This week on The Blacklist, Liz and Red are in quite a sticky situation. “Arioche Cain†is targeting Liz and has put her on a website on the dark web with a $700,000 bounty for whoever kills her. The other crazy thing is that this bounty was crowd funded. It seems that the general public truly believes that Liz is a terrorist. Now, not only do they have the FBI on their trail but also a bunch of hired assassins looking for a payday.
When Red finds out that assassins are on their trail, he thinks that the best thing to do is separate. Yes, you heard that right. He tells Liz to stay back, and a transport will be there for her shortly to take her somewhere safe. I’m sure nothing will go wrong… Not. Liz’s transport gets ambushed by a sniper assassin that goes by the alias Wendigo, but Liz gets away unscathed. Red tracks down Ressler at an NA meeting, of all places, to get the FBI to also go after Wendigo. It’s fun to note that Red actually admitted that the Wendigo is better than he is at tracking fugitives.
But at least Red is good enough at tracking them, and they catch up to the Wendigo. From Wendigo, they learn about the bounty on Liz’s head. With a little help from Aram, they find out that the only person who can take Liz off of the “Dead Not Alive†website is the one who nominated her, Arioch Cain. Before they can find Arioch Cain, they run into Mr. Vargas. Since Red doesn’t know that Vargas is working with Mr. Solomon, he trusts Vargas to get them to safety. Well, Vargas leads Red and Liz into a trap with Mr. Solomon and a bunch of his associates.
What do you know… Dembe to the rescue! Dembe comes rushing in killing at least a few of the guards. Red and Liz help kill the rest, except for Mr. Solomon who got away during the melee. At least Dembe is alive. Red gets Dembe medical attention while they figure out how to get to Arioch Cain. They fake Liz’s death and have the “Dead Not Alive†site creator confirm the kill. Then, Liz and Red catch up with the real Arioch Cain, who turns out to be a teenage girl, looking for revenge. Her mother was killed in a bombing that they blamed on Liz, but with a little convincing, Red got her to take down the posting. That was a fairly easy end to Arioch Cain. Too bad the trouble doesn’t stop there.
Ressler, the most noble FBI agent, is between a rock and a hard place this week. There is a hearing about Liz’s case and the FBI’s work in bringing her in; Ressler must testify in court. When asked if he has been sharing information with the CIA, he replies, “No.†They have not been sharing with the CIA since the head of the CIA is rumored to be the Director of the Cabal. Spoiler Alert, he is the Director, but only we know that for sure so far.
Ressler definitely threw a curveball during his testimony. Ressler testified that he truly does believe that Liz is innocent, and if she is given a fair trial, a jury of her peers would not find her guilty. I definitely don’t have the same faith that he does in the justice system, so that sounds easier said than done, Ressler. I am glad to hear that he does have some faith in his old partner. Now, if we can just find the magic way to clear her name instead of continuing to go in circles.
I’ve got to say that I’m easily most interested with Tom’s storyline at this point. Maybe, it’s because I can see the endgame to his plan. It’s difficult knowing if and when Reddington is going to be able to clear Liz’s name and take down the Director. Tom, at least, is going after the real perpetrator, Karakurt. Now that Tom is in with Asher Sutton, he reveals that of course he isn’t the high roller that he appeared to be. He claims to instead be a “townie†named Matt Buckley. Naturally, Asher extends an invitation to his engagement party.
At the engagement party, Tom sees Asher in a verbal argument with an unknown Russian man. Asher says that the man is extorting him for $20,000 a month because Asher didn’t throw a fight in an underground boxing match. Tom decides that this is his way into Asher’s business with the Russians, so he asks if he can help. Since this is the Tom Keen we love to hate, he ends up killing the Russian money collector. Now, the Russians will come straight to Tom; although, Asher and his fiancee seem more terrified than ever once they discover what “Matt Buckley†has done.
