I just posted about my top suspect on The Apothecary thread. It's another hacker we know: Elise.

I absolutely do not believe it's Aram. To me, that's even worse than saying Dembe did it. Aram is the moral center of the show. But Kiss-My-Freckle does make some good points. (She's done a lot of posts about this on her Tumblr and I didn't read Tatiana's specific link.) She says it's like someone overheard the "cozying up to a snake" comment through hacking and then sought the snake toxin. I agree.  She also suggests Aram overheard Cooper's rant to Red in The Lippet Seafood Co. about staining Liz's reputation, and then hired Isabella Stone to do a character assassination of Red. While we know, Aram would be capable of the hacks that paid for these attacks, I don't see him willing to be responsible for the lives lost. As you know, I believe it was Elise/Janet, and that she may be Jennifer.

Last edited by Tuxie400 (2/28/2017 12:36 pm)

All in that it's not Aram. However, it is interesting that speculating about "who done it?" helped us see who had the means to do such things against Reddington. Therefore, speculating about Aram, whom we know would never do such a thing to Reddington, brought us to the idea that Elise/Janet has the means and more importantly, if she is Jennifer, then she most certainly has the motive. 

Remember that Elise/ Janet was able to hack into all of Aram's computer information and she was living/staying overnight at Aram's.  So I would assume she has all the access Aram had. Therefore, Elise/Janet had both the means and the motivation.

(for some reason, that just felt like a geometry proof... I have a weird mind)

Tuxie400 wrote:

Tatiana - Geometry was the only part of Math I liked, and I love doing those geometry proofs! LOL

lara1 - Yes, unless Aram's character is all an act, it can't be him. But now there's this nagging voice whispering in my ear, How did he know how to shoot a bazooka that well? 

Tuxie400 - ditto on the bazooka!  LOL.  
 

Just to play with this idea a little bit, I think we have had several episodes where it has been implied that there is a traitor in the Post Office.  And we are almost led to believe its in the team itself, not the overall government.  So back with Anslo Garrick, it was Fowler and the Cabal , and Red initially thought it might have been Aram (until he passed Red's "test") and then Red thought it was Meera.  Then at the season 3 finale, it was all around who is betraying him in the task force.  LOL I can't remember the exact details but it wasn't any specific person in the Post Office either, turned out it was Halcyon.  Then in The Thrushes people were thinking was it possibly Samar or someone else and it was The Thrushes and Elise in particular working for Kirk.  There may be others I am not remembering.   Ditto now.  

So I wonder if one of the individuals on the actual team is in fact a betrayer but we have not seen it yet.  Not saying that it's Aram, But it does make me think if someone is not what they seem.

On the topic, I also think that there is more to the Ressler/Red thing than we have seen.  Way back in Anslo Garrick, Anslo couldn't comprehend how Ressler could mess up Belgium, when Anslo gave him a lot of specific info on where Red was and how to get him.  But I guess its all part of the mystery, may be nothing!  LOL

Last edited by lara1 (2/28/2017 11:43 am)

lara1 - Yes, we have been lead to believe there was a mole in the Post Office several times, only to have it turn out to someone on the outside. And the writers are mirroring so many things that happened in Season 1 that this may be the case.

Tatiana - Good point in your comparing the shotgun and bazooka!

I just had another random thought on #14.  Wouldn't it be a wild twist if it turns out that, rather than facilitating or otherwise being involved with Whitehall, Scottie is investigating them in order to bring them down.  And that Red knows this and that is why ultimately he spared Scottie's life - I think he did want her alive for some reason or other.  part of the bigger plan? 

Or, this is why Red wanted to "send" Tom into Halycon to begin with - Whtiehall?

hmmm.  so many possibilities!

Last edited by lara1 (3/03/2017 12:24 pm)

This is Part II of my theory that Elise/Janet may be Jennifer Reddington and that she is behind the attacks on Red.  If you haven’t read my earlier post, it’s #143 under The Apothecary Discussion. I propose that getting into Red’s account and making it look like he ordered the payment to Isabella Stone is the work of a hacker. Hiring her on the Dark Web seems like something a hacker might do too.  No matter who Red really is – the real RR, Katarina, or an imposter, Jennifer would have motive to attack him.
First, consider the words that started and ended the first third of Season 4. In Esteban 4.01, Red makes this vow in front of the two-way mirror:  “Elizabeth, I will come for you.”  In Dr. Adrian Shaw Conclusion, Liz says those words back to Reddington after he trades his life to Kirk for hers.  Where did we hear these words before? Back in Season 2, and they were about Jennifer. While Red and Liz say the line to assure and comfort each other, the words in connection with Jennifer are about her fear and possibly, anger.  In Dr. Linus Creel 2.04, Naomi/Carla tells Red: “I don’t know where Jennifer is. She knew you would come for her one day, and she left. I think this foreshadows Jennifer is coming for Red, and it’s not in a good way.

While we don’t know for sure if Jennifer is Red’s blood daughter, stepdaughter, or child in a “cover family,” we do know he was supposedly coming home to Carla and her the Christmas he disappeared. From Liz in The Monarch Douglas Bank 2.02, we know: “I confirmed your daughter was placed in protective custody with her mother in 1990. The Marshal Service lost contact seven years ago. She is unaccounted for.”  I think this dangling thread may be addressed in the coming episodes.

I believe Jennifer is why Season 4 Blacklist episodes so far have had mentions and plots about Witness Protection. The first reference to Witness Protection comes in Dr. Adrian Shaw when Red describes The Coroner as having a Witness Protection program for criminals. Then in The Harem, Red tasks Liz with getting the stolen Witness Protection list. While Red gives the story of Kaplan’s sister being the reason, I think the fact Carla and Jennifer’s names were on the list are a reason too.

We have also been inundated this season with references to dancing and dance classes. In some of the episodes these nods toward dancing seemed strange and out-of-place. But I think they are clues pointing to Elise/Jennifer as ballerina girl and the person after Red. First, she has the name Elise as her alias. The tiny dancer we think of as Red’s daughter in Season 1’s Mako Tanida appears in Red’s memory as he watches Swan Lake performed by the Elise LeBlanc School of Dance.  We also have a character named Odette, who was the main ballerina in the Swan Lake ballet. Kirk’s Odette, by the way, was exactly the opposite of vulnerable, gentle, and caring Swan Lake Odette.

Check out how many references there were to dancing and dance classes:
Esteban – Salsa dance music plays on the radio when Tom is trying to get out of his trunk prison. Red walks through a nightclub with disco lights and dance music.
Mato episode: Mato performs a Native American ritual dance of protection for Agnes. Red tells Mato a story about getting to witness the Sun Dance ritual.
Miles McGrath episode: In the bar where Miles McGrath is meeting with the Sabateur, there is an adjacent dance floor where people are dancing.
Gaia episode: The hunter says to Kaplan: “Okay, sweetheart. We’ve got to get you upright. You’ve been down too long. I’m going to put my hand behind your neck, just like a dance.” Odette first appears in this episode.
In The Thrushes, Elise appears to be in a ballet dance pose when she jumps off the couch and onto Aram: My photo didn't show up. But if you google Elise in the Blacklist, you'll see it. It's a Getty image and may be one of the NBC promo photos.

In Dr. Adrian Shaw, Red asks Samar how she keeps in shape and suggests it might be Jazzercise. He says he wants to go to a class with her. “I’ll see you in dance class, Samar!”  (I thought this was the weirdest, most out-of-place one.
Adrian Shaw conclusion:  Kirk and Red are reminiscing about Katarina when Red finishes Kirk’s sentence about Katarina, having scaled a fence and jumped over, just … dancing.
In the Lipet Seafood Co., Red interrupts President Diaz’s dance lesson when he’s practicing for the Inaugural Ball.
In The Forecaster, Mr. Mom Tom dances around Agnes singing along with The Romantics’ That’s What I Like About You.
In The Harem. the Emma character looks like Christine the ballet teacher setting up the Swan Lake dance performance in Mako Tanida. Emma wears two outfits that resemble dancewear and wears her hair in a ballerina’s bun for much of the episode. We also have exotic dancers at a strip club.  At one point, the pole dancers are gossiping, much like the ballerinas were in Mako Tanida, and a supervisors scolds them.

Who is slouching toward Red? That echo from his past, The Dancer: Jennifer Reddington

Thanks Tatiana! Hope your husband feels better soon!