Patter wrote:

1. The  love and respect Cooper has for Liz and how she is still just as much a part of his team makes me all . "Find Agent Keen." Doesn't Red have a plan for her to be reinstated as an FBI agent and rejoin the Task Force officially?

I <3 Cooper a lot!  He's the best boss, ever!  And I can't wait until Red tosses out that he's gotten Lizzy reinstated!  ^-^

Patter wrote:

5. Has Red confirmed/told ELizabeth she is Masha Rostova? Or did Liz try to connect puzzle pieces back in Season 2 before she shot  Tom Connolly? He never calls her Masha. But I guess everyone else doesn't call Tom, Jacob (or any of his other names ;)).

I want to say it has been confirmed.  Maybe the episode after Leonard Caul?  When Liz goes to Red's flat, and threatens to go through all of his stuff, and he begrudgingly gives her just enough info on her past to placate her--and then she decides to run off and do some investigating with Tom, instead.

Patter wrote:

6. Ressler and Tom becoming buddies? I'd watch that cop show!

That would be the best cop show, ever!  :D  I also really like Aram and Tom working together.  Dispatcher buddies.  ^-^

lara1 wrote:

I just wanted to do a shout out, for those who missed it, and for those outside the US., of the absolutely hysterical commercial break during the episode here with Red and Dembe for Thurs night football.  So funny - and with Red seemingly rooting for one team and Dembe for the other (Saints v Panthers playing).  It was so clever and reminded me a bit of the Highlights scene also.

It was so good, it almost made me like sports, for a moment.  Almost!  

lara1 wrote:

I also wanted to give a huge shout out to Spader.  He absolutely killed that episode.  The expressions on his face throughout, but especially in scenes like waiting with Dembe to be picked up by Kirk's men, when he asks Dembe for forgiveness, when he sees Liz again were just heartbreaking.  IMO, few can do subtlety like Spader.  That's not to take away from the scenes with Kirk, which were also riveting.

I really do hope he gets an Emmy this year.

I very much agree.  I really do think James Spader equals perfection--especially in this role.  Everyone is great, truly--but he definitely does nail it, and does so, every single time.  ^-^

Honey West wrote:

Red is Liz's father. We've been misdirected so much that we can't even believe it when it is confirmed. Yet we have seen so much that has always pointed in that direction. The mother theory really makes no sense unless you can show a way that Red had an affair with himself, as it were. But they spent a lot of time having Red tell the story to Constantin of what happened, at least from his perspective. To the point of telling the story as we have figured it - Masha lived with her parents for four years, which brings us up to fire night, if that even really happened, and then after that she was raised by Sam. So I think the real story has been told and confirmed, to keep redoing and undoing would just make us viewers mad at this point. . So now we still have the big question of motive left unanswered. Why did Red really want to save Kirk? He was perfectly willing to kill him when Liz was dead, but noe Kirk has returned to whatever state of grace existed before all of that in Red's world.

I don't buy into the whole Red is Katarina at all, either.  It just doesn't make any sense to me, and doesn't add up in the context of this particular show.  I can appreciate the imagination and thought process that goes behind it, though, and tip my hat to anyone who has a go at it--but it's not a theory I think is plausible.  

I think the reveal that Red is Elizabeth's father, is a tip of the hat of sorts from the creators--they've given us so many puzzle pieces to work with, that at this point in time we kind of needed a major piece to work around.  Figure we've been given glimpses of the big picture, and even have a few corner pieces, so to speak--but without some sort of clear foundation, my guess is we'd be really lost once they start adding more layers.  Henceforth the father piece has been confirmed and locked into place.  

I'm wondering if maybe there's a chance Red and Kirk have a common enemy, or if Red informed Kirk of something that only them and Katarina would know; if it was something she told Kirk in confidentiality--but then Red busting out with the same line would confirm that they'd both been marks.  I don't know.  Just some sort of equal and/or level footing, I suppose.  If there was some way that Kirk could see Red as being as much of a victim as he was, and vice versa.  

I kind of think that maybe after the whole Kaplan deal, that perhaps part of Red's character growth is knowing when to not kill people.  Figure he could have easily gone after Kirk, or not coughed up the cure, or did any number of things--but instead, I believe he kept his word, and let him go.

I died a little.  In the best ways possible.  Walking closer and closer to the TV, standing on tippy-toes and leaning forward, and everything.  ^-^

A few notes:

Kirk's "goon" that Ressler and Samar interrogate, is wearing a name patch that says "Ray".    The goon bit, in general, was most top-notch!  :D  Great opening sequence--especially with Tom piecing everything together, Cooper and Liz off and running, and Red calling to say GET OUT NOW!  Perfection!  :D

Tom playing nice with the hospital staff until the jig is up, and then yelling "Sorry!" when he hijacks some poor sap's car in the parking lot.  Tom Keen:  polite action man, extraordinaire!  

Between the guy trying to suffocate Tom in the hospital, and then going after Tom in the streets, and Kirk's creepy lady trying to off Liz, it's pretty clear Kirk's people don't listen very well.  Can you imagine any of Red's people flat-out deliberately ignoring simple, basic instructions?  They wouldn't last through the first day!

Tom admitting he needs Red's help--and Red promising to give it!  :D

Dr. Shaw keeps over-stepping her boundaries!  

Kirk is afraid of death, but Red isn't.  This makes Kirk Voldemort.  :D

The convo between Dembe and Red!  Gah!  And how it concludes with Dembe saying, "Can't go." and Red saying, "It's Elizabeth."  Such brilliant perfection in those two lines, delivered!  ^-^  And then the other convo!  And how it concludes with Red asking Dembe to forgive him for everything, and then Dembe says fifty bazillion things, by not saying anything at all.  PERFECTION.  

When the creepy mountain guy's dog trotted in front of the camera, I squeed.  Because it was a dog, and it was trotting, and it was cute.  That's what I do.  Around dogs.  I squee.  ^-^

Kaplan refers to Liz as a "lovely young woman".  Of course by now, we know just how fond of Elizabeth Kate's always been--but it was still nice to hear her say it.    When Kaplan says her employer is "very dangerous and absolutely ruthless" and "would stop at nothing to to end her", I wanted to reach through the television screen and tell her those things are true, but that I'm fairly certain Red's redemption lies within her, and that it would be most amazing if she knew just how much he's changed.  ^-^  I also very much like and appreciate that Kate doesn't seem to hold any grudge towards Red; it's like she feels like she got what she deserved--even though she knew she didn't do anything wrong, she accepts that in Red's eyes, she did.

When Liz tells Red he shouldn't have come, he says, "The ripe apple falls.  Doesn't know what else to do."  A bit of a father-daughter prequel, perhaps; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  ^-^  Liz tells Red, "I'll come for you."  That's the exact same line he told her at the start of the season, when she was with Kirk.

Dembe as a driver, is just as brilliant as Mr. Kaplan as a secretary.  :D

Red gets his hat back!  And kind of sort of comes to an understanding with Tom--and Tom gives him and Liz some space--and Dembe smirks a little at Tom saying, "That must be his way of saying thank you".  

And then Liz hugs Red!  :D  But he doesn't hug back, and I tilted my head to the side for a moment, until I realized what the whole deal was--and that is this:  Red is the one needing comforting this go around.  And so he kind of just stands there for once, and takes it all in.  And that, too, was perfect.  ^-^  And then, of course, asking permission to hold Agnes, and watching his face light up, and how he's just focused on the moment, for once.  

That being said, I'm kind of always watching The Blacklist.  I watch and re-watch things, sometimes hopping to catch something new, and sometimes just because it's such a great show.  It's very rare that I go a day, and not watch at least one episode.  Sometimes I go in order, and sometimes I seek out a certain moment, trying to make things click.  But now, I kind of just want to go back, and watch every single moment, and take it all in--but this time, knowing that Red is interacting with his daughter, and not just someone he happens to know, or has a strange connection with, or is supposed to protect and look after for some unknown reason.  Because all of those things would have been--and have been--great and good, too--but now, it'll be nice to go back and see things in a slightly different way.  And that, is good writing.  :D

Also-also, as someone who grew up without a father, I feel like I sometimes go about looking for cool fictional cats to call Pops.  And so while it may have been the obvious route, I must confess, the little girl within me couldn't be happier for Lizzy.  Well done, everyone!  Well done.  ^-^

deadskie13 - I'm loving everything you said in #110. Especially agree with your take that Dembe can say so much by saying nothing at all. All the characters are in a good place to move forward now!

deadskie13 - I always enjoy reading your observations.  And they always make me smile.  I agree with Tuxie400 #112 - loved everything you said in #110.....

Tuxie400 #111.  That is a very good observation especially Red's possible view on Constantin and Sam.  I have been struggling with that myself a bit.  Red doesn't feel that "father" is a word he deserves, in a way.  That might also explain why in Season !, he hesitates and then answers no when Liz asks him, and he had just killed Sam too.  Interesting thought.

Maybe that is also why Red really didn't want to kill Kirk - and never sought to for all those years - Red emphathzed with Kirk and his actions,  as Kirk thought Liz his daughter; and Kirk did raise her when she was a child.  That might also explain Red's look of almost despair when Liz tells Red that, "he was there, he raised me", words to that effect. 

So maybe Red saying to Harold that he wanted to deal with Kirk on his own was not that he wanted to kill him but almost protect him in a kind of way.

Honey West - I had the same thought.  But I think Kirk was so obsessed, to the point of insanity (IMO), that he just wanted to hurt Red.  I think he wanted other answers too, like why Red took her.  And he wanted to force Red to say it.  Perhaps if Red had not said anything Kirk would have done a test.  

Besides, this way, the writers have cleverly left  a bit of ambiguity.  Did Red tell the truth or just what he thought Kirk wanted to hear?  And do that in order to buy time, in order to survive (we've seen Red before not crack under torture and otherwise state how he can defeat things like lie detectors (clever point actually given the questions the FBI asked him early on in the series, under a lie detector test!)

Last edited by lara1 (11/12/2016 10:05 am)

Honey West #113  - You are so right. Why Kirk doesn't order the DNA test is mystifying. At one point he has three - count 'em - three doctors who work with blood issues in the same room. The DNA test totally would have clarified the issue for Kirk and the audience, but it was not done. One reason is because the creators want to stir up all this debate again over the ambiguous reveal. From a character perspective, Constantin knows Red has never said he is Masha's father. He wants it kept secret for all time. Constantin is torturing Red not only with the injections but also with the question itself. And it did make for good drama.

Why doesn't Red want Liz to know?  He's afraid Lizzie will try to save his life and put herself in danger. His main role in her life is protector - not father. He knows 100 percent that she would put her own life at risk to save him - especially if she thinks he's her father. He saw what she was willing to do for Constantin, and he saw what she did for him in T. Earl King. Red remains devoted to protecting Liz at all costs.

Last edited by Tuxie400 (11/12/2016 10:39 am)

Here's my other nitpick. When Kirk tells everyone to leave so he can kill Red, why would Tom and Dembe not mount an extraction mission for Red?  I know Kirk's men were probably guarding the building, but we've seen Dembe save Red on his own before against great odds in Arioch Cain. I can't believe Dembe wouldn't do everything in his power to save Red. And wouldn't Tom and Dembe have been waiting outside to see if Kirk finally decided to take Red up on the CRISPR offer?  Why didn't Liz and Ressler meet up with Dembe and Tom outside? Did they really arrive so much later?

Awww, so very well-said, Tuxie400 #119! Especially your last sentence. 

I agree with your questioning of why "Tombe" (see Ryan Eggold's tweet) didn't try to rescue Red, but then slapped my forehead when I remembered that they weren't waiting outside because they didn't know where Red had been taken. All interactions during the time from when Liz was taken there were done by meeting Kirk's goons in the park, at the bus stop, whatever. Liz and Ressler lucked out because they had the Mighty Aram and his Trusty Laptop on their side. (grin)  (wub)

And yes, of course, we know with Kirk that it was all about vengeance against Red the Homewrecker. He really was torturing as much with The Question as with the injections. And it was most important for him to force Red to actually SAY it.