Katarina’s return is going to impact Liz and Red’s relationship on The Blacklist, but the question is: how? Following a lot foreshadowing, Liz’s long-lost mother finally made her debut in last season’s finale. She subsequently took Red as her prisoner and led an attack that left her father near-death.
In another colossal twist, Katarina ended up moving next door to her daughter, Liz, and granddaughter, Agnes. That was just one of last week’s jaw-droppers. The Blacklist is bound to have more in store as Katarina’s next plan snaps into place and lots of other things. You see, Liz still does not know that her mother is even alive.
Red knows and is still keeping that a secret from Liz. Now The Blacklist’s “most formidable big bad” is living next to her own daughter and lying about her identity. All of this is bound to have an impact on Red and Liz’s relationship, right? Asked how Katarina's presence changes things for them, The Blacklist’s executive producer, John Eisendrath, told TV Insider:
Going forward from Episode 2, Liz is going to be asking herself, did she make the right decision to bring Agnes home? She made the decision thinking that it was a good time because all the dangers she had faced in years past had ended and she could now bring Agnes home free of any fears that her connection to Reddington was going to lead to any jeopardy to her daughter.
Liz’s decision to bring Agnes home is clearly going to be an issue from this point on. Agnes unwittingly paid her grandmother a compliment in the latest Blacklist episode. Where will it go from here? If Red keeping the truth about Katarina being alive leads to anything bad happening to Agnes, it would be a deal-breaker.
I could see Katarina kidnapping her. She still has not gotten the info she wants from Red. Now that he is on the loose, she may be spying her next target. Red did not spill with his life on the line, but Agnes would be a different story. That said, I do not think that Katarina would actually hurt her own granddaughter for this mysterious info.
As for Liz and Red’s relationship, it all goes back to what Red told her in the latest episode. Her investigation awakened the ghost that is Katarina Rostova. Thus, plunging everyone into peril! John Eisendrath continued:
All of a sudden, now, she realizes not only does her connection to Red still haunt her and potentially cause danger for her daughter, but Red points out, and I think this is what you meant by the tension, that it's Liz's fault for going out and doing the one thing Red asked her not to do, which was look for Katarina Rostova. By looking for Katarina Rostova in Season 6, he is basically telling her, that has resulted in the danger that she now faces from this organization called the Townsend Directive that is looking for Katarina and will do anything and hurt anyone who stands in their way.
The Townsend Directive sounds a lot like the organization that went after Samar last season. Would they be willing to use Agnes in their pursuit of her grandmother? It is a scary thought. I still do not know what Red gets out of keeping Katarina being alive a secret from Liz. Is it in case he has to kill her?
I do not know. Here is hoping that whatever friction there is between Red and Liz that they find their way through it. They have been through too much together to let it destroy their relationship. Let all of the false identity intrigue and ensuing trust issues be darned!
Tune in to see how Liz and Red’s relationship is impacted when new episodes of The Blacklist air Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, as part of this fall's premieres. You can catch up on all things involving Katarina, Liz, and Red, via past seasons of The Blacklist that are streaming on Netflix, along with lots of upcoming content.
