Brittany - Yes, I thought Sam might have been a carnie, and that's where Red first met him.

lara1 - I thought the Carnie language that only carnies could understand was a nod to what fans have called "Redspeak,"  which Bokenkamp seems to use in interviews. LOL I even thought the theme of cons in this first episode could be forshadowing the idea that Red as Liz's father is another con. 

Speaking of Bokenkamp and Redspeak, I was noticing how carefully he worded information about the father reveal at the end of last season and the premiere interviews. Before now he has carefully worded his responses with "the paternity" is resolved and "now that Liz knows Reddington is her father."
But then the current TV guide interview has him saying this:

"Yes he is her father, but there's clearly something else going on here."

That's the first time I've seen Bokenkamp use direct confirmation language like that.  So I'm now thinking it is confirmed.

Last edited by Tuxie400 (9/28/2017 10:44 am)

Tuxie400 wrote:

It was a  very fun episode. But I can't say I'm thrilled about the two new characters.

 

I'm surprised at myself for kind of liking the Smokey character. Personally, I've met Aida Turturro and I don't like her very much so I wasn't thrilled to hear she was joining the cast. Either way, hopefully they'll be very minor characters such as an occasional pop-in like Red's staff torture guy (Brimley?) or old accountant.

Last edited by JackPow (9/28/2017 10:56 am)

"Smokey" Putnam.....Red "starting over".....Where there's "smoke", there's "fire"....LOL how does my brain make these connections.....but is fire night when Red originally got his "new start".  

Tuxie400 - agree with your comments on the cons.  I guess time will tell but we've seen an awful lot of emphasis on cons and conmen lately.

I hear you on the JB comments.  I'm still not 100% sold on the paternity.  I thought Red looked like he was in shock or going to be ill when Liz referred to him as her father at the pool scene.  Maybe it was just the shock of hearing it, he's not used to it!  Then again I'm viewing it through my own lens so its' probably different from other people's views.

The scene where Red wakes up in the back of the car when Smokey is talking about nature/nurture, reminded me of when he overheard Carla talking to Liz.  Not that it means anything!

I also had another thought when Red watched Liz take down Smokey on the staircase and surrender him to law enforcement.  He was kind of smiling like, that's her nature.  I got to thinking that maybe her nature isn't criminal after all.  It may surprise us that its the exact opposite......either "Red" was never a criminal, or "Reddington" if Red is not Reddington, was simply naval intelligence and law enforcement.  Didn't Red have a picture (portrait) of a police officer in his flat?  Or did I just make that up?  LOL

back to RL.....

Last edited by lara1 (9/28/2017 11:08 am)

Brittany - (I haven't figured out how to partially quote someone) but wanted to say:  great observation on Tom's vision! I definitely saw it as foreshadowing but you are right that Red and Dembe bust in, guns drawn,...but Tom was already beaten up! I immediately jumped to the conclusion that I'm sure the writers were hoping for, that Red and Dembe were about to kill Tom. But now it seems more like they were storming in to rescue him after someone else had tried to kill him!

As for the suitcase size....I left out a little detail in my recent "spoiler" post. My cousin-in-law, who appears in next week's episode (yay!) said he saw the suitcase in person and that "it seemed small." BUT he will appear at Red's new "motel - home" by the pool and I wasn't convinced that he saw THE suitcase. I thought it could have belonged to a motel guest. A prop, I mean. (Perhaps I'll text him to ask more) Either way, we got a good view of its size in this episode. I assume it is cut up adult bones but I don't really have any solid case to make on that.

I’m pretty sure Kearney is Bokenkamp’s home town.  But it made me laugh when it hit me that we were talking about carnies this episode. 

JackPow wrote:

lara1 wrote:

Brittany # 24 -ou guys.... probably nothing but Sam lived in Kearny Nebraska, pronounced like “Carnie”.  Lol

Quite Possibly!   

Haha Lara! I'm usually not big on those coincidences but THAT is a good one!!
 

Quick comment: I agree! There's something more going on with Red being the father or that it has larger implications that we aren't seeing, yet ("monster under the bed" comment).

I'd say the mystery is still very much intact. I also agree that Tom knows more than he's telling.

Wish I had some original insights to share . . . maybe later in the season.

I've been thinking more about the suitcase in light of the Tom "future" flash.

One of my recent theories that I wrote about is what if the bones belong to someone who was killed a long time ago but they were only recently put in the suitcase and re-buried sort to speak. Not long before Red came into Liz's life. Kaplan seemed to be saying that the suitcase held the truth to why Red came back. And he came back, maybe, because those bones, or what they represent, are of interest to someone else, who was close to finding them

So - what if this person gets wind of the fact that the bones are circulating. Tom may have brought wrath upon himself by holding onto them. They may reveal not only a truth but put everyone in danger ....somehow. Just some random thoughts.

Last edited by lara1 (9/28/2017 12:18 pm)

I agree about the bones possibly having been relocated in the fairly recently past.  The suitcase doesn't look like it has been in the ground for decades.   With Kaplan apologizing to Katarina when digging it up, Dembe's comment about Liz not being ready to know about what Red did to Katarina, and Red talking about how things from Katarina's past coming back to circle Liz in Requiem as he prepared to turn himself into the FBI, I feel like it is very closely related to her.  Either it is her and that is dangerous somehow or it isn't her and it means she is alive, which no one else knows.  I read in an EW interview with Bokenkamp that Red feels like the suitcase is a real danger to him and possibly also to Liz, so that makes me think it brings out a lot of bad guys.  Maybe the Cabal?  I keep thinking there will be issues with them now that Laurel Hitchens is dead.  Maybe Red helped fake Katarina's death?  Or worse, maybe he has been keeping her hostage somewhere....the island?  Kaplan had referred to it as a prison.  What if it is already functioning as one?  If someone figured that out, they'd go after Red in order to get to Katarina, and would use Liz against him if they had to.  Did anyone else see Red's face when he heard Aram say that Cooper had told the task force about his and Liz's relationship?   I've only see it the once, but it caught his attention briefly while he was hot-wiring the car.   I wonder if it worries him about the information being decimated too far?

lara1 wrote:

I've been thinking more about the suitcase in light of the Tom "future" flash.

One of my recent theories that I wrote about is what if the bones belong to someone who was killed a long time ago but they were only recently put in the suitcase and re-buried sort to speak. Not long before Red came into Liz's life. Kaplan seemed to be saying that the suitcase held the truth to why Red came back. And he came back, maybe, because those bones, or what they represent, are of interest to someone else, who was close to finding them

So - what if this person gets wind of the fact that the bones are circulating. Tom may have brought wrath upon himself by holding onto them. They may reveal not only a truth but put everyone in danger ....somehow. Just some random thoughts.

OK, here's what I picked up so far from 5.01.  This was all in the first 15 minutes!  After which I stopped taking notes and just enjoyed the ride!  LOL!  So there may be other stuff on the re-watch or that some of you have picked up on:

Parallels to Pilot
The abandoned RED car in both the FBI story and now the one that Red steals and sort of abandons, well, leaves behind, with the December 2018 registration sticker.

The view of Tom from the future which resembles Tom from the past, post-Zamani

References to tattoos - the Carnival folks and the skinheads all had tattoos.  Tatoo was instrumental in the pilot - for Liz to solve the puzzle, find Beth and help prevent the bomb plot from succeeding.  Tom was connected, kind of indirectly, to the tattoo (and later sported tattoos of his own)

The number 36 - which first appeared in the pilot (36 hours) and which has cropped up since.  Red says to the bail bondsman he will see him in 36 hours;  he also later tells the head of the skinheads I think - that he has known something/someone for 36 years (I can't read my own writing, LOL).  I know I wrote a lot about the number 36 hours in the pilot and how it was odd - and that it equals 3x12; and 3 and 12 are used in the series (and 12 is the number for the month of December)

The number 3 appears again - Red counts 1,2,3 to try to smoke out Smokey! who is number 30.  (in numerology, where all numbers are reduced to a single digit to discern their meaning 30=3)

Some time/number references:
Red says to the bail bondsman, that he will have Smokey to court "on time"
Red complains that he's been throwing quarters in the pool for two hours
I've already mentioned 36 and Red counting down from 3 to 1
Red says in the car "if time permits" they can visit the "honey" trail

Reference to lions and tigers and bears, apart from the Oz reference, reminds me of zoo animals, hence the link back to the zoo in the pilot, the Bronx zoo box in Dom's barn, and maybe, the animal bracelet that Beth gives to Liz in the pilot

Other non pilot references
Smokey tells of a CARD game - TEXAS HOLD UP - and ties back to Annie/Kaplan/Amarillo perhaps
Children, swimming pool
Mr. Magoo appears again as in Requiem

Well that's all I wrote down.  To be continued, no doubt!!

oops, i left out the flags for pilot parallel
 in the bail bondsman's office, there is a metal BOX with an American flag decal on it; there is also a small framed picture of an American flag on the shelf above that - links back to one of the first things we see in the pilot, the American flag above Red.