The Blacklist season 5: Revisiting the Jennifer Reddington mystery
Over the course of the summer leading up to the show’s season 5 premiere this fall, we’re going to examine further some of the biggest loose ends that are out there. At the moment, Jennifer has to be near the top of the list.
There are many things that we still don’t know about her, beyond that she is the child supposedly of Reddington and Carla, and that she fell off the radar many years ago. She was referenced during the first season, but it was during the second season that she was the subject of conversation more so than at any other point. Carla eventually admitted to Reddington that she didn’t know where Jennifer was, only that she knew that someday he would come for her and she eventually left. She’s been off the grid and separate from James Spader’s character since before the start of the show.
Why hasn’t Reddington been as interested in protecting her as he has been Liz Keen? That’s one of the bigger mysteries out there with the character, which does further along the theory that she is not his biological daughter. If you think back to some of those season 2 moments with Carla, she does repeatedly refer to Jennifer as “my daughter,” suggesting that either she doesn’t belong to Reddington or that she just wants to shove it in his face that she hates him. Maybe he’s not protecting her because she doesn’t need his protection, since she’s so separate from the Rostova family and most of the other drama in his life. Or, maybe he already has his protection in place, given that there are theories out there that he’s known where she is the whole time.
There are a few interesting things to consider now with Jennifer moving into season 5:
1. She becomes a new Big Bad – It’s certainly possible that, as with Kate, she’s been spending her time away from Reddington building an arsenal.
2. She’s actually someone we’ve met along the way – There are enough characters we’ve seen over time that fall into this age range and could theoretically work.
3. She’ll turn up as a significant storyline later on down the road – Jon Bokenkamp and the writers have kept close eye on many of their loose ends. Odds are, they’ve accounted for Jennifer and are waiting for the right time.
4. She’s dead – Maybe Reddington’s killed her at some point, or he knows someone else has. Is it possible that her bones are in the suitcase? If she were to die at the time she fell off the grid, could she decompose that quickly? We checked with our funeral director sources on this, and it’s possible that most of her organic tissue would be gone at this point and she’d be left, depending with what she was wearing at time of death, as mostly bones. (It also depends heavily on conditions, but we’re getting really scientific at this point.)
What do you think has transpired with Jennifer Reddington? Be sure to share now in the attached comments!
(Photo: NBC.)