The Blacklist Refugees » Season 6-7 Hiatus Links and Such

Honey West · 5/19/2019 6:14 pm

Okay, here is a link to a good post-finale Variety interview with the Jo(h)ns.

https://variety.com/2019/tv/features/the-blacklist-season-6-finale-interview-red-katarina-1203218930/

Honey West · 5/19/2019 6:19 pm

And CinemaBlend asks the Ilya/Stranger question.

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2471955/did-the-blacklist-2019-finale-just-introduce-the-real-ilya

Eastcoast · 5/19/2019 7:43 pm

Thank you HW!! We will be needing this for sure!

Eastcoast · 5/29/2019 10:18 pm

I have read the interviews and there is one thing that I cannot get out of my mind that I read.

Eisendrath said … What is going through Katarina’s mind? How was Red so easily deceived?
What did he think was going to happen when he showed up unguarded and met this woman on
a dark street in Paris? How does a man who does nothing without taking incredible precautions
leave himself open and vulnerable to being captured or attacked by a woman who he
allegedly has known his own life — was her lover, had a child?

So is he telling us that Dembe was not hiding in the shadows to see which way the van went?
I would like to think he was.

What about that last sentence? "leave himself open and vulnerable to being captured or attacked by a woman who he allegedly has known his own life — was her lover, had a child?"

There are a few ways to take this.

Last edited by Eastcoast (5/29/2019 10:18 pm)

Honey West · 5/29/2019 11:04 pm

What I thought was interesting about what Eisendrath said was that it almost sounded like he was speaking about Red as though he was the real Reddington. Unless somehow he was another man in her life at that time. Remember, in Requiem, Katarina told Kate that she didn’t know if Masha was Raymond's daughter, she never bothered to find out, or words to that effect. I thought at the time that she didn’t know if Raymond or Kirk had fathered Masha, but if she was having affairs with a lot of different "assignments" , maybe she couldn’t really be sure and didn’t want to know? I don’t know, there’s something odd here.

Eastcoast · 5/29/2019 11:18 pm

That's what I was thinking. I think we talked before about there being so many men in her life that she wasn't sure. It is odd. I feel like she had affairs with anyone she could get something from, including Ilya. I do not know how she would know for sure...

I am still laughing over seeing Red say omg when he saw that picture.

Tuxie400 · 5/30/2019 12:15 pm

Eastcoast - Earlier when I read that Eisendrath interview, I found it puzzling.

"What is going through Katarina’s mind? How was Red so easily deceived?
What did he think was going to happen when he showed up unguarded and met this woman on
a dark street in Paris? How does a man who does nothing without taking incredible precautions
leave himself open and vulnerable to being captured or attacked by a woman who he
allegedly has known his own life — was her lover, had a child? "

Red wouldn't show up unguarded and in the open on the street. He wouldn't leave himself vulnerable. Nor would he call out Katarina's name unless it were a setup. I think Eisendrath just raises these questions as a way of not answering specific interviewer's questions.

Now why he's talking about Red like he's the real RR is anybody's guess. I think that perplexed me most of all. But maybe he's pandering to all those people who still think Red is the real RR. In polls on Reddit and TBE, the greatest number of fans who voted do believe Red is the real RR. They think the imposter reveal was a ruse. I don't.

Eastcoast · 5/30/2019 6:16 pm

It really was odd Tuxie. I guess he is trying to keep all the theories alive! Lol

I am waiting for the podcast to see if we can get an answer to Anything????

Tuxie400 · 5/31/2019 12:41 pm

Eastcoast - I'm not holding my breath waiting for any answers from JB. But I do always find interviews with him interesting.

Tuxie400 · 6/02/2019 1:30 pm

The Blacklist Exposed podcast interview with Bokenkamp is now availabe to non-patrons. I'm going to be listening later today.

Honey West · 6/02/2019 7:32 pm

Thanks, Tuxie!

Eastcoast · 6/09/2019 1:39 am

I finally had a chance to hear the podcast.

He would not take anything off the table. I was hoping he would eliminate just one thing. Lol

I thought they would have asked about the Bench guy. Maybe next time.

Anyway, I wanted to ask if everyone else had a chance to listen to it and what you thought?

😴

Honey West · 6/09/2019 10:42 am

I've only had a chance to listen to about 15 minutes of it so far. I'll post after I get it finished in the next day or so.

Tuxie400 · 6/09/2019 5:05 pm

Eastcoast - I've heard it, and I thought Bokenkamp took the theory that Red is actually the real RR off the table. I don't think he eliminated anything else though. I found what he said about the timeline curious. Maybe he doesn't even know there are discrepancies. LOL He also said the date of Koehler surgery wasn't that important. What happened before and after are the "crux of the story." About Ilya, he did say the Ilya story "tracks." He also said Dom's story was more truth than fiction. I always enjoy the interviews. Jon is so cagey, and yet so personable.

Eastcoast · 6/09/2019 9:55 pm

Tuxie, I do find them interesting. After this interview I am not sure what I think because of the way he words things. Lol
He said wasn't going to squash any of them after he spoke of them. He said he likes to read and hear how others view the show because he feels the interpretation is a big part of it. I am going to have to debate a few more things to Myself.

The way he spoke of casting KR, I feel like this is her.
I had wondered before the interview if she was real or fake. I thought she could be someone she has in her place temporarily so she was not out in the open, and she is having Red brought to her.

I did have a thought about the van that pulled up and took Red.
If Marguerite Renard could have a security crew looking after her, then why can't KR have one?
I thought it was a great parallel to that.

Last edited by Eastcoast (6/09/2019 9:56 pm)

Tatiana · 6/09/2019 10:14 pm

Eastcoast - that is a great observation:
"I did have a thought about the van that pulled up and took Red.
If Marguerite Renard could have a security crew looking after her, then why can't KR have one?
I thought it was a great parallel to that."

It was very similar, wasn't it?

I have not been able to even pretend this is "Katarina" because I am quite certain she would have been dead or deep in a hole somewhere, after all, she was wanted by two countries. She had said herself that she had to get away, go into hiding, that everyone had to disperse to remain protected. So for her to be walking down a Parisian street like that seemed strange.

And lastly, did anyone notice her attire? She looked every bit like a flash back in time to film noir, dark, high-heeled pumps, black wool coat, hair pulled back in a chignon, and black tulle underskirt, which seemed really weird to me.

Eastcoast · 6/09/2019 10:22 pm

Tatiana, her attire was another throwback in time to me! Kind of goes along with the older stuff they show. Sometimes I think this show is in 2 dimensions! It really seamed to me she would be wearing black so she did not stand out.

Tuxie400 · 6/10/2019 7:21 am

Eastcoast - Bokenkamp did make it sound like it was really Katarina. But the showrunners like to make fans think things that aren;t true, so they can throw in a twist and surprise people. I'm thinking this Katarina may be a body double of some sort who was used back in 1991 to lead Velov around the continent and to Prague. In fact, perhaps, all these years the KGB and the Osterman Umbrella Co. have had Fakerina's DNA and not the real Katarina's on file. (Kind of a parallel to The Alchemist) I thought a Fakerina double might parallel Liz using a body double back in Season 2. If this were the case, it would mean Red hadn't lied to Liz in Season 3 when he told her Velov lied and the photo could have been planted. Under this scenario, the photo was planted, but Velov didn't know he was lying when he said he tracked Katarina to Prague. Red was telling the truth when he said Liz's mother died because she became RR. I believe Ilya is The Stranger, and he was the one who recruited Fakerina in 1991. I also think Ilya is "the most talented forger" Red knows. After Fakerina led Velov on a wild goose chase, Ilya helped her change her identity and provided fake ID's and passports for her just like he had for Katarina. Ilya was a critical piece of Red's service to criminals to change their identities and make them disappear. He and Redarina have worked together for years.

Tuxie400 · 6/10/2019 7:21 am

Tatiana - Good point about how Fakerina was dressed. Even that seemed to telegraph "staged" to me.

Tatiana · 6/10/2019 9:19 am

Tuxie400 wrote:
Eastcoast - Bokenkamp did make it sound like it was really Katarina. But the showrunners like to make fans think things that aren;t true, so they can throw in a twist and surprise people. I'm thinking this Katarina may be a body double of some sort who was used back in 1991 to lead Velov around the continent and to Prague. In fact, perhaps, all these years the KGB and the Osterman Umbrella Co. have had Fakerina's DNA and not the real Katarina's on file. (Kind of a parallel to The Alchemist) I thought a Fakerina double might parallel Liz using a body double back in Season 2. If this were the case, it would mean Red hadn't lied to Liz in Season 3 when he told her Velov lied and the photo could have been planted. Under this scenario, the photo was planted, but Velov didn't know he was lying when he said he tracked Katarina to Prague. Red was telling the truth when he said Liz's mother died because she became RR. I believe Ilya is The Stranger, and he was the one who recruited Fakerina in 1991. I also think Ilya is "the most talented forger" Red knows. After Fakerina led Velov on a wild goose chase, Ilya helped her change her identity and provided fake ID's and passports for her just like he had for Katarina. Ilya was a critical piece of Red's service to criminals to change their identities and make them disappear. He and Redarina have worked together for years.

This is brilliant, Tuxie! It all tracks. It could have been Katarina as easily as Ilya putting the passport together. He was the one who did it and they took pains to show us he did. It was a clue all along.
And a body double - of course! It isn't enough to merely say all these dopplegangers are to show Red is actually an impostor: the doppelganger themes are to show that "Katarina" is alive, but a double, not the real thing.