I really must say I enjoyed it!  It is not the BL, but I really am wondering about why someone wanted him gone.
I think his dad is feeling like things are surreal. And yes, I was also thinking he must have gotten the wall thing from his dad. lol
I am going to side with Red that if SH makes his toes curl then there is a good reason for it. Especially after he told Tom that she had many secrets and a lot of them concerned Tom. And was really warning him it seamed about her. He seamed to have a fondness for his father and felt sorry for him putting up with her.

  One of them had to supply the information about the house and that large amount of money. And she apparently 'healed' and was able to move on and he had a hard time doing that.
Maybe because she knew he was not really dead? 
And I do not know if she thinks her husband is dead or alive?  I got mixed messages from her on that.  She did mention that her husband had hired a private investigator and that if her son was alive she would find him.
And where have we seen Whitehall before?







 

eastcoast - was Whitehall in Tom's code book?  Or on his own wall of clues?

I agree, it sounds like it has been a mention somewhere before....

I was thinking that or in the papers we saw in the Pilot of BL when they were bringing in Reds paper work?
Whatever it is, it was important enough to shake him up.

I guess I"m too much of a TBL diehard. I love the complexity of TBL and I find that lacking in Redemption, although to be fair, it is an action show. I kind of found the split screens to be an attempt at 'Ocean's 11" kind of impact, but it didn't come off as well. I did like Tom, he's a likeable character and the others are, well menacing.

I just felt the Halcyon team was lacking, it didn't have the deep structure in it's organization like TBL. 
But maybe I"m just jealous  because TBL isn't on for a nother 8 weeks!

Obviously the most interesting character in the Redemption spinout is Matthias Solomon. Had so many torrid run-ins with almost everyone in TBL, mostly Ressler, Tom & Liz but some of the others, too!

After Solomon I suspect the most interesting characters will be:

2. Tom - he'll be interesting not because he's a brilliant actor. He's not - he's very good, don't get me wrong but he'll be the most heavily written in the current group. By default the storylines will move off him.

3. FK - The Fat Kid computer genius - these types are always interesting due mostly to their inverse cynicism but also because he seemed to attract the most hate from our little chat group. Thus he has nowhere to go but up.

4. Tawny - or whatever her on-screen name is. She could perhaps be the lowest on the list because Redemption writers will provide her a paucity of words. She's truly a side-line supporting actor - however, I don't think she'll get a stand-alone episode like Samar, Aram or even Solomon got.

5. Famke - she's always a joy to watch because of her immense physical presence. Perhaps the most underrated of all the players in the drama - she can actually deliver a quick-witted and finely crafted dialogue.

As far as cross-overs are concerned I think the best bets to make more than one-off appearances on Redemption are:

1. Liz - obviously due to her association with Tom
2. Aram or Samar - because they've become beloved characters in the paradigm
3. Kate
4. Glenn
5. Baz
6. Dembe

Obviously there's a move afoot to put Spader/Red into as much as possible. But the urge should be avoided at almost all costs. Use Spader sparingly - he's the ultimate scene-stealer but might have to be used somewhat to bolster the spin-off recipe. Perhaps consider using him as an off-screen character - thru the use of voice-work (phone calls, video messages, etc.) but why insert him? He'll just eat all the scenery and make all the others look small and inert.

Last edited by Big Badd Bazzer (2/25/2017 12:20 am)

Tuxie400 wrote:

BBB - I'm surprised you didn't put Howard Hargrave in your ranking of interesting characters. He's my number one most fascinating. But then I've been a Terry O'Quinn fan since I first saw him years ago on Milennium, the X-Files movie, Alias and Lost.

I don't expect there to be much cross-over. Even Liz was used sparingly. I don't anticipate Spader showing up in any of the 8 episodes. Should Redemption get a second season, I think some cross-over might happen.

I guess you're absolutely right. Terry O'Quinn wasn't hired (at his going rate) simply to stand around and watch the rest of the crew work. He'll serve as part of the narrative. While Solomon, Tom, Tawny, Scotty & Dumont are in the field trying to pull the wool over each other's eyes - Howard Hargrave will pop up like the proverbial box o chocolates to provide new information to Tom - thus helping drive the show in whichever direction the show-runners want it driven!
 

What about that evidence wall in Howard's apartment? Hmm.

Did we ever know who the guys were who were surveilling Liz and Tom in season 1? Could it have been Howard watching Tom?

Since Scottie and Red have interacted with each other, it seems that watching Liz might be less relevant as a way to get to Reddington.

Larger forces are at work.

BBB, Tuxie400 and Laccoon - agree with all of you.  I think that Howard will keep dropping Tom (and us!) bit of info; larger forces are at work, and I do think the two stories (Red/Howard; Katerina/Scottie) will end up overlapping.

Tuxie400, I just posted on the Apothecary thread a mini review of one of my thoughts on Red and what happened to him all those years ago.  What if his story is like that of Leland here?  Burned by the CIA (or similar), and eventually the CIA (or whatever agency) sent people to kill him (so no one else could get to him/get info from him?).

I think this particular Redemption episode and some of the dialog is intriguing - and may give us clues as to what happened to Red in 1990......

Last edited by lara1 (2/27/2017 9:05 pm)

I wonder when Howard knew he had found Tom.  On his wall of clues, there are photos of tom and Liz from what looks like Season 1/early season 2.  He had them under surveillance, either himself of someone else (who?) Red involved?) When Liz let Tom go after he gave them a lead on Berlin.  And before.

Also there is what looks like a really old yellowing calendar on the wall.  Anyone able to see the year?  I can't...

So when did Howard "find" Tom was Tom, and when did Red find out?  I don't think Red knew all these years, esp if Howard was desperate to find Tom.  Unless - Red thought it would endanger Tom for him to be "found" by his parents.  But Red hated Tom for a long time.  So did he not know who Tom was then, and now that he does, is that a reason why he has spared Tom?  questions, questions!  

(I promised myself not to get drawn down the rabbit hole with Redemption, LOL!!)

Last edited by lara1 (2/27/2017 9:25 pm)

lara1 #57 - Scottie made it sound like Howard hired a private investigator to find his son, but maybe he did reach out to Red at some point. Howard has had Tom followed since at least BL Season 1.. Liz is wearing the bad wig in that one photo. I think Red may have found out who Tom really was back in Season 3 when saved Tom from getting charged with the jewelry store heist. We thought he did it for Liz, but maybe he did it for Howard. I thought Red had softened on Tom because of Agnes. But it may be a combination of being Howard's son and Agnes's father.

lara1 #58 - I really want to know who the man from Johannesburg is. Maybe Redemption will reveal that.



 

Last edited by Tuxie400 (2/28/2017 12:12 am)