The Blacklist - S3E16 - The Caretaker (No. 78)

Tweet

Previously on The Blacklist, ‘Drexel’

Red doesn’t approve of Liz’s choice to marry Tom Jacob and takes every opportunity to let her know. Secrets held by The Caretaker are being leaked and resulting in the death of those involved. The team search for the leak in The Caretaker’s system, his daughter who has been kidnapped, and two terrorists who entered the country and stole a truck and C-4.

The Blacklister - The Caretaker. For generations, his family has guarded the secrets of pretty much anyone who could pay. The secrets he collects are only released according to specific instructions. Now, the secrets are being released against instruction. Since Red has used The Caretaker to hide his own secrets, he knows there’s a flaw in the system.

Subplot 1 - Businessman Addison Wen enlists the help of U.S. State Department official, Russell Pritchard to murder a Chinese official. So the U.S. government couldn’t throw him under the bus, Wen recorded their arrangement and had The Caretaker secret it away. The secret is exposed and Pritchard is murdered, leaving Wen vulnerable. A second secret expected to be released exposes the German government for covering up a terrorist plot they knew about that resulted in the crash of German plane.

Subplot 2 - The Caretaker’s daughter, Rose, is kidnapped and his ledger of secrets stolen. The kidnappers demand he release various secrets or Rose will be killed. It turns out Rose was behind her own kidnapping. After finding herself on a missing children’s website, she contacted her brother and set up the kidnapping to punish The Caretaker.

Red’s agenda - To find The Caretaker so he can retrieve his secret before it’s released.

Red’s best line - “I don’t mean to gloat, but boy did I tell you so.”

Red’s second best line - “I’m curious, Harold. How do you think the White House is going to express their appreciation to me for foiling a terrorist plot? Maybe an embossed ashtray. Or one of those little American flag pins for my lapel.”

Tom’s best line - “I want to start pulling people up instead of holding them down.”

Navabi’s best line - “What should I call you: my idiot boyfriend or my idiot husband?”

Dembe’s best line - “Perhaps, Raymond, in this case what you want is irrelevant. If the universe wants her to know, she will find a way.”

Number of times Liz was annoying - Zero. While it was a little weird that she decided to tell Cooper about her upcoming nuptials while they were observing an interrogation, it’s okay. She’s happy and she needed someone to be happy for her.

Number of time Ressler was a dick - Uh, the whole damn time. Is it me or is he bitterer than Navabi?

• Navabi says it may be best for the The Caretaker’s secrets to be released and Ressler calls her naïve.
• Navabi suggests they let Germany’s secret out to save Rose and Ressler asks if they should embarrass them, then questions Red’s theory. Is he new?? Then he tells Cooper he’s making the wrong choice.
• On an op where they play an arguing couple, he tells Navabi it seems like being a bitch comes naturally.

Funny moment [Liz’s phone chirps; Tom Jacob sees it’s Red]

Jacob: “Maybe he’ll be walking you down the aisle.”

Liz: “Not if you’re at the other end of it.”

Jacob: “Good point.”

What did work

• A delivery man brings Jacob some Percocet…and a Glock 26. He pops the Percocet then pops in on Gina for a little chat. He wants peace, but first she tries to give him a two-piece. He tells her he’s tired of hurting people and asks her to help him walk away; she and The Major don’t come after him or his family and he won’t come after them.
• The Caretaker hides the tubes of secrets inside dead bodies. That’s one way to keep people from finding them.
• Liz goes to see Anton, but he says he can’t help her. He only said he’d talk to her so he could get her to deliver a letter to his estranged daughter. Liz delivers the letter and Anton’s daughter tells her she and her dad are fine; the letter is for Liz. And it’s about her mother, who looks to be alive.

• Dembe tells Red Liz deserves the truth, and stares at Red far too long for someone who driving.

• Liz confronts Red about her mother and his lies. He tries to put the lie on Anton, but Anton was up on his game and had proof. Red says it could have been planted, but it’s too late; Liz is done with him. When he said people would be looking for her, it could only mean her mother. He’s right, some things can’t be forgiven.

What didn’t work

• Liz tells Red she and Jacob are keeping the baby and getting married. In one breath he goes from joy to pissedoffedness. (Yep, I made that up.) Later, he brings it up again, how he can’t wrap his head around how she can forgive Tom after all his lies. Does he conveniently forget the person he is when he talks shit about Jacob?
• With The Caretaker’s ledger in tow, Red and Dembe visit the cemetery to dig up and destroy the secret Red was keeping for Liz. He has to know it’ll come to light anyway. Dembe told him so and Dembe be knowin’.

• Cooper releases the German secret to save Rose and somehow Germany finds out. They stop tracking two known terrorists they knew were going to strike in the U.S. because they’re petty as fuck. Is that what governments do?

Aram is the real MVP - Ressler and Navabi take out the terrorists who stole the cargo van, but find an armed bomb in the back. With two minutes left on the countdown, Ressler sends a picture of the bomb to Aram so he can walk them through disarming it. He talks Ressler through it, but with 30 seconds left, he demands that Ressler apologize to Navabi, for calling her a bitch. Ressler reluctantly apologizes and the bomb is disarmed with seconds to spare. It wasn’t the best time to pull a stunt like that, but it’s good that Ressler was called on his dick-ish behavior and Aram was the perfect one to do it.

Questions

• Once Jacob is gone, Gina makes a mysterious phone call about his visit. Who do we think this is? I’m putting money on Red.
• Is Cooper not aware of what happened between Navabi and Ressler? They should not be partners. Does he not sense the tension? Well, he didn’t know about Charlene, so…