S09.E03: The SPK

[paigow]

A new case involving stolen artifacts reunites Red with a former blacklister; Aram faces a difficult decision.

Airdate: Nov 4 / 21

[saber5055]

Oh boy, a new episode! This show is must-see-teevee because of the posters here. Looking forward to some fun snark from y'all. And Aram's "difficult decision" ... what on earth could THAT be? Tune in to find out!

[ottoDbusdriver]

2 hours ago, saber5055 said:

 And Aram's "difficult decision" ... what on earth could THAT be? Tune in to find out!

I hope that it is something more interesting than his choice of peanut butter -- crunchy or smooth.   :)

[saber5055]

Robert Vesco! Hey, where's your cat?

[Surrealist]

Paging @ottoDbusdriver:  Robert Vesco's returned. We need answers on his cat.

Weecha's a total badass!

Edited November 5, 2021 by Surrealist

[edhopper]

Aram, you could have been a silent or minority partner and still made a fortune. You got bought out for chump change.

And there is a thing called the internet, where people buy things on the black market, anonymously. Not live in a place that was used for a Rave the night before.

[NeenerNeener]

So Agnes comes out, and I'm whispering to myself "Please don't call him Pinky. Don't say Pinky"....and then they both say "Pinky".

I'll have to check the IMDB and see if it lists the actress who played Agnes tonight; she (or they if it's twins) seem to be a better actress than the kids who played her last year. The line readings are better.

ETA: yep, different kid. Halleluiah.

Edited November 5, 2021 by NeenerNeener

[saber5055]

Man, those black eye bags under Agnes' eyes. Yikes. She's not all that healthy under Cooper's guidance. She's gone all Goth, and so young, too.

I laughed out loud when Cooper told Red he couldn't see Agnes because he's "a cold-blooded killer." Like, what was Lizzie? She murdered/tortured a boat load of people yet she's some kind of sainted deity? Gag me.

[mxc90]

Dembe showed restraint and patience with Ressler's wise cracks and accusations. Eventually, Dembe is going to snap and give him an ass whipping he will never forget. At least, he could have rubbed in Ressler's face that he caught Vesco all by himself, while Ressler was playing with his urine.

Ressler hair looked a little better this week. The NBC makeup department must have finally gotten the correct order of hair products/equipment needed for Diego. They had to improvise the two previous episodes and it went badly.

What is Red's motivation to keep going to Cooper with blacklisters? He is the head of the Skinners, has an aide (who can shoot a target without looking) and a witch under his command. It seems it's just to get free work from the FBI team or for them to rub out his competition. Cooper is not letting him see Agnes. Red should have been withholding critical cases just for that reason and use it as leverage to see Agnes.

By having Agnes not see Red for 2 years, what do the Coopers think would have happened to her if she had seen him earlier? Would she have started to run a criminal empire from the school cafeteria? Or run a program providing answers for all exams for a large fee?

I like that Park had to remind Ressler he is not agent. My questions: When was he an agent when he was an agent? Why does he have a gun now?

If only David Kangas knew Park's and Resssler's reputation of chasing criminals and didn't need to set himself on fire. He could have given them the slip easily by going through the back of the shed. They would have never caught him.

In the brown bag was real soul food from New York. The auctioneer can't get that in his area. Red made him very happy.

Ressler is reading "5 ways employees can cheat a drug test". Was hide the eye drops in you sleeve the 6th option? I would have preferred he researched "One way to not come back to the FBI to make TV viewers happy"? Did the website instruct him to hid the eye drops in the drawer at work for Park to find and guzzle water in front of her to make her suspicious? 

Ressler gets a diluted negative, had to ask what does it mean and is given another chance? The FBI is too lenient with this fool! Kick him out!

Park must be the one on drugs to tell Ressler he's good at being an FBI agent and needs this job.

I can't believe I heard Red tell Vesco he's concerned if "another body drops". The man must be slipping.

I hope the urine test comes back showing Aram has been eating a lot of Butterfingers.

That guy beaten with the wrench was still alive?!

Red has be doing a lot of kissing lately. The lady last week and now Vesco. A Playa has to play.

I like that the SPK henchman is outing Giovanni as Vesco "a fugitive from the FBI" as if he is disgusted the man in charge of the criminal organization is not a "Saint". Who knew the SPK had high standards.

I think the writer's brought back Robert Vesco just to mess with ottoDbusdriver. When the lists of events were being told from the previous time he was on, I almost thought they were going to mention something about his pets. Cruel people they are.

Aram needs to change his ringtone to "Loser, Loser"! 

Why is Aram's now ex-business partner running to Aram's parent's house to pop champagne? They can't be the first people he thinks to go to when a big deal strikes. I think Aram's parents are going to be in his entourage, disown Aram and adopt the moneymaker.

Edited November 5, 2021 by mxc90

[dwmarch]

3 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

I think the writer's brought back Robert Vesco just to mess with ottoDbusdriver. When the lists of events were being told from the previous time he was on, I almost thought they were going to mention something about his pets. Cruel people they are.

And last week they had a joke about cats (Red asked if there was one handy because there were three Skinners in front of him) so I think at this point they're just fucking with us.

So Ressler is back on the hillybilly heroin now? Well, that was sure a compelling plot the first time around but I'm sure there's lots of mileage left in it.

Agnes is 11 now? I'm sure there have been a few time skips in this show but 11 seems a little much considering she wasn't born until at least a few seasons in.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Initially I thought that Aram's angel investor was going to be Reddington.  Red's got the money.
Aram should have just been a silent partner, and put all his money in a blind trust while he was working at the FBI. 
What a dumbass for giving up the big money.

Agnes is 11 -- that means when Lizzie was killed Agnes was 9.  No way Agnes was 9 back then.  

While we did get the actual Robert Vesco, still no sign of his cat, or the dogs, or Sierra the cat.
In fact, Vesco never even asked about his cat.  What's that about ?

 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

29 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

That guy beaten with wrench was still alive?!

Surprisingly, so was the 2nd guard shot in the Italian church, since only 1 guard died.

29 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

Why is Aram's now ex-business partner running to Aram's parent's house to pop champagne? They can't be the first people he thinks to go to when a big deal strikes. I think Aram's parents are going to be in his entourage, disown Aram and adopt the moneymaker.

That was a little weird.

It's also very likely that the investor was willing to invest because Aram was part of the start-up.  Without the founder who had impressed him, the start-up isn't worth as much, or maybe anything.

 

 

Edited November 5, 2021 by ItCouldBeWorse

[paigow]

These writers must have been watching Billions - The Mike Prince backstory of ripping off a start-up partner is recast with Aram as stooge....

Vesco will have to spend the $100 Million on all the other inmates for survival... 

[Dowel Jones]

I was really, really hoping that they would show Vesco sitting there, petting his cat in an homage to Mike Myers in Austin Powers.

The icons stories reminded me of the tales of gullible pilgrims in the Holy Land buying pieces of 'The True Cross'.

[paigow]

Dembe will punk Ressler by selling him "clean" urine from a pregnant woman...

[milkyaqua]

Always nice to see Stacy Keach (he'll always be Mike Hammer to me).

So Red knows Dembe knows he has a private plane and he leaves it where Dembe can find it because he thought Dembe would just let him and Vesco fly away?  Sure, that probably made sense to Red but you'd think a criminal mastermind might not put his eggs all in one basket.

And yes, Aram could have remained a silent partner.  Why sell out something that was his?  He does need to change that ringtone.  He's such a noob.

This Agnes even looks a bit like Lizzie.  I still want to know why Red even thinks he's entitled to be involved in Agnes' life.

Just what type of drugs has Ressler been taking?  Also, Park is holding it over his head?  What kind of bizarro world is this?  Just how is Ressler going to beat this test anyway?  It's not like they're going to give him 30 days before the next one.  Do they not have to go through security screening like x-rays which would really cut Ressler's ways of cheating?

[saber5055]

14 hours ago, mxc90 said:

I think the writer's brought back Robert Vesco just to mess with ottoDbusdriver.

This made me laugh so hard.

As for Park having Ressler's drug test ... since when do co-workers have access to confidential personal information? Unless now Park is also head of the task force HR department. Yeah, that's it, so never mind.

[NeenerNeener]

8 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

I still want to know why Red even thinks he's entitled to be involved in Agnes' life.

Because he's her grandmother Rederina?

[Dowel Jones]

Anyone want to speculate about the MacGuffin that Red gave to the auctioneer?  He said it was one of seven.   Was it an icon, or some other sort of rare object?  I can't think of anything offhand that had seven pieces.

[paigow]

22 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

Because he's her grandmother Rederina?

And he got her into that expensive pre-school by figuring out which puzzles were on the admissions test...

[PBnJay]

3 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Anyone want to speculate about the MacGuffin that Red gave to the auctioneer?  He said it was one of seven. 

I thought of the Brad Pitt movie "Seven," so a head in a box came to mind. It also could be one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Only Red would be able to put one in a brown paper bag.

[paigow]

10 hours ago, PBnJay said:

I thought of the Brad Pitt movie "Seven," so a head in a box came to mind. It also could be one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Only Red would be able to put one in a brown paper bag.

Red might be able to find hand crafted bags of Envy on Etsy...

Edited November 7, 2021 by paigow