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S02.E05: The Front


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That was pretty bad.  I missed the first few minutes -- where did Lizzie get the stunt double with the nice rack who was flashing Lizzie's watcher and leaving love notes on the window ?

 

I actually laughed out loud when Lizzie entered that room in the airport --  so incredibly stupid !!

 

As soon as the leader inhaled first, I knew that he wasn't going to die from the plague -- cult leaders rarely do, but they have no problem ordering their believers to their deaths.

 

After all that rushing around and quarantining, exactly 1 person died of the plague -- WTF ?  I find that hard to believe since they only had a dozen or so vials of the cure that the CDC managed to manufacturer enough for planes full of people within 9 hours of exposure.

 

Lizzie unconscious in the hospital bed was some of the best acting Megan Boone did all episode.

 

Lizzie getting all angsty about the husband and baby she didn't have --  does she not realize that without Red's intervention she would have still had a fake marriage to a covert operative, only now with a baby.  Because her life just isn't complete without a perfect family.  Gaggh !!

 

And where's her dog ?

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OK, who played Lizzie's body-double.  Because, shallowly, she was hot!  I would much rather see more of her (not just in that way, dammit!), then Lizzie.  She's probably a better actress too (she really didn't have enough scenes to determine that.)

 

So, basically, The Blacklisters were just boring, cult bio-terrorist, that dig up and unleash some kind of old-school virus on the world, because they got the drop on Lizzie when she had them in her sights (why is that not surprising?)  They briefly put Samar and Lizzie in peril, but there is no way they're getting killed off.  The FBI runs around like headless chickens, until Aram (a.k.a. probably the smartest guy in this group) just calls Red, and Red does what Red does.  Yep, no surprises here.  Red could do all this in his sleep, at this point.

 

Speaking of Red, he's now found whoever this mysterious girl is.  I wonder where this is going.

 

OK, I'll admit that scene of Aram and Samar in her hospital room, was nice.  I'd ship them, if I felt like this show would go anywhere with them, but I have my doubts.

 

Next week, we'll find out what is behind the door.  I think I know what it will be, but maybe they'll surprise.  Maybe it's the dog.  Or maybe it's William Shatner, and we can get a Boston Legal reunion with him and Spader!

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Next week, we'll find out what is behind the door.  I think I know what it will be, but maybe they'll surprise.  Maybe it's the dog.  Or maybe it's William Shatner, and we can get a Boston Legal reunion with him and Spader!

 

They teased Lizzie sitting looking at that door at the end of the last episode and then nothing came of it this episode. Who knows -- that preview scene of Lizzie actually entering the door will probably appear at the end of next week's episode and it will be yet another week after that (just in time for November sweeps) to find out what's behind the door. Are the producers dragging it out thinking that viewers are on the edge of their seats to see what's behind that door ?  Because absolutely no one gives a shit what's behind the door.

 

OK, who played Lizzie's body-double.  Because, shallowly, she was hot!  I would much rather see more of her (not just in that way, dammit!), then Lizzie.  She's probably a better actress too (she really didn't have enough scenes to determine that.)

 

To quote Teal'c from Stargate SG-1, "Indeed".

 

ETA:  I was wrong about Lizzie and the secret door -- I completely missed the scene where the big guy comes out and then she went in the door, but nothing ever came of it.  WTF ?

 

I like how within minutes of the plague being discovered, the local authorities had managed to string up fences complete with quarantine signs on them.  It would take 9 hours to even find who all had contact with patient zero after she collapsed, let alone have a diagnosis and 3 stage profile of the disease by the CDC.  Who's kidding who here, all the 1st generation infected would have been dead long before the end of the episode.

 

The preview teases #LIZZIESSECRET -- is that the name of some new deodorant hitting the market ? Or is it the fact that she is a bad FBI agent and has been faking it all this time ? Or is it the fact she has a boy toy tied to a bed and she goes in there to clean out the pipes every now and again (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more, say no more) ?

 

And it looks like Lwaxanna Troi's butler, Mr. Homn, from Star Trek TNG is the bad guy next episode (it certainly looks like him).  I wonder if he speaks much.

Edited by ottoDbusdriver
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Is the key from the bottle connected to mystery girl?

 

That seemed like a really odd place to hide the key -- one good wind storm comes up in the middle of the night, all the bottles get smashed they may never find that key.  Yeah, it looked kind of neat, but was completely impractical.  How long had that key been there ?

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I take it it's Tom in the locked room?

That was a surprising amount of nudity for a network show.

Okay just once: let the plague kill off half of the US or Europe. No one on the show is going to care that all of Iowa fell prey and died. Doubt they would even notice: it's Hollywood.

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Continuity glitch! When Lizzie is getting her double to impersonate her, we can clearly see that the other gal is wearing a plain old blazer. Yet somehow when she gets upstairs she's got a leather jacket on, just like Lizzie's. And when Lizzie comes back, the gal is still rocking the blazer even though the spy caught her through the window rocking leather. They could have at least had a scene in which Lizzie hands her leather jacket off to the other gal.

 

Speaking of that leather jacket, why does she only wear it for Red? Usually, when a woman will wear leather for only one man, there's something sexual going on.

 

Aram rocked in this episode. I am still unsure if he told Lizzie about Red's efforts deliberately or because he's just not that sly. But seeing him at the hospital bed at the end, I think he is that sly.

 

So the CDC, the world's premiere authority on contagious diseases, can't deal with this pneumonic plague because it's old. But a bunch of enviro-terrorists not only manage to mass produce it, they also develop a cure that only the boss gets. Riiiiight.

 

Looks like Lizzie is going to adopt that baby. If the way she treats her dog is any indication, Pee Wee Herman should be handing the baby over to someone else within two episodes.

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What I want to know is what Pepper didn't tell Beck. I assume it was about the pregnancy because he didn't act upset when the wife was injured, but it isn't easy to hide a 30 week pregnancy.  Speaking of pregnancy, unless there was a time jump there is no way they'd delliver a baby a baby at 30 weeks unless they had to, which is not the case here.  Another thing, who killed Beck and Pepper, I assume Red but I thought he walked away as you could hear the Feds coming.

As far as the girl I'm convinced she is NOT his daughter.  She is Berlins daughter, unless Berlins daughter is Lizzy. I think LIz is Berlins daughter simply because she'll have to choose between him and Red when the time comes, the Drama! Oh maybe they are sisters !!! Either by Red (had an affair with Berllins wife) or Berlin didn't know his wife was pregnant when he went to jail and the other girl is the daugther he supposidly killed. Either way sets up a bunch of conflict. I also think Tom is behind the door

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So the CDC, the world's premiere authority on contagious diseases, can't deal with this pneumonic plague because it's old. But a bunch of enviro-terrorists not only manage to mass produce it, they also develop a cure that only the boss gets. Riiiiight.

 

Add in the fact that the enviro-terrorists also mutated the 700 year old plague and managed to do all of the above in a couple of days in showtime.  I'm calling BS.

 

I take it it's Tom in the locked room?

 

If she did have Tom in that room, why would she be pining away for the good old days when she was married to Tom and had a baby shower for the adoption that never happened when she would more likely be torturing him for information ?

 

ETA: 

 

I assume it was about the pregnancy because he didn't act upset when the wife was injured, but it isn't easy to hide a 30 week pregnancy.

 

There's no way that woman who was hit by the car was 30 weeks pregnant -- no way at all. When she landed on the ground, her stomach was flat.  You would think they would have at least put a prosthetic on the actress to make it look like she had a baby bump.  Then add in the other ridiculous parts of this scene -- the cab driver knows enough to honk his horn but doesn't even slow down or stop to check if she's alright or even turn his head as she rumbles over the top of his cab (almost like a stunt driver was driving it).  Then there's the fact that Beck and Pepper leave their Prius parked in an entrance to what is clearly marked as a 24 hour driveway (only in the overhead shot of the cab hitting the woman, the Prius is clearly parked beside the entrance to the 24 Hour driveway).  Or the fact that Pepper covers up her face with her hands not once but twice -- once in the overhead shot, followed by a street level shot.

 

Plus, why did the woman who was hit by the cab have an anti-theft security tag on her sweater ?  You could clearly see it when she laid on the ground.  Did production intend to return it to the store ?

 

And the whole secret about a cadre of 4 priests in the 1300s taking the body of a colleague that contained a weaponized virus developed by the Byzantines and the Ottomans in the 13th century and then those priests stashing the body in a Indian burial ground on Staten Island before New York was even discovered (let alone before Columbus' time) is far fetched for even for a Clive Cussler novel, let alone in this show.

 

Plus I'm not to sure if the writers really grasp the whole concept of distance and direction, but 31 miles east of anywhere on Staten Island does not put you in lower Manhattan near the Freedom Tower, they should have been looking somewhere several miles east of JFK.  Do the writers not think of things like that when they type this nonsense on their Macbooks sitting in Starbucks ?

Edited by ottoDbusdriver
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Yeah, like Liz and the other Mossad woman running after the infected guy, just the trail he leaves behind will be enough, then there's the struggle when he facepalms her, there was no need to spray her afterwards... then Lizzie going all out to hug the newly infected woman, but there was already a cure, so no biggie? what if there wasn't? (wait it's TV)

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Yeah, like Liz and the other Mossad woman running after the infected guy, just the trail he leaves behind will be enough, then there's the struggle when he facepalms her, there was no need to spray her afterwards... then Lizzie going all out to hug the newly infected woman, but there was already a cure, so no biggie? what if there wasn't? (wait it's TV)

 

When Lizzie entered that room with Agent Mossad woman, she did not know that a cure even existed yet which makes her decision even stupider to enter that room, though you're right they probably would have been infected by the cloud of infected air surrounding him as he ran.

Edited by ottoDbusdriver
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Gee, I just thought that Red gave the red-haired girl a nickname by calling her "Pepper" in an offhand way. I mean, he tends to be overly-familiar with people anyway, and he could hardly call her "Red" if you get my point, and calling her "Ginger" wouldn't work as well considering the freight that name has been invested with thanks to "South Park" and "Gilligan's Island." "Pepper" is a cute nickname for a spicy redhead, and it is kind of demeaning which seems to have been his intent.

As to the new mystery woman, who's to say that Liz does not have a sister? (Just finished Kate Attinson's "Started early, Took the Dog" and that mystery hinged on the fact that no one asked the right question, which was "Were there two kids?" so this is in my mind)

As far as Tom-in-the-Box goes, this show has SO jumped the shark that I suppose there is nothing to say that there is not some human storage locker in Queens that you can rent a space in for your baddie. I mean, didn't anyone see "Old Boy"? Maybe this is the same place!

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As to the new mystery woman, who's to say that Liz does not have a sister? (Just finished Kate Attinson's "Started early, Took the Dog" and that mystery hinged on the fact that no one asked the right question, which was "Were there two kids?" so this is in my mind)

 

And where is Lizzie getting fat stacks of Benjies to pay her stunt double ?  That had to be a several thousand dollars she paid her with.

Edited by ottoDbusdriver
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So the CDC, the world's premiere authority on contagious diseases, can't deal with this pneumonic plague because it's old. But a bunch of enviro-terrorists not only manage to mass produce it, they also develop a cure that only the boss gets. Riiiiight.

There's also the fact that the plague bacteria is supposed to have survived centuries in a skeleton and dried skin and that simply dropping the bag of bones would release it into the catacombs and kill everyone as the head terrorist threatened. It's not like they were performing an autopsy on a fresh corpse without adequate protection and splashing fluids all over the place. Did anybody die from exposure when the remains were moved to the church?

 

The scientist who pointedly corrected the statement that the Black Death was the pneumonic plague, not the bubonic one, should have known that according to the latest consensus, it is thought to have been a combination of the three main strains (there's also septicemic plague and a few others). Or rather, the writers should have known through a little basic research.

 

Does Reddington know every person that matters in every criminal group everywhere? He must get writer's cramp when he finishes signing his yearly stack of Christmas cards (although his address book is getting smaller with every episode). 

 

I kept watching only in the hope of an appearance by Mr. Vargas. Alas... although Aram worked as a small consolation.

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I like how within minutes of the plague being discovered, the local authorities had managed to string up fences complete with quarantine signs on them.  It would take 9 hours to even find who all had contact with patient zero after she collapsed, let alone have a diagnosis and 3 stage profile of the disease by the CDC.  Who's kidding who here, all the 1st generation infected would have been dead long before the end of the episode.

 

Judging from how the CDC has handled just THREE people getting Ebola, I think you may have a point.

Does Reddington know every person that matters in every criminal group everywhere? He must get writer's cramp when he finishes signing his yearly stack of Christmas cards (although his address book is getting smaller with every episode). 

 

And now we know the REAL reason behind The Blacklist!

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I've only watched a few of these since my mom came to visit, but - we're supposed to take this seriously, right? It's not Supernatural or Sleepy Hollow, we should really believe in maps hidden behind paintings that no historians were the least bit curious about, monks hiding secrets beyond the tech of their time, terrorists with bio-weapon skills beyond the tech of our time?

 

Ah, what am I saying, I'm just here to watch James Spader school Nic Cage on how to handle a ridiculous role you're only in for the paycheck.

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Jamoche

 

I've only watched a few of these since my mom came to visit, but - we're supposed to take this seriously, right? It's not Supernatural or Sleepy Hollow, we should really believe in maps hidden behind paintings that no historians were the least bit curious about, monks hiding secrets beyond the tech of their time, terrorists with bio-weapon skills beyond the tech of our time?

 

Ah, what am I saying, I'm just here to watch James Spader school Nic Cage on how to handle a ridiculous role you're only in for the paycheck.

 

Seriously.  This is one of the MANY times I hollered at my TV: "COME ON! Really!?!"  The Government knew about this, and didn't confiscate this important document?  There is only so much suspension of disbelief in me.

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Lizzie getting all angsty about the husband and baby she didn't have --  does she not realize that without Red's intervention she would have still had a fake marriage to a covert operative, only now with a baby.  Because her life just isn't complete without a perfect family.  Gaggh !!

Not to mention that she surely would not be a big noise in the FBI if she had to rely on her own "talents" and not Red's influence.

Without this childish character this could be an excellent show - better balanced - not only being interesting when Spader and Co were on. IT guy, Mossad agent and Spader and crew would be a great nucleus for a show. But to borrow from Rumsfeld -- You don't go to air with the show you wish you had - you go to air with the show you have.

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Is the key from the bottle connected to mystery girl?

 

It is? That connection was completely lost on me. Red's speech went kind of like "You know why I'm here" (to Beck) - "Where is it?" (to Pepper) - "Oh, you didn't tell him?!" (to Pepper), as if all of this related to one and the same single subject. If his visit was all about the mystery girl and the key that Pepper didn't seem to resist giving up, why did he have to wait for Beck to show up? Especially since Dembe apparently found the plague cure without Beck's help. Or was that key needed to get the cure? I'm thoroughly confused.

 

Aram rocked in this episode. I am still unsure if he told Lizzie about Red's efforts deliberately or because he's just not that sly.

 

I thought it was deliberate. His whole attempt to console Lizzie was too awkward for Aram's mentioning Red's request to be just a slip-up. "I think you made the right decision. I've seen you in action, you don't crack under pressure. You are not even scared of Red like I was the other day when he asked me to... Oops, never mind..." 

 

My favorite Harold's contribution was "Get to the morgue and bring me the autopsy results, we need to know what killed her." Well, sir, there was this taxi...

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I'm crossposting this at the WSJ blog to see if anyone has any ideas. BTW, Keith there pointed out that the NBC recaps often explain or reveal things left out by the actual show ;).

"The Girl" can't be Berlin's daughter. He was sent to the gulag because she eloped with a dissident, so she must have been at least an older teenager. Perhaps Zoe could be Berlin's granddaughter.

The girl in the Stewmaker photo is young, and the photo was not one of the more recent in the book. It seems time-wise and by appearance not to be Zoe. But it must have some connection to her, if Aram would use it to track her. Another suggestion that Zoe is Berlin's granddaughter, and the photo is of her mother.

The locket Berlin receives in the gulag was a gift he'd given his daughter, and the photo is of her. It does greatly resemble the Stewmaker subject, to my mind. I don't think it could really be Redd's daughter. I had wondered if a young undercover Redd could have been the "dissident" who eloped with Berlin's daughter. If so, perhaps Zoe is their child. So she'd be Redd's daughter, but not the one he had with Naomi. I also don't think the little girl in the film reel looks much like Zoe, including very curly/wavy vs. straight hair.

The first time we see Liz in the warehouse, she sits and looks at The Door. She is tossing keys in her hand, which I assumed would unlock The Door. But later she asks "The Samoan" (NBC's title) for permission to enter The Room because The Door is now open. He seems disdainful of Liz. I don't think she owns The Room. I prefer WSJ Keith's idea that The Samoan is a bodyguard/bouncer, and Liz is being given/exchanging intel inside The Room. Here's an idea: I'm sure Tom was the hood with glasses watching Liz from a car in S2E1. Maybe he made contact with her and is feeding her info about Berlin. The Room could be Tom's hideout -- he IS behind The Door, but not for the reason we think. Perhaps Tom has also provided some information about Redd, and that explains Liz's changed attitude towards Redd.

I'm curious about the keys Liz was jangling in the warehouse. I also have no idea who Pepper is in relation to Redd, or what the old-fashioned key is about. If she is Redd's agent, that might explain his ease in finding the compound. He seems to receive the location from Aram, but maybe he is discreetly pointing Aram in the direction of the solar farm. If Redd gave Liz The Front as a Blacklist target, he might have learned from Pepper the group was about to launch an attack. None of this explains the key.

Quarantined Lizzie tells Samar that the antidote will come because of Carrie Anne's baby. Hunh?????

Edited by LaurainLA
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Okay just once: let the plague kill off half of the US or Europe. No one on the show is going to care that all of Iowa fell prey and died. Doubt they would even notice: it's Hollywood.

 

Hey, now - the show might not, but your friendly forum mod has family in Iowa!

 

How about we kill off South Dakota instead? ;)

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Okay, how the hell did the monks from the 14th century know about virusus? Microbes were only discovered in the 17th century, and viruses not until the late 19th or earlier 20th. Also, the Byzantines and the Ottomans HATED each other.

 

On the other hand, the Ottomans DID use dead plague victims as cannon fodder.

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Quarantined Lizzie tells Samar that the antidote will come because of Carrie Anne's baby. Hunh?????

 

Because if Carrie Ann hadn't tried to escape to save her baby, they wouldn't have known that the plague was out there and known what they needed an antidote for and been able to limit exposure in time to develop an antidote.

 

Which is still Hunh?, but it makes Lizzie sense, I guess. Also, it gives her an excuse to consider adopting the baby, because undoubtedly the authorities remember her fondly from that thing less than a year ago where she agreed to adopt a baby and backed out.

Edited by Julia
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I was ready to give up on this show...this episode was so rote, so mundane...then I saw Red confront The Front and I was reminded about why I keep coming back, plus those ending montages...they were great, touching even. Gave me hope that maybe we'll resolve this "Red's daughter" crap the show has been feeding us...

 

...okay, likely not...but I did let out a nice big "awww" seeing Samar Navabi grab Aram's hand...they might actually be cute together.

 

...by the way, I'm making it a thing to always refer to Samar Navabi as "Samar Navabi"...not just "Samar" or "Navabi", only 'cause this show liked to pound into my head what her whole name is. So she is always "Samar Navabi".

 

The case...I don't know if I should bother talking about it. It was just one giant cliche- I mean, how many other times have we seen the story of "guy creates deadly plague, unleashes it out into the world?" Come on...been there, done that. The thing about them being enviornmentalists has been done to death too. I also think The Front planned this thing pretty poorly if the FBI was able to stop the spread as quickly as it did (especially given how stupid the FBI is in this world).

I did enjoy the twist that the two lovebirds had injected themselves with a cure, although looking back I should have seen that coming a mile away. Hey, maybe that cuts me out for the FBI!

 

Oh, and I really enjoyed that one of the travellers was going to Toronto...be still my broken heart, there's an American TV show that knows my country exists! *sniff* Not only that, but Sniper Dude is a hockey fan!...Jon, you're killing me here.

 

Probably the thing that irks me the most was the nod to the Byzantine-Ottoman Wars of the 14th century. I might have missed part of the explanation, but I wouldn't find it plausible that the Byzantines and Ottomans would agree to bury this strain of the Plague...the Ottomans were kicking European butt at the time (including Byzantium's) so if the Europeans came across something that could destroy their hated enemies...they wouldn't hesitate to unleash it. Sure, some European communities would likely get caught in the crossfire but this was *the Ottomans*, who, as Muslims, were the sworn enemies of Christendom...a few lost Christian communities wouldn't trouble people...in fact, people were so fervent that they might allow themselves to die for the cause anyway.

 

Oh, and the silly idea that the strain would find its way to North America? Neither the Byzantines or Ottomans had a fleet capable of travelling that far- no one did, really.

 

I suppose I should say "nice try" but once again it sounds like someone "pulled something cool" from the history books and barely understood it. I have a history degree...this kind of stuff really bugs me.

 

Ultimately it's really just a quibble...the real issue is that the show is stuck wanting to do two storylines, with one "central mystery" and the "Case Of The Week", and it's really not working. The writers are just too subtle and deliver too few payoffs for the mystery element to really work, and the Cases seem more of an afterthought than anything really planned out. I miss how it was last year when each episode essentially was just the Case of the Week, with the mystery elements tying into them. Personally, I don't care if it may not be realistic- at least it gave the stories a sense of cohesion. This season is just way too discombobulated.

 

...but hey, Lizzie's door is going to be unlocked next week! Who here hopes it one big tub of ice cream? I do. *big toothy grin*

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Which is still Hunh?, but it makes Lizzie sense, I guess. Also, it gives her an excuse to consider adopting the baby, because undoubtedly the authorities remember her fondly from that thing less than a year ago where she agreed to adopt a baby and backed out.

Hah! I love the idea of "Lizzie logic". I just need to let the art wash over me ;).

If the Powers that Be let her adopt that baby, Dembe and Mr. Vargas will end up raising it. Bleh. Maybe the baby can be Redd's chance for redemption.

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As to the new mystery woman, who's to say that Liz does not have a sister? (Just finished Kate Attinson's "Started early, Took the Dog" and that mystery hinged on the fact that no one asked the right question, which was "Were there two kids?" so this is in my mind)

 

Oh, I like her books.  Otherwise, I got nothing.  I was with Mossad lady in thinking that Lizzie has to be the dumbest agent alive for not shooting Mr. Eco-terrorist man but that's kind of standard Lizzie.

 

I'm simply watching this show for Spader at this point.

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Sorry Mr. Spader, even you can't make me watch this dreck again.  I'm out!!!

Wait! Don't go! Don't you want to know who's behind The Door? You can't leave yet; we're just getting started!

;)

I think the posters here and at the other blogs should collaboratively write this show and crowd-source the production. As long as we're not making money from it, I think it would be legal. And it would certainly be better!

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I take it it's Tom in the locked room?

And Lizzie is going in there every so often, feeding him acorns or whatnot, and saying, scornfully, "Dainty!  Dainty!"

 

I for one think that Lizzie is not Red's daughter.  I mean, who would throw a bad wig on that little girl in the video?

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Oh, and the silly idea that the strain would find its way to North America? Neither the Byzantines or Ottomans had a fleet capable of travelling that far- no one did, really.

Wikipedia: The Norse colonization of the Americas began as early as 10th century AD, when Vikings explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic, including the northeastern fringes of North America.

 

So Ottomans / Byzantines hiked to Scandanavia-  hitched a ride with some Vikings- and made Blacklist history.

ETA relevant quote

Edited by paigow
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Wikipedia: The Norse colonization of the Americas began as early as 10th century AD, when Vikings explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic, including the northeastern fringes of North America. So Ottomans / Byzantines hiked to Scandanavia-  hitched a ride with some Vikings- and made Blacklist history.ETA relevant quote

Not sure if you're being serious with your post, but assuming you are, the Byzantines did use Swedes as Imperial guards, though that too was in the 10th and 11th centuries. Byzantium was also close with the Russian state, which was just starting to gain its legs in the 14th century. However, the Russians- and by extension much of northern Europe- were still recovering from the Mongol invasions (thought to be the real source of the Plague) so I'm not sure anyone really had the resources to go to North America.

Plus I think everyone in Europe was more worried about the Ottomans than trans-Atlantic journeys, ones no Ottoman would likely have done. No one really thought of making that journey anyway until Constantinople- the Byzantine capital- fell in 1453.

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Wikipedia: The Norse colonization of the Americas began as early as 10th century AD, when Vikings explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic, including the northeastern fringes of North America.

 

So Ottomans / Byzantines hiked to Scandanavia-  hitched a ride with some Vikings- and made Blacklist history.

ETA relevant quote

 

However, Viking colonization of North America was very limited in scope. They went to Greenland and to Newfoundland and some evidence suggests Maine. Nevertheless, there is no evidence about European visit to all the way South and West to Manhattan before Columbus.

 

Back on topic, why is everybody talking about virus? The plague and its symptoms (bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic plagues) are caused by bacteria, Yersinia pestis. As such, while dangerous, the disease can be cured by antibiotics. Also, does the show really tell us that bacteria can survive for 700 years without living tissues to host them? 

 

This episode steers the show dangerously towards the direction of Da Vinci's Demons, and certainly not in a good way.

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I'm OK with the idea that they could travel to Manhattan from the 14th century Europe. At least it's not impossible, even if there is no evidence that this actually happened. What I don't get is why they wanted to bring the body over here. If you want to get rid of it, why not simply burn it in a big fire with all the necessary prayers and incantations and whatever else they had to do in the Middle Ages. Also, why did those monks think that getting rid of this particular body would get rid of the "weaponized" plague? It certainly was not the last plague victim ever, how did they know there were no more victims of this strain out there?

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I just reviewed the “Frederick Barnes” sequence where Red visits his old house and the “Front” section when he watches the film reel. In both his earlier memory and the film, the little girl (one of the recaps says she’s six, but who knows?) has long wavy hair and is blowing long bubbles from a large wand. It really looks like the same girl, but who can tell with the writers on this show?

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Just a thought......when Lizzie was jangling the keys in the warehouse, It made me think of the key she found taped to the bottom of the lamp last season. All I can remember of that was that she taped it back to the lamp so Tom wouldn't find out she found it. I can't remember if we found out what that key was for????

 

I don't think that Zoe is Red's daughter, because he always referred to her as YOUR daughter when talking to ex-wife last episode. He always calls her The Girl when speaking of her to others.

 

So the guy following Lizzie is Red's goon? Too much to keep track of!

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I'm OK with the idea that they could travel to Manhattan from the 14th century Europe. At least it's not impossible, even if there is no evidence that this actually happened.

I do grant that, but what gets me is the choice of the seafaring nations. There were better choices for that time period- the Venetians, the Genoese, the Mongols (who were actually accused of spreading the real Plague), maybe even the Papacy or the English- than the Byzantines and the Ottomans. At least they had fleets and the resources to sail to North America, not to mention easier access. The Ottomans were operating in the Balkans, and for their fleet to get to North America they'd have to navigate through the entire Mediterranean, complete with nothing but hostile ports (where they're available). I just can't see it happening.

So the guy following Lizzie is Red's goon? Too much to keep track of!

This underlines the show's real problem- the fact that the writers like throwing mystery after mystery, keep everything subtle and resolve very little. This was fun in Season 1, but now I just want them to get to the point!

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