[Lauren Helen Graham]

The Blacklist Mythology
QUESTIONS A N D ANSWERS | 4th A P P R E C I A T I O N T H R E A D

Part of what makes The Blacklist one of the most suspenseful and engaging shows on television is the complex mythology that weaves together secret backgrounds, strained alliances, and mysterious relations all of which are surrounded by questions both answered and unanswered. When almost every character we meet has multiple identities and answers often lead to more questions it's enough to make any viewer's head spin!

Unless you're keeping track!
Here we can keep a record of all the information we've learned.
Both the Questions that have been answered.
And the ones still wrapped in Mystery.

Unanswered Questions:

The questions are categorized season wise and each question can be found in the season section that it arose in.

— s e a s o n o n e —

1. How does Red know Lizzie? (1x01)
2. What is the grand design of the The Blacklist number order? (1x01)
3. Is the Y-pattern on Tom's box connected to Liz's scar? (1x01)
4. How did Red come up with his Blacklist? (1x01)
5. Where does Liz's maiden name, Elizabeth Scott, come from? (1x02)
6. What does Mr. Kaplan do with all those bodies?
7. Are Red's burn marks connected to the fire that Lizzie experienced when she was four years old?
8. What is the history between Red and Sam?
9. Who was the one that wanted Diane Fowler to insert a mole into the task force?
10. Besides Diane, who else knows what happened to Red's family?

— s e a s o n t w o —

1. How does Red know Berlin's daughter?
2. What did Cooper do in Kuwait that Red could threaten him with?
3. Where is Jennifer?
4. Why didn't Red try to get the Fulcrum before?
5. How is/was Lizzie's father connected to the Fulcrum?
6. Who put the fulcrum in Lizzie's toy bunny?
7. Who and what caused the fire in Liz' house?
8. Who's car is the official state car?
9. What's happening that the mysterious guy on the phone was indicating?
10. How does the Director know Lizzie's mother?
11. What's Mr. Kaplan's task in case Red is killed/dies?
12. Whose place did Connolly get in the Alliance?
13. What does Tom know about Red that Lizzie doesn't yet?
14. What's the means of Red's secret flat?
15. Is Lizzie's mother still alive and if not, who killed her?
16. What's Red's connection to Lizzie's mother?
17. How did Charlene get the information that she leaked on behalf of Cooper?
18. How much of the night of the fire does Lizzie really remember? Everything or was her shooting her father the only thing that was triggered?
19. Why did Liz shoot Connolly?
20. Why did Red choose to be Liz's sin-eater?
21. What happened between the night of the fire (must have been at the beginning of 1989 since Liz still was 4 years old) and the Christmas Eve in 1990 when Red disappeared?
22. How did the Cabal know about Ressler's drug addiction?

— s e a s o n t h r e e —

1. How did the Cabal find out about Dembe's daughter?
2. Did the Cabal really blame Red for something that he hadn't done and if so what was it?
3. Who's name did Red want out of the Djinn's client book?
4. What was Red referring to when he told Dembe not to forget that they talked about it?
5. What did Marvin Gerard find in the Fulcrum documents that made him and Red wonder if what he found could really be true?
6. How did the Director know who Red really is?
7. What did the Director mean with his 'And I know why you did THIS.'? What's this?
8. Why did Red want into the Cabal?
9. Is it true that it was Red's plan from the beginning to join the Cabal and built them back up again like Hitchin said?
10. What was Liz's will?
11. Why is Red bringing the members of the Shell Island Retreat down?
12. What did Red discover in the Rostova file that makes him believe it's getting worse?
13. Why does Liz's mother want to see Reddington dead?
14. Who is that woman with the red/blond hair and the piercing?
15. Did Red really lie to Lizzie about her mother, Katarina Rostova?
16. Is Katarina Rostova a member of the Cabal?
17. Is Katarina Rostova keeping an eye on Liz because she knows exactly what Liz looks like?
18. What was in the red envelope that Red burned on the graveyard?
19. Why is Red so determined to keep the truth from Liz and what is the 'TRUTH' that Dembe is referring to?
20. Why does Solomon's boss want Liz alive and not dead?
21. Is Alexander Kirk really Liz's father?
22. What is Red going to do with Mr. Kaplan after this betrayal?
23. What does Alexander Kirk want from Liz?
24. If Alexander Kirk really is Liz's father, did Red know his true identity and that he's still alive the whole time?
25. What kind of disease is Alexander Kirk suffering from?

— s e a s o n f o u r —

1. Did Red and Katarina really have an affair like Kirk claims?
   

Partly Answered Questions:

1. Who are Elizabeth Keen's parents? (1x01)
   >> Her mothers name was Katharina Rostova (which is one of her many names since she was working for the KGB). We don't know about the identity of her father yet.
2. Why did Red surrender to FBI and what motive does he have? (1x02)
   >> For once he surrendered to the FBI to have influence on Lizzie's life after she had fallen in love with Tom and Tom had started to work for Berlin. But we know that's not the only reason and motive.
3. Who's the Cabal's target?
   >> It's been Liz so far but we think she won't be the only one.
4. What is Ressler's background?
   >> Agent Ressler's father was a cop, who used to have high principles regarding right and wrong. He had a colleague called Tommy Markin, who was talking talking about how dirty the precinct was and how they were gonna clean it up. They never got there because Ressler's father refused to get on the pay-roll and so a drug dealer put a bullet in him. It was a trap, set by the crookedest cop of all, Tommy Markin. He never had to face consequences therefore and Ressler believes that his dead would have died for nothing if Ressler wouldn't go by his principles.

Answered Questions:

The answers are listed season wise and every answer can be found in the season category that we got it in.

— s e a s o n o n e —

1. Who is Tom Keen?
   >> A spy sent from Berlin to keep an eye on Liz.
2. What does the key Tom hid open?
   >> A safety deposit box with photos implicating Red in Sam's death.
3. Will Liz ever find out Tom killed Jolene Parker?
   >> She did in 1x19 when she was told so from Red.

— s e a s o n t w o —

1. Who is Berlin?
   >> Former Red Army/KGB operative who lost his daughter and is driven by revenge. He wants to destroy Red and employs a network of spies to do his bidding and keep an eye on his interests.
2. What happened to Red's family?
   >> They were moved into witness protection twenty years ago after which his wife took on the name Naomi Hyland and remarried.
3. Why does Berlin want to destroy Red?
   >> Because Berlin was tricked by the Decembrist (Fitch) into thinking that Red had killed his daughter.
4. What's the Fulcrum?
   >> It's a blackmail file , proof of the existence of an extraordinarily powerful clandestine organization.
5. Where is the Fulcrum?
   >> It's been in Lizzie's stuff bunny.
6. Why does Luther Braxton need Liz to find the Fulcrum?
   >> Because he was ordered to find it for the clandestine organization so Red couldn't blackmail them anymore and it was hidden in her stuff bunny which only she could remember.
7. What's in that safe deposit box Alan Fitch referred to?
   >> A phone number with a Russian country code on a piece of paper.
8. Which disease is Cooper suffering?
   >> An inoperable brain tumor.
9. What's the connection between Red and Tom?
   >> Red payed the Major to hire a person to keep an eye on Liz. The person that the Major chose was Tom. But at some point the Major betrayed Red because he was payed double from Berlin so from this point on Tom started to work for the Major in regards of Berlin, not Red anymore.
10. What is Tom Keen's real name?
    >> Jacob Phelps.
11. What is Tom's business in Germany?
    >> Tom was ordered to find out, which person of the German group, that he infiltrated, murdered a girl/woman called Sarah Hastings.
12. Which passports did Tom burn? The ones he got from Liz or The Major?
    >> He burned the passports he got from the Major and needed the ones from Liz to disappear.
13. Does the judge have any connection to the Alliance?
    >> It's safe to assume he isn't.
14. What's the key for that Red got from Pepper of The Front?
    >> It's the key for the device that is needed to access the information on the Fulcrum.
15. Who is the guy that Red called with the number of the safe?
    >> It's been Leonard Caul.
16. What's in the small case Red got out of the official state car?
    >> The device that is needed to access the information on the Fulcrum.
17. What happened to that mysterious guy (now know as Leonard Caul)?
    >> The cabal tried to kill him short after Red called him. He's been in hiding ever since, watching, waiting of a signal from Red that it was safe to meet until he found Lizzie in Red's secret apartment.
18. What exactly did Red hire Tom for in the first place?
    >> Red hired Tom to keep an eye on Lizzie as a friend of a friend at arm length.
19. When did Red find out that the Major, and therewith Tom, has betrayed him?
    >> It hasn't been mentioned and it might never be.
20. Who shot Red?
    >> A sniper, who was working for the cabal.
21. What does Connolly really want?
    >> He wanted a seat at the table (of the cabal) and he finally got it at the end of "Leonard Caul" - 2x19.
22. Who are the woman and the girl on the picture Lizzie found in the secret flat of Red?
    >> It's Lizzie and her mother.
23. Who was tempering with Lizzie's memories when she still was really young and why?
    >> Red was the one tempering with her memory and he did it because he wanted to protect her from the truth that she was the one killing her father.
24. Does Lizzie really have a copy of the Fulcrum?
    >> Not sure if Lizzie has a copy but Leonard Caul for sure made one because otherwise Red wouldn't have been able to show the journalists the content of it.
25. Is Lizzie's biological father really dead?
    >> Yes, she killed him in the night oft he fire when she was four years old.
26. What secret does Red know about The Alliance?
    >> Red knows everything they've ever done since he is in the possession of the Fulcrum.
27. Is it really true that the Cabal has somebody on the inside and if so, who is it?
    >> Yes, it's been Tom Connolly, newly announced Attorney General and now being dead.

— s e a s o n t h r e e —

1. What is going to happen to the task force now that Liz is gone with Red?
   >> The task force is still intact and hunting her down with Ressler in its lead.
2. Will the fact, that Lizzie shot Connolly with Tom's gun, be picked up on?
   >> No.
3. Why did Mr. Solomon think that taking Mr. Vargas would make Dembe talk?
   >> Because at this point Mr. Vargas was already working for Mr. Solomon and just tricking Dembe into believing he would be on his side still and being tortured.
4. Is Hitchin a member of the Cabal as well?
   >> Yes, she is but we don't know what her part is exactly.
5. What was in that care package that Dembe was receiving in the book store?
   >> Chromium plated master printing plates for the 100 dollar bill.
6. Who is the woman in Tom's "real" life?
   >> We think that this woman is Gina, since she knows his real name and since she was in the Major's school as well.
7. Who and where is Gina Zanetakos?
   >> Gina Zanetakos is, like Jacob/Tom, a student of the Major's school. Our guess is that Gina and Jacob/Tom got to know each other at the school. They used to be lovers until Jacob/Tom started to care for and fall for Elizabeth Keen. He dumped Gina for Liz. After Gina escaped prison she was working on a new assignment for the Major. Tom contacted her to ask her for help, for money. Gina, after being refused of his love again, betrayed him by getting him shot. The purpose was to kill him which she didn't manage to do. She's gone into the wind again.
8. Who was on the other end of the phone call that Gina had after Tom left?
   >> It's safe to assume that it was the Major.
9. Who is Solomon working for now that he's not working for the Cabal anymore?
   >> Solomon is working for Susan "Scottie" Hargrave.
10. Is Liz really dead?
    >> No.
11. If Liz isn't dead, who faked her death?
    >> Mr. Kaplan faked her death with help of Nik and Tom to protect Agnes and herself, so she wouldn't have to raise Agnes' in Red's world.

— s e a s o n f o u r —

1. What kind of disease does Kirk suffer from?
   >> A blood disorder which he will die from.

Ask Questions. Provide Answers.

— previous threads—
01 | 02 | 03 |

[Miranda]

TFTNT Kris! Another fresh thread to speculate.

[Lauren Helen Graham]

It's so great that it's the fourth thread already

And the speculation has increased so much with the latest episodes. I love it. I really was missing something.

[Miranda]

Yes it has and it was much needed cause I missed it so much.

We have so many unanswered questions!

[Lauren Helen Graham]

I missed it as well. There's been so much stuff that made us speculate lately... I'm still wondering who draw that picture of Liz standing above Red's gravestone Do you think it was really her mother? I still doubt that. I think her mother really is dead. I can't help it

[Miranda]

I don't think Katarina actually painted the painting but she definitely gave somebody the order to make it I think.

[Lauren Helen Graham]

Originally Posted by Miranda (View Post) I don't think Katarina actually painted the painting but she definitely gave somebody the order to make it I think.

I think that Katarina isn't alive and that she isn't the person that's after Red... I somehow don't believe it. It would be strange and shocking but I somehow don't believe it. I really can see it being Liz's father somehow. Do you remember that Tom told her that her father was still alive? Yes, she shot him, but did we get proof that he really is dead? Look at Tom, he survived all these bullets... Same about Red

[Miranda]

No we never had confirmation that Liz's father is actually dead but if he is still alive why didn't Red tell Liz? Now she thinks that she killed her father. Why would Red let her live with that fact if it's not true?

I really think that Katarina is still alive. I wonder who of us will be right.

[Lauren Helen Graham]

Because Red might not know himself? What if the guy that Liz killed and that was supposed to be her biological father actually wasn't? What if that was what Red found in the file about Katarina? Maybe that was what made him believe that it's getting worse... It's really just a thought though.

I'm really wondering as well. It might be possible that she still is alive but I doubt that she is the one after Red (and maybe Liz)... I think it'll be somebody else.

[Miranda]

Wow your theories keep getting crazier. How do you come up with all this? You have watched to many tv shows and movies.

[Lauren Helen Graham]

I don't know... There are times when that stuff simply pops into my head Not sure though if it makes sense at all or if there are contradictions but I still don't want to believe that Red lied to Liz about anything. I think it's coming from me being really desperate.

[Miranda]

I really hope Red won't lie to Liz either but he is not telling her the truth either so I think we have to prepare ourselves that he could lie to Liz.

[Lauren Helen Graham]

Originally Posted by Miranda (View Post) I really hope Red won't lie to Liz either but he is not telling her the truth either so I think we have to prepare ourselves that he could lie to Liz.

No, he hasn't lied to Liz... He never did so why would he start now. I can go by omission but not him lying straight to her face. Noooo!

[Miranda]

Let's hope he really won't do it.

I wonder if all our questions will be answered at some point or that some questions will always be a mystery.

[Lauren Helen Graham]

I really hope so... I don't want that to happen because if they are breaking with that you can't believe anything anymore on the show. That would so suck. And it would really ruin the Red/Liz relationship. Him not lying to her was something special.

I bet some will always be a mystery... Sadly.