I wonder why the dossier photo is coming in sideways? I didn't shoot it that way.

Yeti, thanks for looking up and posting the Princip stuff. I was too tired to look it up last night. I knew it was familiar. Princip was a Bosnian Serb, another Serbian connection to the show. The Black Hand group was dedicated to the unification of Yugoslavia as a country. They felt that the Archduke would keep that from happening, so they assassinated him. We could probably draw a number of parallels to TBL assassination conspiracies and these historical happenings. History just moves in a circle, forever repeating itself. Only the places and names may change. Destabilizing the US, as this conspiracy seems aimed at doing, possibly to start a WWIII? Could be. And maybe that was the Cabal's 2017 plot that was apparently stopped but maybe just postponed?

Anyway, I have seen Princip's cell myself. I've always been a history buff, but even more so when I've had the opportunity to visit places like that. Then I read all about it after I get home. I was on a tour of Europe in the late 1970's and one of our stops was Terezin in Czechoslovakia. We toured the prison more in the context of it having been converted by the Gestapo into a concentration camp called  Thieresinstadt by the Germans. It wasn't a death camp, although thousands died there during the war. We were told that it had been a fortress before that and prison where Princip, the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been held until he died there. We saw his cell, because at that time Yugoslavia was still under Tito and Princip was a hero to the socialist Yugoslav government. Anyway, Terezin had also recently been featured in a TV miniseries called "Holocaust", so I'd heard of it before. It was the only camp that the Red Cross was allowed to tour during the war so it was generally a bit better fixed up than the other camps. It was also known for having a lot of Jewish artists imprisoned there, and they painted and drew scenes of real life inside that were found hidden in the walls after the war, when the Nazis weren't using them to do propaganda illustrations.

It was a sunny day when we visited, but I always remember it as rather gloomy, knowing what had happened there.

Tuxie400 wrote:

Big Badd Bazzer wrote:

Dembe in the improv scenario - totally out of character, amazingly HILARIOUS!!!
More please!

At the beginning of that scene, I thought it was a commercial. But then Reddington showed up and disrupted the Hedbanz game. I thought Dembe was very much in character. He's always playing those games with Red and winning them. Pretty funny!
 

 I also thought it was a commercial. It took me out of watching for a bit, so I need a rewatch.

On another note - I noticed that Jodi Walker at EW said that Moreau told Liz "I know the secret." I played it back a couple of times and I think he said "I know his secret." I won't get a chance to listen again for awhile, so if any of you play that scene back, listen carefully and let me know if he says "his" or "the". He and Liz exchanged a look after that just before Moreau was shot that made me really think he said "his".

My own opinion right now about Red playing dumb about the conspiracy is just that - he's playing dumb. I think he's probably in the thick of it, but maybe it cuts too close to his big secret for him to admit anything.

HW, thank you for the pic!  

When he said he knew a secret, I wasn't sure if he was talking about Red or about the White House?  Could have been both. 

A great episode and so glad Red is out even with his fancy new bracelet, the ankle monitor. Find them in the 2020 Spring Collection.

I thought I'd be upset that Red didn't give any relevant last words (especially for Dembe), but his response was very Red like and I believe upon his death Dembe would get out the binder Red gave him last season (???) and proceed from there. 

Samar's condition is not working for me. They should have gone all in or nothing at all. Liz and Ressler have been out in the field together more lately anyway, so not sure that here was room to keep Samar busy (unless it's a group effort). I just feel bad for dear sweet Aram! 

Excited to see how Cooper leads the task force under his new boss.  But where's Panabaker?!  Wonder if she lost her job.

Dembe playing the game was hilarious. When he was acting out the nightmare....   . 

I'm not sure I'm following this threat from the Germans, how the president is tied in, and trying to keep it under wraps, who is this other guy working for the Pres, and is the Pres in the know of the details of the dossier??  It didn't sound like he was. So is his number 2 conspiring against him? Why did she make the First Lady comments?

Patter - so good to see you and read of your observations. I have to agree on the Samar/Aram storyline. It really seems so contrived. In fact, it is so inconceivable to me that Aram would have launched into inquiry mode with Samar in the middle of all sorts of crises, it seemed like those scenes were inserted afterward, just very out of place.

I'm OK with the Samar storyline. At least it gives Mozhan and Amir some screen time. And I would be super OK if they killed off Samar. (I always liked Meera better.)   Liz and Ressler getting together doesn't bother me - but not until the very end of the show. 

BBB - Your opinion of Ressler is pretty low.  I wouldn't wish Heddie (Red's Carney woman) on anyone!

Tuxie400 wrote:

Questions raised by this episode:
1.  Will Liz really hold off on trying to find out who Red really is?
2.  Now that he knows, will Ressler stop looking for Red's real identity?
3.  Will Samar leave Aram, as well as the task force?
4.  Will Red keep trying to find the source of who put him in prison?  I think yes, because of descriptions of future episode.
5.  Is this new government conspiracy a rebuilding of the old Cabal, or a whole new group?
 

Great questions, Tuxie!

My predictions:
I think Liz and Ressler will hold off for now. The writers have to stretch out that part since there will be another season. Samar? I think she'll get killed. No clue as to her replacement. As for Red finding out the source, I still think he'll blame Jennifer and kill her. Lastly, this government conspiracy is a totally new group because from a writing standpoint, it's easier to think up new elements.

If Samar doesn't get killed off, Aram will find some experimental treatment that does wonders for her. I don't see them keeping that storyline more than one season.

Great ideas, Iowa Watcher and BBB!

1.  I think Liz will put her search for Red's identity on hold.l
2.  I'm suspicious that Ressler won't.  I think he'll end up finding something out that will get Liz back on the trail at the end of the season.
3.  I think Samar, at least temporarily, will leave Aram as well as the task force. She'll either die by these snipers coming up, or Red will find a miracle cure for her.
4.  I think Red will eventually suspect Ressler on setting up the tip. Liz will have to come clean to save Ressler.
5.  I tend to think this is a rebuilding of the old Cabal with elements from the past, along with some new players.