I was thinking that Berlin was her father, and that Red and him might’ve been in some sort of conflict, that led to Red taking him out (burning the house down) but saving the innocent girl (Liz) and leaving her with Sam. This has a couple of problems, though - Berlin seems too old, and Red probably would’ve figured out the link to Berlin if they had a pre-existing relationship. So “Berlin is Liz’s grandfather” might make more sense, but doesn’t that only work if Red is Liz’s father? Which at this point, I’m thinking has to be the case, because it seems too obvious if he is.
Seeing as how they made a point of showing Red’s burn scars on his back right after the speech about how Liz’s father “died” in the fire, I am on the side of believing Red is her father in spite of his denials.
How is this not the first thing anyone checked in episode one, when Red revealed his obsession with Liz? They’ve had him in custody several times, performed at least two surgical procedures on the man, he’s the right age range - it’s the most obvious possibility. When the FBI is less competent than " The Maury Povich" show, it’s time to quit.
I don’t think so. I think it is pretty clear that Red saved Liz from the fire, and that Liz thought that her father saved her, but I don’t think that necessarily means that Red is her father.
Here’s what I think – Berlin’s daughter and the dissident that she was in love with escaped to America. They had a daughter (Liz). Red and Liz’s father were friends, or business associates. Something BAD happened that caused Liz’s mother to be captured, tortured, and killed. Berlin, for whatever reason, thinks that Red did this. Red of course did not do this, but the person behind Liz’s mother death goes after Liz, burning the house down. Red rescues Liz, and knows that she has no hope of a normal life anymore, so he hides her, and disappears.
Which means we have two villains for Season 2 – Berlin, and whoever was really responsible for the death of Berlin’s daughter (aka Liz’s mother).
For this reason it would be very bad to have RR be Liz’s biological father, or closely related to her. One, it would make the FBI complete idiots. Second, it would mean that RR directly lied to Liz when he said he was not, and RR has never lied about anything important. Third, it would make RR Obi-Wan and Darth Vader rolled into one, lying about being murdered and “I am your father” and being burned to a crisp while being her mentor.
Also, before Tom died “comic book style” he whispered to Liz that “your father is still alive”. That doesn’t mean that it is RR. It could be that Liz’s father is one of RR’s enemies. RR does not kill innocents.
The big mystery is why is RR obsessed with Liz. A biological relationship would have been revealed by DNA testing, which someone at the FBI would have done long ago.
So I’m late to the party. I just started watching this on Netflix, and only read this thread as far as I’ve gotten with my watching. That said, I’m completely hooked on this show. James Spader is amazing.
That was my exact thought when I saw the surveillance photo. “This is not a guy dressed for a job interview.” The only way I could rationalize his dress was that he got a call changing the interview to “right now, in a completely different location”, and he didn’t have time to get dressed up.
Having watched as far as I have, I get the impression that he has a problem with “innocents” getting hurt. So he wouldn’t blow up the house if some random family was living there, and waited until the house was vacant.
That was a wonderful scene, wasn’t it?
He was seen at least 2-3 times in earlier episodes. Always in brief scenes, and standing in the shadows. I recognized him as soon as I saw him.
Yup, she was even crying as he started in on the abusive husband.
Also, on a side note, I’m confused about the number of early posters in this thread who keep calling Elizabeth “Emily”. Her name was stated quite clearly in the very first episode as “Elizabeth”, starting right off with Spader saying, “I will only speak with Elizabeth Keen.” (Also, it’s “Keen”, not “Keene”.) Granted, my sister’s name is Elisabeth (with an S, not a Z), so I picked up on it fairly quickly. But Spader keeps calling her “Lizzie”, which does not follow from “Emily”.
I guess a new Season thread is needed. I’m a little conflicted since the new episodes reference the last episode of season 1. But normally each season gets a new thread.
Continuity in TV shows between seasons is not a Blacklist exclusive. It’s bad enough not having individual episode threads; an entire series run would be impossible.