The Blacklist #3

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Previously in The Blacklist #2

Everyone believes Red became pink mist and find their own ways to deal with their loss; Liz hits the shooting range, Dembe fishes hats out of the water, Aram removes Red’s wanted poster, Cooper broods, Navabi does her job, and Ressler…comforts Liz. Yeah, I did not see that coming.

Mr. Kaplan gives Liz a key to a safety deposit box and a name: Sebastian Royce aka The Gambler. Speak of the devil, Sebastian watches footage of the explosion in the park and declares the game is over. These people act like they’ve never met Red.

At the Post Office, Ressler and Navabi interrogate Kiklinski, but he won’t talk…not without getting paid. Instead, Hackett cuts him a deal. Liz tries to convince Cooper to not tell Hackett that Red is dead, so they can find his killer.

Kiklinski is taken away, along with any leads to finding Sebastian Royce. Not so fast; Aram has his phone and the location of the last number he dialed.

Navabi, Ressler, and Liz investigate the location, a building with lots of surveillance cameras but no one inside. Eager to save the day, Liz rushes ahead of her team…and trips an alarm. Several armed gunmen run into the room, trading fire with the agents. Really Liz?

Not finding any sign of Royce, Liz takes a moment to moan to Ressler about how inept she is. Believe me, Liz, we’re moaning, too. She tripped the alarm and could have gotten everyone killed; maybe she’s not meant to be an agent….waah, waah, waah. Although nothing else is found, Navabi finds a most wanted poster of Red.

The alarm Liz triggered alerted Royce to their presence, and distracted him from hearing Red approach him on his boat. They talk about the past, Royce becoming The Gambler, and Red helping the FBI apprehend Blacklisters. Red moves Royce to the dock, but Royce tells him another game is afoot.

The truck transporting Kiklinski is sabotaged and both officers are killed. The man responsible for the sabotage a self-proclaimed hunter, tells Kiklinksi that Royce no longer needs him. Turning down Kiklinski’s offer of money to let him go, he tells him Royce offers one more bet: he has 15 seconds to get away. Yeah, he doesn’t make it.

Dembe finds Liz at the bank and tells her about Royce’s new hire, who is willing to meet with Red. They’re the only people who know Red is “dead”, so using Red’s hat, Ressler will pretend to be him for the meet. This plan can’t possibly fail.

Royce and Red reminisce some more about that one time in Venice…

The comic book equivalent to a movie montage aside, this was the weakest of the first three issues of The Blacklist comic. I mean, who doesn’t love a movie montage? I have to wonder where this is going, especially since season three has premiered. Is all this just to show us how bad of an FBI agent Liz is? We already know! Seriously, why she always whining?