- Born: February 7, 1960
- Last arrested on June 14, 1992 for espionage; convicted on September 24, 1993
- Graduated Naval Academy at age 24 (circa 1984)
In the pilot episode of The Blacklist, Ressler says this about Red:
In 1990, Reddington's coming home to see his wife and his daughter for Christmas. He never arrives. This highly-respected officer up and disappears from the face of the earth.
In episode 4 (the Stewmaker) Red says the following to the Stewmaker:
A farmer comes home one day to find that everything that gives meaning to his life is gone. Crops are burned... Animals slaughtered... Bodies and broken pieces of his life strewn about... Everything that he loved, taken from him. His children.
One can only imagine the pit of despair, the hours of Job-like lamentations, the burden of existence. He makes a promise to himself in those dark hours. A life's work erupts from his knotted mind.
Years go by... His suffering becomes complicated. One day he stops. The farmer who is no longer a farmer sees the wreckage he's left in his wake. It is now he who burns. It is he who slaughters. And he knows in his hearts, he must pay.
Moments later it shows Red removing a photo from a photo album, on which is written:
#79 12'90
Which, to me, implies that his disappearing at Christmas time in 1990 and what's displayed on the photo he removes (dated 12 '90) are certainly related in some way.
In the pilot episode of The Blacklist, Raymond Reddington says this to Elizabeth Keen after meeting her for the first time:
Everything about me is a lie, but if anyone can give me a second chance, it's you.
Which, as B-listObsession pointed out, begs the question Why would he choose those words? And Why did he choose Lizzie? And probably a million other questions we won't know the answers to until way later, if ever.
In reading this statement by Red, and knowing a little about what happened to his family, we can assume Red is talking about himself. We can have more proof this is about himself because in episode 1, he says to Lizzy that she is his second chance. He believes he can redeem himself through her, which begs the questions Why does he think that? How will he 'redeem' himself? Why did he coose Liz?
#insearch4thetruth
Yes!! Exactly. In my mind that means, "I had a chance once but I screwed it up." Otherwise there would be no need for a second chance if there was never a first chance. Good call.
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Go home. Turn back from this and go home. It may seem like the hardest thing in the world, but it is profoundly easier than what you're contemplating.