I didn’t expect a quick recovery followed by sun-dappled strolls in Central Park, silly helium voices, a series of sweet phone calls to family and friends, and a fairly simple plan for how to move forward after spending an entire season at odds.
But about the time Liz started calling everyone on her speed dial and telling them how much she loved them, we probably also realized that who lived and who died in this episode was never destined to go according to plan.
But couldn’t she have gotten some answers on the way out? Couldn’t she have learned the truth about Raymond Reddington? And I don’t know, depending on how you saw the final moments of her life flashing before her eyes, maybe she did.
Red, Dembe, and Liz emerge from the bunker-within-a-bunker that protected them from the blast and confirm that Townsend is dead, which Liz tells Red means she’s not just feeling good enough to walk; she’s ready to fly.
He seems genuinely nervous when he tells her that the conversation he’s been trying to have with her for days – the one about who he is and why Katarina arranged for him to watch over her – ultimately ends with a letter.
Reddington says that Liz has known for a while that he’s sick, and killing him and taking over his empire is the only thing that can truly protect her.
But when she links up with Cooper, he tells her that his greatest desire is for her to be safe, and points out that taking over for Red means taking over the Blacklist, which could potentially mean taking over his immunity deal, as well.
It will happen right outside the door of the restaurant so that when Pascual is asked for CCTV footage by the police, they’ll find Elizabeth Keen standing over Raymond Reddington’s body – an image that will be splashed across every newspaper in the world by the next morning.
So… that’s what it would look like if Liz killed Red and took over his empire.
And they do it all to the lovely, and a little bit heartbreaking tune of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know.” And despite Ressler and Aram both advising Liz not to go through with killing Reddington in order to take over his criminal empire, somewhere within this day, she decides that she will – in exchange for an answer to one question.
“I think he feels fortunate… that he’s lived a good life, that he’s seen a lot of interesting places, and has a lot of friends that love him,” Liz says sadly.
She’d have to make a statement to earn respect and demonstrate her value – and that’s when they realize that Liz is going to kill Reddington, and it was probably his idea.
Ressler makes a break for it from the hospital, and Cooper, Aram, and Park head out with an infantry toward Pascual’s – but it’s too late.
“I can’t do it, I don’t want to,” Liz tells him.
As the camera lingers on Liz’s face, we enter her mind where all the good things in her life are flashing by: the swing with her mother, a million moments with Tom, Cooper, Aram, Dembe, Sam, Dom, Jennifer, Ressler, Ressler, Ressler.
Dembe forces Reddington off the street before more of Townsend’s men show up, just as Ressler, Cooper, Aram, and Park converge on the scene and find their friend and colleague dead on the ground… but not the one they were expecting.
With deaths on The Blacklist, you never truly know – but with actor’s contracts, you do.
And as for the Reddington/Katarina of it all, we only get one real clue since the letter is never opened, which is Liz pulling out the classic photo of herself as a child, with a sun-covered Katarina standing behind her, and asking Red what his relationship was with her mother that he would dedicate his life to keeping Liz safe.
As always, thanks for reading along – and along, and along, and along – with me here.