So Red’s trial is over, and surprise surprise the court didn’t rule in his favor. Red is now facing the death penalty, all thanks to Liz.
What’s so cold blooded about this is that Liz knew exactly what to point the police towards in her anonymous tip to make sure Red ended up being convicted, no matter how good his defense was in court. She pointed them towards Red’s concealed gun, knowing that the court would nullify his immunity agreement when they found out about it.
Liz is so heartless that she is completely willing to let Red face the death penalty just because he lied to her. Nothing in their relationship matters to her.
Nothing they’ve been through together is making her think twice about putting Red in a situation where he could possibly die because of her. So he lied to her, does she really think he deserves to die because of that?
To me, it seems like she doesn’t really understand the gravity of the situation. So she wants him in jail in order to find out the secret he’s been keeping from her, but does she realize that he’s literally staring down the barrel of a gun?
Does she realize that it’s a very real and imminent possibility that the court will order him to be put to death?
All of this is why it is so sickening to me whenever she talks to Red and pretends like she’s worried about him.
She’s the one who decided that knowing some secret that doesn’t even matter anymore is more important than Red’s life.
She might as well be the one pointing the gun at Red’s head.
How can she stand on the other side of those bars with fake tears in her eyes knowing that she betrayed him and Red trusts her with his life?
Any person with a heart wouldn’t be able to do that to someone who had protected them, loved them, and trusted them.
Even when Red gets out of this, and he will because I accept no other outcome, he and his reputation will be irreparably damaged. His ability to help The Task Force catch horrible criminals will be permanently altered and impaired.
Liz is so blinded by her selfish needs that she can’t see the bigger picture. Either she can’t see it, or she doesn’t care. And if she really doesn’t care about the greater good and the enormous asset that Red is, she doesn’t deserve to call herself an FBI agent.
Unfortunately Red didn’t get to listen to the tape that identified the anonymous caller. Liz even had the gall to ask Red if he had heard the voice of the person on the tape, pretending like it was out of concern for him, but really wanting to know if he had discovered her betrayal.
So there’s no reckoning with Liz happening yet, and we have to suffer through her nauseating fake concern and selfishness for the time being.
After all of this, and how Red finding out Liz’s betrayal is going to be dragged out, there’s absolutely no way that it would be acceptable for this to end with Red forgiving her.
Maybe, if he had won his trial and wasn’t made to face the death penalty I might have been able to accept that he could forgive her at some point, but not anymore.
Liz has had so many chances to come forward, correct her mistake, and save his life and she hasn’t made a single move to show that she has any compassion or respect for Red.
If the writers did end up making Red forgive her, that would be an extreme insult to Red’s character and all of the long time viewers of this show.
We’re well aware that Liz has always been his kryptonite, but he’s not stupid or naive and he NEVER tolerates a betrayal. If he trusts someone with his life and they betray that trust, they face the consequences no matter who they are. He shot Kaplan in the face for god’s sake, and he worked with her and trusted her for years, much longer than he’s worked with and trusted Liz.
The only acceptable ending to all of this is Liz facing the consequences of her actions and being on the receiving end of Red’s wrath.
I want her to understand the damage she’s done and the pain she’s caused him. I want to see Red furious with her and I want to hear him say that he will never forgive her or speak to her again. I want Red to be rid of this toxic relationship once and for all.
Yes he’s a criminal, and he’s killed hundreds of people, but he’s a criminal with a heart and he’s saved just as many lives as he’s taken by working with the Task Force.
He’s done morally questionable things, and we’ve seen him struggle with those choices. Red is such an interesting character and compelling protagonist/anti-hero because he’s complicated.
We know he has a conscience and that he saves as many innocent people as he can whenever he conducts an operation. Maybe someday he deserves to face the consequences for some of those actions, but he definitely doesn’t deserve to die and Liz should never have been the one to make the decision.
It looks like Liz is is going to be extremely close to finding out Red’s secret next week, and it’s going to be a race against the clock for Red to keep his secret and save his own life. Hopefully Red wins.
Check out the synopsis and trailer for the next episode below. And let me know in the comments, how are you feeling about Liz’s betrayal being dragged out? Do you think there should be any kind of scenario where Red ends up forgiving her? Or do you want to see Liz face Red’s wrath as much as I do?
Synopsis:
When Red is sent to a federal medical institution following his request to the court for a psychiatric evaluation, Liz and Jennifer use his time away to search for a Blacklister they believe may have valuable information about Red’s past.
The Blacklist airs Fridays at 9/8c on NBC.
