If there has to be an imposter theory, Redarina is the only one that would make some sense to me based on the love, devotion and sacrifices Red has made for Liz since she was young because his behavior has been that of a parent.  But I would have to ignore a lot of medical/biological stuff and ignore it hard.  Like into science fiction levels of disbelief.

Last edited by Brittany (2/24/2018 7:36 am)

Eastcoast - I do remember your posts about how you thought the medical stuff would negate Redarina. I remember one of your arguments was Red's incarceration stints where he would not be able to take his hormones. I did research this, and I found a female who had been on testosterone for at least a year and stopped would not start showing body changes right away. It would be a slow process. "All the changes to the bones will not return to how it was before. This means the person will likely have a wider jaw, be a bit taller, and have bigger hands and bigger feet." And that's with total stoppage of hormones. Redarina's would have just been temporary, and he likely would have been on testosterone for years at the time of the incarcerations.

You also thought Dr. Nik would have known because of doing surgery on Red. But after doing more research, I'm not even sure about that. I thought women who transition to men would need breast reduction surgery, but most of them do not. Katarina was a small breasted woman. Someone with a body type like that - their breasts would shrink down over time with testosterone use. So there would not be visitble changes in the chest area.

As for better understanding the body changes caused by a female transitioning to a male with hormone use, there is a great two-year body comparison video on You Tube. It amazed me how many body changes, like growing an Adam's apple and having a wider jawline, happen. It's not the medical impossibility you believe it to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpW6euOoud8

Last edited by Tuxie400 (2/25/2018 11:13 am)

Eastcoast - though I do tend to agree with you, and I'm not a Rederina proponent, I still do think its possible (though I would not want it to be LOL).  Although as Tuxie400 mentions, though the jails were inaccessible holes in the wall type places as you say, they were short stints - typically 6 months or less as I recall.  And we did have that conversation between Red and Marvin where he recalled how Marvin managed to send him - caviar I think it was (FISH eggs!) through bribing the guards, in one of those hole in the wall places.  I do wonder whether that story was inserted for a reason.

Like I say, I'm not a proponent of the theory, but I can see how its possible.  And they do zero in on one theory or another, then shift, so who knows.  But I do think Dom/Red have a parent/child relationship.  It may even have been an adopted one, but a real one nevertheless.  I guess time will tell.

I know there's also been discussion (I haven't read the Reddit posts yet), about how KR and Red are totally different body types.  It would have been more believable had they cast KR as a taller, broader type - but maybe they didn't so as to keep the secret, secret.  Again time will tell.....

You may wonder what got me all hopped up on Redarina again. Since what I really want is for RR to be the real Raymond Reddington and Liz to be his daughter, I've just been watching this season taking it as what has been going on. But in the back of my mind, I always remember what Spader said in the Build interview: "Don't get too comfortable with anything."  Spader said in the previous year's Build interview that Kirk was full of --it, and it turned out he wasn't Liz's father. Anyway when I rewatched the Invisible Hand, and noted all the penis jokes, the liposculpture, and Dom's interaction with Red, that theory just grabbed me and wouldn't let go. As I've said before, it's either a gigantic red herring or the secret of the show.
 

Tuxie400 wrote:

Honey West - Thanks for keeping an open mind. I was afraid the moderators would shut me down. For some, reason after I discovered all this new info online this morning, I haven't been able to stop thinking - or writing - about Redarina.

Brittany - I agree that if an imposter theory involves RR, the Redarina theory makes the most sense. I believe The Blacklist is a family love story.

lara1 - Marvin's smuggling of the caviar may be suggesting other things were smuggled in to those prisons. I hadn't thought of that.

Tuxie - Not to worry about being shut down for the Rederina theory. Anything that has facts to support it is possible. We try to stay away from shipping, though, as it usually perpetuates fiction and we want to stick with the real story. Or, put another way, just the facts, ma'am!

Rederina makes the most sense based on the facts as we know them from the show, but TMI!!!  his genitalia would either be very small (so others would notice), or he would need an implant. It really would defy the 'romantic' relationships Red has had. 

 

Eastcoast - After seeing your post, I looked up images of male and female thoracic cages, and I couldn't tell much difference. I did read that women's are generally more rounded. Is that what you meant? I have no medical training and only know general stuff about anatomy. But I thought from a forensic standpoint, the big difference in male and female skeletons is that the female pelvis is larger and wider. And I didn't realize until today that hormone therapy could cause an adult's bones to change at all. Might the ribcage also be affected? All I know is what I read.

I did take what you originallly said about Dr. Nik pretty seriously. And Nik's reactions to both Tom and Liz saying Red was her dad didn't give anything away. That's one of the reasons I stopped looking for Redarina clues - until others saw them in the last episode and I rewatched with that on the brain.

Last edited by Tuxie400 (2/25/2018 2:54 pm)

Tuxie, the sternum is different. It may not seam like a huge difference,  but it is if you were looking at it.

Tuxie, if they take that route they need to know all the one and outs.  I haven't heard one friend I have in the medical profession say turning Lotte into James was possible without a big chuckle. And I'm not being sarcastic. 

The Sternum in a man is longer in proportion of his body size compared to that of a woman.   

Eastcoast - I agree that the relationship with Naomi does not seem to fit. But we are missing major pieces of the  puzzle.

Brittiany - When a spy takes on a mission, they stay in character, no matter what. The fewer people who know the secret, the better. I think that Kaplan-Red scene was shot with Spader's face in the shadows and the camera focusing on the eyes for a double reason: to make Spader look younger and to subtly suggest Kaplan kept looking at the eyes like they were familiar. I think Kaplan guessed Red's true identity early on. Also not telling Kaplan outright was for the purpose of keeping the secret of the story.