S07.E03: Les Fleurs du Mal

[preeya]

S07:E03 Les Fleurs du Mal

Summary:  Aram goes undercover to infiltrate a secret society of wealthy thrill-seekers, whose entertainment hinges upon spectacular acts of violence. Meanwhile, Red tries to negotiate with a former associate involved in the Townsend Directive, while Katarina Rostova takes steps to insinuate herself into Liz's life.

[mxc90]

If Copper is going to post agents outside Liz's apartment, why not run background checks on the people living on her floor or see if anyone new moved in? Always "half ass" with this man.

Ressler is still in denial he got duped by the Illusionist. He had to call his "rising from the dead" as some great illusion. A quick pulse check would have provided confirmation if was alive or dead.

Are they sure he is dead this time?!

Red's Intel didn't tell him Charles Radcliffe will not be very helpful?

How strong is your marriage now Mrs. Radcliffe? And good job breaking your cover under pressure.

Of course the multiple bullets couldn't break the glass but a soft toss of the gun shattered it.

Ding dong ditch and add "splash". The FBI agents and thugs were too slow to catch up with Frankie after she jumped into the pool. She could have dried her hair and clothes before they gotten to her. Lucky she didn't hit one of the kids in the pool.

Now the group of people are appalled and disgusted at watching people die. They are turning on Prackett quickly.

The kiss from Mrs. Radcliffe was Aram the magnificent playboy's plan all along. He volunteered so quickly for this assignment because he is confident Mr. Radcliffe can't kick his ass (I think he can). Funny Katarina is reading about the big bad wolf as Aram is making a move on her.

Poor Mr. Radcliffe! I hope they don't bang in front of him.

So now that Red knows Frankie is "single", is the thrill of chase no good to him now?

Edited October 19, 2019 by mxc90

[dwmarch]

All hail King Pimp Aram! Nice to see him getting to be an action hero, flossing like a boss and getting the girl all in one episode! Plus he gets to drink at work with the Assistant Director of the FBI! Although I am in agreement with @mxc90 that it was super tacky for Aram to go over to Mrs. Radcliffe's place so they could make out in front of her still-alive husband.

I didn't have closed captioning on so I might be way off-base with this but it sounded like Aram's cover name was Mr. Schlemiel which is Yiddish for incompetent person or fool. He was neither in this episode although I can see why he might have felt that way about himself.

Hey FBI, how about you don't use tracking devices that beep and have giant green goddamn lights on them?!?!

I wish they had included a scene where Agnes noticed that one of her dolls was out of place and Lizzie dismissed it. I guess they don't want to oversell Lizzie being the worst FBI agent in all of history.

[mxc90]

12 minutes ago, dwmarch said:

I didn't have closed captioning on so I might be way off-base with this but it sounded like Aram's cover name was Mr. Schlemiel which is Yiddish for incompetent person or fool. He was neither in this episode although I can see why he might have felt that way about himself.

On the CC, it was spelled "Shameel". 

[TigerLynx]

So Lizzie really is to stupid to live and the FBI really is this incompetent?  Unless the writers are going to pull a rabbit out of a hat, and say Liz knew what new neighbor was up to all along, they aren't even trying anymore.  Even I didn't think Liz was this dumb.

[ottoDbusdriver]

59 minutes ago, dwmarch said:

Hey FBI, how about you don't use tracking devices that beep and have giant green goddamn lights on them?!?!

So much this .... and .... for good measure it was freaking huge for covert transmitter !!  What was this .... 60s-era tech ??  I'm just surprised it wasn't powered  by a pair of 'D' batteries.

The Blacklister of the week has all this high tech security, but the electrical breaker panel is out in the hallway unlocked and unguarded  Seriously show ??

Still no sign or mention of the dogs or Robert Vasco's cat.  And no update on whether Dom lived or died.

[Dowel Jones]

Red mentioned that he was still critical, but he hesitated, so who knows.  Depends on how much Brian Dennehy costs per episode.

Liz couldn't see through the anvils that have landed in the hallway ("I got what I came for".  really?), but finally falls to it, we hope, in the course of a fairy tale.

So, is Caroline going to get a Blacklister number if she goes to work for Reddington?

Attorneys are going to fall over the Murder group faster than (alleged) college admission scandal circles.

The writers are probably going to make Mrs. Radcliffe a Blacklister too, on some long con to get into the FBI inner sanctum by romancing Aram.

Okay, isn't 'Reddington' a Russian who took over realReddington's identity blah blah blah?  How did he know the meaning of 'ding dong ditch'?  Did they play that in Moscow, too?

[torqy]

(All the above) and: How long are we to be subjected to the Rostova storyline?

[ottoDbusdriver]

So, did Reddington put up the million dollar entrance fee ?  Because I'm pretty positive the FBI didn't.

[Loandbehold]

4 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

So, did Reddington put up the million dollar entrance fee ?  Because I'm pretty positive the FBI didn't.

You're forgetting Aram's mad hacking skillz.

12 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Of course the multiple bullets couldn't break the glass but a soft toss of the gun shattered it.

It's like one person being unable to open a jar, but the next person does easily. The bullets loosened the glass. 

[Surrealist]

I'm still of the belief that Red is Katarina Rostova. 

[KStarTango]

14 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Red mentioned that he was still critical, but he hesitated, so who knows.  Depends on how much Brian Dennehy costs per episode.

I noticed the hesitation and the look between Reddington and Dembe; he’s probably dead. Why wouldn’t Liz visit him?

14 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Okay, isn't 'Reddington' a Russian who took over realReddington's identity blah blah blah?  How did he know the meaning of 'ding dong ditch'?  Did they play that in Moscow, too?

This is definitely a clue. Red mentioned it too many times. Does this mean he’s really American? 

[KStarTango]

17 hours ago, TigerLynx said:

So Lizzie really is to stupid to live and the FBI really is this incompetent?  Unless the writers are going to pull a rabbit out of a hat, and say Liz knew what new neighbor was up to all along, they aren't even trying anymore.  Even I didn't think Liz was this dumb.

This is almost hard to watch. There’s a mysterious woman who captured Red and then a mysterious woman moves next door? Um, hello!? There’s no way a new tenant would move in without being vetted by Red. He’s got to have someone watching her residence. And wouldn’t the observant FBI agent notice she hadn’t heard her keys drop on the floor? They didn’t fall on carpet.... On one hand, Liz almost seems like she knows, but I can’t believe she’d let a potentially dangerous person live next door. Unless she doesn’t believe her mother is dangerous and is playing stupid to get to know her. But what a creepy story to read for a grandmother!!!!! 

[KStarTango]

19 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Ressler is still in denial he got duped by the Illusionist. He had to call his "rising from the dead" as some great illusion. A quick pulse check would have provided confirmation if was alive or dead.

I noticed this too! Ressler is such a baby. 

[Dowel Jones]

It would have been a lot better if she had finished off the story with "And the the Wolf said, "I'm done with you, Red...Riding Hood!"

[edhopper]

Cooper agrees to send Lab Tech Aram instead of Ressler because Aram can empathise with her loss. It's not like Ressler didn't watch his fiancee die in front of him or anything? And yeah, Liz is an idiot.

Edited October 20, 2019 by edhopper

[paigow]

1 hour ago, edhopper said:

Cooper agrees to send Lab Tech Aram instead of Ressler because Aram can empathise with her loss...

Ressler is a proven halfwit, poor marksman, slow runner...undercover fail waiting to happen.....

[mxc90]

Katarina mentioned "children" when she was in Liz's apartment. Probably not likely to happen but I want to see an "evil" or "good" (depends how you view her) twin of Liz?

Edited October 20, 2019 by mxc90

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 10/18/2019 at 10:13 PM, mxc90 said:

Of course the multiple bullets couldn't break the glass but a soft toss of the gun shattered it.

Well, if the bullets had penetrated the glass, they would have also penetrated her legs or torso, so....

I'm surprised that Aram didn't at least try to take her place, ala The Hunger Games.. He could have claimed he wanted the ultimate thrill, and maybe knocked her out so that she was no longer eligible.

Pretty funny that Aram hadn't anticipated a jamming device in a place full of millionaires watching homicides taking place.

On 10/20/2019 at 10:34 AM, mxc90 said:

Katarina mentioned "children" when she was in Liz's apartment. Probably not likely to happen but I want to see an "evil" or "good" (depends how you view her) twin of Liz?

To me, if someone says "I miss having children" it means she misses the children she once had, or perhaps raised, not a single child she lost early. It also would be an extremely awkward way to say she regrets missing the opportunity to have children. I guess I now don't think she is the Katarina from Masha's/Elizabeth 's childhood. Also, her Russian accent is completely gone, whereas Ilya had already shed his when they were young, so Red wouldn't be expected to have one.

Edited October 25, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Johnny Dollar]

Lizzie continues her streak as the world’s dumbest FBI agent. She knows that a woman was the one who almost killed her grandfather and kidnapped Red. Has it never occurred to her that KR is not dead, since everything else in her life turned out to be a lie?  And does she not detect just a sliver of familiarity in the face of her nice new neighbor who showed up out of nowhere just as all of this has been happening and would be the perfect age as KR?  And while having guards at your door when you’re home is great, how about investing a few hundred bucks in some Ring cameras. They even sell them at Walmart. And Red should be watching Lizzie’s apartment for KR to show up too. Lizzie’s stupidity must be contagious. 
 

[Loandbehold]

4 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

Lizzie continues her streak as the world’s dumbest FBI agent. She knows that a woman was the one who almost killed her grandfather and kidnapped Red. Has it never occurred to her that KR is not dead, since everything else in her life turned out to be a lie?  And does she not detect just a sliver of familiarity in the face of her nice new neighbor who showed up out of nowhere just as all of this has been happening and would be the perfect age as KR?  And while having guards at your door when you’re home is great, how about investing a few hundred bucks in some Ring cameras. They even sell them at Walmart.

She specifically left Ressler in charge of inside-the-building security, including screening all new tenants.

[andipandi]

On 10/19/2019 at 5:23 PM, Dowel Jones said:

It would have been a lot better if she had finished off the story with "And the the Wolf said, "I'm done with you, Red...Riding Hood!"

It's interesting that she ended with the old school version where Little Red gets eaten by the wolf, not rescued by the woodsman. Nowadays fairy tales are sanitized so even the woodsman version is considered violent.

Seriously, they changed the lyrics to "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly" and "It's raining it's pouring".

This lady can't be katarina. I know time can change people and harden them (see next ep) but...

Edited November 4, 2019 by andipandi
spelling

[saber5055]

I just watched this last night. Cooper sending Aram to a sting where people are routinely murdered because he "needs field experience" was beyond stupid. But this is the "special" FBI task force after all. Ahem.

I got a kick out of Aram's fly white suit, which he continued to wear after coming back to the FBI room, and then was STILL wearing when he and the Missus boarded the boat, or whatever that was. Then, mysteriously, he enters the party in an equally fly black suit. I guess the white suit was reversible. But good on Aram for not dropping any food on it or sitting on a dirty chair so it stayed Bright White.

As a horse person, Aram's story about his racehorse could have been so easily checked by the bad guy. All he had to do was ask what the horse's Equibase rating was. Or, tell me the horse's sire, or what track did it race on, who was his trainer, who was his jockey, in what race at what track did the horse break down. And what insurance company did he have his policy with. It would have made more sense, and been nearly impossible to research, if Aram -- I mean Schmeel -- had lost a fortune in the stock market. Or made a fortune in stocks.

Cooper continues to irritate by telling Lizzie since she's a single mom, she can come in late or skip work or do anything she wants because he has the hots for her. Okay, so he didn't say that last part, but it's so obvious she is "spay-shul." I still think Cooper is Lizzie's real father.

So Cooper has two guards on Lizzie's apartment door. Odd that we've never seen them, plus I guess they just lean against the wall out there since there are no chairs. Red, you are slipping, you need to go visit your "granddaughter."

LOL that Dom is either alive or dead, depending on how much Brian Dennehy costs.

Aram had that transmitter in a shoe that Maxwell Smart loaned him. He should have called Cooper with the phone in there while he had the heel off.

Mr. Schmeel shooting the tank holding his new woman was such a WTH moment, then breaking the entire tank with the thrown pistol was a real WTF moment. Then I remembered reading here that the bullets weakened the glass so the tossed gun could break it, and it was all okay. Although that scene was straight out of every 1960s western tv show where the six gun runs out of bullets so the gun is ALWAYS thrown at the bad guy. There must be thousands of empty revolvers laying around the Old West since obviously if a gun runs out of bullets, you just toss it and buy a new one that's loaded.

Aram and the woman together is just gross. I'm saying the husband can still hear and think. I hope he regains mobility and kicks Aram's *ss. But I guess we're suppose to think that Cooper, by sending Aram on this deadly mission, made him learn to love again. (gag me)

The lady buying Agnes the old-school fairy tale book was nasty, the wolf eats Red. But I guess Agnes didn't mind, beings her ma is Lizzie and all, people getting eaten alive are no big deal. Then there's Lizzie, who has a pot of day-old coffee cooking while she's out shopping so she can invite strangers in for a cuppa.

No thanks!

[mxc90]

In case anyone (like me) didn't know the meaning of Shameel. 

Source Urban Dictionary: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Shameel

Quote

A Shameel is an extremely sexy and attractive man usually of Indian descent. He is a ladies man and more attractive than other men for example, a Louie. He is also very smart and muscular. This word was first used in the early 2000’s.

Friend: look at that hot guy over there!
Me: I KNOW RIGHT HE’S SUCH A SHAMEEL!

Did Aram pick this name? Arrogant bastard!

[Loandbehold]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

Mr. Schmeel shooting the tank holding his new woman was such a WTH moment, then breaking the entire tank with the thrown pistol was a real WTF moment. Then I remembered reading here that the bullets weakened the glass so the tossed gun could break it, and it was all okay.

You're quite welcome.

[saber5055]

48 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

In case anyone (like me) didn't know the meaning of Shameel. 

LOL! I associate it more with Laverne and Shirley's theme song: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!" which, according to Penny Marshall, translates to: “A Schlemiel is an inept clumsy person and a Schlimazel is a very unlucky person. There's a Yiddish saying that translates to a funny way of explaining them both. A schlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup and a schlimazel is the person it lands on.”

I think that defines Aram better than the Urban Dictionary def.

[saber5055]

So what was that tank filling up with, ice cubes, diamonds or Calgon bath oil beads?

[saber5055]

I was hoping Red would say to the Ding Dong Ditch woman, "I hope you enjoy the bottle of Champagne I had sent to your table" before he disconnected that call to her. You know, sort of ruin her enjoyment of her Chinese take out.

[mxc90]

On 11/3/2019 at 2:34 PM, saber5055 said:

LOL! I associate it more with Laverne and Shirley's theme song: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!" which, according to Penny Marshall, translates to: “A Schlemiel is an inept clumsy person and a Schlimazel is a very unlucky person. There's a Yiddish saying that translates to a funny way of explaining them both. A schlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup and a schlimazel is the person it lands on.”

This fits Aram and Ressler. I can see those two skipping to work each morning singing this! 

On 11/3/2019 at 2:40 PM, saber5055 said:

So what was that tank filling up with, ice cubes, diamonds or Calgon bath oil beads?

Probably the tears from her husband knowing she's playing spy with Aram.

Edited November 5, 2019 by mxc90

[andipandi]

I thought it was water pods of some kind.

[Chaos Theory]

I thought this episode was old school fun Blacklist.   Let’s face it this show is never going to make a lick of sense but I enjoy the “Let’s have fun while catching some crazy ass criminal mastermind” more then whatever dreary crap the show has been doing as of late.    It’s not the Liz backstory and FYI I don’t hate Elizabeth Keen.  I think the show was always at its best when it was Red and Liz solving/committing crimes for the greater good. I think maybe I just dislike “Who is Red” in connection to Liz.   The show needs to pick a lane.   It made sense when he was her father.  Now it just feels like the show flying off again in all directions.

But at least Aram is having a good time.

The James Bond gets the girl story I approve of because Aram needs a win.

Edited November 6, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[Notwisconsin]

On 10/18/2019 at 11:28 PM, TigerLynx said:

So Lizzie really is to stupid to live and the FBI really is this incompetent? 

according to the Republican party, yes. But the villain was a wonderful throwback to the days of Snidely Whiplash