The Blacklist: Lizzington

Each week, thousands tune in to watch the hit drama "The Blacklist" on NBC. And everyone who watches the show seems to have some theories about how Red Reddington and Elizabeth Keen are connected.

What's interesting to note is that there is a whole community who ships (wants the romantic pairing of) Red and Lizzie. They even have a shipper name: Lizzington!

At first I thought this notion was odd, because when the show first aired I had a sneaking suspicion that Red was Lizzie's father. But the more I watch the Blacklist, the less I am convinced of this.

As a writer myself, it is always my goal to keep readers guessing. And when the show aired, nearly everyone thought that Red was her father. I think that is what the writers were aiming for, but with a show with as many twists and turns as the Blacklist, it'd be hard to believe that the writers would take such a predictable path.

The episode last night really confirmed for me that he is not her father.

*SPOILERS*

Liz is paying for the harbor master's daughter to go to college. She feels guilty. It's because of her, and her involvement with Tom that the harbor master is dead.

As Red takes a seat next to Liz and looks down at the girl whose life Lizzie changed, he launches into a speech about how he 'knows the feeling.' He warns Lizzie that she could become obsessed with the girl out of guilt for what she's done. But all that will do is assuage her guilt. It's not really for the girl - but to make herself feel better.

She can watch her grow up, track her career, put surveillance on her …basically, it's a slippery slope.

Red makes it apparent that he is really talking about his situation with Lizzie.

I personally believe that Red was there the night of the fire, but is not her father. I think he's responsible for the death of her real father, and perhaps the fire itself. I imagine that he set the fire and only later realized that there was a child (Lizzie) in the closet. I think he managed to save her (hence the scars on his body), but that he still felt responsible for completely wrecking her life.

I think he got her to the man who eventually raised her, her adoptive family, and that's where the connection between her father and Red come in.

Especially if Red experienced trauma in his own life, he would feel even more compelled to care for Elizabeth Keen. Say perhaps, if he grew up without parents, or lost members of his own family. Also, since (I believe) that he personally saved Keen from the fire, he feels an even stronger connection to her since the fire was a defining day in both their lives.

So where does Lizzington come in?

Well, there are a lot of people out there who ship Red and Liz.

At first I thought this was ridiculous, but then I allowed myself to explore the possibility. Despite the fact that Red is considerably older than Elizabeth, I can now definitely see them together. And it wouldn't be too far of a jump for him to go from obsessed with her, to romantically involved with her.

This thought really shocks people and there are those who think this idea is nuts. And that's exactly why it's so great! As a writer, you want to shock your audience, give them something that they'll never see coming. Which is one reason I think Lizzington would be so successful.

But (network) television is still fairly conservative, and I doubt that the writers of the show would ever pair the two. Instead, I believe they'll try and develop the relationship between Elizabeth and her partner.

The only thing wrong with that? He's vanilla.

Sure, he's a great guy and a dyed in the wool agent…but…there's nothing exciting there. There's no chemistry that I can see.

Red is dangerous, dark, on the wrong (and right) side of the law. He's a puzzle wrapped in an enigma capped with a fedora. He's intriguing, seductive, and the more he pulls Lizzie into his world, the more exciting their dynamic becomes. It's what keeps the show alive.

So don't be so quick to dismiss Lizzington like I was. Because, from a writing standpoint, it would be a brilliant (yet too bold a) move for network television. (The age difference alone would have the general public flipping out)

Yet, the possibilities with Lizzington are endless, especially since Keen still doesn't know all the details about the fire, and since Red doesn't know that she has the fulcrum.

In short, they are embattled in a negotiation best stated in Red's explanation of the Milonga. But instead of sex and violence balanced on a knife's edge, it is truth and secrets.

All I can say is that the writers better not make him her father, or the entire Lizzington fandom would completely lose their shit.

So where do you fall on the issue?

Who do you think Reddington is to Keen?

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