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This *Major* Secret About Red Was Revealed in The Blacklist's 200th Episode
Red has got some explaining to do after the big 2-0-0! Watch The Blacklist Sundays on NBC.
If the final season of The Blacklist wasn't exciting enough, the NBC classic just hit a major milestone with its 200th's episode!
Season 10's "The Hyena" spared no suspense, with Raymond Reddington (James Spader) heading out on a whirlwind treasure hunt for a twisted family inheritance. Stacy Keach returns as Robert Vesco, and Molly Bernard guest stars as a pair of triplets: Cordelia, Kendall, and Alex Bostwick. Strap in, because this was a wild episode!
The Blacklist Season 10, Episode 4 recap:
After their famous financier father Warren Bostwick passed away, he left a confusing scavenger hunt of clues for his estranged daughters to decode to find their family fortune. Due to the triplets' strained relationship, the clues went unsolved, and the inheritance went unclaimed. This conundrum catches the attention of the latest Blacklister, the Hyena.
The episode begins with Red surprising Cooper (Harry Lennix) in his home, leading Cooper to question whether or not Red is homeless. Red has certainly been on the move this season, likely due to the lineup of angry Blacklisters on his tail that might know he's an FBI informant. But a returning Blacklister who has no clue Red played a role in his arrest is Robert Vesco, who Red helped break out of prison in the previous episode ("The Four Guns").
For context: Vesco betrayed Red in Season 6 of The Blacklist after the two old friends went on a cross-country treasure hunt, and Vesco took the money and ran. In Season 9 of The Blacklist, Vesco's illegal misdealings led the Task Force to finally arrest him. But as Red's former mentor and dear friend, Red decided to break him out of prison. Vesco was immediately suspicious of why Red would do such a thing, but as soon as Red updates Cooper on his latest findings, the reason becomes evident.
The Hyena is notorious for sniffing out vulnerable families and murdering inheritors until he claims their fortunes. Red identifies the Hyena's M.O. after noticing the Bostwick family attorney mysteriously died in the bathroom of a restaurant. The Bostwick fortune has gone infamously unclaimed due to the inheriting triplets never putting the clues together, and the Hyena seems to be on the hunt. Red tells Cooper that the triplets' lives are in danger and the Task Force needs to track him down and arrest him.
Mind you, It's Raymond Reddington's world, and we're all just living in it. Red always has a hidden agenda, and in this situation, he wants the Bostwick family fortune just as much as the Hyena. The Bostwick family fortune is a puzzle that Red thinks he and Vesco could solve because historically, they always find treasure together. So, that's why Red broke Vesco out of jail. While Cooper briefs the Task Force on the Hyena, Red gives Vesco details about the clues. In doing so, Red manipulates the Task Force into eliminating his competition for the Bostwick family fortune. LOL.
As for the Bostwick triplets, all played by Blacklist guest star Bernard, they are three daughters who all feel hopeless about ever finding their father's liquidated assets. Each has a unique riddle, but none of the sisters are willing to work together, something their father knew upon his death. Even worse, as soon as the Task Force warns Kendall about the Hyena, she is murdered shortly after, confirming Red's suspicions that the Blacklister is on the hunt.
As Vesco and Red widdle away at the clues on their own hunt, the Task Force does everything they can to ensure Alex and Cordelia's safety. But as more of the clues come to light, a seedy plot is unveiled. Just as the Task Force reaches Alex to protect her, they find she's been taken, but not just by the Hyena. Cordelia and the Hyena have been working together the entire time.
We love a red herring! Cordelia kills the Hyena shortly after collecting Alex's riddle and promises her sister they'll be a family again after she claims the final clue at their father's gravesite. Red and Vesco find Cordelia smashing her father's epitaph, but Red surprises her by telling her she solved the clue incorrectly. The final clue was their mother's grave, and Cordelia's role in her sister's murder has been revealed. Red shoots Cordelia in the foot and calls in the Task Force for her arrest.
Vesco and Red secure another successful scavenger hunt haul in the form of the Bostwick family fortune and choose to split the inheritance with Alex, the only remaining innocent Bostwick daughter. Red and Vesco find a recording from their father applauding them for finding the treasure, telling his daughters they "deserve everything they got." At least he technically wasn't wrong!
"A tragic tale, no doubt," Red reflects. "But at least it brought us together, my friend."
Vesco is one of the most notorious conmen on Earth, so he isn't one to trust Red easily. "Yeah," Vesco said. "But I'm still waiting for that axe to fall."
"There is no axe, Robert," Red promises.
Red confirms his harmless intentions later on at the Cooper residence, meeting the Task Force leader for a much-deserved drink at the end of a long day. Cooper doesn't give Red any issue for going on his own hidden treasure hunt alongside the Hyena pursuit. After "200-some" Blacklisters (wink wink), Cooper understands how Red operates.
Red requests that the FBI drop their investigation into Vesco's prison break, and Cooper tells him he'll consider his request (wink, wink, I know what you did, Red!). Cooper asks Red which person was screwed over by the other first (Vesco or Red), and Red reaffirms his new lease on life with Vesco.
“Oh, that's all behind us, Harold," Red says. "We’ve had our ups and downs, Robert and I. But he's an old friend, and our days of betrayal are thankfully a thing of the past.”
But is that so? We immediately cut to a dark parking lot, where Vesco is intercepted by a mysterious man. Vesco tells the man to start talking, and he is revealed to be an associate of another infamous Blacklister, Wujing.
“I represent Mr. Wujing. He was given your information by Marvin Gerard, late attorney for Raymond Reddington," he tells Vesco before dropping a major truth bomb. Gerard is responsible for unveiling Red's role as an FBI informant to Wujing. "What if I told you your arrest by the FBI last year wasn't bad luck? It was a plan formulated and orchestrated by Raymond Reddington. You walked into his trap."
“Why would Reddington do that?” Vesco asks suspiciously.
“If you want to learn more, call this number when you're ready, and we’ll send a car," the man tells him, handing him a card. "Mr. Wujing looks forward to discussing your shared interests.”
Vesco may have been close to becoming one of Red's allies, but now that he knows he was involved in his arrest, that could all come crashing down. How will Vesco respond to learning he was betrayed in the past? Will he stay true to Red, or will be added to the ranks of Blacklisters hungry for revenge?
Find out by watching The Blacklist on Sundays at 10/9c on NBC and later streams on Peacock.
