#katarina rostova

[theinterestsofinsects]

#miblin #gif #mine #the blacklist #blacklist #raymond reddington #constantly #tv gifs #done and done #katarina rostova

[katarinas-redemption]

#the blacklist #cape may #daniel knauf #raymond reddington #katarina rostova #lotte verbeek #james spader #3.19

[isagrimorie]

"I presumed that there was an order to things."

Katarina Rostova | Reddington | Years Apart

The Blacklist 1x01 - Pilot / 3x19 - Cape May

#tv: the blacklist #katarina rostova #parallels #raymond reddington #blacklist 1x01 #blacklist 3x19 #katarina is red #red is katarina #trans red #my edit #lotte verbeek #james spader #redarina

[murahel]

My good friend suggested I put my thoughts on Blacklist (TV show) here, so here I am.

Before I start piecing this together, I have to say something about the Redarina theory. First, I think it will never be confirmed canon because of bigotry, and also the show has ended and the true identity of Red wasn't brought back on the table since Elizabeth's death. That's two seasons completely abandoning the mystery at the center of the show. Second, I think Redarina should not be considered canon in the whole show because there are clearly contradictions, most likely because the show hesitated on what was the answer to "Who is Red?". Those contradictions and the way Katarina is talked about would make Redarina theory lean towards "women want to transition because of misogyny" terf discourse, which should not exist in the first place.

For Redarina to exist, Katarina cannot be a cis woman. Period.

Thus being said, here is a recap of my conversation with my good friend. Keep in mind I'm no expert, I'm not in the head of the writers and maybe I got some things wrong, so don't come around @ me.

I think "Cape May" is the friendlier episode of Katarina = Red because it is an episode between Katarina and Red.

There are no other characters present. It's the first time true Katarina is introduced (albeit as an hallucination). The whole episode is a replaying of what happened to Katarina the first time they were here alone (got attacked by mercenaries).

It's just so personal between them.

Katarina had come here to commit suicide after having to abandon Elizabeth to protect her. Red is here because Elizabeth just died. "Cape May" is where they go when they lose Elizabeth. No one other than the parent of the lost child would react that way.

Besides, Katarina abandonned a necklace on the beach when they came to Cape May, alone, with no one else to testify of it. And years later, Red finds it when he comes to Cape May and recognises it. The only person who could have known that is Katarina themselves.

Red = Katarina stays the only viable explanation left at the end of the show, especially after s8 finale. Watching s8 finale, I felt like the show had finally decided on a response to "Who is Red?" and that that response was Redarina, especially with the overlapping of Katarina and Red. Then the last two seasons left that mystery to rot and never gave a clear answer, which I guess is understable since Elizabeth died and she was the main character concerned by this (Agnes is too young to be concerned I guess?? Even though it seems Elizabeth told her ThingsTM, which is yet another thing the show will never explain).

Anyway, there are many hints that Red was very close to Katarina, knowing things about Katarina no one else knew and stating he was present in situations where Katarina was supposedly alone.

For example, when Elizabeth was a kid, she was in a house with her parent, Katarina, and her dad, the true Raymond Reddington. Long story short, Katarina and the true Raymond Reddington fight, a fire starts and the true Raymond Reddington dies. Katarina got Elizabeth out of the house, both of them getting burns in the process. The only person left who knows what happened inside that house is Katarina, since Elizabeth was too young to have clear memories of everything.

But then Red knows what happened. He even engaged someone to erase Elizabeth's memories of the night. Even more so, Red was present because he has burns from that night. So since the only person other than Elizabeth who survived the night was Katarina, they are the only candidate left as a response for "Who is Red?"

I'm passing all the other details such as, Katarina's husband wanted to kill Red and immediately let go of the idea after Red whispered something to him, Katarina's allies are allies of Red meaning that all the people who could have taken the role of Red are out there being their own selves.

Also, Red visits Katarina's father, who asks to have his child back, and Red says it's impossible. In s8, Red states that Katarina is still alive and living somewhere out there, so if it was true he could have gotten Katarina's father and Katarina reunited. Hell there's even a wholeass season where a woman impersonates Katarina and if Katarina was still really out there, the best way to get rid of the problem would have been to bring the true Katarina back but he doesn't because Red. is. right. there.

The show has established all the characters evolving around Katarina. The true Raymond Reddington? Dead, there's a whole season about identifying his squeletton. Katarina's husband? Was running around to get Red killed, so obviously he can't be Red. Katarina's handler? He's seen having dinner with Red. Ilya? He's still out there standing right next to Red. Kaplan? She's right there standing next to Red too. The season "Katarina" is introduced and you see her standing in the same room as Red? It's not the true Katarina!

Literally all the characters introduced by the show who could have been Red are not. The only one left is Katarina. The only option left for Katarina =/= Red would be a stranger, like an actor, because all Katarina's allies and relatives are still themselves, but someone not related in any way to Katarina would never care so much about Elizabeth. Or a character not introduced by the show at all, but then what's even the point.

I'm not even starting on the whole discourses Red gives about parental love and what not and how some of his words are sometimes literally the same as Katarina's words.

Then the show also imply, sometimes heavily, that Red would have a romantic/sexual attraction towards Elizabeth, which is disgusting and should never have happened, because the show kept hesitating about the response to "Who is Red?" Lizzington ends up being straight up incest and that's just a big No.

Again there are contradictions, because in one of the early episodes Red makes a house explodes. That house, is the house the true Raymond Reddington shared with his American family, his first family before he met Katarina. In this episode, Red gets inside the house and remembers quircks of the house from when he lived in it (leaving his hat on the hand of a door, a metallic something on the floor creaking under his shoes, etc.) and that are things he shared with his first american family, things from the true Raymond Reddington that Red/Katarina supposedly wouldn't care about.

So there are episodes like that that go completely the other way, even though there's later an entire season dedicated to proving Red is not the true Raymond Reddington.

Anyway, I'm not over the bull ending.

#if you couldn't tell i'm not over the show's ending #the blacklist #tv shows #red reddington #raymond reddington #elizabeth keen #katarina rostova #masha rostova #redarina #theory #character analysis #blacklist posts

[tictactones]

Your fave is trans. ✨

#raymond reddington #katarina rostova #redarina #redarina confirmed #Raymond reddington is trans #Raymond reddington’s real identity #the blacklist #the blacklist season 8 #theblacklist

[vngful]

im at least 100% sure that Katarina Rostova is Raymond Reddington LIKE CMON…

#the blacklist #raymond reddington #katarina rostova #elizabeth keen

[spader07]

Meaning behind names used in The Blacklist - this is interesting….

Raymond - “counsel” and “protection.”

Katarina - pure

Dembe - peace

Harold - “army” and “ruler”

Donald - “world” and “power.”

Aram - "high"

Alina - light Independent

Samar - night talk

Tom - "innocence, naivety, simplicity" or "the end.”

Jacob - supplanter

Christopher - bearer of Christ

Elizabeth - God is my oath

Liz - God's promise

Lizzy - God's promise; God is my oath

Lizzie - oath of God, or God is satisfaction

Masha - "star of the sea" or "beloved."

Agnes - chaste (abstaining from extramarital, or from all, sexual intercourse.)

Marvin - sea friend

Kathryn or Kate - pure

Sam - God hears

Samuel - God has heard

Dominic - of the lord

Dom - lord

Lena - torch

Virginia - "pure virgin maid"

Constantin - constant, steadfast

Alexander - defender of men

Ilya - "the power of God"

Tatiana - fairy queen

Ivan - god's gracious gift

Carla - Free man

Naomi - pleasantness

Jennifer - the fair one

LAST NAMES 🤷🏼‍♀️

Reddington - probably a variant of Reading 1, from the place name + the Middle English suffix -tune 'settlement'

Rostova - growth

Rostov - a seaport on the Don River near the Sea of Azov in the European part of Russia.

Kirk - Church

Keen - someone who is brave

Hargrave - habitational names from any of a number of places called Hargrave or Hargreave, of which there are examples in Cheshire, Northamptonshire, and Suffolk; all are named with Old English har 'gray' or hara 'hare' + graf 'grove' or græfe 'thicket'.

Ressler - topographic name for someone living by a slope or drainage channel

Cooper - occupational name for a maker and repairer of wooden vessels such as barrels, tubs, buckets, casks, and vats

#the blacklist #raymond reddington #elizabeth keen #red reddington #harold cooper #donald ressler #aram mojtabai #dembe zuma #samar navabi #katarina rostova

[alyblacklist]

Lotte messing with the fans by posting a throwback pic of herself as Katarina Rostova🤦‍♀️😂

#the blacklist #lotte verbeek #katarina rostova #throwback

[heartsoulrocknroll]

Fellow Redarina people, what are your thoughts on the following quotes?

---

Red: “It was a Hobson’s choice. There was a woman and her child. Both were doomed. Both would die. I could either save one or lose both. I chose the child. It was… it was the worst thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. Worst thing by far.”

** What was the worst thing he has ever had to do? Assuming a new identity? Becoming a career criminal? Accepting that he would not be able to raise his daughter himself and leaving her with someone else? It has to be the inability to raise Liz. If Red had kept his previous identity (Katarina Rostova) and raised Liz himself, both of them would likely be caught and killed, either by the KGB or the Cabal. By becoming Reddington, building a criminal empire, and giving Liz to Sam, Red shielded Liz from the dangers of her true identity but lost himself (and the possibility of a family and a normal life) to a life of crime -- a life on the run.

--

Dom: “You have no right to go through her things.” 

** Why would Dom say this in these words? Why would he say “her things” to Red, when they were previously Red’s own things? 

Red: “I was just imagining young Katarina covered in glitter. As an adult, it’s easy to dismiss this stuff as girlish frivolity. You forget the wonder it creates, the light captured, secret wishes evoked. It renders even the darkest days sparkly. Never underestimate the power of glitter.” Dom: “Stop… torturing me.” Red: “That was never my intention.” Dom: “Then what are you doing out here? These boxes are all I have… all I have left of my daughter.”

** Why does Dom say that the boxes are all he has left when his child is right there in front of him?

Red: “I’m sorry, Dom. I understand.” Dom: “No, you don’t. You don’t understand. You think because Masha’s dead, now you… you can understand me? You can… you can share my misery?” Red: “I feel bereft, just like you.” Dom: “No, not just like me. She’s gone because of choices you made for both of them. First Katarina and then Masha. As far as I’m concerned, you killed my entire family! No, you’re not like me.”

** I understand why Dom believes that Red's pain is not the same as his own. Dom feels that he lost his child (Red) and his grandchild (Liz) because of Red’s own choices to betray his country, work with the Cabal, and become a criminal/fugitive. I even sort of understand why Dom would feel that Red “killed his entire family,” although I still find that to be a strange thing to say to his own child, who is standing before him, very much alive. What’s more strange to me is Dom’s use of “them” and “Katarina and then Masha” to refer to his child and grandchild, as if one of the people he is referring to is not the same person he is currently having this conversation with. I understand that the conversation had to be written this way to preserve the ambiguity of Red’s identity at this point in the show, but it’s difficult for me to justify Dom speaking this way. 

--

Red: “You still have family.” Dom: “Who? The baby?”

** Why does Dom act as if the baby is his only family, completely ignoring the fact that his child (Red) is both alive and there with him? Harsh. 

--

Dom: “But you’ve got one thing I haven’t had for a long time. You’ve got a reason… a reason to walk out that door.”

** Again, harsh. His own child was never a reason to walk out the door? 

#the blacklist #raymond reddington #katarina rostova #dom wilkinson #elizabeth keen #tbl s3 #tbl lb #red was kat #redarina #personal

[izzythehutt]

Any fun Blacklist theories (Who's Red *really*? etc.)

I've only watched the first three seasons but I don't believe in spoilers so I know all the major plot points from a mythology perspective and....as far as I can tell the Mother theory is the only explanation for Red's identity that makes sense (or at least is the one that they decided to go with in a somewhat opaque way) so I kind of just watch the show with that theory in mind. Once it's in your mind it's...very hard to unsee.

I didn't actually want it to be true, fwiw, but it kind of does make the show more fun because of how batshit it is.

It was really difficult for me to interpret the Cape May episode except as a man whose own past self (former identity) manifests in his subconscious and A) has to help him come to terms whether his decision to "kill" the person he was before was the right one, given that he only did it to protect Liz and she ended up dead anyway and B) talk himself out of killing himself a second time. I've seen people on this very website claim that the Cape May Red-is-Kat read is dumb af, so I guess this is subjective, but like........unless Katerina is a literal ghost, I don't really see any other way to interpret the dialogue he has with not real dream hallucination Katerina. Dude was having flashbacks to something he himself experienced makes a lot more sense than having vivid flashbacks of something you found out second/third hand happened to somebody else, even if you love her. My inner arthouse filmmaker looks at a frame like this:

And like..............come on, it's telegraphed. It ONE FACE

Red's obsession with Liz and total commitment to her safety and well-being, given their history, really only makes sense as being parental. I've always seen his attitude towards her as paternalistic. Personally I would have been fine with him just being her dad, but that's too obvious for a show like this so they went with him being her mom who assumed the idenitity of her dad instead lol what is science

#the blacklist #raymond reddington #katarina rostova #asks

[plotwholls]

Okay so I haven’t watched most of season seven yet, but ladies, gentlemen, and theys of the Tumblr jury, Raymond Reddington should have been Katarina Rostova and I am Correct

#the blacklist #raymond reddington #katarina rostova

[justarandomtortoise]

The Blacklist is officially one of my favorite series ever. I’ve been hooked on it since june, took me about 4 months and a half to finish each and every chapter of the 8 seasons.

TOTALLY WORTH IT, i’ve never felt so hooked on a show, like everything was so incredible, THE ENDING BRO, i was expecting it but i wasn’t expecting it, i’m soooo mad it was perfect. don’t wanna talk ab the things i would’ve changed bc i don’t wanna give away spoilers, but you all should go watch it fr

can’t wait for the new seasons

#the blacklist #elizabeth keen #raymond reddington #donald ressler #harold cooper #dembe zuma #katarina rostova #aram mojtabai

[katarinas-redemption]

The Blacklist - S8E22, Konets. The Show Didn't SAY OUT LOUD who Red was. But they SHOWED it TO YOU.

#raymond reddington #the blacklist #konets #8.22 #elizabeth keen #megan boone #james spader #lotte verbeek #katarina rostova

[isagrimorie]

"He's Raymond Reddington! And I can tell you this is the Raymond Reddington that people have been familiar with over the last five and a half years? Is considerably more Raymond Reddington than the Raymond Reddington that was 25-30 years ago. They wouldn't make a TV show about that guy!"

I love that James Spader also thought the Original Reddington was Basic AF.

And the only identity that matters is that Red is Red.

Katarina taking over Original Reddington's persona is the best and greatest prank. But also Red is a better Reddington than Reddington ever was.

#james spader #tv: the blacklist #bts #raymond reddington #katarina rostova

[thedaemondreamer]

ive been rewatching the blacklist with my mom and today, we're somewhere in s8, she just kinda wondered out loud:

"what if raymond reddington... is raymond reddington"

and my first instinct is to say lol no, he's dead, we even got a skeleton, but tbh the reason i believe redarina is because i simply don't see who else reddington could possibly be (to have such a close relationship to liz but especially to dom, and with all the n-13 clues and etc)

but... this show has gone through lots of plot twists, so while i think it's unlikely because why would the real reddington be so emotionally dependent on dom (+ why would he care about ilya), i can certainly see why my mom brought it up

just thoughts tho

#the blacklist #raymond reddington #katarina rostova #redarina #red reddington

[sweetbrunch]

there's a lot of pseudoscience and pseudotechnology in the blacklist, so I'm shocked that straight fans think it's impossible for a woman to get a good sex reassignment surgery that surpasses reality... in real life transmen look stronger and bigger than real men though...

tbh I don't care, I stopped watching, the creator or screenwriters will never say who he is, they'll keep redarina-baiting or random straight man-baiting 'til the end to keep the "mystery".

it's disrespectful 'cause I used to watch 'cause I wanted to know.

#the blacklist #raymond reddington #redarina #katarina rostova