10 Things you need to know before watching 'The Blacklist' finale

The Blacklist season one ends tonight. With so many twists and turns throughout the season, it is important to remember the little stuff. Here are ten things that you need to know before watching the Blacklist finale.

If you haven’t seen The Blacklist, use this entire summer to watch season one. It’s amazing. But, for those loyal Blacklist watchers, the finale is going to be incredibly intense. Everything from season one is coming to a head and it is going to be absolutely insane.

Between Red and Tom, it is questionable who we can trust and what to believe. But, in order to watch it, you have to remember all of the big details. You may know some of these but it is always good to get a refresher. The finale is going to be so mind blowing that you can’t forget anything.

The Blacklist is returning for season two, so there will probably be a cliffhanger. And, if the preview for tonight is anything like the episode, there will be bloodshed and tears. After losing Ressler’s girlfriend, Red’s bodyguard and Diane, killing off a character doesn’t seem to be a big deal on this show.

After you read through the things you need to know before watching the finale, check out this season’s best quotes. The Blacklist finale will be on tonight at 10:00 on NBC. Tune in and return to TheCelebrityCafe.com to read the recap.

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10. There are eight main characters

Raymond Reddington (James Spader): Before the series started, he was on the FBI’s most wanted list. He quit his government job and sold all of his secrets to the highest bidder. Then, he came back and decided to give the FBI the names and locations of the most notorious criminals. He calls those names, the blacklist.
Agent Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone): She is a member of the taskforce. She works directly with Reddington. She only works with the team because Reddington asked for her. She is married to Tom Keen. She got a scar on her hand because he father set a fire in her house. She doesn’t know who her birth father is. Reddington calls her Lizzy.
Agent Donald Ressler (Diego Kelattenhoff): She’s an FBI agent. He had fiancé but a blacklister killed her. There are romantic vibes between Elizabeth and Ressler.
Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold): He is Elizabeth’s husband. He said he was a teacher when he is actually a spy. It was his job to marry her and make her fall in love with him. He works for Berlin. He has killed multiple people.
Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix): He’s the leader of the task force. He often gets flack from the people above him. He doesn’t trust Reddington and hates him but knows that he needs him.
Agent Meera Malik (Parminder Nagra): She has a daughter. She accidentally helped the mole by giving them paper work. She is often on the front lines and is not very trusting of Elizabeth.
Agent Aram Mojtabai (Amir Arison): He deals with the technology for the FBI. Reddington originally thought that he was a mole but he cleared him name. He’s good friends with Elizabeth and often does her favors.
Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq): He is Reddington’s security guard. He’s quiet and ready to do anything to protect Reddington. He is always with Reddington. We know next to nothing about him.

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9. Reddington will only give blacklist names to Elizabeth Keen

One of the conditions of Reddington is that he will only give the blacklist names to Agent Keen. He says that he doesn’t trust anyone else. Before the series, Elizabeth didn’t know him. She wasn’t even part of the task force, she was a profiler. The first episode was her first day on her real FBI job anyway and she was thrown into one of the most important task forces ever because of Reddington.

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8. The team is getting shut down

After an argument, Elizabeth says that she refuses to work with Reddington. Because of that, Reddington refuses to give up any more names on the blacklist. That breaks his immunity clause and that means he will be tortured and interrogated. This also means that the team will be broken up. Agent Cooper may even lose his job. While Ressler understands Elizabeth’s point of view, no one else is happy about it.

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7. Reddington knows something about a global organization, led by a US Senator Fitch

There isn’t much to know about this. Anslo Garrick kidnapped Red, it was revealed that it was a job set up by Senator Fitch (Alan Alda). He threatened Reddington and said that going to the FBI didn’t change anything. In the most recent episodes, Reddington asked for Fitch’s help and he went to a global counsel to talk about it. Reddington threatened to reveal his secrets. The global organization doubted that Reddington knew them so they decided not to help them. Because of that, Reddington said that he couldn’t protect them.

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6. Tom killed Jolene and the cowboy

Tom and Jolene both work for Berlin. Tom killed Jolene for no real reason. Reddington sent the cowboy to watch Jolene, Tom killed the cowboy. It was the first episode that we really saw Tom’s true colors. He was a real murderer. In the most recent episode, Tom killed a man and sent his skin to Reddington. Yuck.

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5. All of the names on the blacklist are connected

There have been 20 names on the blacklist revealed this season. They are numbered. The highest number is #161, the Stew Maker and the lowest is #8, Berlin. As Elizabeth noticed, all of the names on the list are connected. She realized that they were connected through Red. She figured that Red was using the FBI to help him catch someone named Berlin. Berlin is also the person that Tom works for.

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4. Reddington killed Elizabeth’s adopted father

Elizabeth grew up with Sam, a man that adopted her. Both of Elizabeth’s parents abandoned her and Sam took care of her. Sam was in the hospital with cancer. When Reddington went to visit Sam in the hospital, he smothered him with a pillow. Elizabeth didn’t know about it but found out. Reddington admitted that he killed Sam to Elizabeth and now she won’t work with him. It is understandable. I don’t think I’d want to work with my father’s murderer either.

However, after looking through Tom’s codebook, Liz realizes that her adopted father isn’t what she thought he was. So, she isn’t as mad at Red as she originally was.

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3. Tom betrayed Elizabeth

After a giant question mark the entire season, Tom was revealed to be a spy. It was his job to watch Elizabeth. He said that he only married her to watch her. It was his job to love her. He has beaten her up since she confronted him about being a spy. In the previews for the finale, it shows him holding her at gunpoint.

‘Til death do you part, I guess.

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2. There is a debate whether or not Red is Elizabeth’s father

One of the biggest questions of the series is whether or not Reddington is Elizabeth’s birth father. She asked him and he said no. However, Reddington has known Elizabeth all of her life. He calls her Lizzy, her childhood nickname. He also asked for her specifically. Even if he isn’t her father, it’s still pretty strange.

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1. Berlin is after Reddington

Berlin, this mystery person, is after Reddington. He doesn’t know who it is. But, the reason he went to the FBI is so that they can help him defeat him. Berlin is only number eight on the blacklist so it is questionable just how powerful this dangerous person can be.

If Tom works for Berlin by watching Elizabeth, then she must be involved in it as well. If you want to find out more, watch the Blacklist finale, tonight at 10 on NBC.