The Blacklist, the hit series on NBC last season, will air its Season Two Premiere next Monday, September 22nd. Season One ended with many questions left unanswered and also a sense of more danger on the horizon for our favorite criminal, Raymond "Red" Reddington, and the team of FBI agents he works with. Last season ended with the criminal off the 'blacklist' in the finale, Berlin (No. 8), slipping through the FBI's fingers and on the loose. I thought it would be a great idea to post a summary getting everyone up to date with the The Blacklist and list all the questions that we are still seeking answers to.
The biggest question on every fans mind is Liz's parentage. Is Red her father? Why has no one mentioned Liz's mother? Both are very good questions and we get little in the way of answers. This conversation, from the finale, between Liz and Red that I summarized gives us a little more insight into the question of who her father is and the night of the fire:
Liz asks Red how Sam was involved in everything and Red doesn't offer up much information, claiming he is protecting Liz. Red tells her that one night an old friend (?Red?) shows up at Sam's door scared. The friend told Sam he is leaving town and was in danger. Red then has flashbacks of the fire we know about from Liz's youth. The friend tells Sam that he needed someone to care for a little girl and that her father had died that night in a fire. So, Sam took the little girl in and raised her as his own, always sheltering her from the truth about her biological father. Red then tells Liz that he killed Sam because he was in pain and wanted to die, but also he wanted to protect Liz from the truth. That 'truth' is the big mystery of The Blacklist, which will not be answered any time soon, I imagine. Liz says the only memory she has of her father is that night of the fire when he pulled her out of the flames and saving her. Red tells her that he must keep the identity of her father a secret to protect her. Protect her from what? Why would knowing his identity harm Liz? Red appeared choked up telling the story and we can't tell if it's because he is remembering his good friend, Sam, or he is sad because he is Liz's father, or possibly both. All great questions for season two and beyond, I suppose.
Below I have compiled a list of questions that we would like answers to. I will update the list as questions get answered after each episode airs. All of you can help by posting in the comments any questions you think are missing or any answers you come across. I used my own episode notes, from Season One, to make this and it's possible I missed a few questions.
Season One Questions
1. What is Red's relationship with Liz? At the end of Season One's mid-season finale she flat-out asked Red if he was her father and after a slight hesitation he told her 'No'. However, most fans think this was a lie meant to protect her.
2. What is Red's association or relationship with Liz's father? We know Red chose Liz because of her 'father', but could Red and her father be one and the same?
3. What is the meaning of the symbol that we have seen throughout the season? We have seen it carved into the top of Tom and Gina's spy boxes, on the orange envelope that Tom left for Liz in the safe-deposit box, and it's the same shape as Liz's scar on her right wrist.
5. What is the story regarding the fire that Liz sometimes has flashbacks of? We think she got her scar during this time at age 14.
6. What really happened to Red's family? Before Red shoots and kills her, Diane Fowler asks if he wants to know the 'truth' about what happened because she knows. Red killed her anyway, stating that if she knows then someone else must know also. We know from Liz that Red abandoned them in 1990, but we still don't know what really happened to them. Red tells Madeline Pratt the touching Christmas Eve story of how he came home and found them massacred, but is that what really happened? Was it actually them or something/someone else?
7. Who are the people in the group with Alan Fitch? In episode 20, Red asks Fitch for help, telling him there is someone that is threatening his interests and, in turn, Fitch and his collective's interests as well. Fitch gets the group together to vote on whether or not to help Red. Who are these people and why are they so powerful?
8. What is the information Red has that he uses to constantly blackmail Fitch and his associates? It must be something big enough to keep Red alive, but not so big that the group involved with Fitch can disregard as they tell Red they can't help with the unknown threat. We also know Red has had this secret for 20 years and they 'allow' him to live because they know it will be released if he dies.
9. Why is Berlin after Red? What is their involvement with each other exactly?
10. What exactly was Tom's mission from Berlin? We know he needed to 'protect' Liz, but from what or whom? Do they want Red killed? We know that wasn't Tom's objective as he stated to Jolene, but is it a possible future mission?
What we know so far - Tom was sent to infiltrate Liz's life and became her husband. We still do not know what makes Liz so 'special'.
11. Who is the woman in the photo that Red removes from The Stewmaker's book? The caption written at the bottom of the photo is "December 1990" and we don't know much else about her. Could she be related to Red? Or Liz?
What we know so far - The woman in the photo is Berlin's daughter, but that is about all we know at this point.
12. What does Red threaten to reveal about Agent Cooper that happened in Kuwait? Red says this early on in the season, but we never get an answer.
13. What exactly happened in the house that Red destroyed? In the episode, 'Frederick Barnes', Red has Dembe plant explosives in the house he just purchased and we see Red reminisce about a little girl playing in the backyard. What memory was Red trying to forget?
14. Who was the little girl he was remembering in the backyard? Berlin's daughter possibly? Or Liz? Someone else?
15. What secret did Sam tell Red he needed Liz to know? I believe this was the main reason for Red killing Sam so he wouldn't tell her. In episode 20, 'The Kingmaker', Red reveals to Liz that "it wouldn't have been up to him" anyway. What did he mean by that?
16. Does Liz have a criminal past and was never caught? We know she has certain skills as shown in the episode, Madeline Pratt, and Red alludes to it a few times.
17. Why was Special Agent Walter Gary Martin sent to Agent Cooper to tell him to stop the investigation on the disappearance of Diane Fowler? Who sanctioned it? Was it Fitch?
18. In episode 17, 'Ivan', Red builds Liz a music box playing the same song her dad would play for her as a little girl. How did Red know this? More importantly, why has Liz not asked about it since?
What we know so far - We know that Red was, at least, an acquaintance of Liz's father, if not himself her father.
19. Tom reveals that Red had supported Liz financially since she was young through Sam. Why has Red done this? Did someone ask him to do it or did he do it all himself?
20. Red asks Agent Cooper if he could look through Milton Bobbit's client list at the end of that episode. Why did he need to see it?
21. The focus of the first season has always been about 'Who is Liz's father?', but never mentions anything about her mother? Who is Liz's mother? Is she relevant? Alive? If she is alive, where has she been?
22. Who commissioned 'The Kingmaker' to kill the politician in Prague? Red wanted ten minutes to speak to The Kingmaker, but Liz informs him that he died. Red is cleary upset about this because he needed this information? Could it be related to Berlin?
What we know so far - This is related to Berlin, but that is about all we know at this point heading into Season Two, if this is relevant at all.
23. Is Tom alive or not? When the final moments of the Season One finale aired, we see the spot where Tom was supposedly killed empty, suggesting he got up and left. Is he alive and, more importantly, when will he return?
24. We know that Red was involved in the fire from Liz's youth that we see flashbacks of, but in what capacity? Is he the one that saved her?
Here is a list with all the blacklisters and their corresponding numbers for reference. Maybe there is a mystery to the numbering system, but I have not figured it out yet...maybe one of you could shed some light on the subject?
Ranking below is based on the episode order
Ranko Zamani - ----------------Number Unknown
The Freelancer - ---------------145
Wujing - --------------------------84
The Stewmaker - --------------161
The Courier - -------------------85
Gina Zanetakos - --------------152
Frederick Barnes - ------------47
General Ludd - -----------------109
Anslo Garrick - -----------------16
The Good Samaritan - --------106
The Alchemist - ----------------101
The Cyprus Agency - ---------64
Madeline Pratt - ----------------73
The Judge - ---------------------57
Mako Tanida - -----------------83
Ivan - ----------------------------88
Milton Bobbit - ----------------135
The Pavlovich Brothers - --119-122
The Kingmaker - -------------42
Berlin - --------------------------8
If there is anything missing or if you want to see something added please comment below and let me know. I will update this page as often as I can and after each episode. I look forward to reading everyone's comments after my Reviews of each episode!
