“This is a well-earned reveal”: I Will Never Forgive James Spader For The Blacklist’s Most D/i/a/bolical Red Twist That Nearly Killed the Show
The Blacklist pulled off a nearly series-ending twist in the middle of its run that was too complex and never really paid off.
The Blacklist premiered in 2013 with one of the most intriguing premises for a crime-drama series. It stars James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington, an enigmatic criminal turned informant with a special interest in Elizabeth “Liz” Keen, a young FBI profiler. The mysterious relationship between Red and Liz became a cornerstone of the series.
As the narrative progressed, the mystery was teased with several hints until the fifth season finale delivered a shocking twist that changed everything. Following the season 5 finale, creator Jon Bokenkamp discussed the twist regarding Red’s real identity and how it shook up the show’s status quo. However, Bokenkamp’s comments are even more frustrating in hindsight, given how the storyline eventually concluded.
The Blacklist season 5 delivered a game-chaning twist about James Spader’s character
The Blacklist stars James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington, a criminal mastermind who was initially implied to be the father of Elizabeth “Liz” Keen. However, the show’s fifth season finale delivered a shocking twist that revealed the person we know as Red was an imposter.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, series creator Jon Bokenkamp discussed the game-changing reveal. Bokenkamp stated the following regarding the twist:
Hopefully, that is proof of concept to the audience that this is not something we’re just winging, and that we’re on a very specific path, and this is a well-earned reveal.
Furthermore, the series creator admitted that Spader was in the loop regarding the twist, with the writing team planning it from the show’s early days.
Bokenkamp’s comments about Spader playing a Red imposter from the beginning are baffling, primarily because of how important his identity is to his relationship with Liz. Although the series confirmed that Red was Liz’s biological father, the person we have been following wasn’t the real Red.
The Blacklist‘s Raymond “Red” Reddington twist is uneccesarily complicated
In my opinion, the nature of the Red twist in the season 5 finale is unnecessarily complicated because it undermines the earlier revelation of Red being Liz’s father. Furthermore, the twist further fuels the idea that the imposter Red was Liz’s mother, Katarina Rostova.
While the series went on for ten more seasons, it never really outright confirmed the idea that Katarina was posing as Red in the present. Despite the show’s conclusion and the creative team’s insistence that the Red reveal was endgame, fans remain baffled by the several contradictions created by the reveal (Via Reddit).
The season 5 finale actually started a trend of retconning the twist about Red’s past, which made no real sense as the reveal of the Red being Liz’s mother instead of her father adds no real emotional weight to the story and was never explicitly confirmed. Hence, the makers should’ve known the twist would take the series away from its initial premise.
Therefore, the cost of pulling off such a twist midway through the show was extremely high, which might explain why it left such a sour effect on the fans. As a result, I feel it is hard to forgive Spader and Bokenkamp for willingly leading viewers down a rabbit hole without a satisfying conclusion to the overarching mystery of Red’s real identity that was set up by the diabolical season 5 twist.
