You did it once. Red: Yes. When you were a child, to protect you from the memory of killing your father. I hired Krilov once. Never again. Liz: (call waiting beeps) That’s Julian Gale. I’ve been avoiding his calls and I’m beginning to think that was a mistake. Red: Bogdan Krilov, Julian Gale, directly or indirectly, they’re working for Kaplan. Against us. Liz: Against you. Red: I’d think that would be a difficult distinction for you to make.
1. Who was the “mutual acquaintance” who wanted Krilov to take away certain memories? 2. And what “truths about Raymond Reddington” did he want taken away from her?
With Red flatly denying any further involvement with Krilov, and, relying on the assertion that Red doesn’t outright lie verbally to Liz, Red could not be the “mutual acquaintance.” It wasn’t Kaplan because “he couldn’t have that” which could mean Red except Red didn’t have anything to do with it. So the “he” must be the mutual acquaintance. Also, later, when Kaplan approached Krilov, he doesn’t know her. Finally, in order for the acquaintance to know there were “truths about Raymond Reddington” that she knew - that he would rather she not - she had to have told someone about them. One would assume it was someone close to her. But it’s not like she talking these things out with the task force. And who else would she tell?
My guess is it was Tom. He was desperate to get back into her life for whatever reason. I mean, my god, the proposal on the dock??? Wth?! He was already shown using that as a distraction in season 1. Greatest hits, anyone?
In episode 311, Mr. Gregory Devry, Red tells Tom “You will not marry her.” Tom says “Why? Because I didn’t ask Daddy’s permission?” In season 1, episode 119, The Pavlovich Brothers, Tom asks Liz when she’s got him tied to her dining room chair, “What is his (Red’s) obsession with you? You guys got, like, a daddy/daughter thing going on?”
Thing is, Tom has been there for years. He KNOWS she doesn’t know what Reddington’s obsession with her is. He’s just trying to wind her up. She doesn’t even flinch. In my opinion that is excellent evidence that she did, in fact, read the DNA results she later told Cooper she ran but “was too scared to read.” If she did, she wouldn’t be thrown by that smoke screen because she knows Red’s not her father definitively.
If, after they hooked back up again, against all reasonable sense, she told Tom that she knew Red wasn’t her father, maybe even hinted at how they bonded during their time on the run, Tom would’ve felt threatened. And, honestly, the way she was with Red when on the run, she definitely wasn’t looking at him like he was her father.
Then there’s the thing most fans point out - Liz’s weird and total change between episodes 310 and 311. This could explain that. What if knowing he wasn’t her father wasn’t the only thing. What if she knew Red loved her and not just as a mentor/mentee thing? Krilov did say “truths” in the plural. If Tom could remove the certainty of those two things from Liz’s mind, especially if a relationship with Red was only budding, he could still have a foothold in her life.
Plus, the lie or idea that she was too afraid to open the DNA results is TOTALLY up Tom’s alley as he never really respected her abilities like Red did/does. Tom always made her less than she is/was and Red always pushed her to embrace more of her natural talents. This theory fits and, I have to admit, I like this idea far more than the idea the writers shat all over Liz as a strong, smart, formidable woman.
The two things I’d like to wrap up with...
First, episode 419, Bogdan Krilov, Red’s comment when denying having anything to do with Krilov this time:
Red: Bogdan Krilov, Julian Gale, directly or indirectly, they’re working for Kaplan. Against us. Liz: Against you. Red: I’d think that would be a difficult distinction for you to make.
He sees them as a team - even after all the crap she’s put him through (specifially and mostly, faking her death and breaking his heart).
And Second:
Krilov: I walk. In exchange for the memories I took from you. Liz: That’s not going to happen. Krilov: That is a shame for all of us. But more so for you than for me, I suspect.
