One second in and already it is clear that production was unable to afford lighting services. I get that lots of this show happens in the shadows, but there is really no point in filming scenes that we can’t see! Like this first one. A lone dude is in a room full of computers working alone when suddenly he hears a noise. Why doesn’t he turn a light on? Actually, in this situation it would not have worked. All the computers have been hacked by IVAN and he has to pull the plug on everything to try and stop it. He heads outside, where it is broad daylight I’d like to point out, with the prototype of some invention to take to another location. Sadly, Ivan hacks into his car computer and deploys the drivers side airbag causing him to have an accident and die. Isn’t the airbag supposed to keep the guy from hitting his head? Ivan then steals the prototype.
Red joins Dembe and Mr. Kaplan out in the woods where Tom buried Jolene and Cowboy. Red examines the bodys then tells them to put everything back exactly as they found it. He calls 911 to report a missing person.
Tom and Liz are enjoying some banter over breakfast when they get a knock on the door from the Police. This is never a good thing. Apparently, they are already investigating Jolene’s death. They tell the cops the story about her suddenly moving to Dayton. Tom tells the cop they were not particularly close.
Liz goes to see Red who is working on some sort of electronic stuff. Liz jokingly asks if it is a timing mechanism for an explosive device. Red shows Liz a news story about the guy who died in the car accident. Red tells her that Ivan intentionally killed the guy. He also has a grudge against Ivan because he stole from him. Ivan is a bad guy who has never struck on US soil before and the Feds should be very concerned. The Feds immediately start working on the case. Liz gives Aram Jolene’s phone number to run a check on.
But first, Aram, Ressler and Liz go to check out the car the guy died in. Aram figures out right away that the airbag was deployed before the crash. He also finds Ivan’s hacker signature in the car’s computer. They also find the case that the prototype was in. Just as they are ready to head back to the black site, some NSA special agents come screeching in and tell them to get away from the car. Somehow, Cooper also just happens to show up. A pissing match ensues over who has the highest level of security clearance. Cooper wins. The dead guy, Nathan Platt, was an NSA agent who was working on a project named Skeleton Key. The skeleton key they were working on would give the user the ability to hack into the world’s most impenetrable computer systems. The government was developing it to cut into an enemy’s national security during wartime. Now, Ivan, the bad guy has the prototype.
Liz goes back to talk to Red who continues to work on some sort of project. Red tells Liz Ivan is in Belarus. So as Red puts it they all need to take a field trip to Belarus. I love field trips! Red meets with Ivan and confronts him about stealing $5 million from him. Ivan denies it. Red tells Ivan the cops are on the way to arrest him for murdering the NSA agent and he can provide him safe passage for $5 million plus interest. After a bit of hesitation, Ivan graciously accepts the offer. Red asks for 8 million before he will leave. Ivan makes the deposit. As they leave the police (in this case Ressler) try to arrest Ivan. Red shoots Ressler. WTF? It was a fake shooting to make Ivan trust Red.
Tom wakes up in the middle of the night to find Liz on her laptop. She tells Tom that Jolene’s real name is Lucy Brooks. Remember that Wajung? WaJing? episode where Red got one shot to look into the FBI database and he looked up Lucy Brooks? Liz says she is so sorry for bringing her into the house. Tom comforts her saying, “You never really know people, do you?” Liz says she is going to find her, no matter what it takes.
Liz meets with Aram about Jolene’s phone number search. He says she was the last number she called. He give her the address of where she called from. Liz sets off to Tom’s warehouse set up. OOOOOOOOOOO!
On the airplane, Ivan tells Red he is not the one who stole the skeleton key. Someone is using his name. Ivan gives Red some intel on the guy who is using his name and he gets the FBI on it. They find out that he has hacked into a bunch of stuff including the social security network where he raised the benefit amount for Mrs. Lee. They visit Mrs. Lee and she claims to have no idea that her benefit had increased because it is directly deposited into her account. She has a grandson, who just became their number one suspect.
Liz calls Tom who is at the warehouse telling him she is headed to the location to check out some things. Why would she do that? She never calls Tom to update him on her day. Tom hangs up on her and begins trying to destroy the crime wall he has built with all of Liz’s information. He’s freaking out. She is less than a block away. Liz has a key to the hideout. How is that even possible? She lets herself in. Miraculously, the wall is blank. There are guns everywhere so for the first time Liz decides to pull out her gun. In a scary warehouse, that no one knows she is at. All alone. Sigh. Tom has gone out the back door to burn all the evidence in a metal barrel that I suppose he had on hand for just such and occasion. Liz is hot on his heels and sees the bucket burning evidence, but she just lets it burn. The two sort of dance around each other until Tom uses a door to knock her down. Then he punches her in the face and runs before she can see him. At least that is what we are supposed to believe. Tom gets away. That whole scene was really stupid and unbelievable.
Liz gives the police a description of the guy as “male Caucasian, over six feet, dark hair.” How the hell does she not recognize her husband?
We see Tom at a pay phone. He calls Phantom Finance and says he is having a problem with his account. When the receptionist says the line is secure, Tom says, “Watch post identified, bonafides in question, tell Berlin I was forced to liquidate.” Then he hangs up.
Liz got a call to meet her merry band of inept Feds at a local high school that Mrs. Lee’s grandson attends. At the high school lunch room, the apple of our little hacker’s eye is bemoaning a family move to Colorado. He is hanging on her every word from a couple tables over. Not only that, but he has the exact same sack lunch she does. He is takings sips of the drink, bites of the sandwich and bites of the apple at exactly the same time she does. #SynchronizedEating Suddenly the Feds show up with a half dozen or so uniformed cops for good measure. All to question a high school kid that they know basically nothing about. Overkill? Way to scare the kid off. The kid, Harrison Lee, bolted. He is at his locker logging in to the skeleton key. Liz, brilliant federal agent that she is calls out to him to give him time to bolt again. Which he does. Why is the name Harrison Lee so familiar? The kid uses the skeleton key to activate the fire alarm and now the hallways are packed with students.
Liz goes to Red and he laughs are her for not being able to bring in a 17 year old. She is really there to ask about Jolene. Red is being evasive. Liz goes off on Red and tells them that Jolene Parker was in her life because of him. All of her current issues with her husband are because of Red. She says thank God she has Tom because with Red she never knows what to believe. Red says he has never lied to Liz. Red continues working on his project which is starting to look like it may be a fishing reel.
Back at the black site, Aram has found all sorts of info on the kid’s computer. The girl he stares at during lunch is Abby Fisher daughter of David Fisher lead engineer of the Skeleton project. He’s stalking her. They go to call David and tell him but conveniently at that exact moment all the power goes out in the city. Which, really doesn’t feel much different from most scenes on this show. Harrison starts messaging Abby using her friend’s phone info. He is trying to lure her outside. Liz and Ressler go to David’s house to warn him about Harrison coming for Abby, but it is too late, she has already snuck out her window. Somehow Harrison is able to light the street lights one by one to lead Abby to him.
Meanwhile, Aram manages to triangulate the whatchamacallits to pinpoint the kid’s exact location and off they go, racing against time to save the girl. Harrison tells her he stole the skeleton key so she would not have to move to Colorado. Harrison professes his undying love and Abby tries to make a break for it. Abby trips and Harrison runs. Malik rescues Abby and Liz takes off after Harrison, alone, as usual. Harrison jumps on the train and Liz shoots out a window and jumps into the train. Liz talks Harrison out of crashing the train.
Liz tries to invite Ressler over for dinner. He declines. I am totally expecting those two to end up together next season. Back at home Tom is making dinner. He asks Liz about he trip to Jolene’s apartment. I have never seen an apartment with a car inside it before. Why does she think that is her apartment? She says things were not good. There was evidence of foul play. Tom asks what that means. She says the scene is still being processed. When Tom “finds out” that Liz was attacked he becomes super sweet. This creeps me out and fucks with my safety issues. The police email her pictures from the scene. In the pictures she sees a toy she had given Tom that morning to share with his students in the trash can. The music swells. Liz finally realizes Tom is not who she thinks he is.
So once more she trots over to see Red. We didn’t see how she explains her departure to Tom. When she arrives she simply says, “You were right.” Red’s project turned out to be a music box. Red plays it for her. She recognizes the song. When she was a little girl she had nightmares and she remembered a fire and lots of smoke. Her father would climb into bed with her and hum that song. He would tell her she was safe and that everything was going to be okay. Liz says, “You spent days building that damn thing. You knew about the song.” Liz sobs in Red’s arms as he tells her everything is going to be okay.
Hmm, this episode Ted tells Liz he has never lied to her. In a previous episode he told her he was not her father. Maybe her father had an evil twin? What? The writing for this show is not particularly logical.
To catch up on previous episodes of The Blacklist or if you are trying to solve some mysteries, go here.
So is he her dad or what?? I am so confused…….
Tom Keen is a cold piece!!! He was hugging and kissing Lizzy in one scene then the next scene knocking her on the ground to get out of his safe house. I love it. Cudos to the writers.
I don’t think Red is Lizzy’s father because he has never lied to her. Maybe that was his daughter’s best friend growing up? Just a guess.
In the beginning I seem to remember Red saying something like, What is you found out that nothing in your life was what you thought it was…. or something. I am not sure where I am going with that thought…
On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 7:27 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Red also made the comment, and I am paraphrasing here, that he is a criminal and all criminals lie….
Ok, loved loved loved this episode! Loved the fact that Tom is finally exposed and Liz is going to Red to be consoled. Any episode with lots of Aram is good for me, but I need to know if I am the only one who loves Mr. Kaplan?? This chick is seriously talented and sinister. : )
I am going to keep an open mind about next week, but I personally don’t think Liz has the balls to fool Tom for the entire episode. I am calling for Red to come in at the last minute and kill Tom right before he kills Liz………………………..
PS – I agree TT that Liz and Ressler will end up being together at some point. Thanks for the recap.
Thanks for the comment! These take FOREVER to write and don’t get nearly the views reality crap does, but this is the kind of show you just have to talk about with someone!
On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 7:37 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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When I have time to read other places about this there are people that are still hung up on Red and Ressler having the same blood type. A weird rare blood type. What if he is related to Ressler? I don’t see that really happening though. He has to be related to Liz in some way right? He sure treats her like a daughter….
I get more confused every week.
Maybe the tree of them are related some how, Red could be her Uncle and he made a promise to Liz’s dad to watch over her (that is why he knows so much about her) and Ressler is a half brother. OK I know this won’t be the case but it would make for some cool plot twists. BTW I loved it when Tom knocked Liz down, I just can’t stand the Liz character anymore; they make her too dumb, I mean come on, she has to go to Red to be able to figure anything out, so maybe someone ‘got’ her that job…
I think Red is her Father. I think because of something in the past he thinks of her step-father as being her Father because he wasn’t around. In his mind the man that raised her is her Father, so he hasn’t lied.
I am so addicted to this show. It is crazy :). I do not understand why Liz is going to go back and pretend like everything is peachy keen. I would have drugged Tom’s behind and took him to some secret Red-esque place and found out who he was and what is the deal.
I think Red is her father. She spoke about a nightmare with fire. Red’s daughter died in a fire. I am assuming she did not die but was given to her adoptive father to raise for her safety. Red allowed who ever was trying to kill her believe she was dead.
I think you are right. This sounds totally believable.
I look forward to your recaps because they highlight all the good stuff along with all the absurdity that is this show. When they finally pull all these plot lines together we will all have either an “aha” or WTF moment. Red values loyalty above all else so I’m guessing Liz is the daughter of a fallen comrade who he swore he would look after, knew he couldn’t do it personally so placed her in the home she grew up in and kept an eye out for her all these years. Liz will kill Tom as she is crying
So much of the skeleton storyline was unbelievable that I didn’t pay attention.
I’m still asking myself why he bought his old house and blew it up, yet pays for a dance recital each year in remembrance of his daughter.
I don’t know if Red is her father, but if he would have told her in the beginning that he was her father, she probably would have rejected him as a monster. This way he is allowing her to slowly discover his compassionate side, so she is more likely to accept him whatever the relationship is.
Now that we know Tom’s a bad guy, is there anything to him being at the hospital with her dad when she couldn’t make it in time? Was he there in hopes Red would show, to find out information from the adopted dad, or just to appear as the supportive husband?
Are there any thoughts on who Berlin is? Is it a leftover cold war spy agency or a global crime syndicate?
Thank you for the recap and providing a forum for discussion.
Ok wait wasn’t the house that Red blew up one that had something to do with him losing his family? I’ve always just thought that was HIS house with his family, hence him hanging his hat like he did and knowing the home. It was also less that Tom would have later to hold against him right? I think Red knows he needs to tie up ends before Tom tries to convince Lizzie something different (which I think is kinda over now but still)
I think Tom was playing dutiful husband but also did think/hope Red would show up at the hospital. He has to know that Red held that pillow over the guys face right? Or did he leave by then? I think really that Tom was trying to always have “something” on Red to try to keep Lizzie on his side until all hell broke loose with the dead gal.
I am wondering if Berlln may tie up the connection between Lizzie and Red. Vonnie has a great theory that Red placed Lizzie in that home for someone knowing he could trust her “dad” to raise her right.
Thanks GNG for giving my plot a thumbs up. Maybe MONDAY we’ll get a new piece of the puzzle or we’ll all continue to speculate and come up with more possible plots, which is kinda fun in an annoying” make it stop” kinda way
I’m trying to remember how many episodes we have left. It’s either three or four and I am too ornery to go look it up. Either way the writers have a LOT of splainin’ to do.
On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 6:41 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I am feeling like I’m standing on a precipice waiting for so much to be cleared up, and with so little time left. I guess that is the part that is good writing, to keep us coming back. I agree, romance or tiptoeing around one between Liz and Ressler next season. Glad they did not string out her blindness to Tom being a dirt bag any longer. It made her look too gullible or stupid for a trained agent.
Ok so didn’t Reds family experience the fire? So now Lizzie is remembering a fire? I know he said he didn’t / doesn’t lie to her but maybe he has HAD to lie to her so that she didn’t tell Tom , right?
The way he knew to fix that music box was pretty damn touching.
And we did hear that Red was funneling money through her adoptive dad, maybe not so much funneling money but making sure Lizzie was taken care of?
And is there now way Tom is still a good guy? At this point he was taken to the black site so he was fingerprinted right? I guess I am assuming he’s a horrible bad guy sent to get Red (where/does Alan Alda fit in at this point?)
Why didn’t Lizzie dust that damn place where Tom was?
I’m so confused. But hooked.
Ok, so I was watching On Demand earlier and feeling quite annoyed that Liz couldn’t see the light about Tom. I’m now happy that Liz finally saw the light regarding her husband. I just hope all the rabbit holes I feel I’ve gone down as a viewer are connected somehow. I really want this show to stay around for awhile, what’s TV without the wonderful James Spader?
*Ting *ting… and here comes my two cents. Just had to share with TT and anyone else who is a James Spader stalker *cough, I mean admirer, there is an excellent interview with him in Rolling Stone. His colorful and playful use of words is not strictly scripted. It appears from his answers to the questions posed to him that he is incredibly intellectual as well as enticing. He makes eccentric “yummy”!
I am so happy that you are doing a recap of one of my favorite shows. I felt that this was a filler episode because of the teenage love story. They could have left that on the cutting floor and give me the revealing of Tom. I need more Red in these episodes and less filler.
You are the only person I’ve found that has mentioned the ridiculousness of Liz having a key to the hideout. Did I miss something ? How did that happen????
I don’t know!!! The writing is awful. It’s hard to tell what has significance and what does not!
I want to say, “I love this show….”
I just wish the shows writer wouldn’t FORCE or MAKE the characters do stupid things outside of their nature to keep the plot advancing, or cork screwing, etc.
Example: Elizabeth calling Tom, while she is standing outside of his operations warehouse. Really?
1. Elizabeth hardly calls Tom, and never discusses work with him. Ever. So for her to all of a sudden call him like that is…stupid.
2. She calls JUST to say she found an strange address were Jolene Parker made that last call. Hmm, okay? That would be like me calling my wife, and telling her I just found a strange bit of code embedded into a program I was writing. And this code is what was messing it up the whole time. My wife would be like, “what?” (She’s not a computer geek, like me). Same applies here, Tom is supposedly a fourth grade school teacher. He should have no knowledge of what is going on at all. So, calling him would be pointless…again…stupid!
3. She has a key? From where? And how did she know which one? I give up…..
Again, I love this show….please writers come up with PLAUSIBLE situations.