Peter Kotsiopulos was a member of The Blacklist.
Background[]
Almost nothing is known about Kotsiopulos; his name was not even revealed until “The Troll Farmer”. What is known is that he was the Director of the National Clandestine Service, the CIA component that deals with covert operations.
He was also a high-ranking member of the Cabal, the criminal syndicate that Alan Fitch belonged to. However, he had far less respect for Reddington than Fitch had and was certain that Reddington was bluffing about having the Fulcrum. He seemed to represent the more radical side of the Cabal, far more ruthless than the rest of the organisation.
Peter was among the very few who knew that Raymond Reddington is not the real Raymond Reddington, but an imposter who took over his identity over 30 years ago.
Season 2[]
“Luther Braxton”[]
He arrives with Kat Goodson at the Post Office after Luther Todd Braxton takes over The Factory and informs them who Braxton is and why the facility is so vital to them.
Kotsiopulos later meets with other members of his syndicate and suggests that Reddington doesn't really have the Fulcrum, though his fellow members are still wary. In spite of it, they agree to sink The Factory into the sea to eliminate Reddington; since its existence is a secret from the American public, nobody will find out. Kotsiopulos meets with Goodson and orders her to call in an airstrike on the facility, ostensibly to contain the breach of intelligence.
“Luther Braxton: Conclusion”[]
After killing Braxton, Reddington breaks into Kotsiopulos's home and hangs up the body inside accuses him of hiring Braxton to steal the Fulcrum. As they talk, Kotsiopulos makes it clear that he doesn't consider Reddington a real threat and believes that he is bluffing about having the Fulcrum. Reddington dares him to call his bluff and leaves.
“Vanessa Cruz”[]
Kotsiopulos hires a hit man to kill Red. The hit man is partially successful and shoots Red's lung, however Red survives. He also has ordered the death of 2 other Cabal members that were presumed to be a liability to him.
“Leonard Caul”[]
While his assassins are dealing with Red and his syndicate, Elizabeth Keen confronts Kotsiopulos in the middle of a meeting at the CIA and shows him that Red did have the Fulcrum. Kotsiopulos recalls the strike force, but tells Liz she is now a target. He also tells Liz that she looks a lot like her mother; how he knows this is currently unknown. Later on, Kotsiopulos recruits Thomas Connolly into his syndicate.
“Quon Zhang”[]
Reddington gives some of Kenneth Jasper's body parts to Peter Kotsiopulos in the episode to him, piece by piece.
“Tom Connolly”[]
In his last scene of the season, Kotsiopulos opens a newspaper and reads an article about documents indicating the existence of a “shadow government”, which could be referring to the Cabal.
Season 3[]
“The Troll Farmer”[]
The episode reveals the Director's name to be Peter Kotsiopulos. Kotsiopulos meets with Matias Solomon, a Cabal member who is angry that their organization was exposed. He warns Peter that the Cabal has grown unsatisfied with his performance and that he must deal with Red soon or the Cabal will come for him.
“Arioch Cain”[]
Kotsiopulos and the DCS are assigned to work jointly with the task force after his and Ressler's questioning before Laurel Hitchin’s commission by the President with Hitchin's advice.
“Sir Crispin Crandall”[]
Solomon visits Kotsiopulos again to warn him of his endangered position in the Cabal. In turn, he calls Solomon out for trying to take control of the Cabal and forces his cooperation. Red steals the money Kotsiopulos has embezzled from the Cabal. When Peter refuses to exonerate Keen and calls off his bluff again, Red reveals his knowledge of Kotsiopulos' embezzlement against the Cabal. He warns Peter that his continued resistance will eventually turn the Cabal against him and that he will be assassinated, should they learn of his embezzlement against them.
“The Director”[]
The Director's grip on Liz continues to tighten as he and the Cabal work hard to free her from Red and the Task Force's safety in order to eliminate her. He and Laurel Hitchin plot to thwart protocols arranged by Reven Wright before Laurel murdered her, hoping to remove her before the Marshals arrive to take her to the courthouse under Ressler's supervision. Kotsiopulos first tries to break the code to the box, but Aram has anticipated this and changed the code. With Hitchin's assistance, the Director tries to suffocate Liz by pumping nitrogen into the box, forcing Aram to give up the code.
While this is happening, Ressler tells Laurel where Cooper and Tom Keen are keeping Karakurt. In turn, Laurel passes this information on to Kotsipulos, who sends a hit team led by Solomon to the cabin. However, Ressler, Cooper and Keen fend them off, and Ressler arrives just in time to stop the Director from taking Liz away.
“The Director: Conclusion”[]
Having effectively isolated Kotsiopulos, Red, the task force and Marvin Gerard team up together to bring him down. As Kotsiopulos schemes with Laurel Hitchin to assassinate Liz before she can testify, he gets a call about his wife having a panic attack and rushes to the psychiatrist's office. Unknown to him, this is a trap set by Red's team. Kotsiopulos comes to aboard the private plane of the Venezuelan foreign minister. Red reveals that he plans to have the Venezuelans bring the Director before the Hague on war crimes charges. As Kotsiopulos is a high ranking CIA official, this would cause the government severe international humiliation.
Red then contacts Laurel and demands that she publicly exonerate Liz to stave off the international humiliation of a high-ranking CIA official being tried for war crimes. Laurel reluctantly agrees and strikes a deal through Marvin Gerard where Liz is exonerated of all but the Thomas Connolly murder. Laurel reveals the acting Attorney General is unwilling to drop those charges, since Connolly was unarmed and Liz killed him in front of witnesses. Laurel states she will take her chances with Kotsiopulos and the Hague if he refuses. Her offer is for Liz to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Connolly's murder and will serve three years probation. While Liz will be a free woman, she can never return to the FBI. On Gerard's recommendation, Red and Liz reluctantly agree to the deal, with the proviso that Liz be allowed to remain as an asset to the task force. Laurel then asks Red to “deal“ with Kotsiopulos as an informal exchange for Liz's public exoneration as the Cabal now deems him as a liability. Red agrees.
They watch a news report in which Laurel publicly exonerates Liz and also reveals both the existence of the Cabal and Connolly and Kotsiopulos' roles in it. She claims that Kotsiopulos fled the country after learning he was about to be exposed. Kotsiopulos tells Red he knows who Red really is and his relationship to Liz, but Red is unconcerned. A Dutch family is watching reports about Liz' exoneration when Kotsiopulos' body crashes through the roof of their house. This happens just as his face flashes on the screen; the family is stunned upon realising who it is that has just fallen through their roof.
Unanswered Questions[]
- Is Kotsiopulos in fact Reddington's original enemy, the reason Reddington started working with the FBI, or is Kotsiopulos a new opposition to Reddington?
- A: New opposition to Red. Red's adversary has yet to be revealed.
- Q: Was not Red's adversary Berlin? He used the Blacklist in Season 1 to draw him out but in the end Fitch died and the Cabal came after him.
- A: Berlin was part of a much larger picture. Berlin's actions were due to Fitch putting a death sentence on Reddington years before and he helped uncover how powerful the Cabal was.
- Peter Kotsiopulos's move to call Red on his supposed bluff has put the Cabal at risk of being exposed, is he acting on the will of the Cabal?
- A: Kotsiopulos calling off Red's bluff put him at risk back in Leonard Caul when Keen confronted him with evidence that Red had the Fulcrum. This was intensified in both “Tom Connolly” and in “The Troll Farmer”, with investigative reporters exposed the Cabal.
- What is his connection to Liz?
- A: He knew her mother, Katarina Rostova.
- How much power does Kotsiopulos actually have? Since he works in the National Clandestine Service, a sub division of the CIA, does he have superiors that have control over him?
- A: Perhaps he has blackmail files.
- Kotsiopulos's position has become shaky based on Red's actions. Is he at risk of following the storyline of Alan Fitch?
- A: It could be worse for Kotsiopulous, especially when Matias Solomon made it clear the Cabal is unsatisfied with his performance and told him that he needs to stop Red soon or the Cabal will finish him off. The question is resolved when the Cabal does eventually dispose of him through asking Red to kill him once he became a threat to its safety and existence.
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