Is The Blacklist Really Giving Liz The Truth About Red?

Spoilers for last night’s episode of The Blacklist (“Third Estate”) are discussed below.

The Blacklist is giving fans another two-parter next week, and it is set to be a huge one. It may also prove to be a revelatory installment for Liz. The promo for the next episode hints that Liz will learn the truth about Red's identity. Is the show really going to give it to Liz?

It would not be the first time a promo sort of misled the audience in Season 6. Just a few episodes ago, a Blacklist teaser hinted that Aram and Red would be going to all-out war with one another. Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case. That brings viewers to the upcoming Katarina-centric double feature. Check out the promo for it below:

While there can be a lot of editing done to tease a particular scenario, what Liz says is pretty straightforward. Based on the last words she speaks, it seems she says them to Red. In the promo Liz can be heard (potentially) telling him:

Red seems slightly amused when she says this. Is he tickled that she thinks she knows the truth and has no idea? Does she really know? Is she bluffing she knows? Or is there something more to this scene? In last night’s episode, Dembe told Liz that she needed to come clean about turning Red in. Or he would do it for her.

Is Liz going to come clean and then claim she knows the truth about Red when she does not? In other words, will she blackmail him with the supposed truth of his identity to spare her? I do not think she needs any emotional currency to stay alive.

Whoever Red is or is not, he does genuinely love her. He is not going to kill her for turning him in. Will he be angry, hurt, and betrayed? Absolutely. Mad enough to execute her? No. Now, her thinking that she can blackmail him would probably irritate him. He does seem somewhat irritated in the clip by what Liz says.

Will The Blacklist go through with it and let Liz know the truth? Given what the series’ creator has said about the audience learning the full truth about Red, that seems doubtful. However, learning who Red really is could only be part of the mystery.

After establishing that, there are a lot of mysteries about the “missing years” and beyond. Plenty of content to keep the secrets of Red alive and well for seasons to come.

Who could Liz learn the truth from? Her grandfather, Dom. Red is going to visit him in the next episode for help in making a “difficult decision.” Promotional pictures reveal that Liz will also visit Dom, but she's currently unaware that he's her mother’s father -- aka Liz’s grandfather. Will Liz press him for answers? Would he give them to her?

Find out if Liz actually learns the truth about Red when The Blacklist continues with next week’s two-hour event. It airs Friday, April 26 starting at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.