The Blacklist will enter the second half of its two-parter, "Bastien Moreau," on March 22. When the first half ended, viewers were left with the jaw-dropping scene of Liz and Dembe witnessing the beginning of Red's execution.
The last mention of the time was 11:51 p.m., leaving nine minutes for Harold Cooper to convince the President to keep Red alive. Considering that Red has a right to his last words and given his penchant for talking, he should use all of them. "I remember this time…" could be the beginning of a long story that could fill all of those remaining minutes.
According to the promo, Red will get 60 seconds (or a minute) away from death in the second half. Will he buy a little extra time? If anyone can smooth talk their way to a few extra moments before being executed, it is Red. Ultimately, he may not need them. I have a wild theory for how Red should survive The Blacklist's seemingly deadly circumstances.
The first half ended with Harold Cooper taking a U-turn back to the White House to convince them to spare Red, following newly discovered information. Given what viewers know regarding the President's interest in seeing Red dead, it may or may not work. Since The Blacklist is telegraphing that possibility, it seems less likely, albeit a plausible avenue for Red to survive. All of this brings us to the theory.
The theory
As you may expect, it has to do with deception. It is important to note that I do not think Red is aware of anything. Based on his interaction with Liz and his overall somber state, Red seems entirely convinced that he is getting ready to die. How convinced Liz and Dembe are is harder to know.
If Dembe believed this was the end for Red, wouldn't he want a few minutes with Red, as Liz had? Exactly. For good reasons, Dembe has kept things from Red in Season 6. Perhaps he has a plan to help Red escape the chair of death alive. Why keep this from Red? Well, why get his hopes up, if it does not work? Red had gotten close before to devastating results.
Now to the plan itself. I believe that Red will get injected with the life-ending drugs which have already gotten compromised. They will bring Red's heart rate low enough to register as a flatline. His body will be placed in the coffin and taken to another location. When he gets there, he will get revived. To the world Red is dead. To his loved ones, he is alive.
This plan enables Red to live life as a free man. While it sounds a lot like the plan used to fake Liz's death, there is a difference. Red is unaware of the plan, so it fits with The Blacklist's narrative, while not repeating it. It is also highly likely that Liz is in on this plan, so it would reflect what she knows about faking death.
If it is not broke, why come up with a different plan? There should be more scrutiny on Red's death. Especially given his relationship with Liz, who everyone knows went through a fake demise. The chances of a repeat happening may be thought as too repetitive, thus clearing Red of suspicion.
Why The Blacklist will fake his death
The Blacklist taking this route would help Red continue his life, reborn. Regardless of how he survives the episode, he will have confronted his own mortality in a super close way. That is going to entail its share of life reassessment.
If his death gets faked, he gets to live it in a way he never has before. Red emerging from his near-death experience as a person dead to the world would be something entirely new for him and the show. He would still have to live with the concern of being discovered. That said, he lived with that to a certain extent prior to Liz's near-fatal call.
Another alteration to his life would be not having the safety vest he did with his immunity deal. He is walking an even more dangerous line if he gets discovered post-execution. Plus, The Blacklist would have to deal with how the Task Force stays together, working cases from a "dead Reddington." That could get explained. His lawyer could send them leads from a dossier provided by Red in the event of his "death."
There has to be a way to keep that part of The Blacklist alive. It operates as a crime drama and a procedural. Without the case of the week, things would change dramatically. There is already a pretty valid threat that the team could lose Samar. Hopefully, like Red, she will turn out safe, in the end.
All of these theories bring us to how on earth Red will survive, if not through faking his death. Well, it may entail the very thing the show already hinted at it being.
All of this said, The Blacklist ended last week with Harold Cooper making the discovery that could force the President to save Red. The President could choose to do it. Red remaining alive is one thing. Him walking free is another. They would not necessarily entail the same thing.
As a side note, it is essential to acknowledge that Red went through his physical with no medical issues coming up. He was certified healthy. Why does that matter? Because earlier this season, Red worked overtime to get The Pharmacist.
The Blacklist heavily hinted that Red had him working on something for him. Red's physical seems to confirm it was not something for him. Who was it for then? Stay tuned.
Red should survive Friday's episode. He is an essential part of the show, and it cannot go on without him. Many fans are aware of this. The question as it has been so many times on The Blacklist is "how." Red should live, and the fun part will be finding out what exactly causes that to occur.
Find out how Red survives when The Blacklist continues with new episodes airing Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
