A Definitive Statement of Raymond Reddington’s Identity (James Spader) is used in the last double sequence of “The blacklist“, with which the series now came to an end. The several big questions fans have debated over the past decade have never been concretely answered. The creators are only spreading new little hints and further retreating into statements that contain all the necessary hints for the answer to the question of all questions “Who is Raymond Reddington?” had been laid over the years. But we are confident that we can answer the question.
Before we tell you what that means and who Raymond Reddington really is, let’s tell you what ends up happening. Danger: SPOILERS follow. In case you’re not interested in the exact ending of the series, but just want to know the answer to Red’s true identity: Just skip the next three paragraphs and move on to the next subheading.
This happens at the end of “The Blacklist”
The last episode is a very clear ending to the series. One last time, Red escapes his pursuers, including the FBI task force. After Red’s ex-bodyguard turned FBI agent Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) goes to jail for warning Red about arrest, his former boss releases him. There’s a gunfight. Dembe is injured, Congressman Arthur Hudson (Toby Leonard Moore), who was introduced as an opponent in the tenth season, is shot – by Red.
After the assassination of a high-ranking politician, the hunt for Red intensifies. He flees to Spain, where he hides on a ranch. But symptoms of his illness reappear, which brought him to the brink of death a few seasons ago, but then simply disappeared. After a walk around the ranch, Red suddenly comes face to face with a large bull – and after staring at each other for a while, the wild bull runs towards him.
Red doesn’t make a move to move. A short time later, Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) arrives in Spain and finds the fugitive criminal mastermind’s bloodied, grotesquely twisted body lying in the grass.
spoiler:
There’s no doubt about it: Red is dead!
So who is Red anyway?
Even if there is no definitive answer to the question, all clues only lead to the conclusion that Raymond Reddington is actually Katarina Rostova. He is the mother of longtime series co-star Liz (Megan Boonen). A surgical transformation into a man was Katarina’s only chance to go underground, build a powerful empire, be safe and be close to her own daughter again.
This theory, which has long circulated in fan circles as Redarina, is the only conceivable variant despite a few minor logical gaps. This is alluded to again in the finale. If you’re interested in what exactly is behind Redarina, we refer you to our post after Season 8 on Redarina.
According to many fans – including the author of these lines – the theory was confirmed this season. After that, not much was contributed to the topic in the series. This is exactly what those in charge are alluding to when they say that all the answers have long been in the form of hints and therefore no clear explanation was needed in the final.
In the last episode there is only a small allusion. In a conversation with Liz’s daughter Agnes (Sami Bray), she says to her “grandpa”, whom she affectionately calls “Pinky”: “You are such a mother!” And he replies, “You know I can’t help it.” It is probably the last reference to Redarina’s feminine side.
By the way, the lack of clear confirmation disappointed many fans. Many suspect that those responsible were simply afraid to reveal that a trans character had been praised for ten seasons – because it could upset parts of the audience. So now they’re giving any fans who (for whatever reason) dismiss that theory the chance to simply relegate it further to the realm of fable.
10th season “The Blacklist” in Germany: here’s how you can see them
With the end of the broadcast in the US, the way is clear for the German release on Netflix. Normally this was always allowed to take place one month after the end of the American broadcast. So we expect a Netflix release in mid-August 2023.
If you don’t want to wait that long, you can also download the series from VoD providers like iTunes, GooglePlay or Stream Amazon Prime video* – but have to pay for it. Either a little less than 35 euros for the entire season or a little less than three euros per episode. However, this VoD release is currently behind. So far, there are only the first 17 episodes of the tenth season. It is not known how soon the missing five episodes will appear.