Brittany wrote:

I wonder how Kaplan’s plans have been screwed up by Tom going off script?  Was he supposed to be referred to Oleander via Dennison after he gave Liz the bones and then it would just involve Liz?  Was she ever anticipating any of this?  Would she have done it this way?  JB said her not knowing about the Red-Liz DNA test would impact things.  Was this what he meant?

 
Brittany- my take on it is that Kapan did not anticipate Liz finding out that Red is her father. I think that Tom was all set to tell Liz - he brought the case into the apt and had something to tell  her -
and seemed to change his mind when Liz said, guess what, Red is my father.   Thats my take, anyway.

Last edited by lara1 (11/16/2017 4:26 pm)

I was looking back at some of the dialogue from Garvey when he's talking to Tom about the suitcase.  He talks about the number of people who "would want" the suitcase.  He doesn't say just 'want' as though there were people actively searching for it, but would want and would do anything to get to it specifically.   As in, if they knew it existed they would want it and they would want the bones in particular, not just the power over Red.   So did the search results just drop into Garvey's lap?  Or had he been waiting for those specific results to show up someday?   He talked about Red’s power being legendary.  Is he not in the know on Red’s empire being torn apart by Kaplan or is he aware that while Red might be less wealthy, he’s still very powerful? 

And I feel more confused than ever about whose remains they are. Reddington doesn't have DNA in CODIS (they talked about this in Gregory Devry when Fred showed up, not to mention Cooper wouldn't have needed to go to evidence to get a DNA sample if it already on file).  Katarina Rostova most likely wouldn't have had DNA in CODIS because she was always considered to be a myth.  Unless her DNA was given to searchers by Kirk when she went missing in Cape May and it was later put into CODIS once the missing persons part was established (which wasn't until 2000, so not especially likely, but can't rule it out).  She could still be a possibility, but I can't understand why anyone would care about her remains, unless there was something special about her DNA (that is now passed on to Liz and Agnes).  I don't know if Jennifer Reddington would have had DNA in CODIS...she was in WITSEC, but not a convicted felon.  And if they used the family connection and it identified someone genetically related to Elizabeth Keen, I think Garvey would have known who she was and been interested in her, even if just to leverage against Red.  Tom believed he had figured things out, so it must be someone whose name he is familiar with.  But does that mean Liz is necessarily familiar with the name? Tom ran in different circles than her. The name could mean something to him, but nothing to Liz without context (thus perhaps the need for Oleander). 

I don't believe that Garvey necessarily cares about the contents of the case, but his ability to hold it over Red.  From his dialogue, it seems like others would want the specific contents, not just the knowledge.  He wants to use it to make Red do his bidding.  Which if he were actively threatening Liz or Agnes would make sense because he would know Red would do anything for them, but he doesn't seem to know about them or who Liz is.  Even though her ID was used to run the CODIS search, she is widely known as Masha Rostova, the FBI agent who is the daughter of a Russian spy who shot the attorney general.  He seemed oblivious to her in general, not just that he didn't know she's the daughter of Raymond Reddington and Katarina Rostova.  I get why Red called it the GD suitcase at the end of season 4.   And what specifically does it have to do with what Red did to Katarina if it isn't actually her?   I feel like a dog chasing its tail.

Last edited by Brittany (11/16/2017 8:06 pm)

It's frustrating we don't have more clues on the body in the suitcase. But I'm not going to spend any more time on it. Even Ryan Eggold, who was given some idea of who it was so he could act appropriately in his scenes, predicts the writers will likely change who it is as time goes on. Did you read the EW interview with him?

Last edited by Tuxie400 (12/09/2017 1:04 pm)

Brittany - You are probably right about the couple of options. I just don't think we have any more to go on now than we did at the end of Season 4. I do understand the obsession with trying to figure out this show. I've spent hundreds and hundreds of hours thinking about the BL and I still don't know what this show is all about.  But I do love that it makes us look for patterns, connections and clues.

I told myself I was going to rest my brain about it during hiatus because the only thing overthinking will accomplish is likely getting further from the answers and making me crazy.

Well, I'm here, so you can probably figure it out.  LOL!

And I think the assumption Tom made (like many people have) is that Red is responsible for the death of the person in the suitcase.  He very well could be, but it could also be that he had nothing to do with it, just discovered the person after they had died and buried them or is actively seeking to hide the remains for other reasons that suit his purpose. 

I am back to the value of the bones.  And whether they have any value to anyone else, but most valuable to Red.  I think he may have even said as such to Tom

I kind of think of its as another insurance policy of his, a kind of "break glass" for emergency use only if he ever needed it - like the idea of the fulcrum, and the box buried in Dom's garage.  But basically to be buried and hidden from all.  Otherwise, why not just destroy them if they are that incriminating?

Hello to Everyone!

I'm obsessed with the suitcase bones too - thanks for making a separate discussion thread for it.

I'm wondering if the bones have historical significance, beyond TBL. Last night I destroyed my data plan reading up on famous missing persons. There were a couple cases about toddlers kidnapped from a beach, but nothing else paralleled TBL.

Given the ongoing royalty theme, could the bones be from a deceased prince or princess, a child of Tzar Nicholas II? In reality, all of the Tzar's children were murdered, but maybe in TBL world, the DNA of their remains were altered or faked. I'm sill intrigued by the idea that Anastasia or Masha (I think here real name was Maria but Masha was her nickname) survived, thus continuing the royal lineage. Dom, then Katarina, are part of the lineage, making Liz and Agnes princesses. It's a stretch, but a fun one :-)

Perhaps Dom is isolated for his own safety. Maybe there are people today who would still want the Tzar's line wiped out, for political reasons. At the very least there must be a fortune that the Tzar's descendants could rightfully claim from Russia.

Like Dom, maybe Red wants to keep the royal lineage secret to keep Liz and Agnes safe. But if Tom read the DNA results, he might think only about a financial windfall, not realizing the bigger picture. It reminds me of when Tom's Dad died (fake died) and he was asked to go to New York. Liz encouraged him to go, saying maybe Dad left him an inheritance.

Queen Elizabeth, King Tom, and Princess Agnes...

I posted this on another thread, but it really belongs here since it’s a bones article. We're not the only ones going nuts over this stuff!

http://www.tvguide.com/news/the-blacklist-bones-suitcase-theory/

Honey West- if anyone could hide people, it would be our Red.  Lol

Oddity that may or may not be explained:  the tag on the suitcase had the Keens address on it so it wasn’t hard for Garvey to find Tom.  But it is also addressed to Liz.  Her ID is the one used to run the CODIS search, yet Garvey seems not to know who Liz is, doesn’t appear to care or question why her name was involved.  🤔