The Blacklist type TV Show network NBC genre Crime

Thriller

Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Thursday’s episode of The Blacklist. Read at your own risk!

Who survived the ultimate showdown between Red and Kirk in The Blacklist midseason finale?

During Thursday’s episode of The Blacklist, Kirk’s (Ulrich Thomsen) men sprung him from the hospital, taking Liz (Megan Boone) hostage in a bid to save Kirk’s life. However, Kirk discovers Liz is not his daughter, so Red (James Spader) offers his life in exchange for Liz’s.

Before Kirk could kill him, though, Red offers Dr. Shaw’s patient zero as a miracle cure for Kirk. But Kirk just wants to torture Red for answers, like how they were both Katarina’s marks, and she tricked Kirk into believing Masha was his daughter, when really Red is her father. Twist. Well, not really since we’ve all suspected as much since the beginning of the series. But was Red actually revealing the truth, or just telling Kirk what he wanted to hear?

Kirk, however, still wants to kill Red, saying there’s nothing Red could say to stop him — until Red whispers something that stops Kirk in his tracks. What did he say?! EW turned to executive producer Jon Bokenkamp to find out.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Is Red actually Liz’s father?

JON BOKENKAMP: I think it’s best to let the show and its characters answer that. Anything that’s meaningful is in the scripts and on the screen. Everything else is noise.

Should we trust what Red told Kirk about being Liz’s father or was he just telling Kirk what he wanted to hear?

Well, he did say he was her father and he sounded like he meant it. That said, he was also heavily drugged with god knows what. I’ll let you decide.

Kirk says there’s nothing that could stop him from killing Red, and yet he actually stopped. What can you tease of what’s really going on and when we’ll find out what Red whispered?

The truth is, we’re not going to find out what he said. That whisper was a secret between the two men who loved Katarina. Besides, if you really knew what Red said the show would probably be over.

Could Red actually be Katarina?

That’s funny — I’ve heard that theory before and it’s a wild one. I’d love to have someone walk me through the logic of exactly how that would work. I’ve also heard that Liz is Tom’s sister, Liz is a robot, and Ressler is Tom’s brother. All great theories, by the way.

Everyone has suspected that Red was Liz’s father since the beginning. Why did you decide to go this route?

Ultimately this is a ‘chosen one’ story. Elizabeth Keen is clearly incredibly important to Red. Why? That’s what we’re slowly revealing over time, and trust me, the answers are all there. As you pointed out — the father theory is only one of many. For me, it was never so much about is he her father or is he not — but why is this young woman so important to Raymond Reddington?

Red seemed to know inside info on Katarina and Kirk’s relationship. How would he know that?

We’ve already established that Red had an affair with Katarina, and I think one can only assume she told him many intimate details about her actual husband, Alexander Kirk.

Red says Kirk is gone. Is that really the last we’ve seen of him?

I think it’s pretty certain this is the last we’ve seen of Kirk.

Kaplan left the woodsman behind. What’s her next move? Is she against Red now?

I think Mr. Kaplan is just lucky to get out of that cabin alive. She’s lucky to escape Red. She’s hitched a ride and off to god knows where.

Have we seen the last of Kaplan?

Ugh. I hope we haven’t seen he last of her. I love having Susan Blommaert on the show. That said, I also loved having Alan Alda on the show and we exploded his head with a neck bomb, so…

The Blacklist will return in 2017.