The Blacklist Berlin (No. 8) Part One Recap

Oh yay! We wake up to a man coughing up blood. Instead of calling in sick like a normal person, he opts to go in and infect everyone else with his disease. He’s an armored truck employee who is making a delivery to a bank. He barely makes the delivery takes a side trip to the bathroom and notices blood coming out of his ears. He calls 911 and asks for a doctor and then asks if they record the calls. Um, do you not watch the evening news, dude? He decides to start professing his undying love for his wife as he clearly knows he is not going to make it. Then he runs back out into the bank lobby to make sure to infect as many people as possible and dies on the lobby floor. The EMT decides to quarantine the building and everyone tries to make a break for it but the bank security gun holds them all in at gunpoint. Shoulda just called in sick, dude, dayum.

Meanwhile, Liz is spilling her guts to the FBI about Tom. She says he was placed in her life to get to Red. She has no idea where he is now or what his true motive is.  I’m sure the FBI will be very helpful to her considering they haven’t been able to solve a single case without Reddington’s help and even he doesn’t know who Berlin is. They ask about any accomplices and she tells them about the fake brother and Jolene who are both dead. And Gina Zanetakos, No. 152.

(Let’s pause to recall Gina’s episode, episode 6. Gina was a corporate assassin. Ressler shot her and she had some minor surgery for the gunshot wound. This is from the IMDb synopsis, “When Gina wakes up in the hospital they interrogate her. She admits to killing the Russian. She was told it was to keep him from spilling secrets about the route Chechen guerillas were using to move supplies. The guy who hired her was making millions providing those supplies. That guy? Red himself. She claims she does not know who Tom is and knows nothing of the picture (of Tom) they found in her apartment. When Tom is finally freed at episode’s end, he and Liz have a long hug. As he looks over his shoulder at the evidence wall he notices a photo of a man. This, he says, is the man who presented himself as the headmaster. It is a picture of Red’s minion. Liz goes to Red and tells him they are done. She has no idea why he is messing with her and her husband but that they’re arrangement is over.”)

Back to the current episode, Gina has recently managed to break out of federal prison. How convenient.

Meanwhile, in, I think, NYC, Tom has grabbed one of Red’s minions who was supposed to be tailing him. He forced him to call Red and tell him they lost him. Red was on a plane with Dembe decoding Tom’s algebra book. The news is grim. For some reason production decided the tail needed a huge spider tattoo on his neck. Tom tells the dude he has been following Red for years. Much ado is made about the tattoo. It was a dark scene with horrific acting.

Liz tries to quit the task force because she doesn’t want to work with Red. She tells Cooper Red killed her father. Whining ensues. Liz agrees to take one more case with Red. It looks like another germ warfare storyline. They dead guy in the beginning of the episode injected himself with the virus to deliberately infect people. It’s a warning shot of sorts to Red. It’s a highly sophisticated mutation of the virus created in a lab by a mad scientist with evil intention who is coming for Red.  Why does he have to kill random people just trying to cash their McDonald’s paycheck? No idea. Oh wait, he doesn’t. The virus was designed not to spread this time. The point was to let the FBI know they had the deadly virus available to them. It’s called the Cullen virus.

Red and Liz fly off to meet with Red’s friend, a mad scientist who may know who is responsible. Red gives Liz a copy of Tom’s code book he used to communicate with his superiors. He says it’s an olive branch. Liz is still not happy with Red.

According to the crack investigation of Ressler, the liquid in the syringe found with the dead guy was not the virus at all but the cure. The guy was being blackmailed and in order to live he had to complete some task for the bad guys. He opted to let himself die instead. Berlin has infected  a new patsy to complete the task, whatever that is.

Red’s scientist is in the looney bin. Red gets some papers from him about the Cullen virus and they have some pretty looney conversations. This pisses off Liz who leaves and opts to fly home in coach rather than be around Red another minute. Liz says the whole stupid trip was just a diversion to get her alone so he could try to make up with her.

Back at the FBI, that Gary guy who appears from time to time to lecture Cooper and tell him he is doing everything wrong is back. According to Gary, the entire task force hinges on Liz and if she goes the whole thing ends and Red will no longer have immunity and will never see the light of day again. In his next breath he basically says Liz is a loose cannon with whom they have been overly indulgent. Gary, dude, pick a position! Do you want her to stay on or not? He also tells Cooper his job is in question if Liz leaves. Ain’t he just a bundle of sunshine. Does he work with the Alan Alda Alliance?

As it turns out, Liz was wrong about the mad scientist friend of Red’s. She desperately needs information from him so she goes to talk to Red. Red reminds her she is not speaking to him. He shows her an item in a plastic baggie. It’s a gift from her husband he says.  It’s the neck tattoo from the guy who he had tailing him. He is trying to make the point to Liz that this is not a schoolyard game they are playing. Red says, ” So about our trip to see Dr. Sanders, will you be flying with me, or are you going to go coach again?” Liz drives the mad scientist even madder with her lousy interrogations. Using the number the crazy guy kept repeating Aram is about to determine the scientist who is working on the virus. Surprise! He lives right up the street in Arlington, Virgina.  Five minutes later the task force arrives at the dude house and brings him in for interrogation.

As Cooper and Keen watch the interrogation, Cooper explains all the dire consequences of rookie agent Keen leaving the task force. Everybody knows they can’t find their elbow with a GPS without Reddington.  Liz whines. It’s just too much!  It seems like Liz is told to call Red and set him up so they can bring him in. She calls Dembe because she is a whiny little ungrateful dumb bitch.

Liz for some reason is interrogating the blackmailing scientist, because she is just so darn good at it. He has infected five people that he is blackmailing. She wants names. He says even if he told her there is nothing that can be done. He’s the only one with the antidote. We see the five random people in a montage. A flight attendant, the other armored car guy, a grandfather. WTF is the point of this? Somehow, our little idiot managed to infect the dude’s water with the virus and explain that she will give him the antidote, when she gets the names. Who is this person? Maybe she is genetically related to Red after all!

The next thing you know, Liz is investigating the case all on her own, like she has had some sort of FBI training after all! She begins to realize that The Blacklist was a list of Red’s enemies that are coming to kill him. Also, in the code book was a picture of “Agent Keen’s Father” Y’all know I have no facial recognition skills so I can’t really speculate on that. You’ll have to help me.

The five people being blackmailed all had something to do with an airport. They think it is a jail break. The five people are the five horses of the apocalypse the crazy friend of Red’s was talking about. Berlin is coming to kill Red today!  Suddenly Liz has a change of heart about her resignation. Cooper says it is too late, the director has made his decision.

Liz is frantic and goes to meet Red. She is trying to save him. Meanwhile, the five horsemen have begun their tasks which presumably will unleash Berlin on the world. The task force minus Liz manages to get to the airport but the plane and the passenger are tipped off and do not land.

Meanwhile, Liz is trying to get Red to run. Even Dembe is trying to get Red to run. He’s clearly surrounded. Red is toying with Liz asking her to tell him about her change of heart. Red asks he”r what she learned about her father, Sam. Liz keeps telling them they are coming for him. He says nothing they do to him could be worse than losing her. The feds show up and he points a small gun at Liz and says, “Please forgive the weapon, I don’t want them to think we are in cahoots.” After one of his amusing tales about a near death experience he survived, Red puts the gun inn Liz’s hand and kneels in front of her as the agents move in to take him in. Just at that moment the plane, which had been shot by the military and was a blaze goes overhead.  Red says, “And now it begins.”

Next week is the finale. The entire task group is a target. No one is safe. We see Red holding a gun on Tom Keen who has his gun to Liz’s head. Tom says for him to lower his weapon (or he will shoot Liz) Red says, “No.”  OMG! Can’t wait!