A few of the notes I picked up on this episode:

First and foremost, every time I see anyone in anything, with the dreaded "toothpaste mouth" I have to resist the urge to projectile vomit all over the place.  So thanks, for that opening scene!  

Elizabeth usually knows where to find Red--but I believe this is one of the few times when Ressler and Cooper also knew exactly where to find him.  I wonder if this is a bit of residual effect left over from Red working directly with the Task Force, instead of using Liz as a buffer.  Regardless, I like it--it feels like there's more trust involved.

I enjoy that the tattooed lady had a fantastic octopus!  Because octopuses are the best!  ^-^  Also, I wonder if this tattoo guy is the same "holey" fellow that Red used to help track down Tom a couple of seasons ago; I don't remember his name, but I love any time they pull a character back in from previous shows--even if it's just for a brief mention.  

I jotted down that when Elizabeth's in the vehicle, right before she handcuffs the guy and takes off, she has the same kind of "predator eyes" for lack of a better term, that her Pops had, back in Cape May, when he was assessing the whole Katarina being followed into the restaurant deal.

I appreciate so-so much that Pee-Wee was a short order cook--considering Paul Ruben's Pee-Wee was a short order cook in his last movie.    Also, it leads me to believe that between this deal and the great Chewy escape, that all restaurants hold secret passageways and shady deals and such.

Oh, my goodness!  Throughout the whole Ressler and Prescott deal, I kept shaking my head, mentally scolding Don to tell Red what was going on--and then once Red had decided enough was enough, he called up Ressler and said it's time to talk.  Gah!  That killed me in the best and worst way possible, like all good writing does.  Figure we all suspected that Cooper and Red knew the jig was up with Ressler in some kind of way--but to have Red not only know what the deal was, but then act exactly as you'd hope he would--well that's just doing stuff that causes me to throw my hands up over my mouth and giggle excessively, is all.  ^-^

Hey deadskie13, great to hear from you! Yes to all of your good character assessments, as usual. 
Maybe Red sees Donald as the son Red never had.

I think a lot of things will make more sense if we ever learn what has been happening while Liz was out of it. Red seems to have a lot of his money back, but not everything, based on what that banker said to him. His new place is nice; I got the idea that maybe he had a lot of stuff from Liz's apartment, like the photographs and such. She had a copy of the swing photo in the apartment as I recall. I would think Red would have taken custody of her precious things while she was in her coma and off to Alaska, so I would expect to see some of them in his new place, too. Liz might want them back someday, if she ever gets settled again, that is.

I like what you pointed out, deadskie, about the trust Red seems to have developed further with the Task Force since Liz was injured.  In season 1, after Anslo Garrick, what tiny bit of trust he had developed had backslid and he didn't even want to come to the post office.  It has rebuilt over the years, but seems to have stepped up significantly after Liz got hurt. I wonder what they did while she was in the coma because if they were producing or even showing effort for 10 months, the FBI would have pulled the plug. Was Red still giving them Blacklisters while rebuilding his own empire and caring for Agnes?  When Liz was packing to leave, Red acted like he didn't want to keep going with out her, but was persuaded by her gratitude for what he had done.  

Another thing I liked from 5.09 that I didn't mention was that all Liz had to do was show some gratitude and behave like an adult and Red was much easier to persuade to her wishes instead of fight her.  Do you think she'll remember this moving forward?  That you catch more flies with calm conversation and gratitude than  petulance?  

 

I wonder what it says of us as an audience that we enjoy seeing bad people set on fire?  Because I did like it,  yet was also horrified by it.

Just to add to that, I think it was strange in a way that Red wasn't working with the Task Force to try to find who attacked Tom and Liz.  True, after Anslo he went off on his own but that I think was mainly because he knew there was a mole associated with the Task Force so did not want to show them anything of his hand.

But after Liz "died" he served up Scottie Hargrave and got their help.

Which brings me back to that either 1) Red doesn't want them involved or to know the details of who it may have been (or does he suspect another mole?) or 2) he already knows, or has a good idea.  But as someone else mentioned, he does not seem very aggressive in his quest.  So there has to be a reason why, IMO.

Just some morning coffee thoughts!  

Last edited by lara1 (1/15/2018 11:31 am)

Deadskie - "I enjoy unhinged Liz--but not if it makes her revert to careless Liz, which is what the accidental death at the end reminded me of.  Figure it's a lot like the Harbor Master ordeal, and she needed a lot of help cleaning that one up.  I think her saying, "This is okay" is her taking note that it's really not.  Also, I don't want to see angry-faced Liz pointed at Red, when she realizes Tom was killed going after a suitcase that Red knew about.  I'm team Red all the way on that one--"Tom is Tom's problem" and such."

Megan does a super job playing unhinged Liz or Black Liz, as BBB calls her.  I do worry about what Liz's reaction to Red's involvement will be. 
 

Tuxie400 wrote:

I wonder what it says of us as an audience that we enjoy seeing bad people set on fire?  Because I did like it,  yet was also horrified by it.

Its always gruesome to see people exterminated by fire. Gunshots seem to be the accepted norm on network or cable TV - are we immune to guns now?

Obviously we enjoy the fires cuz we're mimicking Liz's enjoyment as audience members (aka witnesses). Add the fact that she was exterminating really bad people and the enjoyment is palpable; albeit horrifying!

The producers did a good job creating such feelings of joy, approval and horrification in the same scenes, didn't they?

So, Navarro dies at Liz's hand.  It might technically be an accident as a result of a fight (darker shades of Ressler/Hithcens) because he fell onto that glass table and got pierced with a shard of glass.  

So, what happens with Liz?  Its not going to be a leap for the police to pin her as responsible.  Unless the scene is cleaned.  But, LOL, there is now a cleaner shortage.   

Brittany - good point.  Maybe some stuff to keep the task force going.   though it did seem Red wanted to stop when Liz was going into her hiding phase.  I wonder if they will ever explain that.  I'm thinking they won't.  

Honey West - I do think Liz is going to emulate the Stewmaker in getting rid of Navarro's body. But there's going to be an awful lot of bloom to clean up there.

Ah yes, the Stewmaker.  Who needs Red or a cleaner when you can just dissolve people and send them down the drain.