The Blacklist Refugees » The Suitcase

lara1 · 1/14/2018 4:25 pm

Incidentally, "Leander" as a name means "lion man". which is a link back to the Wizard of Oz. although that may be entirely accidental.

The last three letters spell "RED" backwards. Reminds me of Red Rum in the Shining. I can't remember but we brought that up on one of these pages maybe in the last season. Because something in a mirror or something spelled Red backwards or something like that. Anyone remember? Although all of this is probably just coincidental......

1/14/2018 6:09 pm

Honey West-perhaps Red backstory from Russia will help fill in the time? *shrugs* There just HAS to be something else between now and the finale. The bones mystery is getting old after 10 episodes and while I"m all for psycho Liz burning people alive and turning them into stew, her goal is ultimately tied to Garvey, who is tied to the bones. Unless they have her get Garvey early on, get back onto the task force, but keep the bones from her until closer to the end? But I'm not sure how that'll work.

lara1 · 1/14/2018 8:51 pm

Someone posted some photos on the Blacklist Exposed facebook site where the suitcase looks more like a briefcase. We talked about that above when commenting on how the pilot had Red with a briefcase. To me the suitcase did resemble a large briefcase because of its structure and esp with the digilock.

I think someone else here mentioned that the suitcase appeared bigger when Kaplan had it. Given the size of the case esp as Tom stands over it, it appears possible that the skeleton could be a child. But camera angles can be deceptive. I'm going to re-watch that ep to have a better look.

1/14/2018 9:13 pm

This is how I feel about the whole thing right now (along with the prospect of this dragging out 12 more episodes):
https://schadenfreudequeen.tumblr.com/post/169712175050/current-feelings-on-the-blacklists-bag-of-bones

Tuxie400 · 1/14/2018 9:30 pm

Brittany - The Will Smith gif does a good job of conveying your frustration about dragging out the bones story. LOL

1/14/2018 9:38 pm

I keep telling myself to have trust in the writers because they always come through but thinking about this story line carrying on until the finale is overwhelming. I feel like we’ve had to be patient for so many storylines (most of which are STILL not answered fully) that I just don’t have it in me to be patient with one more thing.

Thrill me, BL writers. Please. Lol

1/14/2018 9:40 pm

Lara- I thought the suitcase looked big when both of them pulled it out. It reminds me of just a standard 80s/90s suitcase you would see a business traveller use. The only thing that was noticeably different for me was the skeleton prop which they obviously changed between seasons.

Tuxie400 · 1/14/2018 9:49 pm

I'm fairly happy with these first two episodes back. I'm betting the writers can keep us interested and entertained through the back half of the season. Who knows what new secrets may come spilling out to take our minds off the bones? I'm taking a more Zen approach this season and enjoying the show as it unfolds.

lara1 · 1/14/2018 10:00 pm

Tuxie400 - yes, maybe the similarity to a briefcase (except the size) is more symbolic than anything else, ie tying in with the briefcase in the pilot.

Brittany - sorry to hear you are frustrated with the plot line. I'm actually OK with it, I've kind of parked it to the side and I just think we'll know when we know, I find myself well enough occupied with the storylines in each episode. Like waiting for a bus, LOL, you may want it to arrive sooner but you can otherwise occupy yourself while you're waiting and can't do much about it anyway, LOL

I have to say I'm enjoying these episodes much more than the first half of Season 4 - I did not love the Agnes/Kirk storyline a lot of which (to me) seemed to drag and some of which was relatively pointless. But that's just me I guess.....

1/14/2018 10:43 pm

Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving season 5. It’s definitely one of the best. Im just struggling with this particular plot. I guess I assumed we would know a little bit more about something at this point because it seemed like things were moving along fairly quickly in the first few episodes, then it hit crawl. I’m going to keep reminding myself to trust the writers like I had to do with the Agnes storyline in season 4 because I wasn’t a fan at the time but it grew on me when I was able to go back and rewatch it all. This one may do the same thing.

And I’ve had to utilize all my extra patience this week with work so I guess I have none left for the Blacklist. 😂

Eastcoast · 1/26/2018 1:45 am

I know a few of us have wondered why it did not seam like anyone at the FBI got notified about the CODIS hit. I did a little digging and they are not notified when there is a hit.

This is what I found.

Once the hit information is provided to law enforcement,
neither the FBI nor the local laboratory is typically notified
as to the resolution of the investigation-aided case.
At the time of the hit, there may not be an open or active investigation
or other judicial proceeding and, therefore, the submitting law enforcement
agency becomes the laboratory’s point of contact for hit notification.

Last edited by Eastcoast (1/26/2018 1:46 am)

Tuxie400 · 1/26/2018 10:44 am

Eastcoast wrote:
I know a few of us have wondered why it did not seam like anyone at the FBI got notified about the CODIS hit. I did a little digging and they are not notified when there is a hit.

This is what I found.

Once the hit information is provided to law enforcement,
neither the FBI nor the local laboratory is typically notified
as to the resolution of the investigation-aided case.
At the time of the hit, there may not be an open or active investigation
or other judicial proceeding and, therefore, the submitting law enforcement
agency becomes the laboratory’s point of contact for hit notification.

Thanks for this Eastcoast! This implies to me that Garvey is local law enforcement. And I think he's involved with the Nash Drug Syndicate because he's a dirty cop.

1/26/2018 10:55 am

That's interesting information, Eastcoast.

The military started collecting DNA on all active and reserve soldiers in 1991 during the Gulf War (I'm not sure if these are kept attached to CODIS or separately in their own database), but does use CODIS for certain levels of crimes (murder, rape, etc), so it isn't totally out of the realm that Garvey could still be military or work as a civilian in a military agency (like NCIS). He could also be local law enforcement like Tuxie mentioned.

Last edited by Brittany (1/26/2018 10:56 am)

1/26/2018 10:56 am

Also, do other federal agencies have access to CODIS (CIA, NSA, Secret Service)? I haven't looked.

Eastcoast · 1/29/2018 11:30 pm

Brittany, I am thinking that anyone with the right 'badge' can access it if they want to. They needed the badge from Liz and then they were in.

Colleen · 2/01/2018 10:11 pm

Happy Groundhog Day Eve

This randomly just occurred to me while brushing my teeth - and probably discussed at length already - but in the spirit of Groundhog Day the movie, I'll mention it anyway.

Is it possible that the suitcase bones' DNA came back as Liz's own DNA? Not exactly her DNA but from a twin sister she didn't know she had.

Liz's DNA would be in CODIS from when she killed Tom Connolly.

Or the DNA is part space alien. Oh wait, that's the X-files that's on right after The Blacklist. I knew watching the shows back to back would cause confusion!

Last edited by Colleen (2/01/2018 10:14 pm)

Honey West · 2/02/2018 12:26 am

LOL, Colleen!

Eastcoast · 2/02/2018 4:22 am

Colleen, Lol!

At this point there is no idea could be too far fetched!

I was even wondering if Red is someone else but still her father? Maybe he has been Red for a long, long time, even back before he went into the navy? Maybe the family name was changed for some reason.

I keep wondering back to what he told Tom. That it might really hurt her. Maybe she shot someone else?

2/02/2018 9:30 am

Eastcoast- someone I chat with on Twitter thinks along the lines you mentioned: that Red isn't really Reddington but is still Liz's father.

IowaWatcher · 2/02/2018 4:39 pm

Colleen wrote:
Or the DNA is part space alien. Oh wait, that's the X-files that's on right after The Blacklist. I knew watching the shows back to back would cause confusion!

Wow! LOL! You made my week.

I think Tuxie has it right where where posted somewhere about just developing a Zen attitude about the whole suitcase thing.

I still think the bones are the "real" Reddington, who was Misha/Elizabeth's father, but Red is a Russian imposter. I also think KR is still alive somewhere, but Red doesn't know that she's alive or where she is. If we get a 6th season of BL, I think KR will be one of the "big bads." If not, the mystery will focus on the bones.