Raymond Reddington's Identity - An Analysis of NBC's The Blacklist 

Except for the fact that he makes assumptions all throughout the video that supports his conclusion while ignoring possible answers that would actually make the show make sense. And, that he applies medical knowledge that is factually incorrect all through out the video.

That's what I'm thinking. He played around with Masha's memories, I think he could've had some implanted into his mind. And the doctor could've did a complete sex change on Katerina so all those women thought he was a man.

That's perfectly fine. It's only a question because the show made it one, and then they made the answer moot by killing off Liz, who was the only character in the show who might care to find out... the whole situation was very weird. lol.

The writers were just trying to throw audiences off and they did. He’s an imposter.

I agree with Daniel that I never once thought that Raymond was Katarina!

@@MC-eu1hx Red literally says under truth serum that Liz is his daughter. It is confirmed through DNA, many people and Red that real Redington was Liz's father and dead. If you never once thought that Raymond was Katarina you weren't paying attention.

@@sabineblankschein3745 There is no uncle mentioned in the show ever. You can't just make up characters and then insert them into the story. Also in season 4 Red admitted under truth serum that Liz was his daughter.

He is just making assumptions to support what he has already determined without considering other possibilities (nor that his information is incorrect) that would make the story be more consistent.

@@bverjimy dude is proving one theory in one video. He is not saying there **arent** other possibilities.

@@passive-aggressive proving requires the absence of contradictory possibilities. His claim also goes against specifically what the show creators, Spader, and members of the writing staff have said to be true. So, his interpretation has a much higher bar to be considered proof. He must show how what the people who made the show said was true couldn't be true and he does this only by ignoring other possibilities that would actually support what the staff claim, while claiming his interpretation specifically has contradicted the staffs claims. His analysis has not contradicted what the staff have said what he did was exactly what I claimed "He is just making assumptions to support what he has already determined without considering other possibilities (nor that his information is incorrect) that would make the story be more consistent." He asserts that he has proven the staff was being untruthful and these assumptions ignoring other possibilities is not congruent with your assertion that "my dude" is presenting one theory and there aren't others. He says he is contradicting what the staff says is true.

I said through the whole series that he was the real Red because at some point the blood would have showed female. It would have been a great concept either way but I still say he's the real Red ♥️

@@sallyhead6536 That isn't how blood tests and DNA tests work. When you go to the doctor and have a blood test they just test what the doctor asked for , with your permission, they don't come back confirming to the doctor your sex. DNA and medical tests only test what is specifically tested for. This is because of medical standards, legal privacy issues, cost, time and specialization of labs. The idea that when a DNA/blood test is done it comes back with a list of characteristics is false....That is not how these tests are done. Red is 100% not the real Redington The real Red knew where the Fulcrum was, imposter Red didn't. Redington would not need to get plastic surgery to be look like Red. The bones in the bag where proven to be the real Redington through DNA. Red was completely devoted to Liz and Jennifer was an after thought DNA proved that the real Redington was Liz's father and imposter Red straight up says to her he is not Liz's father. Red straight up tells Liz her father is dead multiple times. Red destroyed his empire, friendships, and his relationship with Liz to keep anyone from identifying the bones. There is no reason for Red to fight so hard to hide his identity if he is who he says he is. The show went out of it's way to show that Red died in Katarina's lap to show he was actually dead. Red said he had Liz's memory erased to protect her from the memory of killing her father, if he was alive no reason to do that or to lie that he was dead. One of the first things Red says to Liz is that everything about him is a lie. Imposter Red is shown many times that he grew up in Russia, the real Red did not he grew up in Michigan. There are several scenes where he talks about being an imposter with Dembe, Dom and Liz. Many people confirmed that the real Redington was Liz's father and he tells her straight out he is not her father The show creator confirmed in interviews after the season 5 final that Red was an imposter and the bones were the real Redington.

I think exactly the same.

This sentence from Dembe actually makes it feel like Reddarina isn't correct. Why would Elizabeth never be ready to learn that her mother went so far to protect her? Unless Dembe had already seen the full show and is aware of how unstable Elizabeth is :D

@@dzramen no, but learning Reddington was her mother, but became her father might get her upset.

This katarina theory is the biggest pile of bs in this show lol first off its literally impossible to undergo a transformation like that especially like 3 decades ago, 2nd of all red is a literal womanizer and been with tons of women meaning he has male genitals u dont just go gay out of nowhere, also why would he care so much for jennifer his 2nd daughter who is not related to katarina, if red was katarina he wouldnt give a shit about her get real alrdy with this ridiculous theory

I think Dembe was referring to the woman who became Katarina and been chased around, who she thought was her mother later killed by Red…

They did a paternity test but the sample was from the real Redington and them not doing one wouldn't have been proof he wasn't Katarina. He started getting sick while he was locked up because he couldn't get his medications and he did eventually die from some weird sickness. It was never stated that the FBI gave him a DNA test. They did test on the real Redington's DNA. There was no need for Red to switch his DNA on file...that was never an issue. Sex may be easy to determine, but that isn't how DNA tests work. They only test what is asked for, DNA tests don't come back with a list of characteristics. That is against privacy laws and against medical standards. Your arguments don't hold up, they are based on a lot of misinformation. All the evidence from the show leads to Red having been Katarina and there is no evidence that Red is anyone else. Red having been Katarina has been confirmed by several staff members. by the end of season 5 The real Redington is proven to be dead. The real Redington is proven to be Liz's Father Red admits under truth serum that Liz is his daughters. If Liz' is Red's daughters, but he is not her father, Red has to be Liz's mother. There is a ton of other supporting evidence but those three facts (along with the staff consistence confirmation) are definitive proof that Red was Katarina. The only way you can conclude otherwise is to ignore what the show has said/shown and ignore what the staff has said.

You really try to apply real world logic into a show where they can alter dna or all the other stuff we saw? come on….

Everyone needs to read and acknowledge this. Even if the producers don't understand basic biology and intended to produce this theory.

@@abrahamkohl No this is nonsense. You can't just force someone to do a paternity test. That is why they used an older source of DNA for one. When he was in the cell he got sick because he didn't have access to his medication. Red literally says this. They never did a DNA test on imposter Redington. Grant is simply wrong. He bases these assumptions on incorrect information because he didn't follow well what happened in the show.

My only question to you is did you watch the alchemist episode? Because if you did you would understand that in the blacklist universe, it is completely possibly to change your dna. Which is exactly what the alchemist did.

“It’s a man’s, man’s, man’s world, but it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman, or a girl.”

Also, the person that is supposed to be the new Raymond Reddington is most definitely a woman.

It wasn't really that complicated. Red admits under truth serum that Liz is his daughter. You later find out that Red is an imposter and the real Redington is liz's father and dead. If you cut through all the other noise this is the core to Red's identity.

You realize the point of plastic surgery is to hide scares?

All by 1/2 way through season 4 Red told Liz her father was dead A paternity test was done from an old DNA source confirming Redington was Liz's father Red admits Liz is his daughter. All the information needed to determine Red's identity was there 1/2 through season 4...people just chose not to believe it. Three staff members have confirmed that Red was Katarina now.

It is not physically impossible for Katarina to be Red, it is also a failure to apply a sense of disbelief in a consistent manor for the show. There are many clues that it isn't a childhood friend. There are many comparisons to imposter Red's family to Katarina's family. As for Katarina having a brother it was confirmed in 8x21 that she did not. The show is over trying to insert characters not alluded to by the show is not a logical way to try and determine Reds identity. That isn't how a mystery works...when people were doing that when the show was on-going they were referring to what could be revealed in the future, now that the show is over it is incumbent to use the information actually provided by the show...not write fan fiction. Yes, all show have lazy writing but you can point those instants out that isn't a justifiable argument for ignoring information you don't want to be true unless there is something specifically that is arguably "lazy" that is applicable. The show also does several red-herrings but ultimately those are resolved. At the end of the day all the evidence leads to Red being Katarina, there is no evidence for anyone else being Red, A show writer has confirmed that Red was Katarina, the show creators have said that they and Spader knew who Redington was since the first episode. Redarina is a fact it isn't a theory.

​@bverji where did you read the writer confirmed Katarina is Red?

Unfortunately that still left it pretty opened ended in the sense of not coming right out and saying he's Katarina which would have been the only way to put the issue to rest imo. Red could have easily meant it in the sense of I can't being a parent which I have seen people try to explain it away but it's obvious he's Katarina.

He is an unknown. The real father of agent keen. Katarina got pregnant with another dude. That's it. That dude pretended to be Reddington. 1. At first, He is the real Reddington. But Blacklist became too popular, so they extended it by creating a false reddington story line. 2. Popularity kept rising, so they extended it even more. Making it a Katarina is Red idea. But... 3. Previous episodes made it hard to make it like that way. So its going to be a stretch to make a final conclusion, so they just left it how it is.

I guess you don't know that people with trans surgery can "sleep with women," nor that even men who are impudent "still have physical relationships with women."

That is perfectly fine. I addressed the question in my video because the show asked it and never answered, because they killed Liz off and nobody else among the characters had a real reason to care. I've said it many times in the comments: I feel the exact same as you. The show is better when ignoring the identity question.

@Half-FaceCinephile I liked your theory, that they didn't have a clear plan for the character since the beginning and had to alter as the show progressed. But that character in the first two seasons, younger Spader, presumed to be after revenge, the stories, the humors, the mystery, never seen anything like that, I could watch all over again and not even blink. If you give it a thought, that storyline was better and more thrilling than the introduction of the character as an imposter, but at the same time, without the alteration, they would have had to finish the show in season 4. All in all, they did what they could to prolong the show, and I think they had the right to do that. They introduced so many great ideas and characters. The blacklist has the prospect of spin-offs more than any other show. Almost every blacklister deserves a separate movie.

Glad you enjoyed it!

That's fine. If Redderina is true, the show gains very little if anything, and if it's not true, nothing is really lost. Enjoy it how you like.

@@Half-FaceCinephile for sure I do and everyone can have their beliefs and theories I obviously have no issues with that I was just giving my two cents. I was always a believer of him being an imposter and thought that the fact that people supposedly "in the know" like Diane Fowler called him "Red" was a hint from the show writers. But what do I know.

There are two choices when evaluating characters beyond what is absolutely shown: assume they are intelligent, or assume they are stupid. I erred on the side of intelligence, because they are usually presented as such in the show. If they were in a position to notice something, I assumed that the *could* notice something (even just a small part of the truth, like Reddington is an imposter). I never said that they *definitely* knew the whole truth, with the exception of the group that absolutely knows: Dominic, Ilya, Stepanov, Dembe, Sam, Naomi, and possibly Kaplan. That alone is a lot of people, as I said. The saying goes "Three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead" and Reddington seems to live by that, but only when it's convenient to the story.

@@Half-FaceCinephile ". There are two choices when evaluating characters beyond what is absolutely shown: assume they are intelligent, or assume they are stupid. I erred on the side of intelligence, because they are usually presented as such in the show." 🤣🤣🤣

It was a dead give away when Red admitted that Liz was his daughter under truth serum. By that time it was established that Liz's father was dead. That had to mean that Red was her mother.

Spader said definitely that he was told red’s real id on the first day of shooting and it didnt change throughout the entire show.

efectibamente, ademas de 6 la carta que que pensaba entregarle a Lizz, 7 el, "lo siento Katarina", que dijo Kapplan al desenterrar la malea, 8 que en el final de la temporada 10 cuando se despide de Agnes diga que actua como una madre, y Red responda que "nunca lo podra ebitar", 9 que a la operacion entraran Iliak y Katarina y Red sea un gran amigo de Iliak en la actualidad 10 y todo el episodio 21 de la 8aba temporada que cuenta por cuatro y (en el que yo pensaba que ya no quedarian dudas al respecto, en el que cuando acabe de verlo dije: bueno, ya esta confirmado entonces ¿no?)

@@ibaisanchez3230 I don't understand

More arguments 😂

I forgot which season and episode it was, but you remember when Constantin Rostov tried to kill Reddington and said, nothing could stop him from doing so? Red said, he should tell him from Katharina and whatever Constantin said, Red ended the sentences as if he was there with him - but Constantin was there with Katharina. As soon Constantin starts to poison Red, he whispers to him and at the end, Constantin didn't kill Red. This only could have happened, if Red told him the truth of being Katharina.

@@pakabe8774 I find it funny that people focus on what Red whispered...when Red literally admitted under truth serum that Liz was his daughter. It has been established repeatedly that Liz's father was dead...Red admitting that Liz was his daughter was revealing that Red was Katarina. and most focus on a the far more subjective part of the scene.

watch it again! it's there, in so many ways, it became more obvious around season 3.

A very important part of Reddingtons character is the fact that the dark “lures” him. Despite knowing that he puts everyone he cares about in danger, he brings them into his life “surrounded by darkness”

You mean the actors aren't actually the same people...who would have thought. Did you question how the younger versions of the characters were obviously not the same actors as well?

I haven't watched the commentary, but that is interesting. Spader giving it away in season 4 commentary seems strange when the show never completely confirmed it, and when the mystery was just starting at that point. Overall, I feel like the show should be able to speak for itself, and half the time, commentary shows that the producers really don't know what they're doing. Just watch the commentary for Game of Thrones.... they really mess things up in their interpretations. We even get that wonderful meme from them about how Dany loses a dragon because she "kinda forgot" that the Iron Fleet was a thing. I'm not saying Blacklist producers did that, necessarily, but I place in-show evidence above meta-commentary, especially post-conclusion commentary. And I agree with you. The cabal was just becoming interesting, then they removed it as though it never existed. I remember in the season 2 episode, Red shows Liz a map of the situation and there were like 4 factions and world-wide implications, but all we got is "now that the Director and Laurel Hitchin are dead, the cabal and all the other factions don't matter..."

I don't think he is trying to claim that Reddington isn't Katarina - just that this is only possible due to a change in direction partway through the show. In fact I find it hard to deny at this point. It is hard because to accept that as the truth, you have to explain away a lot of other details. The blood testing is the biggest one in my opinion, and to tell the audience that the FBI, or anyone else who had access to Red's blood at any point didn't discover the truth is the height of poor writing and as this video pointed out there were far too many people who should've known the secret, yet it never came out despite Red having fairly regular betrayal from those around him. Even if we accept the writers to be complete frauds and make that part of their narrative, there is still the early references to Red's family. In the killing of Dianne Fowler, there is no reason why Katarina would want to find out what happened to Raymond Reddington's family "more than anything in the world". The same applies to Katarina organizing a private performance of swan lake. As this video mentions too, there isn't any reason why she would want to destroy Reddington's family home either, or why stepping foot inside it would bring back "bad memories". The simplest explanation for these is that Reddington is actually Reddington. Something that is later made impossible because of the bones, then because he is Katarina. I think that the premise of this video is spot on. At the beginning, Reddington was clearly Reddington, or at least someone who was playing the part of him. Then as it progressed they changed who he is meant to be and broke the existing story they already built. You have to ignore large parts of the early story to make him Katarina. I watched the show and enjoyed it up until around season 7 or 8 and then didn't continue. The character of Reddington being played so well by Spader is the only reason why I stuck around that long. Anyone else in that role and the show wouldn't have made it past 6 seasons in my opinion.

While you can find this out from a blood test that isn't how blood test work. Only test specifically requested would be done so the claim that "anytime his blood is tested it would show he's female" is incorrect because there is no reason anyone would have done the test for that. You go into the doctor and have your blood drawn do they test it for every thing? Do they do multiple upon multiple draws to have enough? Has your doctor ever tested your blood to see if you are male? This is obviously not true and jumping to the conclusion that this would be done shows a bias.

As explained in the film FBI compared Red's medical records with the blood found where he was tortured by Garrick and confirmed match, so if he was genetically female they would definitey know from that found sample.

@@annakarewicz4857 Matching would not show gender. Not how DNA tests work. They use non-defining DNA sequences to confirm ID. The only time a DNA test would show gender is if the test specifically tested for it and that is illegal without a warrant.

Punctuation would be nice

@@JoseRodriguez-lp7rs 🤣😂 If you are going to be pedantic you should adhere your own grievance.

I agree completely. It's perfectly fine not to believe it, and if it's true it damages the story and character. That's what my video was about, in fact.

@@Half-FaceCinephile Keep it up! I'd like to see that video on how badly the fake Katarina arc was executed (if you want to make it, that is). I mean The Blacklist was always intended to be somewhat confusing for the audience, but that season was just another level. What was real, what wasn't, and the resolution to it was rushed, and I felt like Red could have done that right from the start.

They specifically say that Katarina never had a brother in 8x21.

@@bverji damn. There goes that one. You know, maybe some minor hacking could change the blood records for his staff, he'd have access to those systems. Maybe that'll close up a loophole, why he's so obsessed with being analog with the information he relies on.

@@notmebeingme461 Such theories are fine when the show is still going on and you are talking about what might be revealed later in the show, but now that the show is over it is unreasonable to base a theory on "what ifs." There is far more than enough evidence provided in the actual show to determine what Red's identity is.

@@bverji The end of a show isn't the end of a fandom, it's a thriller show, it thrives off mystery and until it's confirmed, nothing is for certain.

@@notmebeingme461 But it is the end of the information presented. You don't solve a mystery by inserting fanfiction, you use the information provided by the show. What you are doing by creating scenarios is what people were doing to predict what information would be presented in the future of the show, but there is no future information presented by the show. Use the information in the show to solve the mystery, because there isn't going to be any other information provided. Inventing an uncle never mentioned by the show and can no longer be presented is no more valid than if I was to say Red was an alien. Inserting things based on the fact that they weren't explicitly refuted by the show is illogical. The fact that they weren't presented in the show is proof it is invalid, not valid.

The problem with the continuity gap is that if he's not Katarina, the scenario can just be his imagination. None of it had to have actually happened at all. Sure, it's memory if he's Katarina, but then the mental disconnect becomes a story issue, since he recognizes neither his past self nor his past actions. If he's just Reddington, he is there imagining how she must have felt, and he creates the scenario from his understanding of the pressure she was under. That's one of the things that makes his anecdote in this episode so powerful. He's imploring the woman, whom he doesn't recognize as Katarina, not to follow in Katarina's footsteps because of the fallout of that decision on his own life. He believes Liz would have been better off if Katarina hadn't killed herself. But that doesn't work if he's Katarina, because none of that negative fallout actually occurred, and she was technically there for Liz, but the same dreaded outcome still befell Liz. Where is the emotional suicide bombing when three (or four) of the five most important people in her life know she's still alive? It turns the bombing anecdote into a metaphor for what transitioning does to the rest of a trans person's family... which would be extremely strange as their intention, given the obvious political leanings of the writers.

The only 2 people confirmed to be burned in the fire were Laz and Katarina. This is not an issue. Red did not help Liz escape the fire...Katarina did. Liz went back into the house and Red stayed in the car dyeing from his gun shot wound. Liz remembers that her mother got burned and Katarina responds "we both were."

She was not burned when she came to visit Kate and young Liz at the hotel certainly not to the extent of Raymond's scars

I think technically HIMYM. They took 9 years, Liz died at the end of 8, making everything moot, so yeah... lol.

I don't know what else was considered by the showrunners, but there were many better options they could have taken. At the earliest parts of the show, he could have almost literally been anyone. The most likely relationship was father-daughter, even though he said point blank that he wasn't after Anslo Garrick (the idea that he never lies to Liz is stupid, and contradicted many times throughout the series). There are a bunch of other things I can come up with off the top of my head: a war-buddy of her father's or mother's whose life was saved and feels a deep debt is owed; a criminal who worked with her "career criminal" father and thinks that she is the only federal agent who can be trusted; another relative; a godparent; a criminal trying to exploit her because he knows she hid things from the FBI; or pretty much anything. Most of these were made unusable after Liz killed Tom Connolly, because it takes a special connection to drop everything and go on the run with her. My preferred theory, to which I allude in the video, is that "Raymond Reddington" was a code name used by twin brothers to be a single person for spy missions. One of the brothers would have been married to Naomi and have a daughter, Jennifer, and the other brother would have an affair with Katarina and have a daughter, Masha/Liz. Then I would have had Naomi's husband discover the Cabal, assemble the Fulcrum, kidnap his niece, and die in the fire, leaving our Reddington to go on the run, become a criminal, and try to protect Liz from afar while looking for the Fulcrum. It's bad writing, because most stories that rely on identical twins are bad writing (and this was already being used at the time by the show Quantico). But I think it's slightly better than Redderina. This theory was destroyed when the writers introduced Hans Kohler, though. Why would an identical twin need plastic surgery to look like his identical twin? That's when I settled on Redderina as the right answer, but I still think it's bad.

To me, that was a HUGE hint to Redderina

Yes, the Alchemist changes DNA readings, but it's about identifying dead bodies, not live people. Also, I would argue that he's on the blacklist because Reddington doesn't have access to him, since he needed information from him that was only attainable once he was caught/killed.

What is with people disliking the Elizabeth Keen character but not Raymond Reddington? Is it that you are women haters? Every character & their roles did wrong during the show. Keen suffered a lot of losses & got angry at Reddington. But I think the writers could have left out a whole series if Keen would have just listened that the woman pretended to be her mother, but was not.

As I said in the video, I think she's emotionally inconsistent. She will be horrible to Reddington one minute, then ask for his help the next. Sometimes the switches are justified, but they happened too frequently throughout the series. I also think there are several turning points where she alienated the audience in major ways. One for me (I won't speak for others) was when she woke up from her coma and immediately took Agnes away from Reddington, who had been her caretaker that whole time (Agnes knew Reddington better than she knew Liz at the time), in favor of giving her to Scottie Hargrave. Scottie was 1.) a complete stranger to both Agnes and Liz herself; 2.) a character whose entire foundation was literally misplacing a child for 30 years; 3.) had recently been deus ex machina-ed out of jail; and 4.) was responsible for the kidnapping incident at Liz's wedding, which resulted in the premature birth of Agnes and the desperate faked death storyline. Additionally, when confronted about Liz's "death," she callously told Reddington to get over it because sometimes people die. But Liz declared her a better caretaker than someone who had already been caring for Agnes for almost a year. There are lots of moments like that in Liz's story and, when put together, a lot of people come to dislike her.

Red is 100% not the real Redington The real Red knew where the Fulcrum was, imposter Red didn't. Redington would not need to get plastic surgery to be look like Red. The bones in the bag where proven to be the real Redington through DNA. Red destroyed his empire, friendships, and his relationship with Liz to keep anyone from identifying the bones., There is no reason for Red to fight so hard to hide his identity if he is who he says he is. Red was completely devoted to Liz and Jennifer was an after thought DNA proved that the real Redington was Liz's father (as well as many people) and imposter Red straight up says to her he is not Liz's father. The show went out of it's way to show that Red died in Katarina's lap to show he was actually dead. Red said he had Liz's memory erased to protect her from the memory of killing her father, if he was alive no reason to do that or to lie that he was dead. One of the first things Red says to Liz is that everything about him is a lie. Imposter Red is shown many times that he grew up in Russia, the real Red did not he grew up in Michigan. There are several scenes where he talks about being an imposter with Dembe, Dom, and Liz. The show creator confirmed in interviews after the season 5 final that Red was an imposter and the bones were the real Redington. What else could they have done to convince you he was an imposter? They beat to death that he was an imposter repeatedly.

LOL That would be a great reveal.

By all available evidence, I would say yes. The bones are definitely declared to be Reddington in the show. Not everyone agrees on Katarina, which is fine. And not everyone cares about the topic, which probably makes the story better, in my opinion.

yes, this! Katarina went with the "new" Red to get the surgery. She can't go there and be Red at the same time.

@@melocoton7 ROFLMAO, What!!! Whoever it was that got the surgery had to both go there and be Red.

I'll grant that I left out the season 9 and 10 stuff, including a comment in the final episode about how he can't stop acting like a mother (season 10 was still airing when I was making the video). I had forgotten about the "when did you stop being Russian" part, so thanks for pointing it out. I should have mentioned it. But I don't think leaving it out harms my thesis, which is that yes, Reddington is Katarina, but that it breaks the story for it to be true. The producers seem to have decided on Redderina sometime during Season 5, since that's when the real evidence starts. Before that point are tons of contradictions, as I pointed out.

@@Half-FaceCinephile I think the producer decided on Redarina between the end of 3 season and 4 season , because the dialogue because there are the dialogue between Kaplan and Reddington about the past and then going on there are also the memories of Katarina meeting young mr Kaplan , and then at the start of season 4 there is torture suffered by Reddington with Kirk , Kirk first asked him : “ are you the father of Masha?” Reddington said no then Kirk asked :” is Masha your daughter?” Reddington said yes so I think this is the first real proof that Red is Katarina then another small subtlety is that Katarina and Reddington have the same attitudes , sometimes in scenes where Katarina is present she has her legs crossed and her hands crossed on her legs just like Reddington often does , furthermore in some scenes where Katarina is there and we see her with sunglasses she wears them on top of her head like Reddington sometimes does , another thing that come to my mind is when Ivan is captured and then when he is with Reddington’s medical team , Ivan apologies to Red for not being able to keep the secret but Red tells him if you have to apologize do it for something you are responsible for , what I am is all your fault in fact Ivan was the supervisor of Katarina and he trained her , another clue is in the last episode of season 8 when they are at the park and Liz has the picture that we see since season 2 and first asks Reddington if he took the picture and Reddington didn’t answer and then Liz asks him :” where you there , weren’t you? Red said I was there in the end another small detail is that in Nachalo (8x21) where the whole truth comes out Reddington is telling the story to Liz but we and Liz see Katarina telling the story

​@@francescocipriani8888 I think in season 4 they knew that Reddington was going to be an imposter, but they hadn't yet decided to make him Katarina. The theory that would have worked better in my opinion is that "Reddington" was a set of twins sharing the same identity. If there were twins, Raymond would be married to Naomi and have a daughter, Jennifer, but his brother, Reddington, would have a love affair with Katarina and father Masha/Liz. I would make Raymond the traitor, who dies in the fire in Delaware, having kidnapped Masha to keep his niece safe from the impending mess with the Cabal. Reddington would have returned to his house in Maryland to find Naomi and Jennifer dead in this scenario (Raymond would have faked their deaths, unbeknownst to Reddington), then he rushes to find Masha and realizes that his brother is dead and he's a fugitive, after which he places Liz with Sam and goes on the run. It would explain the same information from the first 4 seasons while closing some of the other plot holes. I'm not saying it's good writing -- the "secret twins" trope is terrible writing -- but it creates fewer problems than Redderina. They closed this option off when they introduced Hans Kohler though, because there's no reason a twin would need surgery to look like his twin brother. But this did happen in another show, "Quantico," around the same time, which I think is why they scrapped this idea, if they ever had it in the first place. I think they did a good job making subtle nods to Redderina once they decided to go for it (Lotte Verbeek is second only to James Spader on the acting front), but I think it's a shame they chose to do it, because it broke so much of the prior story along the way.

I thought your video was fantastic! This series backtracks over itself in many instances and even as revealed by Spader on one of the late night talk shows admits that the audience was Occasionally spun some stuff to throw us off. I say this with complete humility and to demonstrate just how crazy the series made me. By season 3 I was taking notes, binge watching hours at a time and was terribly frustrated that with a IQ in the 160’s an a absolute inability to determine who Raymond was in relation to Elizabeth. I find it an absolute disgrace to claim the Rederina theory especially in the final dialogue about the pleasures he wishes to experience and one is to “Sleep the sleep I slept as a boy.”

@@Half-FaceCinephile You interpret purposeful red herrings as back tracking and plot holes while failing to observe likely conclusions and ignoring what should be obvious narrative conventions that would answer those claimed plot holes/ backtracking. You are taking the fact that they made a slow build up that Red was an imposter as conclusive proof that they never had a story when they began the show in direct opposition of the creators, writers, and Spader himself claiming they always knew. The fact that Redington was an imposter was set up early on. The statement that everything about him was a lie. The question if he was actually him in the first episode. An episode where someone else claims to be Redington (planting that he is an imposter). The fact he was looking for the fulcrum but was established he hid the fulcrum. The picture that blurred out Katarina's face. The question of Red's paternity, the arc with Kirk and Liz remembering she shot her father. The connection of Katarina's red hair and Red's name. Naomi suggestively stating Red looked SO different. The many double speak and avoidance from Red. The running of DNA not from the imposter Red but an older source. So much of the blacklist being focused on Identity. All the rebirth symbolism surrounding Katarina from early seasons. There are countless examples and the early clues that Red was an imposter in these early seasons taken singularly isn't very conclusive, but taken as a whole show a very purposeful pattern building towards a reveal that Red was an imposter and that he was Katarina. The fact that the story built piece by piece and snowballed over time isn't suggesting that the writers didn't know the plot, but that is how you build anticipation in a story. Particularly a mystery. You conclusion that the show didn't know who Red's identity was is erroneous and predicated on force conclusions, incorrect knowledge and and ignoring writing conventions and the interconnectedness of the information as it builds towards the narrative.. Addressing the video. 1. The fact that people knew Red's true identity isn't proof that he was not an imposter before. In fact most of the people reveled to know the truth were not confirmed to know until after the time you suggest there was this story switch. So it was obviously a purposeful decision with the fact he was an imposter in mind. 2. Kaplan obviously knew that red was an imposter that is why she went after his bones to get at him and why he was so determined to get them back. Kaplan says sorry because she was going to betray Katarin's secret. She was apologizing to Katarina, but she was digging up the bones to get at Red. The rebirth of symbolism of Katarina had been well established by that point, so the bones were always unlikely hers. The K on the tree was a purposeful mislead, it is part of Katarina's rebirth story. She became Red, his bones (and the K) was an epitaph of her death as he lived on through her transformation as him. That K if you apply a bit of literary analysis is actual proof that the writers were leading the astute viewer to that conclusion. 3. As for the people in the bunker. The dream like sequence to that reveal is suppose to indicate not that Red is telling her the whole story right there in front of everyone but that it is an amalgam of the information she has gathered as she makes connections through a thought process. The time slowing is an indication the viewer that the people around are removed from the environment. 4. The nurse is revealed to not know what Red's identity is. She stated clearly that she never knew who went in for the surgery. Your assumption that many people had access to his medical records is not valid. Medical records are accessible based on need, no one is just looking through random medical records. 5. While a blood test could show gender the claim that any time blood is tested it will show blood is nonsense. Not every test is done on every body fluid, that isn't how medical tests are done. Someone would have to specifically test the blood to see what the gender is. 6. I am not sure what your point is about Red being with women. A trans surgery isn't noticeable from casual observation, Tran men can have intercourse if they have a good full phalloplasty, Katarina states she had relations with men and women with little preference. 7. As for Cape May, the guy who wrote that episode has come out and said that the writing staff was told in season 2 that red was Katarina. Your interpretation is simple wrong, the guy who wrote it says that he wrote it from the perspective that Red was Kat. As for why she calls him Raymond it is because he IS RAYMOND. The entire point of the story is she died and was reborn as RAYMOND. 8. Katarina did commit suicide, that is the point. She killed Katarina and became someone new. She entered the ocean, was cleansed, and arose something different. It is a rebirth metaphor. 9. There is nothing suggesting that Phillips knew Red's identity. You are trying to force a continuity error by forcing an assumption that has zero support from the show. The most obvious answer is that your assumption that he knew is wrong. You also seem completely unaware of the contradiction of claiming that too many people knowing somehow indicates a switch and that Phillips has to know. Your rationalization is not consistent and are fabricating contradictions to support a predetermined conclusion. 10. As for his blood and DNA tests. Like blood tests that is not how DNA tests work. They don't just test for everything, it is in fact illegal to do that without a warrant. Identification matches markers that use non-characteristical DNA sequences. Also from 30 years prior it is unlikely that a DNA sample to use from the original Redington existed. This is somewhat confirmed by the fact that Cooper had to use a personal source to run a paternity test. Also, as I have already pointed out the show began it's purposeful laying of clues that Red was an imposter early on and this would have been an issue for who ever the imposter was. 11. You say clearly there was a different plan, but that is not clear at all. You are taking the statements at face value while ignoring the complexity of what her statement meant to Red and his contemplation is not at all clear. While I agree it is a re-contextualization the show deliberately moves the mystery along through re-contextualization and you simply ignore this fact. Red's pauses and processing of such a straight forward claim gives the viewer an indication that there is more going on here than what is alluded to. Later on it becomes clear that Red questions the downfall of his decision to become Red, of how his family dissolved, and regrets his decisions that lead to that. You can either take this scene to be the first indication of this internal conflict (while ignoring those on the show saying this was the predetermined plot) or that the plot switched, but one of those interpretations serves the story and the other is a choice to contradict the story. The choice to interpret things in a way that contradicts the story when you could interpret them in a way that serves the story is the bases of your poor analysis. 12. One of the makeup artists has said that he had put burns of Katarina's back in that scene but that they decided to cover it up. My assumption is that after getting renewed for multiple seasons they felt it was to obvious. But this does show that at the time they had already had the Redarina theory in place. Also Liz was burned in this scene and she too isn't presenting any signs of such an injury. Either there is some explanation we aren't privy to off screen (such as pain killers and a different/discarded clothes) or it was simply poor direction. Also the only two people confirmed to have been burned is Katarina and Liz. 13. The story told in the cell they later highly suggest was made up to extract information. She asks if anything he said was real and he just kind of guiltily ignores her. This is also where it begins to establish he cares little for his other family. You are ignoring context to interpret this scene in a way that contradicts the story when there is information that helps support the consistency of the story. That is poor analysis that show bias. 14. Red did not find out about her betrayal at that house, that was at the house that burned, the beach house. You are right at the time you don't know what the relationship with the house is and it isn't explained till much later. You are drawing conclusion about something based on the fact it was not revealed. The entire point of it is to help create sense of mystery. 15. The swan lake thing is again an assumption. The assumption is that there is a connection with the girl shown, but it could also just be about the story of swan lake itself. Again applying some literary analyses Swan lake is about falling in love, marriage, transformation of a woman to something else, and the grief and longing that comes from that transformation. Again looking at it through this lens it perfectly matches what Katarina is going through and is an early indication if the direction of the plot. The only thing in your video that has any validity is the finger prints, but that in face of all the other information isn't really significant as it can be addressed as being part of the plastic surgery. Most of your arguments are either wrong about what happened in the show, based on incorrect assumptions about medicine, and ignore common literary devices. Your analysis is predicated on your choice to interpret and make assumptions about things in a way that produces contradictions. That is not a critical analysis that is an attempt to tear down a particular view point using biased interpretation.

Red is 100% not the real Redington The real Red knew where the Fulcrum was, imposter Red didn't. Redington would not need to get plastic surgery to be look like Red. The bones in the bag where proven to be the real Redington through DNA. Red was completely devoted to Liz and Jennifer was an after thought DNA proved that the real Redington was Liz's father and imposter Red straight up says to her he is not Liz's father. The real Redington's death and being Liz's father is confirmed repeatedly and there was nothing in the show suggesting this was not true. Red destroyed his empire, friendships, and his relationship with Liz to keep anyone from identifying the bones. There is no reason for Red to fight so hard to hide his identity if he is who he says he is. The show went out of it's way to show that Red died in Katarina's lap to show he was actually dead. Red said he had Liz's memory erased to protect her from the memory of killing her father, if he was alive no reason to do that or to lie that he was dead. One of the first things Red says to Liz is that everything about him is a lie. Imposter Red is shown many times that he grew up in Russia, the real Red did not he grew up in Michigan. There are several scenes where he talks about being an imposter with Dembe, Dom and liz. DNA confirmed that the real Redington was Liz's father and he tells her straight out he is not her father The show creator confirmed in interviews after the season 5 final that Red was an imposter and the bones were the real Redington. I don't know what else they could have possibly done to make it absolutely clear that the Red is not Redington. "but in the end, does it really matter who he was? because now he is reddington, before he became the man he is" that would be the underlying premise of the show. What is the nature of identity.

The Alchemist (DNA changer) is on the Blacklist because Reddington doesn't have access to him. This is especially true for most of the season 1 Blacklisters. They mostly lead either to Berlin or to The Decembrist Alan Fitch, who framed Reddington for killing Berlin's daughter. Neither of them are allies of Reddington, who would share their associates. As for the Cape May dialog, the period versus question mark is a big deal. It's definitely a question mark. He's asking if she had been there before. And the Fake Reddington, as someone who loved Katarina, could have come to Cape May before for any number of reasons, including the alternate explanation for why he is there in the episode Cape May. That is, to imagine how Katarina felt at the time. He doesn't have to be Katarina to have come to Cape May to be introspective. Heck, Cape May houses a Naval/Coast Guard training facility. He doesn't even have to have been introspective, just "a different person" (as in still a good citizen and not a criminal). Also, I would point out that after this exchange, he asks for the woman's name, indicating that he doesn't recognize Katarina in his hallucination. I said in the video that there are many things in the episode that can be taken ex post facto as evidence, and that conversation is one of them, but I still don't think that it was the actual intention for the story at the time. Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment.

@@Half-FaceCinephile What are you basing your claim that " Reddington doesn't have access to him. This is especially true for most of the season 1 Blacklisters" on?

I base that (admitted) conjecture on the fact that Reddington needs something from each of these criminals in order to identify his unknown enemy, Berlin, and discover why he's being targeted by Berlin, whom he doesn't know. If he had access to the Stewmaker or the Alchemist, he wouldn't need the FBI to arrest them in order to find their client lists. And if he were named on those client lists, the FBI would have noted it, especially in Season 1 when they were the most hostile to Reddington. I would also say that "Katarina Rostova" can't be on their client lists either, because that would be proof that she's alive and the Townsend Initiative would have activated over it once they were logged into FBI evidence. I'll admit that I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the thinking is sound on this point.

@@Half-FaceCinephile "I base that (admitted) conjecture" Ok...your reasoning is flawed though. Him needing them to identify Belin and having access to them are not mutually exclusive. He could be using the FBI also to get close to Liz, to use their resources, to find the fulcrum as well, to obfuscate that it is Red going after these people and a whole list of other reasonable possibilities or combination thereof.

It's not flawed logic. Reddington doesn't sic the FBI on his friends/allies. If they worked for him, they'd be off-limits to the FBI, not fodder for them. He made that clear to Liz when she met his plastic surgeon, and he made his rules on the matter clear when he gave up the troll farmer after their falling out. And again, even if he used their services, the FBI would have made some noise about that when he appeared in the client list. They retrieved the client list before Reddington could alter it, and in fact gave it to him. And other motives for contacting the FBI are irrelevant: Reddington needed the client list, so he was on the blacklist. If he could have gotten the list by any other means, like just calling him and asking, he wouldn't have burned the guy as a useful and lucrative criminal contact.

Yup

I'm not sure the prolonging of the show was the problem, though I'll admit the quality went way down as time went on. I seriously hate that they tried to make Siya take the place of all the characters who had been written off the show combined. But most of the contradictory information for the theory comes from the early seasons. It becomes more explicit as time goes on that Red is Katarina, at least to me, so it seems that they got their act together and made a definitive decision about it, even if they never confirmed it definitively in the show itself. But you're right that it makes it bad writing, since there are things within the show that make it harder to believe if not impossible to be true logically. The more you have to forget about the early parts of the show for the theory to work, the worse the theory is.

I’m sorry but i can debunk that one quickly and without Room for argument is the two times Red discusses the best things he’s experienced in his life and insists he wants to again before dying. Once when locked in cage with a Anslow Garrick and the other in final episode where here he sentimentally lists them. Drink a bottle of wine, then another, read a good book, SLEEP THE SLEEP I SLEPT AS A BOY.

@@lisabados8589 That is circular reasoning. Why would someone obfuscating that they had been living as another gender 30 years all of a sudden just admit? That is not a debunking and there is a massive amount of room for argument. It doesn't even make sense; You proof that Red isn't lying about something is the fact that he couldn't have been lying about it.

@@bverji Then why when he meets the fake katarina he is so unaware that she is a fake. He looks like a guy madly in love, if he was katarina he would be cautious. My opinion is that all theories are b*llshit and even the writers don't know the answer. The best think they could do out of respect to the audience was to write a story which wouldn't be based on either theories and conclude an amazing series full of plot twists with yet again a new twist.

@@ezekiel8137 You misinterpreted what happened. The scene is meant to be able to be interpreted in many ways, but you chose a way that was not consistent with previous clues to Reds identity. The later it is revealed that Red did know who the fake Katarina was and that Red was in fact responsible for hiding her because he felt responsible that she was used to help the real Katarina. He never thought that the fake Katarina was Katarina. After this information was revealed you fail to adjust your interpretation of what happened when you saw Red and Fake Katarina meet. It isn't the writers that don't know what happened...you just have trouble following.

I think it was so that they could have both segments of the audience (those who see the clues of Redderina and those who don't) both be happy with the show. If they confirmed one way or another during the series, they would lose half the audience whichever way they did it. This way, they can say in future interviews that it was always the plan (when it clearly wasn't), while also not offending those who would have stopped watching if it had been confirmed during the show. It's just a shame that they didn't keep the quality of the show up while also trying to have their cake and eat it. Seasons 7-10 are really bad compared to the earlier stuff, and 6 wasn't that great either.

No most certainly not. You obviously didn't watch the show well.

Just my thoughts. :) It's so silly how people now claim bad writing on the show everytime something doesn't fit the Red/Katerina theory. Perhaps it was simply always meant to be a mystery. Spader said at the beginning in 2013 that the main storyline was already planned out until the show's end.

@rebeccajunge2499 Exactly so there really wasn't any need to even try to figure out who reddington was because it was established right from the beginning that we weren't ever going to solve the mystery, that this was going to be one of those things that we (the audience) were never really meant to know for sure, kind of like what they did with the show LOST and I was perfectly fine with that for it did not take away the thrill ride of trying to figure out what was going on with him or made exploring his mysterious origin story any less exciting! 🤔😆😁😉🔥💯👍

Yes, I know what you mean. For me, it was of course fun to speculate who he might be, but the main reason I enjoy the show is simply watching him BE Reddington with the crazy Blacklisters, the endless stories and the interaction with the supporting cast. It's the journey, not the destination... ;) @@vmaninc.761

I think that Spader would have been attracted by the idea of Reddington actually being Katarina. It could be why he wanted to do The Blacklist. James has played many strange characters in his career and this was another one. Done to perfection, IMO. The fact that he never won an Emmy for this role is an absolute crime. I still miss him.

@judithsevon3623 I can definitely see that but I believe he was more attracted to the idea of his character's origins remaining a mystery due to the fact they wouldn't be able to pull off such a feat and make it believable; so I for one I'm perfectly fine with the way it was done and I miss him dearly as well!

If I remember correctly, they screw up the possibility of Liz shooting Katarina pretty early. Maybe even in the first episode, when he said her mother died of weakness and shame. Of course, they screwed with the continuity of the 1st season so much that they could probably have done it anyways. LOL

Doesn’t make sense , real Reddington would knew where the fulcrum was , real Red didn’t know Ilya and Ivan so couldn’t get the archive , Ilya and Red talks about when they were children and only Katarina knew Ilya since childhood

You know a lot. Help me understand WHY he went to warn fake Katarina if he is Katarina - that has bothered me but I half watch out of being so irritated at Liz. (I'm not finished but want to be thus I am not worried about spoilers. I basically love the show for RR and Dembe) @@Half-FaceCinephile

@@jenniferschade7553 Red (real Katarina) felt responsible for the death of fake Katarina's husband and her being on the run as a fake Katarina. Although Red being the pragmatist he is also used the fake Katarina to help keep those hunting after the real Katarina off her trail. So he went to warn her because he felt responsible for her, but also because if someone caught up to her and got her to admit she was a fake then people would start to wonder were the real Katarina was.

He literally told Kirk under truth serum that Liz was his daughter and then the show later confirms many times that Liz's father is dead.

⁠@@shaun3713Kirk wouldn’t care about a third man because he is sick and doesn’t care , if Red told him I ‘ am not the real Reddington Kirk wouldn’t care he would have killed him anyway , he told him “It’s me Alexander and then something that only Katarina and Kirk could know

Redarina was confirmed by writers on the show. The rumour is NBC didn't want to confirm it in the show because they felt it was too sensitive a topic given the audience tastes of 2023. Personally, I think the lack of definitive answers during the show was unfair to fans after 10 seasons. If the writers believed in Redarina they needed to commit to a confirmation in Season 10. The whole point of season 10 appeared to be to kill Red. When it happened, it felt inevitable, heavy handed metaphorically, and a betrayal of this great character who always found a way out. It's hinted he is dying anyway but like Redarina, leaving it all ambiguous is simply lazy writing. There's a line from Nietzsche to the effect that "poets muddy their waters that they may seem deep" and the show's writers did a lot of that as they hurtled towards the inevitable conclusion. Perhaps a chunk of the blame lies with the network.

I think it's absolutely fine to not care whatsoever about Reddington's identity. The show made it an issue, then made the issue moot by killing off all of the characters that cared about the answer in universe. Personally, I cared enough to make the video because I had some additional investment in the show as it was ending, despite the final season being really bad...lol.

Thank you for saying that! For me, they great thing about the show was that they didn't tell us who is is - because, as Liz said (in season 6 or 7, I believe), it doesn't matter. The ending was perfect. I know I'm pretty much alone with this opinion, but I don't think the writers were lazy, on the contrary, the writing on The Blacklist is great - but it's also very unconventional and a lot of people don't like that. The show loved to not meet the audience's expectations and of course that creates anger and frustration. As for me, I adore that they dared to be different.

True, but I don't think he ever used their specific services. The Stewmaker and Adrian Shaw were specifically added to the Blacklist so that the FBI could find them for him. And he never needed to fake his death by changing DNA. I was just trying to list the people who absolutely must know his identity, which even excluded Constantine Rostov, because we never really get to know what exactly was said in that last moment. And like I said in the video, there are some mixed messages as well, especially about whether or not Mr. Kaplan knows his identity for sure.

@@Half-FaceCinephile I don’t think Mr. Kaplan knew his identity because she would have said something. The scene where RR met Mr. Kaplan and ask her to help build up his empire, she didn’t know him. I do think Liz relationship to her surrogate father is a contact of Dom. Dom said he had contacts in America. I think from some strange reason there is something there we are missing.

Exactly, the guy who ends up getting tracked down by his daughter's insulin pump. RR describes him a virtuoso working in blood and tissue he could change Dna although he was much younger, there were others

He and Dr kriloff only know who Raymond is

Actually the nurse that was present also ( that is if she is still alive that was left a bit ambiguous)

It isn't theorizing, those are actual facts of what happened in the show. You are wrong and choose to ignore actual concreate examples from the show illustrating that you are wrong. Sure writers " can change their minds if they wish" but they have said that didn't happen in regards to Red's identity. Thus you need irrefutable evidence that they are lying rather than your theories simply are incorrect. You failed to do that and this video failed to do that. This video is just forced conclusions and based on assumed knowledge that is false. " and even make mistakes or oversights." Sure TV shows make mistakes all the time. But that doesn't mean you can just assume something is a mistake without evidence of contradiction. I would also say the things you listed as "mistakes" 1. are more dropped plot lines (probably because they didn't hire a writing staff until season 2), 2. assumes Fred, who is pretending to be Redington, it is a contradiction for him to continue that charade and fort people treating him as if he is the real Redington (that is not a mistake that is consistent with the plot). 3. Or fixated on information that isn't a contradiction to the story. The fact that the show may have mistakes also doesn't have any bearing on what we are discussing unless you are pointing to a mistake that directly applies to the discussion showing that the staff has lied. Theories are easy to make. I can make a theory that Red is an alien sent down to prep for an evasion. It doesn't make it a VALID theory. there is "Nothing in any of the episodes contradicts this theory (your quote)" but there is NOTHING to support it either. Creating a theory out of nothing but fan fiction as you have done is not valid. There are NO theories that have any support from the show other than Redarina. For example, your theory about Fred being a foreign agent. Such an agent is not presented in the show. It is acharacter you made up...thus there can be no evidence from the show to suggest this is true, so such a "thoey" has no validity. Can you honestly not see how suggesting that creating a theory based on no evidence from the show and then arguing it is valid because "Nothing in any of the episodes contradicts this theory." is devoid of any consideration of how EVIDENCE determines the path of solving a mystery. You are Literally just creating fan fiction based on things not specifically addressed in the story BECAUSE they NEVER were part of the story and ignoring that there is no evidence to support it. That is not a logical way to follow a story because you are purposely attempting to circumvent the need for evidence to lead to the conclusion. A failure to recognize that these two things (Redarina and fan fiction) are not equivalent and destroys your credibility as it shows you are not using logical analysis to try and solve the mystery . You are doing the same thing with your assertion the staff lied. You have absolutely no proof that they lied and you are basing it entirely on the fact you want to believe it is true and thought that it couldn't be proven to not be true. But even if it couldn't be proven that they did not lie that IS NOT PROOF they did lie. Now that I gave examples of how the show began with some signs in the first season and presented that the show had proven Redarina in season 5 you choose to just ignore it. The writers did validate Redarina in the broadcast. It just took actually putting the pieces together. Even when I present the pieces to you and explain how they fit together you just ignore that they exist. Heck, even by the end of the second season the show had presented all the information needed to know that Red was Katarina. Red tells Liz directly that he is not her father and later admits under truth serum that Liz is his daughter. It wasn't that hard to deduce and done early and then repeatedly supported through out the show, some people just got distracted by the noise and ignored what the writers wrote. Some of the evidence that leads to Redarina 1. Red tells Kirkov Liz's is his daughter, (under truth serum), we later find out her father is dead. 2. There is a scene in season 3 where Red is looking out of the window at a child. In the season 8 final this same scene is done with Katarina. Red and Katarina are standing in the same spot, seeing the same thing, at the same time. They were literally sharing a brain. 3. Both Katarina and Red are both identified as N13 4. Fake Katarina is searching for the real Katarina and after being told where she is by Dom fake Katarina says to Red "You have been right in front of me the whole time." 5. Kaplan apologizes to "Katarina" when she digs up Redington's bones, which she is doing to hurt Red. Later found out that the bones are the real Redington 6. Kaplin says Little Nikko helped her after Annie was shot, and Red responds that Kate knows that he was "away" At that time in Kate's flashbacks, Katarina tells Kate she must go "away." 7. Ivan and Ilya are both childhood/old friends of Red and of Katarina. 8. After Dom is shot by Paris Katarina, he apologize to Red not understanding him...which is what katarina and Red says about her father. 9. We see Dom, Katarina's father, sentimentally attached to his Wagoneer. Red sentimentally describes how his dad drove a Wagoneer. Both Katarina's father and Red's father are shown to/described as liking peanuts, being authoritarian, and excommunicating their child 10. Both Red and Katarina say their dad didn't understand them, but their mother did. 11. Red obviously cares deeply for Liz, but has very little concern for Jennifer. 12. Both Red and Katarina said they were the one to have Liz's memories wiped. 13. Katarina is the only person presented in the story that isn't accounted for after the imposter gets the plastic surgery done. 14. One of the very first things that Red says to Liz is that everything about him was a lie. Taken literally that would include gender. 15. Kaplan said she put Liz in Red's arms 30 years ago, but Katarina is the only person the viewer ever sees that Kaplan hands baby Liz too. 16. It is said repeatedly that they aren't telling Liz what Red's identity is because she couldn't accept it. Who could make more sense than the loss of a mother she never knew. 17. Kate says she wanted to look after Liz, but couldn't while hiding. Becoming Redington accomplishes that. If Red was someone other than Katarina then she is gone and not looking after Liz. Knowing that she is alive and yet is never seen in the show has meaning. That absence is evidence in itself that Red is Katarina. 18. Kaplan tells both Red and Katarina that she will do what is best for Liz. This is a literary device called mirroring. When Kaplan betrayed Red he was betraying them both, that was the literary point of having Katarina say the same thing to both of them. 19. Katarina's most obvious feature is her RED hair. People with RED hair are often called RED. It is not a coincidence that "Redington's" name is also shortened to RED. It is a literary device to connect the two characters. 20. The last time Katarina is ever seen is at the plastic surgeon before imposter Red gets surgery. 21. and the fact that Red was Katarina has been confirmed by staff. I could easily go on for another 20. You know how many examples that can be pointed to that supports any other "theory?" None, Zero, Zip. Redarina is literary the only person that can be Red that has anything you can point to in the show. That absence of other support is again evidence of Redarina. These examples go from the first episode throughout the series. To argue that the writers "never validated Redarina during the broadcast" is utterly false. When you have evidence that you can point to for an answer, and the people who created the show give you the same answer, and there is NO evidence for any other possible answer and you STILL refuse to acknowledge the answer provided you aren't basing your conclusion on what happened in the show nor on logic. Also, what is the deal with responding to me in an entirely new thread? Do not know how to hit the reply button?

They can claim that, but I don't think I believe them. There are way too many contradictions, especially early on. And if it was always planned, why did they chicken out when it came to actually confirming it? Again, I think Redderina is the truth, but I doubt it was the original plan, and I definitely don't think it's good writing. This show had some great writing along the way, as well as some trash writing. Redderina is somewhere in the middle, but closer to the trash side, and I think they knew that, or they would have had Harold find out and say it out loud.

Oh if you don't believe them it's fine. Your choice. But chances are, that all of these people are telling the truth when speaking of the show's biggest mystery. @@Half-FaceCinephile

​@@giffingna4778 I just see too many early contradictions to believe them about it. There's no reason to contradict a theory before any audience members had even caught on to the existence of the mystery...

@@Half-FaceCinephilebecause they chose Reddington being Katarina from season 2

​@@francescocipriani8888 And that's fine, but it still means that there are things about it that don't make sense. I only have problems with the contradictions and logical flaws of it. As I say in the video, they tried to fix things, but didn't have the foresight to prevent the problems from arising in the first place. A lot of shows do it, but that doesn't make it good.

There is no such proof and this video is all based on forced analysis, which is why you claim there is but don't actually state WHAT it is. Spader, writers, directors, and show creators all said they knew from the beginning. So, for it to be a lie not only would it be a lie from multiple sources, but one not contradicted by anyone else in the know... very unlikely. To conclude it is a lie, one who is being objective, would have to have substantial evidence and there is no evidence. The lack of this evidence, like there is no clues throughout the series to Red's identity that are not short lived, other than Katarina is its-self proof that they are not lying. If the staff had lied there would be clues to Red's identity building through the seasons, like there was with Redarina, but this evidence doesn't exist. This idea that the show switched the story line is objectively false; created by people to justify the fact that they didn't pick up on the direction the show was heading. You can follow the building clues that Red was and imposter and Katarina from the very first episode and there is no other clues to support anyone else. This is why the Redarina was already a predominate theory by the end of season 3 and the prevailing theory after Cape May. There is plenty of evidence in the first season indicating that they were planting the seeds for Redington being an imposter and Katarina. . Red set up he is an imposter (and possibly not his gender) by saying everything about him is a lie. An episode early in the first season about an imposter Redington to plant the seed. Him being her father is to obvious, the show begins predicated on the question who is Red to Liz. Red indicates to Liz that who he is is far more complicated then he is her father. Red tells Liz straight up he is not her father and her father is dead in the first season Yet the love Red has for Liz seem's paternal Liz does a paternity test, but decides not to read it Red kills Sam to hide who he is. There is an elegance and gentlemaness to Red They present verbal imagery of Katarina being reborn...walking into the ocean to never be seen again Katarina's absence, the nature of her suicide and the picture of her face being obfuscated is suggestive she was still alive. When Red was talking to the plastic surgeon he asks "Who knows about the work I've had done?'"" Red tells Madeline Pratt about his family disappearing, but then later indicates it could have all have been a lie. There is no indication of Red/Redington having any relationship with his family and many little open ended and forced dialog to create double meaning to conclude he was an imposter and done in a way to NOT exclude Katarina. By the end of season 5 there was No reasonable conclusion other than Red was Katarina. It had been established that imposter Red was Liz's parent, the real Redington was Liz's father and he was dead. That had to mean that Red was Liz's mother. That was the entire point of introducing the Fake Katarina. By the end of seasom two all the information was there to establish that Red was Katarina as he admits Liz is his duaghter, but he is not her father. To extend the mystery and thus the show they had to draw the viewer away from the Redarina conclusion with a short term misdirect to then set up the reveal (as much as they were going to) that Red was Katarina. The conclusion that the staff lied about Redarina had always been the direction has no factual support whats-so-ever and is directly contradicted by the facts.

That's a completely fine point of view. I was just setting out some of the evidence on both sides. The show can be enjoyed just as much by ignoring the question of his identity.

I would make two comments about this: First, the whole scenario works if he's just Reddington. He found out about the cabal and set out to become a formidable enough criminal to infiltrate and destroy it from within. No need for Katarina. And second, the idea of Katarina doesn't come up in the pilot of Blacklist. He says that her mother "died of weakness and shame." There's no tinge of the KGB, much less a betrayal that would result in a sex change to become a criminal (especially since the real Reddington being a criminal barely makes sense to the FBI agents -- he was a rising star in Naval Intelligence and they have no idea why he supposedly turned). I agree that Reddington is Katarina, but it's more by process of elimination than through good storytelling, in my opinion. There were better options and I still doubt that it was the original plan, as I stated in my video. Thank you for the comment. Smokin' Aces is a great underrated action movie. It has a stellar cast and feels a bit like some of the older Guy Ritchie movies.