I just re-watched the episode.  Wow it was so good.  The scene between Kaplan and Red at the cabin - even more powerful to watch the second time around.  (Poor Liz trying to broker a truce between her warring "parents").  And interesting to re-watch the talk between Red and Dembe, knowing that they were talking about the whole Debt Collector/kidnapping Liz plan and that's what Red appeared to have 'doubts" about.

Some random observations:

-LOL there was a clue that Red hired the Debt Collector early on - he was wearing "Red glasses".  I'm actually glad that I did not catch that as the "double jump" surprise would have been ruined!
- when Samar goes down the stairs int he Debt Collector's basement, there is a close up of a butterfly or butterfly-like insect in a jar
-another parallel to the Kirk situation - Red tells Dembe that Kate did what she did in "kidnapping" Liz "out of love", the words Kirk used to describe to Liz why he did what he did in kidnapping her.  So Kirk, Kate and Red have all "kidnapped" Liz, in one way or another since the start of the season - I wonder what other parallels are going to crop up -
-more scars with the convict whose face was scarred by either grease or fire from the deep fryer - is that parallelling Red after the fire (the reason for his surgery?)
-when the gunfire breaks out at the cabin, Liz actually puts herself in front of Red with her arms out shouting something like "hold fire" as Red disappears in the cabin shielded by Dembe(I missed that first time around)

Some interesting dialogue:
-when the FBI shows up and Liz tells them that there are snipers in the trees, Red says, "I'll show you mine if she'll show you hers," referring to Kate.  There is then an immediate close up of Gayle in the woods looking at  the scene through binoculars.  hmmm

alternate reality?
-Kate says to Red, something like, I watched you hold Elizabeth emotionally hostage, I never dreamed that you would hold her physically hostage.   OK  - wasn't the story in Requiem that 'Red" kidnapped Liz from the "campus"?
-others have commented that Kate's scar on her cheek makes an appearance for the first time.  Also I noted a more minor thing, her makeup appears to be different.  She is wearing a very pale pink lipstick - whereas in the previous few episodes she's worn a shade of red/berry.  interesting.

-Did anyone identify that painting that got a close up in the Debt Collector's basement?  looks symbolic - medieval or early Renaissance.  I need to get another, better look at it before investigating.  I wonder if it was another painting of St. George.  it looked like it could be something like that.

-Lastly, I want to make a general comment on a motif/symbol that I have seen throughout the series, but which has been in nearly every episode since at least The Apothecary - open, then shut, slats of blinds or shadows of blinds.  In this episode its interesting because shadows of open blind slats are on the wall behind Kaplan's head when she appears on the monitor in the post office

The reason I mention it is because every time I see it, it strongly reminds me of the fire memory and the scene in which the slats of the closet door are shown in close up and you can see Liz and little Liz's faces in close up through the slats - and that's when the face of the third girl/woman appears also.
 
Have seen Red peering through open slats then closing them several times in the past few episodes.  (And Howard did this exact same thing, standing in the same spot as when Red did this recently, when in hHrold's office waiting for Liz in that scene when Howard first meets Liz.)

I'm not sure what it means (could just be a cool visual effect they like to use!) but one of my theories is that Kaplan was at fire house.  I've thought this for a long time and thought she was one of the woman in the window - and figured that I was wrong when Kate ended up being in the hotel during the fire in Requiem.  But suppose she was there at fire house, known or unknown to Katarina and returned to the hotel before they got there?  Or maybe she was there and left before the fire started? Not sure what that would mean either but the shadows of the open slats behind her in the video made me think again that she was at fire house..

Just a theory of course. 

Last edited by lara1 (5/14/2017 11:09 pm)