Can ‘The Blacklist’ ever resolve Liz’s paternity in a satisfying way?

“The Blacklist” dropped a not at all shocking “bombshell” Thursday (Nov. 3) when it revealed that Alexander Kirk (Ulrich Thomsen) is not in fact Elizabeth Keen’s (Megan Boone) father.

To which we say … no kidding.

But what’s even more maddening than the fact that this twist could be seen coming a mile away is the fact that viewers have been wasting our time on yet another maybe-daddy.

We love that a show like “The Blacklist” can begin as a procedural and gradually morph into something more serialized, while still bringing in nifty villains of the week to keep things fresh. But how long can the show keep wringing drama out of Liz’s paternity? And how can it possibly resolve it in any kind of satisfying way at this point?

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It was mildly interesting to think Liz had met her father and that he and Reddington (James Spader) have had this decades-old rivalry. It was also nice to see some flashbacks to Liz as a child, playing with her mother Katarina (Lotte Verbeek).

But now it turns out Kirk was all a lie, which leaves us asking what was even the point of this story arc? It also makes us wonder where does the show go from here? How long until some new Blacklister comes into the picture who might be Liz’s father, and then how long until we find out he’s not? Lather, rinse, repeat?

And if it eventually turns out Reddington is Liz’s father, that will also be kind of a letdown because A) that seemed so obvious for so long and B) Red has told her straight-up that he’s not her father and he has also reiterated to her time and again that he never lies to her. It would be dissatisfying on a couple levels.

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The first two seasons of this show did such a great job trickling out teases about both Reddington’s family and Liz’s biological parents, but it feels like once the show realized it needed to start providing some answers, it lost its way, which is a pitfall of a show with an over-arching mystery that doesn’t know for sure when it is going to end and therefore at what point to begin the endgame.

We’ve like to say we trust the writers know what they’re doing, but… at this point, it’s hard to keep believing.

“The Blacklist” airs its fall finale Nov. 11 on NBC.

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