The Blacklist on NBC...(SPOILERS ahead)

I don't think Lizzie is Red's daughter. I really hope not; that would be a disappointment.

I'd like to think she's his friend's daughter, whom he saved from the fire. I'd like to think that Red is responsible for the fire and for Lizzie's real father's death -- but that Red had no idea about Lizzie being in the house/apartment, and so he went in and rescued her. He's gotten involved in her life when he learned that she was training as an FBI profiler. Otherwise, he would have stayed out of her life. He's involved now not only for his own advantage but also because he feels responsible for her -- if you save someone's life, they're yours to care for until they die. (Don't remember which philosophy that is, but there you go.)

I do think that Jennifer is Red's and Naomi's daughter. But we'll find out more in the next few episodes, is my guess...

Yup. Tom behind the door. Not worth the build up. Sad to say this show is barely getting by. if not for Spader I doubt I'd bother with it.

Leah J. Utas said:

Yup. <snip>. Not worth the build up. Sad to say this show is barely getting by. if not for Spader I doubt I'd bother with it.

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And what exactly is her endgame? (As much as I find Eggold easy on the eyes, that whole storyline of the fake husband was a bit over the top and without a payoff.)

And are pharmacists in Alaska empowered to prescribe
medicine? All well and good to break your thumb, Mr. Agent, sir, but I know here in California I couldn't just walk into a pharmacy and wave my bleeding appendage around and get Vicodin.

You're right, Leah, it must be Spader that keeps me coming back, because the rest of this show is one long WTF?

Speaking of a long WTF, I'm still saying that after the final scene of the fall finale.
It flies in the face of all we've seen. There had better be one hell of a payoff. For now it seems cheap and contrived.

Nah, it's not off-canon at all. Red's always known more about Tom than he's let on, and if he'd felt he was a genuine threat to Liz, he'd have killed him by "accident" long before Liz even knew he (Red) existed.

I was actually surprised that she didn't call Tom - or Red - on Tom's knowing Mr. Kaplan. Kaplan is Red's cleaner; I doubt she contracted out to Berlin, so the only way Tom would have known her was if he'd met her via Red. Remember that Tom's "go-box" had a brand in the top that matches Liz's scar.

And are pharmacists in Alaska empowered to prescribe
medicine? All well and good to break your thumb, Mr. Agent, sir, but I know here in California I couldn't just walk into a pharmacy and wave my bleeding appendage around and get Vicodin.

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I assumed he stopped at a clinic, first. I'd imagine they're used to getting campers in with all sorts of broken bones.

And as to Liz's identity, my opinion for now is that she was *going* to be collateral damage, a message to someone, or both. The scar isn't a "burn," it's a brand - again, remember the go-box. Red couldn't kill a kid, not after he likely couldn't save his own daughter, so he saved her and took her to his friend Sam.

This show uses Dembe and his past as foreshadowing, a lot. He was branded. He was the sole survivor of a massacre as a child. He was saved by Red. Etc, etc, etc.

Red has been trying to make up for not saving his own family by saving the children of other horrors. Some are loyal, some turn on him, but they're all marked in one way or another.

I wondered about the Mr. Kaplan remark,too, even as I thought he said Mrs. Kaplan.
Did not know or recall about the scar on the go-box.
Thanks for the info, Cyia.

Lavern08 said:

Questions:

1. Was Tom "working Lizzie" for Berlin or Red or both?

Neither, IMO. I think he's another kid that Red took in or handed off to someone else to save them, only Tom was old enough to remember. Instead of becoming one of the "good" guys, he was "chosen" by Berlin for his connection to Red, and inserted into Lizzie's life. Red's been watching, trying to determine if he was one of the good guys, or the bad guys, or a threat to Lizzie.

2. Why did Red kill Berlin? Was it because he kidnapped and tortured his former wife? Or because Red knew he had planted Tom in Lizzie's life? Or because he had been hounding him for years based on the "misunderstanding" that Red had killed his daughter?"

Again, I'd guess none of the above. It was a mercy killing, and Berlin knew it was coming, hence the Vodka sit-down. They were too old soldiers of sorts, toasting past deeds, and one needed put out of his considerable misery. He was on the list, but oddly pitiable considering what had started him down the path to darkness. Red did him the same "courtesy" he did Sam, and killed him quickly to end his suffering -- and to protect Zoe.

I'm telling you, the dude's got a soft spot for people drawn into horrible circumstances by their families.

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Given the involvement of people like Alan Alda's character (not likely to see him back anytime soon...), my guess is that Red's been an extreme deep cover agent - or at least he was, for years. Because of this, his family was killed. He couldn't save them, and that made him either go rogue, or go deeper into the worst parts of the world.

He's carried out hits or been on site for them, which is what I think happened to Lizzie's parents. But then he saw the kid. He didn't leave her to die, like he refused to leave Dembe, and I think if we get to see enough of Mr. Kaplan, we're going to find out that she's been helping him. And that's why he reacted so harshly to Luli being murdered in front of him. Those loyal to him are people he's saved.

It's all tied to the mark on Liz's hand, the one on the go-box, and the one on Zanatakos's envelopes. The only thing I don't get is why Liz didn't notice the mark on the box. Even if it wasn't a match to her scar, so unique a shape would have been worth looking into, if she thought her husband was a snake. It's likely a symbol of significance.

( Also, if Lizzie's to be believed, she was in more than one fire - she remembers being dragged out of the flames as a child, with her bunny, but she tells Red she got the scar on her hand when she was 14. That may be a writing continuity slip, though.)

Were you guys able to watch it Sunday? Unfortunately, the last 20 or so minutes was cut off thanks to the game, but we caught it online.

Thoughts?

I JUST started watching it this weekend - the first couple of episodes. James Spader is one of my favorites, ever since Stargate, and I loved him in Boston Legal. I've got most of it taped to watch at my leisure!

Yes, Lavern! I had to watch it online because my husband wanted to record the Caps game, and I wasn't willing to give up Scandal. I thought it was one of the best episodes they've had in awhile.

I'm wondering if the key to Reddington isn't in something he said in the pilot: Criminals are notorious liars. Everything about me is a lie.

He's either:

a - a deep cover operative, and not a criminal, which is something I've mentioned before.

b - not Reddington. This would be interesting, because it would mean that he could simultaneously not be Lizzie's father, while Red still is.

Honestly? I think he's lying. I think the memory "Masha" remembered is a false one, and Red was relieved that it took. Liz will figure that out at some point in the next season, and it will set up for more: I trusted you / you lied to me! drama.

Meh. Resorting to baby drama is usually the first strike of a death's knell for a show.

Nah, they dropped the baby.

I stopped watching after they brought Tom back from the dead. Too much emphasis on the "myth-arc" and not enough on the monster of the week. That said: unless Megan Boone wants to be gone (or the powers that be want her gone) I don't think Lizzie is dead. From what I've read only Mr Kaplan and the doctor who works for her saw Lizzie dead, zipped her into a body bag, and took her away. If Lizzie really is dead, so is the series.

MM

Megan Boone is off having her real kidlet. She'll be back on both The Blacklist and the spinoff featuring Tom and Mr. Solomon.

Mr. Kaplan's a cleaner. She makes things go away. She's the one who took Liz's body - why else do you think Red didn't want her going to the county morgue?

Liz was afraid for her kid's safety, so she faked her death to make sure no one would go after the kid to find her.