Fans are hoping to get answers to their questions in “Blacklist” season 7 after the shocking season 6 finale. Liz’s (Megan Boone) mother, Katarina (Laila Robins), is still alive and she is living a low-key life in Paris.
After learning her whereabouts, Red (James Spader) went to visit her, but something unexpected happened. Katarina stabbed Red at the back after they passionately kissed and abducted him to somewhere unknown.
Does it have something to do with Red’s real identity? In an interview with executive producers Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath, they talked about the previous season’s major cliffhanger and Red’s mysterious true personality.
Who Red truly is?
In the previous season, Red was seen talking to a mysterious stranger on a bench. At that moment, the two seemed to be dropping hints that Dominic (Brian Dennehy) told Liz a made-up story about Red’s real identity. So, is it safe to assume Red’s true personality is still unrevealed and might be explored in “Blacklist” season 7?
Eisendrath told TVLine some people asked if what Dominic told Liz was a true story, and it was their real intention.
That scene was made to make fans question the authenticity of Dominic’s story – if it was the truth or just another lie.
So from the looks of it, Red’s real identity is yet to be revealed. However, viewers also wonder why Katarina called Red as “Raymond” and not any other name, which gave birth to an idea that it might have something to do about who he really is.
“I don’t think that’s teeing up anything,” Bokenkamp said. Eisendrath added Spader himself always says that whoever Red really is and who he was in the past, he is known as Raymond Reddington now.
However, it looks like Katarina knows Red's real identity, and it may be explored in the new season. So, fans have to wait and see what will be at play between the two.
The series’ possible endgame
Now that “Blacklist” season 7 is about to come out, and the show has been on the air for almost six years, there are questions if it is nearing its endgame.
Bokenkamp admitted they are talking about the end; especially their show is a “serialized series” that has a mythology that they never want to stretch. He revealed they have no plans to take advantage of its fame, but they still have a lot of stories to tell.
In the new season, the showrunners have a lot of work to do, and nobody is racing to the end.
In a different interview with Variety, Eisendrath said they have “tentpole ideas" that they will start fleshing out when they get back to the business this month. He promised they would be keeping it fresh.
Its storyline has to surprise them before it sends a big shock to the viewers.
He went on to explain that when they start working on “The Blacklist” season 7, they never know how the story will roll until they start it. “So part of the process is a little bit walking on the high-wire so that we can be surprised, and only then will the audience be surprised,” he said.