1 of 1- Honey West
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Another Go at the Imposter Theory
Over on alyblacklist's tumblr site there is a new rundown of the imposter theory by iloveredmorethanever. It’s taken a lot of peoples' thoughts and condensed it into sort of a unified imposter theory with 5.19 clues added to it. Notably Garvey's statement to Jennifer that she’s been hiding for thirty years for no reason. I must say it’s quite good at fitting a lot of the pieces together. Plus it’s a direction I’ve been leaning in for the past couple of seasons - well, probably since about the Kirk arc - although I go back and forth between imposter/not imposter from time to time. But if it turns out that the imposter theory is the correct one, then this makes the most sense to me.
It still leaves open a lot of important questions, of course, such as (in no particular order)
1. Just who is this guy who is currently Reddington.
2. Was his family sacrificed to make way for his current situation or did he sort of blunder into having to do it.
3. Why is it so important for a Raymond Reddington to even exist.
4. Is he even related to any of these other people.
5. What was his role on Fire Night.
And many more, but I have to wait until I get home to write them down, along with some of my own thoughts about these and others.
“I am exactly who I am. And I can assure you, I’m a far more interesting Raymond Reddington than Raymond Reddington ever was."
- Tatiana
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Re: Another Go at the Imposter Theory
I'm glad you brought this up, Honey West. There's been a lot of active and insightful discussion on variations of the Imposter theory.
I wonder if our Red thinks of himself as an imposter though.
"I could tell you how to win a marathon, but you're assuming it's a 26.2 mile race. It's not. It's a 6.2 mile race that begins at mile 20." Raymond Reddington
- CindyKC
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Re: Another Go at the Imposter Theory
I read through the imposter theory on alyblacklist. Lots of good ideas and thoughts. I just get hung up on how this imposter (our Red) would know so much about the real Raymond Reddington that he could BE Raymond Reddington--or why he'd even want to. Same with the theory that Red is really Katarina. If she needed to take on a new identity to keep herself and Liz safe, why that one? But when I read all of the dialogue again (posted here so wonderfully), especially the fire night dialogue and the Cape May dialogue, it does seem as if Red really could be Katarina--that seems more plausible than Red just being some other imposter. Add to that Dembe telling Red he's not sure Liz will ever be ready to learn what he did to her mother....gosh! When he told the story to Madeline Pratt, I was of the impression that he may have fudged some facts a bit, but it IS interesting that the story took place on Christmas Eve, which is when Jennifer's dad never came back. In my mind, that's always been because Raymond had to leave and go into hiding and he put Liz into hiding, as well. But then you get the Kaplan episodes where it was Katarina who placed Liz with Sam. WTH! I also always assumed Jennifer was Naomi's child but not Red's for some reason. He sure hasn't had the need or desire to find Jennifer all these years (and with his resources, let's be real--he could if he wanted to), and the mention of Jennifer early on with Naomi/Carla almost seemed like an afterthought. All I've ever known is that Red's love for Liz has always seemed so genuine and real that it just doesn't seem possible that he's anyone other than the real Red or he's Katarina. It's all so confusing! Wah!
- Honey West
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Re: Another Go at the Imposter Theory
Okay, so I started looking at the timeline again with the idea of seeing just who knew Red before 1990 and who has come along since then. Did we ever decide when Kaplan went to work for him officially based on that scene in Requiem?
“I am exactly who I am. And I can assure you, I’m a far more interesting Raymond Reddington than Raymond Reddington ever was."
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Thread Starter- Tatiana
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Re: Another Go at the Imposter Theory
Honey West wrote:
Okay, so I started looking at the timeline again with the idea of seeing just who knew Red before 1990 and who has come along since then. Did we ever decide when Kaplan went to work for him officially based on that scene in Requiem?
All we know for sure is that she was in Amarillo TX in 1993. We could extract that somehow they knew each other before that, but it would be our interpretation.
"Kaplan, Conclusion" was what caused us to really question the use of time and potentially altered state of mind as the conduit for our understanding of time.
"I could tell you how to win a marathon, but you're assuming it's a 26.2 mile race. It's not. It's a 6.2 mile race that begins at mile 20." Raymond Reddington
- Honey West
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Re: Another Go at the Imposter Theory
Even if she didn’t know him before 1990, she knew of him. How well, is only our speculation, true.
I'm just trying to figure out who knew the "old Reddington" and who only knew the "new Reddington"., if there is any difference really between the two. 
Then again, we have Red himself saying he was a very different person back then, the first time at Cape May. 
“I am exactly who I am. And I can assure you, I’m a far more interesting Raymond Reddington than Raymond Reddington ever was."
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Thread Starter- Eastcoast
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Re: Another Go at the Imposter Theory
Diane knew him and seamed to know a lot about him.
It's a shame you have no crackers
- Honey West
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Re: Another Go at the Imposter Theory
I think, EC, that’s one of those things that moves me away from the imposter theory. Unless she was in on it from the beginning. Heck, maybe she even helped create it.
Then again, I go back to what happened during and after the fire because that is the key. Maybe he got the real Reddington killed, Masha used his gun to kill her father. He was severely burned in the fire and during his recuperation is maybe when they “persuaded” him to replace Reddington. That would have been a good time for some plastic surgery. Maybe he even resembled Reddington from the beginning, much like Sinclair’s doubles? Maybe Sinclair was involved for all we know.
And top it off with a major case of “Harbormasters Daughter Syndrome”. ;-)
Last edited by Honey West (5/02/2018 5:28 pm)
“I am exactly who I am. And I can assure you, I’m a far more interesting Raymond Reddington than Raymond Reddington ever was."
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Thread Starter- Eastcoast
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Re: Another Go at the Imposter Theory
And Jennifer seamed to know who he was as far as I could tell. Not only that HW, but Kirk knew him right away just by his voice!
It's a shame you have no crackers