The Blacklist season 7 theory: Who is the Stranger, really?

As we approach The Blacklist season 7, we are also getting a new, fascinating mystery to try and work through and unravel. This time around, the target is one with no name, just a face and an actor behind the role in Brett Cullen. For now, we call him the Stranger — that seems to be the name that most of the fandom has handed this character.

Yet, what is interesting about the Stranger is that it seems as though he’s known Reddington for much of his life, and that he also seems to trust this man enough to look into Katarina and understand the conversations that Liz has with Dom. This is someone who is obviously really connected to much of Reddington’s mythology, but also someone he doesn’t want Liz to know about. Why is that? Consider that something worth thinking about, and it’s also a subject that we could tackle even more down the road.

For now, though, let’s get to discussing a few different theories about the Stranger and their possible identity — to go along with this, be sure to check out our new video below! After you do that, remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube for more insight.

1. Ilya Koslov – This seems to be the easiest label to throw on this guy, but in doing this, you also have to wonder about the extent of Ilya’s relationship with Reddington. Is there really all that much to go on there? If the stranger is Ilya, then it does make you wonder if there’s so much more about him and Reddington than we’ve had a chance to learn.

2. A brother of Reddington/Koslov that we have not known about before – Remember that the Stranger knows that the Stranger knows about what Reddington had from Liz. That means that if he’s actually Ilya, the stranger knows that. Or, maybe the stranger knows that the imposter theory itself is a red herring for him being the real Raymond Reddington, the man who supposedly died in the fire.

3. Maybe the Stranger is Reddington himself – If the truth is that the real Raymond Reddington isn’t anywhere near as interesting as the one we’ve come to know, there’s a case to be made that this is him and he’s been living in the shadows for so many years since faking his death. He is able to track down information on Katarina, and that is something that maybe the real Reddington would be able to do if there’s still a relationship between the two.

4. Katarina Rostova – It’s true that there are already Rederina theories, but is it possible that she is disguising herself as someone else and Reddington doesn’t even realize it? Maybe the Stranger is playing Reddington and he, effectively, led him into a trap meeting someone who he thought was Katarina and really wasn’t. That seems unlikely, but it’s certainly still interesting.

5. A character we haven’t met before – This is a possibility that we cannot entirely rule out, though there is in our mind one very clear flaw with the notion. If this Stranger really is someone who has been tied to Reddington for a long time, we can’t just cycle through Reddington, Ilya, and Katarina forever. There has to be someone else tied to this world, right?

Who do you think the Stranger could be on The Blacklist? Be sure to share in the comments. (Photo: NBC.)