Dowel Jones

Upon hearing the Ethics guy, my first thought was that he was fake and Cartman Development sent him to sniff out the situation (Goddammit, Kyle! Get your fat ass over there and get my money back!). To top it off, Casey acts surprised to find out there is a Board of Ethics. And then the consultant smooths things over by diverting the money to a charity and it's all hushed up? My my my, said the spider to the fly....Casey, you're in trouble. No doubt about it, Cruz, you screwed up. But the ass-chewing should have been reserved for a more private setting, instead of in front of the public. Someone always has a cell phone camera. I did like Boden's affirmation of the situation when he said "Then you don't need to hear it from me." That told Cruz that it wasn't just a Squad thing. It was nice that the museum lady bucked him a little with that gift. Agree with Gabby's jealousy. That was funny. I wish we could have seen more of her interview. "Well, I wanted to be a medic because I wanted to be a doctor, but my medic boyfriend left, so I decided to become a firefighter instead. But I hurt myself and got all kinds of extra training from my new boyfriend, just before he got me pregnant. So I became an arson investigator. But then I miscarried so I got back on the engine. Or was it the Truck? The Squad? I can't remember. Anyway, since I talked my boyfriend into becoming an alderman, everything's good now. Except for the women. What was the question, again?" I don't follow CPD, so was there anything extra on the shooting incident?

I thought they were going to go with some kind of steroid abuse scandal that turned the players into raging zombies, but, no, they went with the molestation angle. Somewhere I missed how that made the shooters' actions more understandable. Loved the scene in the hallway where Reade tells those students that there's a bomb behind the door and they should run...hello, where did they go? Zapata needs a remedial course in combat shooting. Mayfair withdrew every last dollar from her account. Hope she doesn't have any auto withdrawals coming up. And don't use your ATM card. My mind's dialogue: New guy: "Are you getting cold feet?" Oscar: "We're in a morgue. Duh."

Paging Louis Litt... Paging Louis Litt...

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I had to stifle a laugh during that scene in which Olivia's PTSD is building up to the chair, and one of her needle-sharp moments is of spilling the wine on the couch. Granted, it was during the kidnapping, but still. The horror, the horror.

Which, in real life, just might make sense, as in - We have two people fluent in Arabic and familiar with Arabic culture, and there's a definite problem with terrorism both in and out of the US (the reasons for which belong in another post), soooo, let's have them do cyber security, or bank robbery. Let's put the NFL guy on the JTTF, oh, wait, he's gone. Somebody, anybody, preferably without a clue, please step up.

Random thought: Did Agents Beaman and Aderholt go through this same academy? I liked the reference back to the bomb in the lectern. Not because it was smart, because it poked at their collective IQ or lack thereof. Dit dit dah dah dah...."Be sure to always drink your Ovaltine." Another scene: "You don't have clearance to be in here." "But I dropped in to see my friend." "Oh, okay, here's what we're doing in this high security area."

Not the smartest PM on the block, was he? That woman with the stick got hers in quick; looked like she went right for the family jewels. Did anyone catch the look on Jane's face after the two guys decided on a pub crawl? Sheer frustration, "You guys are going out and I have to go to a dinner?." Dead Pool - Jane or Jose'? Another scene I liked. IN the WH, the group is debating the insertion of troops to safeguard the nuclear weapons. The President says, "It will lead to widespread chaos." As opposed to what's going on right now?

One of my favorite vignettes of Ken Burns' Civil War series was the recounting of a former slave, now serving with the Union Army, marching past the plantation where he was sequestered. At one point the unit passes by the plantation owner, and the former slave looks right at him and says "Bottom rail on top now, massa."

And on a completely unrelated note: I know where Martha can hide: Wayward Pines.

Maybe the hair has its own agent.

Reason #1 why you should know how your house functions, and not leave it up to the plumber, the carpenter, the landscaper/bad guy.

I don't think Dr. Nick is dead because the woman asked Reddington if he had ever spared someone who deserved to die. That was the connection to the first scene with him pleading for his life. I don't think he deserved to die, but maybe Reddington did.

And now, for something completely different... Well, I thought it was rather interesting, even if it was kind of a giveaway that he was in fantasyland. I think everything he dreamed up was not meant to be a recollection of something literal, but an allegory of the choices he made and how they led him to that spot. The beginning of the episode implied he was on the verge of killing the doctor, who is blameless in the whole fiasco of last week. I guess that was the answer to her question of whether he had spared anyone. On the lighter side, what kind of top flight assassin carries a flip phone instead of a smart phone. Of course, there's no butt dialing during a job, so that's a plus. Why did he want to go to Cape May in the first place? When did he stay there the first time?

It's the dog. He wants Lizzie back for his revenge.

What the hell? Babysitting? And a consultant putting the bug in Casey's ear about national office, too. Gabby sure had the stink eye going there. Did Casey walk the kid home from graduation, too? Otis needs some CaseyCreme, so he can get rid of whatever affliction he has, if he ever finds out what it is. I liked the Jeopardy Bar game. It must have taken Gabby awhile to gin up those answers. Paging Kelly Severide, medic needs assistance with horny woman in apartment on Michigan Dr. Casey needs to establish some borders between Job1 and Job2. Shouldn't there be a ward office for people to contact their alderman?

I think they just wanted a seventh inning stretch, so to speak. After last week, the groundwork was laid for revisiting each tattoo for a new clue. I hope it doesn't go there. If anyone is allowed to bring Dotcom down, it should be Patterson.

At least it's not as bad as the Scandal-verse, where the Attorney General sits with the Chief of Staff on a public park bench, next to a food vendor, discussing items of national security.

Something else occurs to me. Other than plot requirements, why wouldn't the FBI do just what the ISI agents did? Assuming, 1)that their target is in the building, 2)he can be identified by The Mouth, and 3) the building can be sealed off, it would make far more sense to just take a SWAT team up there and lock down the entire floor. You're all under arrest, don't move. Yeah, it's nice to recover the Gardner paintings, although it doesn't jibe with real life. And speaking of the paintings, why the worry about alerting the art historian/thief about their presence? Again, "We're the FBI, buddy. We're taking the paintings. Got a problem, call the cops. Explain why you have them."

As soon as they walked down the hallway past the samurai swords, I said to myself, "Aha, the Chekhov Samurai Swords." And so it was, in the dumbest fight scene yet. Everyone stood around and let Jane do the work, although each of them, save The Mouth, would have been armed. Highlight of the evening was seeing Jane without tattoos. Yeah, Kurt, you all got played. And you all deserved it. Sloppy work all around. By the way, you cannot hide a parachute container, even a BASE rig, underneath clothing. It will show. But what the hell. Who was that woman that got into the car with Mayfield? Through an unlocked door, no less. I like how the FBI team meets up on the roof, pointing guns at The Mouth, and ordering him not to jump. Or else what?

I don't think he would have been euthanized at the farm, anyway, unless they planned on burying him there, so it wouldn't have been shown. The obvious reason being that 1000# of animal is difficult to deal with after death. I do wonder why it was put in there, though. It didn't really connect with the rest of the show dynamic. Maybe it will come up again in a different context, although I hope it won't be another "Henry loses another one" rant.

If Alex was at the very least a competent agent, not the superstar that Miranda says, she would have realized that the blood tests that all the NATS did at the physicals would reveal Caleb's drug use, and he would immediately be gone. But he's still there, so, let's think about that....no, can't be, she says. I have to meet him after he "escapes" from his mother's house. This show is reaching levels of absurdity not seen since the Under The Dome days. Having trainees pair up to answer a confidential questionnaire? Reading the results out loud in front of the class? Having the trainees look over the afflicted reports to see what is wrong with their fellow trainees? To borrow the quote from the beginning of the show, "You are the front line of defense against America's enemies"; Be afraid, folks. Be very afraid. So, last week's episode with Shelby and The Voice is just dust in the wind? Nothing to be concerned about, anymore?

If nothing else, Reddington should have a bit more spending money in his pocket, as he doesn't have to keep rounding up gear and people to save Liz from the predicament of the week.

As we have seen in real life, from Mayors to Presidents. Power breeds arrogance. Oddly enough, I never noticed the Blue Jays tee shirt in that scene. I keyed in on the wall plaque behind them, saw the word Royal, and immediately knew it was the Canadian spies.

One last stab at quirkiness in a courtroom, I suppose. I was flashbacking on the movie Airplane!, with all the random PA announcements. Was that the same passport control clerk that they used on The Blacklist last week? I was waiting for Ms. Ballistics to blurt out (completely unaware of Dianne's marriage to Kurt) "He gave me this necklace at the gun show in Baltimore." Awkward moment x 10.

He asked two of the mercs to drive the real ambulance as the decoy. Knowing that Solomon would take the bait, it was a hugely risky move on their part, as, obviously, they physically ran it off the road. In addition, if he even suspected they were Red's guys, they were dead on the spot. They had to sell themselves as actual medics.