The Blacklist - S3E18 - Mr. Solomon (No. 32) Conclusion

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Previously on The Blacklist, ‘Mr. Solomon - Part One‘

Jacob and Liz make their getaway, but it’s in no way clean. The bad guys have omniscient help on their side, in the form of a man known as the Eye in the Sky, who lets Mr. Solomon know they’re no longer at the church. I can’t shake the feeling he knew it was them because of the trail of cans behind the car.

Jacob and Liz soon find out traffic can be such a bitch when you’re fleeing for your life. Just as impatience begins to get the best of them, Red calls. But before he can say a word in, Liz gives him what for, asking questions she knows he can’t answer. And so begins the “Red is a punching bag” episode.

Red knows that Mr. Solomon knows they got away, so he offers up a safe house and Liz has the nerve to say she’ll take it under advisement.

Just like that, Mr. Solomon sideswipes them and the game is afoot.

I’d really love a peek into the writers’ room, when this next action was pitched; Liz’s fully pregnant ass, hanging out the window of speeding vehicle, shooting at the car behind them. It doesn’t help that she misses everything she aims at; good work, Liz. Fed up with the chase, Mr. Solomon shoots at them and hits a tire, causing them to crash into a parked truck that just so happens to have its tailgate down. With the agility of two people who did not just crash head on into a car, one of them pregnant, Jacob and Liz duck into an elder care facility, with Mr. Solomon is hot on their trail.

Honestly, how could he not know where they went? There’s no way they got any further than that building. Hiding in a room, Liz tells Jacob she’s in pain, you know, from the crash, when they hear Mr. Solomon coming down the hall. Jacob hides behind the door, so when Mr. Solomon enters, he only sees two people sleeping.

Eye in the Sky warns that police are in the area so he jets. Talk about saved by the bell. Liz and Jacob’s escape is rerouted when they see she’s bleeding vaginally. I bet no one expected to read that word here.

Ressler updates Cooper: the henchmen are in the wind, no law enforcement agencies have spotted the cars they’re using. Cooper, ever the pragmatist, reasons armored SUVs can’t just disappear. They do when you can peel the paint job off. Whoever is bankrolling Mr. Solomon is getting their money’s worth. Peel-a-paint job vehicles, gloves that don’t leave finger prints, armor-piercing bullets—they even took their dead with them when they left. Well, damn.

Navabi finds an EarCom that one of the henchmen left behind after a tussle with Dembe. I’d have left it, too. Their new priority is to ID the team; not find and help Liz. The EarCom is black market, so they can’t ID the manufacturer; strike one. There are no prints on it; strike two. But partial prints are found on the battery; home run! Why wasn’t this guy wearing his fancy gloves when he put that battery in the earpiece? Sloppy, sloppy henchman. Aram IDs the henchman: a soldier, presumed dead during the Iraq war. They track down the wife he left behind to see if she’s heard from him.

Jacob gets Liz to a hospital in walking distance. C’mon, he’s carrying a pregnant, bleeding woman after he crashed head on into a car; he’s not going far. The doctor and nurses take good care of Liz; she gets a painkiller, the bleeding stops, and the baby is okay, but none of that matters because Red comes a-calling with demands that she leave the hospital, because he can’t protect her there. She spits back he can’t protect her in a church. Touche, and might I add, ouch. He rephrases: he can’t protect her, the other patients, and the hospital personnel. Well, when you put it like that. This is where I begin to have problems with the story. Why didn’t she use this moment to tell him about the bleeding and the tests she had to take? They still would have needed to leave, but Nik and his team would have been better prepared.

Mr. Kaplan shows up with a ride to the clinic Red has set up, but Liz is done. She goes off on Mr. Kaplan about how because she let a fugitive sociopath into her life, people with guns are after her and she has to give birth in a warehouse. Okay, like any good judge would, I’ll allow Liz a little latitude with this rant. She’s hormonal, she keeps getting shot at, and her baby is in distress. But someone needs to remind her that SHE killed the AG and she declared to the world that she was a Russian spy—that’s not on Red. His presence in her life hasn’t been all wine and roses, but she put Masha Rostova on the map, not him. Mr. Kaplan recognizes the crazy rippling off Liz, so she keeps her lips zipped and gets them to the faux hospital in one piece. Nik shows up, all about that business, until he sees the patient is Liz; why didn’t anyone warn him? The accident caused a placental abruption. If Nik doesn’t do an emergency C-section, the baby will die. I like Nik. He’s an amazing doctor; he keeps his wits about him, no matter what’s going on. He’s no nonsense and seems to care for Liz deeply, even though she broke his heart. Much as I like Jacob, I believe Nik was better for her.

Nik preps Liz for C-section and like anyone in her situation would be, she’s a ball of nerves and stress. To help calm her, Jacob just so happens to find “You’re Having My Baby” by Paul Anka and plays it. See, a clinic in a nightclub comes in handy. Although, since it’s a night club and not a backwoods diner, he should have played “Forever My Lady” by Jodeci. What self-respecting DJ has Paul Anka in their crate? The disco ball and lights make her feel better, not this damn song. Seriously, this song is terrible.

Dembe tries to comfort Red but gets a new asshole for his trouble. Red rips into him about what happened at the church, but now Mr. Kaplan is done. She force feeds him a heaping helping of crow, because we all know he won’t do it himself. He should have listened to Liz when she said her baby wasn’t safe around him, but he didn’t so here they are. Pick up your face, Red.

Mr. Solomon hasn’t given up his search for Liz; there’s money on the line. He asks Eye in the Sky for an update and wouldn’t you know; he has her medical info from the hospital. Who is this guy and how the hell did he get that?

The baby is delivered amid sighs of relief and joy, once she finally cries. The Keen(?) family bond and discuss baby names; Liz wants to name the baby Agnes, after Sam’s mother. Look, Jacob better teach that kid hand-to-hand combat, because the playground will be hell with that name.

Red comes in, all smile and congratulations. He asks to see the baby, and Liz, with the last bit of shit she has left, tells him to go away. Jacob tries to play it off, says it’s the drugs, but she doubles down and says it’s not; she just doesn’t want him there. Poor Red is taken all the way aback. The look on his face; an uncomfortable mixture of shock and hurt, I’m surprise he didn’t clutch his pearls. All he can do is walk away.

The sloppy henchman’s wife lives in Phoenix and hasn’t had contact with him since he went missing, but she has gotten mystery phone calls on their wedding anniversary. Aram finds an address since this fool was paying bills and buying calling cards, linking it all to his house. This is the worst henchman in the history of henchmen. Ressler and Navabi take a team to the house where they find monitors and a server with a cross country fiber optic network. Navabi watches as Eye in the Sky shuts down the network. And how does he know to do that? There’s a camera in the house they didn’t even notice. C’mon guys, that’s investigating 101 or something. He tells Mr. Solomon one of his men has been compromised and can no longer be in the field, so Mr. Solomon takes care of it—with a bullet.

The baby is doing great, but Liz has trouble breathing, so Nik and his team jump in to see what’s up. Jacob tells Nik to do something. Pet peeve #22: I hate when people on TV or movies tell a doctor to do something. They’re dressed, elbows deep in your family member—they are doing something! This is probably why men weren’t allowed in the delivery room back in the day. Jacob, take a seat.

After some quick tests, Nik discovers placental fluid has leaked into Liz’s blood and is causing an inflammatory reaction. He’s going to put her on machine to help her breathe, but it’s not enough. Away from Liz, because she doesn’t need to know what’s going on (#sarcasm), Nik tells Red and Jacob that Liz needs to be put into a medical coma (#patriarchy). They don’t have the right equipment, but not to worry, Mr. Kaplan can send out for that.

No one is talking to Liz about what’s going on, but she’s no dummy. Jacob tries to reassure her by talking about how they’re going to the beach when she wakes up. In turn, Liz asks him to take the baby to the beach if she dies. Before she goes under anesthesia, Liz calls Red into the room. She apologizes for putting him out, but let’s be honest; he had that coming. It was time for Liz to stand up to him; it’s too bad it took her a shootout and her baby nearly dying. She goes under as she’s about to tell him she loves…who? Him? It has to be him, who else would she be talking about? She’s in the coma, but her lungs are still failing and Nik needs to get her to a hospital before her heart fails, too. Red and his men get ready for the transport, and Jacob tries to come with. Red tells him to stay with baby because he’s a father now. He calls Cooper for an armed escort and he makes a point of saying they’re duck hunting*. They need to meet them on the way, so Cooper sends Navabi and Ressler with a team.

The ambulance takes off from clinic and Eye in the Sky tells Mr. Solomon that none have been dispatched, so that’s gotta be them. Mr. Solomon sends a team ahead to stop the ambulance. As car chases go, this was pretty mild. The henchmen hit the ambulance, try to force it off the road, and eventually get it to stop only to find no one in the back. Red and Nik are with Liz, pushing meds and supplying oxygen. Aram gives Ressler directions so he and Navabi can catch up with Red. Mr. Solomon taunts Eye in the Sky for having the wrong info and it must work. Somehow he finds out exactly where Red’s convoy will be. Even though they stop, a sniper takes out the driver and Red’s men engage. Liz is in further distress, and the meds are working. She flatlines and Nik has to use the paddles, to no avail. Outside, Red’s men are being picked off, one by one until Ressler and Navabi finally show up, forcing Mr. Solomon to bug out. But he doesn’t tell his henchmen so they all die. Dembe and Ressler get to the truck to find Liz dead, Red holding her hand, and Nik despondent and apologetic.

It looks like Red plans to take up residence with Liz’s dead body, but the police show up and Mr. Kaplan gets him to move. He tells her he doesn’t want Liz in the morgue; he wants his people to take care of it and this is where I begin forming my theory.

Back at the clinic, Jacob already knows, so Red must have come back to see the baby. He spends a couple minutes coddling Jacob, telling him there’s nothing he could have done, he’ll learn to be a dad, then gets to his point. He asks to hold the baby and he doesn’t look even a little sad about what happened that day. And Jacob named that baby Agnes. Set up those karate lessons now, sir.

Best exchange

Jacob: “Demerol?” Liz: “What about the baby?” Jacob: “I don’t know; I’m not trained for this.” Liz: “Oh my God, we’re terrible parents.”