Is The Blacklist's Liz Finally Learning The Truth About Katarina And More In Fall Finale Images?

The Blacklist Elizabeth Liz Keen Megan Boone NBC
(Image credit: Will Hart / NBC)

The Blacklist’s fall finale is rapidly approaching, and new images from the much-anticipated installment will have you on the edge of your seat! Why? Because if I am reading them right, Liz may finally be about to learn the truth about Katarina. She has been pretending to be Liz’s neighbor since early in Season 7! And that's not all.

A picture is worth a million words in this instance. Or at least, as many questions! The Blacklist has kept viewers in suspense as Liz grew closer to “Maddy,” a.k.a. her mother, Katarina Rostova. The truth may get revealed in the fall finale, aptly titled “Katarina Rostova (#3).” It sounds like Red is exposing her as a Blacklister! Check it out:

The Blacklist Katarina Rostova Laila Robins Elizabeth Liz Keen Megan Boone NBC

(Image credit: Will Hart / NBC)

Maddy and Liz are close, but Katarina tenderly putting her hand on Liz’s cheek seems indicative that some legitimate mother/daughter bonding is happening. Please also note the look of shock on Liz’s face. If that is not an “I just found out my neighbor is my mother” look then I do not know what is!

There is some reason to doubt that The Blacklist would reveal the big moment in promotional pictures. However, stranger things have happened when it comes to TV shows. I can almost hear Katarina telling Liz, “It is me, Masha. Your mother.” The excitement doesn't end there! Check this fall finale picture out:

The Blacklist Elizabeth Liz Keen Megan Boone Katarina Rostova Laila Robins Ilya Koslov Brett Cullen

(Image credit: Will Hart / NBC)

It appears that Liz will find Ilya Koslov in her mother’s apartment. Fans will recall that Katarina has captured Ilya with her goal being to extract a memory from him. Well, it looks like Liz will discover this, and she seems pretty perplexed by it. It is hard to tell if Ilya is still alive or not. Has he provided those promised answers yet?

Obviously, the pictures are not revealing enough to say. Other photos from The Blacklist’s fall finale show Aram and secret-keeping Ressler in the apartment with Liz. Clearly, the Task Force is going to get involved in the storyline. Will they be able to apprehend Katarina? I doubt it. Now to the pièce de résistance! Check it out:

The Blacklist Dr. Bogdan Krilov Rade Serbedzija NBC

(Image credit: Will Hart / NBC)

Yes, that is Dr. Bogdan Krilov (Rade Serbedzija)! He is the guy that told Liz back in Season 4 that Red had hired him to remove a second memory from her. The Blacklist had previously confirmed that Season 7 would deal with another memory manipulation. The Ilya storyline appears to account for that.

Dr. Krilov being brought back could indicate that the guy Katarina recruited to extract Ilya’s memories will fail. Or he could succeed, and Dr. Krilov will be sought out for advice relating to memory manipulation. Since he is coming back to The Blacklist, will he offer more insight into what he previously told Liz?

The plot thread is one of many that have dangled for a long time, and now that the truth is sort of out about Red, it has given it a new context. The Blacklist loves its bombshells, and I could see it dropping more than solely the Katarina reveal on its way out of 2019. Let’s just hope that Red and Liz’s relationship survives it!

New episodes of The Blacklist will air this winter on Fridays, at 8 p.m. ET, on NBC. You can catch up on the Katarina conflict via previous seasons on Netflix, which also has lots of new content in 2020.

Britt Lawrence

Like a contented Hallmark movie character, Britt happily lives in the same city she grew up in. Along with movies and television, she is passionate about competitive figure skating. She has been writing about entertainment for 5 years, and as you may suspect, still finds it as entertaining to do as when she began.