[Lauren Helen Graham]

7x04 | Kuwait
E P I S O D E DISCUSSION T H R E A D



Banner by Miranda

episode synopsis

Cooper's moral compass is tested when an officer whom he served with as young man, long presumed to be dead, resurfaces as a POW.

[Miranda]

Thanks for starting this Kris! Can't wait to see the episode!

[Fangirl49]

Totally hate this Katarina liz storyline. It’s teally bad.

So Kuwait was in 1989 with the real RR. And was totally separate from when cooper rescued RR. I’m with cooper. How does red know this story?

So cooper made some bad choices and caused his friend to get left behind and become a traitor. Why do I feel like we just saw Reds story.

I love cooper and reds friendship. I love it. I’m so glad Red went with him.

Btw katarina has Ilyas picture. Pretty sure he is not Red!

[ChakotaysLover]

I loved the Red/Cooper in Kuwait adventure! And Cooper finally shucking the guilt of what happened there.

Hold on.... Time out!!! If this chick is Katerina, then shouldn't she KNOW that Ilya is Reddington?

Are these writers really NOT paying attention to things they've already vaguely established... or are they putting the FUAX REDDINGTON/ILYA KOSLOV story under the heading RED HERRING!!

Or are we to go back to thinking that Fake Red (FRED if you will) is actually the real Reddington and that by some absurdly weird twist of fate, he survived being shot by his daughter and the fire and went on to be the criminal mastermind we know today?

Or these writers re just trying to confuse us on purpose. Which I'm buying as what's really going on at this moment.

[Wes&FredFan]

This show is now so over the place it's annoying. And Liz ... ONCE again, showing that she's so gullible, not even suspecting "Katarina."

Liz's concern over Cooper reporting that Red isn't really Red, showing she only cares because the task force will be taken away and that's what makes her feel important. Nice .

Still furious that Liz didn't suspect anything when her babysitter just quit, and "Katarina" happened to be available. Seriously?! Are you a REAL profiler, or just pretending? Cause, Liz, right now you suck ... and you have a psycho living next door to you now taking care of your daughter.

[Miranda]

amazing episode! so finally know what happened in Kuwait!

so Kuwait was in 1989 which means that it happened with the real RR cause the night of the fire where he died was in 1990 or 1991. so how does our Red know what happened in Kuwait? He must have also been there right? but not as RR and not as Ilya Koslov but as his real self.

and why does Katarina want to know where Ilya is if our Red is Ilya? She knows that so then can we say that Red is not Ilya like Marilyn has been saying? I don't know anymore what to think..

[Lauren Helen Graham]

Okay, I somehow felt this episode was a bit underwhelming. I can't say why but that was it? The big deal because of that? Don't get me wrong, I think it really sad what happened back then and that Cooper never looked for him. But really? Because of that?

The best moment was when Katarina showed the picture to the man she is working with... I was with Marilyn for a while now that Red is not Ilya. And I think it's the first proof of it. Marilyn, you must be super happy, right?
But why wasn't she surprised by it? I'm so confused. Does she know that our Red isn't Ilya? Then does she know who he actually really is?

Liz It's getting more and more stupid. She used to ask Aram to do background checks on the babysitters... Now she is discussing them with Katarina instead How can a PROFILER be that stupid????

[Fangirl49]

I thought underwhelming too, kris. But I’ve changed my mind.

First I just have to say can Red shoot katarina already. Let’s just forget this storyline. Seeing liz act so stupid is so not working for me. I never wanted Red to look stupid last year. And Iive realized I don’t want it for Luz either. She deserves better writing. She literally told Katarina about the agents outside. Duh. And she said she needs protection from her mother. See she literally knows the truth without red saying anything.

Yes I am so ready for kris and I to tell you so about Ilya not being red. But we bettter wait until we are sure.

I love cooper and red. My new name for them is Rooper. I love them and need more episodes with them.

Okay kris here’s why I think this episode important. Cooper was doing illegal work. Apparently this work was authorized by someone in authority whom cooper does not know, we also have the real RR in the mix. Our Red told liz her father was a career criminal. What if RR was in this illegal activity that led to a partner being betrayed and etc. could our Red have been somewhere there when this happened to cooper. Katarina may not have known about RR side activity.

I think our Reds involvement may have been with this or that this illegal money will tie back to the Cabal and or what happened to Reds family.


I don’t think it was just that. I think it will tie in. I think reds story will parallel Hutton’s.

[JayT2001]

Originally Posted by Fangirl49 (View Post) I thought underwhelming too, kris. But I’ve changed my mind. First I just have to say can Red shoot katarina already. Let’s just forget this storyline. Seeing liz act so stupid is so not working for me. I never wanted Red to look stupid last year. And Iive realized I don’t want it for Luz either. She deserves better writing. She literally told Katarina about the agents outside. Duh. And she said she needs protection from her mother. See she literally knows the truth without red saying anything. Yes I am so ready for kris and I to tell you so about Ilya not being red. But we bettter wait until we are sure. I love cooper and red. My new name for them is Rooper. I love them and need more episodes with them. Okay kris here’s why I think this episode important. Cooper was doing illegal work. Apparently this work was authorized by someone in authority whom cooper does not know, we also have the real RR in the mix. Our Red told liz her father was a career criminal. What if RR was in this illegal activity that led to a partner being betrayed and etc. could our Red have been somewhere there when this happened to cooper. Katarina may not have known about RR side activity. I think our Reds involvement may have been with this or that this illegal money will tie back to the Cabal and or what happened to Reds family. I don’t think it was just that. I think it will tie in. I think reds story will parallel Hutton’s.

Yes, Red saw over this operation. Ask me how I know? I just know ������

Originally Posted by JayT2001 (View Post) Yes, Red saw over this operation. Ask me how I know? I just know ������

Okay. This episode was very crptic. Right down to Cooper's Red Speak to Pannabaker at the end. I loved it! This may sound odd but I still don't buy Harold believes Red is Illya business. I know how it looks and I will explain. Regardless, Cooper knows this man and has for a long time. I do not think Cooper knew this alias. I believe Koslov is a cover ID. This isn't to say the stranger also isn't Illya. I'm sure he has been. I will explain that mess later. But back to Cooper, I figured he had a dark past perhaps but I never saw that coming. Not much played out now, but by midseason it should drop a good reveal or 2.

[Miranda]

But if our Red is Ilya why is Katarina looking for Ilya Koslov? They should be one and the same cause she was there when Ilya changed into Raymond Reddington..

To me this does prove now that our Red is not Ilya cause something else doesn't make sense. I should have listened to Marilyn sooner.

OKay just a crazy thought or maybe not. Since I think that our Red is not Ilya anymore after this episode. What if the guy on the bench who Red talked to about Katarina is Ilya Koslov? cause we still don't know who that guy is.

[Easteregg]

Originally Posted by Miranda (View Post) But if our Red is Ilya why is Katarina looking for Ilya Koslov? They should be one and the same cause she was there when Ilya changed into Raymond Reddington.. To me this does prove now that our Red is not Ilya cause something else doesn't make sense. I should have listened to Marilyn sooner. OKay just a crazy thought or maybe not. Since I think that our Red is not Ilya anymore after this episode. What if the guy on the bench who Red talked to about Katarina is Ilya Koslov? cause we still don't know who that guy is.

I believe that too - and not only because of the serious similarity from the young Ilya and the older guy next to red.. But the real question is, why does not Katarina recognize him? According to Dom's story, the two knew each other since childhood, she must have heard the name before or recognize his face. Even if she is not the real Katarina, how does she know Red? She must have been close to him once - otherwise she would not have kissed him in Paris immediately. She always calls Red Reddington-never Ilya. I honestly also do not think that Reddington is another officer of that time - that would not explain his relationship with Liz anymore. It is more likely again that he is the real Red and that after his „death“ ilya helped Red to enter his accounts. Nobody knows what happend after that - red answered liz question with „iam what i am- popai the sailorman“ and he really seemed relieved that she did not know... god I'm so confused!

[ChakotaysLover]

This show has too many fake people running around

[Fangirl49]

Originally Posted by ChakotaysLover (View Post) This show has too many fake people running around

I can agree with that!

Miranda! I’m so glad you are finally listening to me! I really hope you don’t regret it.

Easter, I truly believe RR dead. And our Red is some one else. But hey that is a journey we will all take together!

One thing I hate is for a person who is a casual viewer. There would literally be no way to figure the plot out. I imagine a lot of people didn’t remeber that anything happened beween RR and cooper in Kuwait. If I wasn’t a member of this forum, I doubt I would remember our Red has the flash drive from Kuwait.

But here’s another thought why did our Red have the flash drive. Where did he get it. And why. RR has to be part of the cover up of illegal money if he never reported his conversation with cooper to anyone else. There’s more to the story.

Miranda I definitely think Ilya is park bench guy.

[Lauren Helen Graham]

Originally Posted by ChakotaysLover (View Post) This show has too many fake people running around

Oh yes... Sooo true You lose track, right?

Miranda, we're a team again when it comes to Red not being Ilya It's awesome news. And yes, the mysterious guy being Ilya was my thought right after we saw the season finale in spring... But I wanted to believe so badly that Red is Ilya.

[Jenny Heartland]

I'm so glad to come here and learn what everyone's theories are although since I don't have my own at this point...so many potential angles...my head is spinning with the possibilities so I don't think I'm even gonna try.

I so agree with you guys about Liz just so freely accepting Katarina as a friend, to the point she's comfortable even having her in her apartment interacting with Agnes! Boggles my mind! Yeah, and all the things she's freely confided with the woman, good grief. At one point I thought she was being so obviously trusting with a total stranger that it crossed my mind that Liz surely must know exactly who her new neighbor is and for some reason is playing along with the hopes of exposing/confronting her at some point. But I tossed that theory out the window quickly...I mean really, to the point of entrusting little Agnes to her care? Nah, that theory had to go for sure! I agree that she is just being totally unlike any FBI well trained profiler and it's such a stretch for me to actually believe she is that gullible towards this perfect stranger...and yet she is.

One thing I think I noticed...remember when Katarina sent Agnes to her room to take 5 minutes to finish the little project, and that's when K took the opportunity to rifle through Liz's desk drawer. When she finished, she walked across the room so fast that she stepped on that doll she had planted a listening device in and I THINK the device came out...can't swear to that but I THINK it did...and the fact there was an immediate camera closeup of it makes me think Liz is going to find it soon and put things together. She'll also have to realize that K is the one who put it there....hopefully in the next episode. That's going to be a great moment whenever it does happen though that Liz FINALLY realizes who she's been trusting with her child!

Remember also when Red called Liz to get the address of that guy (forget his name). Then the guy turned up already dead and the note on the door proved that Katarina had somehow already gotten the address and beat Red to the punch. Am I expecting too much of our Red that it wouldn't even occur to him that someone was either bugging Liz's phone or had planted a listening device in her apartment? Maybe I'm reaching too much here to expect that to occur to him out of the blue. On the other hand, he's usually very savvy about such things and nails it.

One last thing, when Liz and the nanny liked each other so quickly and the nanny gave such perfect answers to all of Liz's questions...Liz hired her on the spot. And then the camera shifted immediately to Katarina and the guy looking at each other, so that made me initially think "yay, our plan worked, Liz hired her!" and that the nanny was working for them! Of course, my theory was debunked in that same episode when K told the nanny all that stuff about Liz and of course the nanny quit immediately. So of course K's plan was to be quick to step in to help Liz out with Agnes herself. So down went another my my theories. See, I'm just not particularly great at coming up with theories!

So again, that's why I love coming here to hear all your much more plausible theories about what's going on. Not that most of us have any certainty about things but it's comforting to be in the know about the various possibilities...you know that Red really isn't Kislov (I bought that immediately until I saw the photo of the real Kislov...but then didn't he have facial surgery at one point to change him to how he looks now as Red? Also, you guys mentioned the guy on the bench! I'd forgotten all about him. And what's up with that nurse that Red is wanting to hire as an operative. She's been on both sides so I wouldn't trust her whatsoever. Wonder who she's really working for...maybe still Katarina? Oh my...my head hurts with the possibilities! Bottom line is...yup, I'll definitely be back here to get the skinny on what's really going on with this show we all love so much! Now if you'll please excuse me, I have to go get an Aleve for the headache I have thinking on all this!

Jenny