The Blacklist - S3E11 - Gregory Devry (No. 95)

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Previously on The Blacklist, ‘The Director (Conclusion)’

To send Red a message, three of Mr. Kaplan’s cleaners are killed. Bad guys know he’s been working with the FBI and they want him to know that they know.

A man with the same taste in suits and fedoras as Red, claims he is the real Raymond Reddington. His knowledge of classified ops and the files he has on Blacklisters that Red handed over to them, create confusion for the task force. They need to figure out his identity so they can catch a group of bad guys who are having a super secret meeting.

Liz gets snubbed and has a hard time remembering she’s no longer an active agent.

What is Shell Island? Not a place but the name of a meeting, Shell Island is a retreat, or gathering of international bad guys. A meeting is called when they need to get together to solve issues that require enemies to work together to find a resolution.

The Blacklister Marcus Caliguiri—next in line to assume leadership of the Pater Deig Group, the world’s oldest and largest weapons dealer, and Master of Ceremonies for Shell Island.

Faux Blacklister Gregroy Devry, dear friend of Red and a grifter. Red needed someone to pretend to be him, one of many contingency plans, because he needed to fix his rep with the Shell Island group. He couldn’t have the FBi in on it because they wouldn’t allow him to let the bad guys escape. Gregory had terminal cancer; he wanted Red to kill him, rather than the cancer.

Red’s best line “You’ve been nipping at my heels ever since the incident at that awful karaoke bar in Mombasa.”

Red’s second best line “Meet the fake Red. Faux Red. Fred.”

Tom’s best line “Is that really why you called me here? Or did you just want someone to play go fish?”

Aram’s best line: Liz: “Is it possible they know each other?” Aram: “If that’s true, by head is definitely going to explode.”

Side-eye moment: Liz is surprised that Red is giving her a case; she thought he would want a break because what they’ve gone through the past three months. Red’s face says it all, “bitch, you exhausted; this my life.” What does she think he’s been doing the past 25 years?

Funniest moment: Ressler is against releasing Faux Red to save McNamara. Navabi, with equal amounts of spite and shade, lets him know it’s not up to him. This is why you don’t shit where you eat.

Number of times someone says “cabal” 2. I really thought this shit was over.

Number of times Ressler was a dick: 3. While arresting Faux Red, he yanks on his arms as he cuffs him; in the meeting with Cooper, Navabi, and Liz, he’s adamant about not releasing Faux Red to save McNamara; when they realize Red is at Shell Island, he decides he wants to call for a breach, even though it will compromise everything and Red could be killed.

Number of times Liz was annoying: It’s easier to count when she wasn’t annoying. She mentions being exhausted, so she must be back to the dim-witted, flip-flopping, indecisive whiner she was before she went on the run.

Get a grip: FBI exec, Janet McNamara is gripped up at her son’s music school. She sees FBI agents disable the men sent to snatch her and tries to leave by herself, but bumps into a third kidnapper. Why would an FBI agent run from agents trying to save her? Makes me thinks she’s up to something. McNamara is snatched by Caliguiri because in her position, she’s cleared to know the names of all FBI informants.

Holy shit moments

• Ressler and Navabi go to the music school to find McNamara, and Ressler uses that opportunity to ask Navabi if they’re cool. Navabi says no; we banged then you fired me the next day. Why is this time and place? Yeah, the person who works at the music school overhears. So sloppy.
• Red talks to rescued McNamara, apologizing for ordeal. He tells her that what she knows is dangerous for her family and him. She needs her to quit her job and move to Santa Monica; he bought a house for her and will pay her taxes. He’ll be checking on her from time to time to make sure she’s…okay. Yeah, that was a threat; old Red is back.
• In the hospital after being attacked, Liz finds out she’s pregnant.

What did work

• Red is a master manipulator. When Liz mentions running away to start over with Tom, Red takes her to see a map of the Cabal, their affiliates, and their competitors. The number of bad guys has multiplied; he likens them to a hydra. Liz tells him it’s his battle not hers, so he drops the bomb: people will be coming for her because of her mother.
• So they can find McNamara, the team agrees to release Faux Red. Because security for the meeting is stricter than airport security, they wire him with transmitter cuff links they got from the CIA, so they can have ears in the meeting. With a four minute delay on the transmitters, Faux Red is able to get into the meeting, with his cuff links undetected.
• After their meal is finished at Shell Island, Red tells the group he wants to know which one of them had his cleaners killed. He knows that it looks like he’s working with the FBI, but he’s not; will prove he didn’t betray the group and will tell them who did. Caliguiri speaks up and there’s a brief conversation about the correct past tense of dig. No matter, Caligluiri has video of McNamara naming Red as a CI. And she gave up all the goods, including documents about arrests made by the task force; damn snitch. Sick of Red’s smart mouth, Caliguiri holds knife to Red’s throat but Faux Red arrives in the nick of time. Red tells bad guys he took Liz on as a client when she became a fugitive, in exchange for info on who was snitching out the Blacklisters: Faux Red and Caliguiri. Faux Red was hired by Caliguiri to get arrested so the FBI could dismantle Red’s business. The cuff links are found, Faux Red snitches out Caliguiri, and everyone believes Red.

• The FBI breaches the hotel and Red has helicopters fly overhead to distract them, while he and the rest of the Shell Island party escape on the ground.

What didn’t work

• Cooper has to remind Liz that she can’t carry a gun because she’s a convicted felon. Seriously, how did she get a badge? The she asks if she’ll be issued a weapon for field operations; did she miss the part where she’s just a consultant? Red is never issued a weapon. Dummy.
• Faux Red has a bulletin board full of information about Blacklisters who’ve been taken down. There’s even a sign above the board that reads “Blacklist”. What self-respecting bad guy would have info like that out in the open?
• Liz goes to see Tom, what starts as a happy reunion becomes quite awkward when he proposes to her. Did he forget that he was lying to during their sham marriage? Or that he’s a murderer? I want them together, but it’s gonna take more than a washer, bruh.
• Using Red’s intel, the team gets the whereabouts of the person who called Shell Island to order; Faux Red. When Liz sees him, she says he doesn’t even look like Red. Duh, he doesn’t need to. As Ressler and Cooper point out, the only picture they had barely looked like him and he could have had surgery. Can someone buy Liz a clue?
• Instead of Navabi, Ressler, or even Cooper interrogating Faux Red, they send in Liz…the former agent.

• Liz not only gets snubbed by an apartment manager, but she gets attacked by a random stranger, even though it was proven she wasn’t responsible for the OREA bombing. Who knew there were so many random, die-hard patriots in D.C.?
• While stabbing Caliguiri, Red confesses to being an informant. For what purpose?