The Blacklist: Unanswered Questions Vol. 1

By: Baby Z

“The Blacklist” is that specific type of show that from the pilot episode, viewers are reeling with a million questions.  Since the list of questions just seems to continue to grow, I thought perhaps I’d cover some of the main questions that I have.  

1.  Obviously, one of the most major unanswered questions about The Blacklist is surrounding the true identity of Tom Keen.  Is he who he says he is and Reddington is setting him up for some reason?  Is he the double agent mentioned in the Angel Station case reports?  If so, who does he work for?  Is he a good guy or a bad guy?

2.  Along the same lines of identity, who is Raymond Reddington to Elizabeth Keen? The writers sure seem to want the viewers to think he’s her father, but are they being too blatantly obvious in attempting to make us think this so they can bamboozle us later with a completely different plot direction?

3.  Who is Tom Keen TO Reddington?  Have their paths crossed before?  Why is Reddington so insistent that Lizzie think Tom is actually a criminal/double agent/whatever?  If she’s his daughter, it makes sense that he’s trying to protect her/look out for her but he’s been keeping tabs on Lizzie for quite a long time so if his intentions were to protect her, seems he’d have done so - I don’t know - prior to her marrying the guy?

4.  Why is Lizzie so important to Reddington’s long term agenda with suddenly working with the FBI?  What role will she play in this agenda, or what role is he hoping she’ll play?

5.  What’s the deal with Lizzie’s scar?  She tells Reddington she got it when she was 14 and it was a fire, but then she tells General Riker’s daughter in the first episode that when she was a little girl her scar made her brave because it was from her daddy.  Also - have you noticed that the scar matches the symbol on Tom’s secret box?  

6.  Who is monitoring Lizzie & Tom Keen’s home and what part do they play in the plot?  Are they monitoring Tom?  Lizzie?  Are they good guys or bad?  What are they hoping to gain by the 24/7 surveillance?

7.  Who is the woman in the photograph that Reddington removed from The Stewmaker’s photo book?  There’s a date on the photograph of December 1990, which is when Reddington disappeared into thin air, leaving his wife and daughter behind, could this woman’s disappearance be what prompted him to turn to his life of crime?  And why didn’t he want Lizzie to see this one photo in the book?

8.  042983 - In the Wujing episode, Reddington’s “payment” for services was a piece of paper with just this number on it - what is its significance?  (Unrelated, 4/29/83 is the actress who plays Elizabeth Keen’s birthday in real life!)