S07. E13: Newton Purcell

[mxc90]

Quote

First Aired: April 3, 2020

The Task Force investigates a series of attacks on data centers perpetrated by a blacklister with a peculiar condition, as Liz conducts a secret investigation on the side. Meanwhile, Glen desperately tries to prove his value to Red after a shipping mishap.

 

[mxc90]

Surprised it wasn't Elodie's plan for her and Aram to have sex in the air. Can they end this story line! Now the husband is gone, so it's a start.

Why is the pre-nup on the table for anyone to walk in and see? Maybe Elodie was hoping one of Charles' ex girlfriends walked by, caught a look and got jealous.

Poor Elodie! She hooked up with the wrong man. Aram has morals and will try to end her chances at $10 million. Why was he at the house anyway and "Eye of the Tiger" playing in the background?

Lately, Glen has been careless with his assignments. Red and he needs to have a serious conversation about his future in the organization. Now it's up to Red to try and bribe a priest in order to make up for his carelessness.

The contest had too many 5 minute breaks.

Red is getting soft, he rewards Glen with a new car.

There are no dealerships in Maryland Red could have had the truck deliver to?

The cop was distracted/moved his hand off the truck because the woman passed him a cell phone and he's disqualified. That's some friend/relative/companion. I see a lot of speeding tickets in her future.

Newton walks up to Healy and says "do you need a jump?". The answer shouldn't be "Yes" but "How the hell did you know I need a jump?"

The FBI agent (with a nice desk) Liz asked for help failed and he recommends she hire a P.I.! Terrible!

I wonder what caused Libby's back door to be destroyed. From her spot in the backyard, she didn't look to be in great shape/position to get passed Newton, run to the house, closed the door and he needed to break it down.

Newton could have been a rich man with his invention but used it for petty revenge. I can see why his girlfriend left him.

In the basement If Ressler was Park, he would have gotten his ass kicked. That's the second time she tried to kill someone in self defense. 

Park had the best line of the night: "from what I've seen, I didn't think this task force had a line".

Edited April 4, 2020 by mxc90

[dwmarch]

21 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

Poor Elodie! She hooked up with the wrong man. Aram has morals and will try to end her chances at $10 million. Why was he at the house anyway and "Eye of the Tiger" playing in the background?

Lately, Glen has been careless with his assignments. Red and he needs to have a serious conversation about his future in the organization. Now it's up to Red to try and bribe a priest in order to make up for his carelessness.

In the basement If Ressler was Park, he would have gotten his ass kicked. That's the second time she tried to kill someone in self defense. 

Park had the best line of the night: "from what I've seen, I didn't think this task force had a line".

 

Elodie made her on bed on this one seeing as to how she specifically told Aram there was no pre-nup. If she hadn't mentioned that it wouldn't be an issue. Now Aram is going to think that she did something to cause his recent medical issues and he's probably going to be right.

I don't see Glen as being careless with this one because who could anticipate that a dealership is going to take a special order truck and turn it into a contest prize? If anything, Glen really had something to prove here and he did it, even though it was two days of pain. I am pretty sure the last time we saw Glen, Red lost his patience with him and threatened his life. Glen was trying to remind Red that he is a lieutenant (or lackey) worth keeping around. I appreciate the ambiguity about whether or not the pastor accepted Red's bribe.

No kidding about Ressler! Is Harold trying to make sure he doesn't get hooked on the hillbilly heroin again? Why else would you send the two tiniest, most adorable FBI agents (with no backup) to confront a ruthless murderer?

I like that Park has a streak of darkness to her and a snarky sense of humor to go with it.

I wonder why they did an explicit callback to that wooden box matching Lizzie's burn scar. She even had to twist her arm around awkwardly so it was visible. I am not counting on this show to give me a resolution to that mystery that will begin to pay off keeping it going for seven seasons.

Nice contrast with the classic "Eye of the Tiger" and the cover version that was all sad and mournful. Speaking of contrasts, I like that Red is having fun. All the angst that was front-loaded into this season is boring quite frankly.

Last but not least, line of the episode goes to Dembe: "I'm not massaging his feet." Someone on the writing staff is a Pulp Fiction fan:

 

[Twilight Man]

12 minutes ago, dwmarch said:

Nice contrast with the classic "Eye of the Tiger" and the cover version that was all sad and mournful.

It reminded me of the hilarious somber version of "America!  F@CK YEAH!!!"

(Not to mention the ridiculously somber version of "The Touch")

15 minutes ago, dwmarch said:

I like that Red is having fun. All the angst that was front-loaded into this season is boring quite frankly.

The producers have claimed that this second half will show Red having "fun" a lot, and I agree.  I like it when Red looks and acts like "The Chessmaster".

 

1 hour ago, mxc90 said:

Park had the best line of the night: "from what I've seen, I didn't think this task force had a line".

HA HA HA HA

[mxc90]

12 minutes ago, dwmarch said:

Last but not least, line of the episode goes to Dembe: "I'm not massaging his feet."  

I don't blame Dembe. What was going on with the bottom of Glen's feet? NBC could have been kind and put up a warning!

12 minutes ago, dwmarch said:

I don't see Glen as being careless with this one because who could anticipate that a dealership is going to take a special order truck and turn it into a contest prize? If anything, Glen really had something to prove here and he did it, even though it was two days of pain. I am pretty sure the last time we saw Glen, Red lost his patience with him and threatened his life. Glen was trying to remind Red that he is a lieutenant (or lackey) worth keeping around. I appreciate the ambiguity about whether or not the pastor accepted Red's bribe.

Maybe not careless but Glen has been giving Red unnecessary stress. I think that 2x winning pastor is flaunting a new Maybach to his congregation!

Yes. I believe the last time we saw Glen, Red was throwing his sandwich at the wall.

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, dwmarch said:

I wonder why they did an explicit callback to that wooden box matching Lizzie's burn scar. She even had to twist her arm around awkwardly so it was visible. I am not counting on this show to give me a resolution to that mystery that will begin to pay off keeping it going for seven seasons.

Nice contrast with the classic "Eye of the Tiger" and the cover version that was all sad and mournful. Speaking of contrasts, I like that Red is having fun. All the angst that was front-loaded into this season is boring quite frankly.

Yeah, we're never going to an explanation about the the mark on her arm -- or why it is replicated on the lid of that box. So stop teasing us show.

I think I missed out on the Bossanova version and Disco versions of Eye of the Tiger -- makes me think that they paid a lot of money to license that song, and used it as much as possible.

Otherwise, I thought the Blacklister o' the Week -- Newton Purcell -- was pretty weak.  Couldn't he just move to another town that didn't have a data center ?  And he barely qualifies as a Blacklister since this is the only time he has done this -- no years long reputation as the premier data center destroyer on a global scale.   

Nice to see that the audio torture was sponsored by Apple.

Much as I like Glen, Red's plot with him and the truck was just so much filler because the Blacklister o' the week was so underwhelming.

I just don't care about Aram and his misadventures with Elodie and her now dead husband -- I was just surprised that they didn't skydive naked.

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Surprised it wasn't Elodie's plan for her and Aram to have sex in the air.

Believe it or not, it's been done, out at a drop zone here in California.  Filmed, too.  The FAA got involved just to make sure there wasn't any distractions to the pilot while the couple was in the plane.  Anyway, moving on....

Do we know who Liz is looking for?  I didn't recognize the photo.

The auto contest was done on Third Watch a long time ago, and the cop (Skip Sudduth) got taken out of the contest when one of the others arranged a fake purse snatching which he felt compelled to chase down.

Nice to know that the server farm runs on a single 220volt line.

Some terminally dumb people in this episode.  Tech at the server center looks at Purcell, and says, "Oh yeah, you're the guy", even without ID?  And don't those door handles work both ways?  He should have been able to open the door by moving the handle up.  Second up, who opens their door to a stranger in a parking garage?  And lastly, who lets a stranger into their house/yard on the flimsy excuse of "I lost my dog"?

If Elodie is capable enough to arrange a delayed reaction aneurysm to her husband, Aram should probably shuffle off exit stage left.  He's in way over his head.  Just had a thought- maybe she's an honest to God Blacklister!

[Brian Cronin]

1 hour ago, Dowel Jones said:

Just had a thought- maybe she's an honest to God Blacklister!

I mean we met her at a competition where rich people competed to the death, ya know? She's  clearly not a well woman.

[mxc90]

5 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Believe it or not, it's been done, out at a drop zone here in California.  Filmed, too.  The FAA got involved just to make sure there wasn't any distractions to the pilot while the couple was in the plane.  Anyway, moving on....

Do we know who Liz is looking for?  I didn't recognize the photo.

I do believe it. It was long ago when I heard about it (just forgot where it happened).

I think that was a picture of young Ilya Koslov.

5 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Just had a thought- maybe she's an honest to God Blacklister!

Or maybe the doctor is on the blacklist. He researches pre-nups and make arrangements with the greedy wives/husbands for a cut.

[ottoDbusdriver]

28 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

I think that was a picture of young Ilya Koslov.

What was the whole point of keeping things vague that she was looking for Ilya ?  I'm pretty sure everyone on the team knows about him.

And did Lizzie honestly think she had any chance of finding him through regular channels.  She really is that dumb.   Which means Agnes hasn't got a chance at success in life saddled with the Lizzie dumb-genes.

How Aram hasn't got a PIP yet from Harold I have no idea ?  Who goes skydiving early morning on a workday ?  Who stops mid-briefing with superiors to check a personal text ?

[Dowel Jones]

It would have been a great cameo if Purcell had planted a dog in the woman's back yard and they had used on of Liz's missing dogs.

[saber5055]

5 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

How Aram hasn't got a PIP yet from Harold I have no idea ?  Who goes skydiving early morning on a workday ?  Who stops mid-briefing with superiors to check a personal text ?

A radio show the other night had people call in telling about what bad things they did at work, so bad they should have gotten fired, but they never did. I think Aram was one of the callers.

So what that Elodie has a pre-nup. What difference does it make to anything. She could have knocked off hubbie ages ago. Aram slept around with a married woman with a disabled husband and that's okay, but now that she's going to inherit millions -- and probably won't let Aram impregnate her so he  won't have the kids he so desperately wants (!) -- he will break it off. So much dumbassery.

Ressler had the best line of the show, about Aram screwing a married woman. I guess no one else cares, including Cooper. Or maybe they just haven't noticed. Yeah, given it's the Crack Task Force, I'm going with that second thought.

LOL that Aram goes skydiving before work, then rides his bicycle to the office. What, did he pedal to the air field with Elodie on the handlebars?

The dog in the backyard was such a whack excuse given that the woman's back yard had no fence, adjoined a zillion other back yards, so any dog back there would have kept on going. But whatever. *hand wave*

Park strangling Purcel ... what was up with Lizzie being all righteous and side eyeing Park when she should have been telling her THANK YOU for saving everyone's ass by taking Purcel out. The guy tried to kill Park, and when Park let loose of the rope, Purcel was just "Oooh, my neck hurts." He didn't fall unconscious to the ground, needing resuscitation.

Agree that Purcel could have just moved instead of building some fantastic machine to kill a couple of people. Where I live, I can sit outside and all I hear are some tree frogs and birds. And at night I can see every star. March was great for night viewing with Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn easily visible. Just have to look up. Oh ... and after dark, even the birds and frogs are quiet.

As for the happier goofy Red, I'm still irritated at him for killing Mr. Kaplan, this show's best character besides Dembe and Glenn.

In Lizzie's mystery box ... was that a passport for Agnes? And why keep it hidden under the floor, like is she planning some major crime. And if that photo is young Ilya she's looking for *sigh,* show, just let it go.

The woman she hired ... was that the woman actor/nurse from when Red was captured? Not that I really care.

Cheap side note: Lizzie actually looks good in a stocking cap. Not so good without it.

Edited April 4, 2020 by saber5055

[mxc90]

5 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

The woman she hired ... was that the woman actor/nurse from when Red was captured?

The 2019 Red killed the actor/nurse.  If she was alive now, the 2020 Red would have purchased a house for her.

The woman with Liz is the PI the FBI agent recommended.

[Dowel Jones]

Glen is going to be just a little upset in the long run that he won that truck.  The IRS considers game prizes as income, I understand, and taxes the winner on their value.  The dealership would have had to report the ~$60,000 truck prize and Glen would have to do the same at tax time.  Maybe he had a fake ID set up for the contest.

[Utpe]

On 4/3/2020 at 9:36 PM, mxc90 said:

Surprised it wasn't Elodie's plan for her and Aram to have sex in the air.

Or in the hospital when her husband passed.  Seems like that would've been a major turn-on for Elodie with her $10 million prenup.

[mxc90]

12 hours ago, Utpe said:

Or in the hospital when her husband passed.  Seems like that would've been a major turn-on for Elodie with her $10 million prenup.

I don't think she needed Aram for that moment. She was "done" 2 seconds after the doctor said he has passed.

[CaptainE]

On 4/4/2020 at 10:08 AM, mxc90 said:

The 2019 Red killed the actor/nurse.  If she was alive now, the 2020 Red would have purchased a house for her.

The woman with Liz is the PI the FBI agent recommended.

And by the looks of her, she will be dead in two episodes max.

There is no time for stupid shenanigans about agent Park (who can’t clear a room) and her darkness.  There are already too many goofy loose threads in the show that will never be explained by the idiot writers.

Where did Lizzies sister go again?

Edited April 7, 2020 by CaptainE

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, CaptainE said:

Where did Lizzies sister go again?

Hanging out with the dogs, never to be seen or mentioned again.

[saber5055]

On 4/7/2020 at 5:12 PM, CaptainE said:

Where did Lizzies sister go again?

Gone AND forgotten, at least by me, until you wrote this. Gah. Doesn't Red have a real daughter too, she was working a food truck some seasons ago? I pulled that from the recesses of my brain, which this show has managed to fog over pretty well.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/4/2020 at 12:54 PM, saber5055 said:

So what that Elodie has a pre-nup. What difference does it make to anything. She could have knocked off hubbie ages ago. Aram slept around with a married woman with a disabled husband and that's okay, but now that she's going to inherit millions -- and probably won't let Aram impregnate her so he  won't have the kids he so desperately wants (!) -- he will break it off. So much dumbassery.

She told Aram that there was no prenup. She lied. Probably because she didn't want to divorce her husband and "give up her lifestyle" (as Aram put it), and didn't want Aram to know that the money was more important to her than he was.

Speaking of the prenup, what lawyer would draft a document promising "ten million" to the wife in the event of widowhood? Ten million what, shares of stock? Rubles? Chickens? Who doesn't bother to write out the unit of currency?

Edited April 22, 2020 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/4/2020 at 7:40 AM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Who goes skydiving early morning on a workday ?  Who stops mid-briefing with superiors to check a personal text ?

Well, Lizzie gets to go off and deal with her personal business whenever, so fair is fair!

On 4/4/2020 at 12:54 PM, saber5055 said:

LOL that Aram goes skydiving before work, then rides his bicycle to the office. What, did he pedal to the air field with Elodie on the handlebars?

I figured that he put the bike in Elodie 's car and then she dropped him off (with his work clothes?) somewhere near enough to ride the rest of the way, but why anyone would do this before work, I have no idea. Were there no weekend slots?

Finally, I originally thought the Blacklister was an angry cochlear implant recipient who was selectively turning them on and off, although I didnt see how that would tie into the data servers. Very glad they didn't go there.

Edited April 22, 2020 by ItCouldBeWorse