It was a massive hit for NBC when it debuted in 2013. In its first two weeks “The Blacklist” averaged a live+same day rating of 3.6, 10-share in adults 18-49 and 12 million viewers. With “The Voice” as its lead-in, the show quickly established itself as the top freshman drama in both demo and total viewers, and would become the No. 1 new scripted series launched by NBC during the 2013-14 season.
Friday, October 4, marks the premiere of Season 7 of ‘The Blacklist’, and boy are we excited. The previous season had ended on a cliff-hanger like never before, with Red (James Spader) being drugged and held hostage by Liz’s (Megan Boone) mother Katarina (Lotte Verbeek). This was one of the most shocking moments on the show, especially since we had always assumed Katarina to be good.
One of the first questions the show needs to answer when it returns is why she is holding him hostage, especially since that will be one of the questions Liz will have. She already knows that her mother is alive, but it would still shock her to know that the man who she considers to be her father figure is in her custody. While we know next to nothing about her intentions at this point, we do know that she was in search of some knowledge from Red, based on the promo for Season 7.
We do know for a fact that it is not the whereabouts of her daughter, but Katarina may still be unaware of some information about her. Here is a callback from one of the earlier episodes that might offer some clue. When Katarina’s husband Constantine (Ulrich Thomsen) had kidnapped Red back in the day and tortured him to know whether he was Liz’s real father, Red had whispered something in his ear. What was whispered is yet to be revealed, but it made Constantine change his mind about killing Red. Could this have something to do with what Katarina wants to know?
It is also fairly possible that Red completely missed the point regarding Katarina – assuming she was a friend, when she was always his nemesis. This may finally be the point where she reveals how she has been torturing him without him even getting a whiff of it. Having tired of the games, she is finally revealing herself to him before ending his life.
The true nature of Katarina and what she wants will be revealed when Season 7 of ‘The Blacklist’ premieres on October 4 on NBC.
