S03.E16: The Caretaker

[Tara Ariano]

A State Department official is killed in Beijing, leading Red and Liz to "The Caretaker," a shadowy keeper who maintains a safety-deposit vault for criminals. Also, Tom makes a risky decision, and Liz continues her quest to learn more about her mother.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Liz continues her quest to learn more about her mother.

More of this. Ugggh. They might as well run a test pattern it would be more entertaining than the parts of the episode with Lizzie all mopey about her mommy issues.

[krimimimi]

Still, I prefer Mombatrosses any day to Demon Spawn storylines. Bring on the Momsters!

I think all of this shows just how hard the writers have to wrestle, with themselves *and* the story, to keep Lizzie relevant. Pity they couldn't have taken advantage of the situation to phase her out for a bit and realize how much good that would do the series. But then they'd take flak for lack of females, and the one who's left is considered "masculinized"* by virtue of being a one woman battle machine. But Samar is so much more pleasant to watch, not only because I don't gnash my teeth and wail whenever she appears on screen.

*I disagree that competence with weapons or hand to hand is an inherently masculine trait. I think it is inevitable that the characteristics that make someone good at a given job be applied equally to other people good at a job, regardless of gender or other "stuff."

[AimingforYoko]

This little dance between Red and Liz about Mme. Restova is so old. Rip that band-aid off, show.

Previews: Red Wedding? Really? Please don't try to associate with a far better show. (No without its own flaws, but far better)

[Free]

More of this. Ugggh. They might as well run a test pattern it would be more entertaining than the parts of the episode with Lizzie all mopey about her mommy issues.

 

Either reveal about her mom or not, stop wasting time.

 

 

This little dance between Red and Liz about Mme. Restova is so old. Rip that band-aid off, show.

Previews: Red Wedding? Really? Please don't try to associate with a far better show. (No without its own flaws, but far better)

 

If only the characters met the same fate, oh well, more of Liz's melodrama unfortunately.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Lizzie keeps forgetting the word 'again' -- as in " Tom and I are getting married ..... again". Then again maybe Lizzie has forgotten that she was ever married -- much like she has forgotten that she has a dog (I guess we can actually up that tally to two dogs Lizzie has forgotten about because the new dog has up and disappeared like a fart in the wind as well).

Am I the only one that seems to remember the extraordinary levels of hate she had for Tom ? It was off the charts, and now they are all lovey dovey.

The Blacklister of the week, "The Caretaker", is an actual caretaker at a cemetery, and he hides secrets inside dead bodies. Except for one thing -- how did the Caretaker have access to the body BEFORE it was buried ? And if he did have access why did he have to carve the bodies open -- shouldn't there already be a hole in the body from when he inserted the tube ? And it turns out he was being coerced by his own daughter. Did he leave the ledger just lying around the house ? This whole plot was pretty stupid.

Even stupider -- the secret pneumatic tube systems under the streets of New York. WTF ?

Yet the stupidest thing in this episode was Aram forcing Ressler to apologize to Navabi for calling her a bitch while he is defusing an actual ticking time bomb with the potential to kill them both.

Edited February 26, 2016 by ottoDbusdriver

[ottoDbusdriver]

That's real, or at least it was:  http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/pneumatic-tubes.pdf

I knew it was a real thing -- at its peak nearly a 100 years ago and discontinued sometime back in the 50s -- but how would these networks be resurrected now? They would need access to miles of dilapidated tubes that would have needed to have been repaired that would have required access to multiple properties, and large sections of the network would have been missing due to new development that went deep into the ground.

Interestingly enough, I was at a local Costco and they use a in-house pneumatic system for moving cash from the tills to a secure room.

[Free]

Lizzie keeps forgetting the word 'again' -- as in " Tom and I are getting married ..... again". Then again maybe Lizzie has forgotten that she was ever married -- much like she has forgotten that she has a dog (I guess we can actually up that tally to two dogs Lizzie has forgotten about because the new dog has up and disappeared like a fart in the wind as well).

 

She keeps having the same exact conversations with Red over and over again.

 

Am I the only one that seems to remember the extraordinary levels of hate she had for Tom ? It was off the charts, and now they are all lovey dovey.

 

B-b-but she 'loves' him, and if she whines about it each episode, it must be so regardless of the previous seasons.

[Iguana]

Oh for fuck's sake. Another change of heart by Lizzie about Red. Oh boo hoo, Red didn't tell you the whole truth, like that's the first time that's happened. But this time it's unforgivable, except we all know she'll change her mind again the next time she needs Reds help, which is, as always, constantly.

[Demented Daisy]

Delurking to say that as soon as Red said that some things are unforgivable, I knew Liz would use it against him.  When did this show become so anvilicious?

 

I look forward to the show as mindless fun, nothing to get worked up over or try to really analyze, but I am getting so tired of Liz and Tom and the insane idea that they can have any sort of "normal" life.  Neither one of them is actually thinking about the baby.  Considering the lives they lead, do they really want to subject a child to that?  They're constantly in danger and the child will not be buffered from that.  Bringing a child into their world is about as selfish as it gets.  

 

Every week, as soon as Tom appears, I say, "Kill him!"  But they never do.

 

Edited for clarity.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Demented Daisy

[Free]

Oh for fuck's sake. Another change of heart by Lizzie about Red. Oh boo hoo, Red didn't tell you the whole truth, like that's the first time that's happened. But this time it's unforgivable, except we all know she'll change her mind again the next time she needs Reds help, which is, as always, constantly.

 

It's like watching the scene on repeat, nothing actually happens because Liz is stuck doing the same thing over and over again.

[AbsoluteShower]

Lizzie keeps forgetting the word 'again' -- as in " Tom and I are getting married ..... again". Then again maybe Lizzie has forgotten that she was ever married -- much like she has forgotten that she has a dog (I guess we can actually up that tally to two dogs Lizzie has forgotten about because the new dog has up and disappeared like a fart in the wind as well).

THIS! Except it's not just 'again' it's 'again AGAIN' because they had that whole renewing their vows thing in season one! GAAAAAHHHH!!!!

[AbsoluteShower]

Am I the only one that seems to remember the extraordinary levels of hate she had for Tom ? It was off the charts, and now they are all lovey dovey.

 

At least they'll have some great stories for their twilight years - 'hey Tom, remember that time I had you chained up in a rusty boat for a month and you murdered that guy by strangling him with your legs? Good times!'

[Primetimer]

Why store information in computers when there are so many dead bodies just lying around?

Read the story

[Twilight Man]

OttoDbusdriver

 

the secret pneumatic tube systems under the streets of New York. WTF ?

forumfish

 

 

That's real, or at least it was:  http://about.usps.co...matic-tubes.pdf

OttoDbusdriver 

I knew it was a real thing -- at its peak nearly a 100 years ago and discontinued sometime back in the 50s

They were even using that plot device last season on POI.  Elias (the incredibly awesome Enrico Colantoni) rebuilt part of the system to send messages back and forth to his underlings.  He suspected that cell phones were being monitored.  Finch was impressed - "He's using an antiquated 100 year old system to outsmart a high tech artificial intelligence!!!"

 

And that is yet another reason we are less than impressed with last night's episode - don't use a plot device that was seen on another show from last year.

It just makes you look like the "writers" from that one Simpsons episode (the one where the family is on a rapidly changing reality TV show).

"We need a new idea - everybody take out your pocket TVs and start channel surfing!!"

[saber5055]

I have to say, this episode really pushed me to go from someone who has watched every episode to someone who now is wishing something else was on a different channel. WTH, have writers all gone on vacation and now some high school kids are creating this dreck? No offense to high schoolers. But this episode really stunk.

 

I didn't mind the pneumatic tube thing. I used to work for the feds in a very large fenced complex containing multiple buildings. We routinely sent paperwork to departments a quarter-mile away via pneumatic tube, just to save time from walking it there. I think the tubes under NY was a cool idea, real or Memorex. But the Caretaker keeping those tubes inside BURIED dead bodies? Please. He could have just put them in a little box buried next to the casket and saved a lot of digging and autopsy time. And what cemetery these days doesn't require a burial vault? The whole tube-inside-dead-carcass was nothing but STUPID.

 

The daughter kidnaps herself? WTH? Why? Because her brother SOMEHOW finds her decades after Caretaker took her home? And she doesn't say ANYTHING to Dad/Caretaker, even though he loves her more than anything? None of that made any sense.

 

I used to like Aram, but his whiney high-school "You tell her you're sorry for calling her a bitch" makes Aram the little bitch. To me, his subordination requires reprimand and put on probation, if not lose his job entirely. (He should have been canned after rewriting Ressler's review of Navim.) There are other excellent IT guys out there besides him. Harold Finch could find someone to take his place, no problem. Aram, so Ressler calls your girlfriend (who could care less about you BTW) a snotty name and you get all pissy about it, and possibly cause the death of not only your nemesis Ressler but your imagined girlfriend as well? Yeah, you're dead to me. (tm Mr. Wonderful)

 

Lizzie and Tom .. aren't they already married, and twice, as has been noted? I was all for Tom's ex to beat the cr*p out of him and was disappointed when she did not. She should have been able to, given his wounds, but I guess those pain meds were working OT so he could beat her up instead. Even then, those two had more chemistry than Liz and Tom.

 

Speaking of pain meds, again Lizzie opens the door w/o even looking to see who is on the other side. And as far as the dog goes, I imagined it ran out the door when the pizza guy, I mean the arms dealer, came in. So that takes care of THAT dog. Hopefully, Red will find it and give it to the DMV guy, or Mr. Kaplan. She could use a friend.

 

And in breaking news, Lizzie is blaming all her problems on her mother. "My mom caused me to be like this!" she cries. Please. Get over it. So many whiney *sses on this episode.

Edited February 26, 2016 by saber5055

[Biggie B]

I used to like Aram, but his whiney high-school "You tell her you're sorry for calling her a bitch" makes Aram the little bitch. To me, his subordination requires reprimand and put on probation, if not lose his job entirely. (He should have been canned after rewriting Ressler's review of Navim.) There are other excellent IT guys out there besides him.

 

Like Chloe O'Brien.

[Chaos Theory]

I orefered the first half of the season by a lobs hot but with Megan Boone being pregnant for reals certain things needed to be certailed. I don't mind the Tom and Lizzie stuff and I actually like that Lizzie is kind of pissed at Red. Red continues to lie to her about seemingly dumb ass shit that she always seems to figure out at the worst possible time...which yes is tropy but that is tv for ya.

Liz and Tom got annulled so they are no longer married and technically....legally never were.

I thought Aram was funny. Bitchy...this is the wrong time..,but funny.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[Free]

And in breaking news, Lizzie is blaming all her problems on her mother. "My mom caused me to be like this!" she cries. Please. Get over it. So many whiney *sses on this episode.

 

She always is, and if it's not the same back and forth with Red then it's someone else.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

So now how many times has Red committed such an unspeakable affront to Liz that she throws a tantrum? Seriously, she knows who Red is, and what he does and has done, how she can keep getting worked up over his "unforgivable" acts is just tiring. Normally, I don't "hate" on characters as much as many others do, but I am so over Liz and I would be VERY happy just having her gone to a remote desert island with Tom and raising their baby, and Red continuing to do a "case of the week" type of show with the Task Force with the end game of completely dismantling the Cabal (or is that no longer in the cards now that he has a seat at the table, which we haven't seen or heard about again)?

 

 

They were even using that plot device last season on POI.  Elias (the incredibly awesome Enrico Colantoni) rebuilt part of the system to send messages back and forth to his underlings.  He suspected that cell phones were being monitored.  Finch was impressed - "He's using an antiquated 100 year old system to outsmart a high tech artificial intelligence!!!"

They also used it in "White Collar" I believe.

Sigh...I can't wait until POI comes back, and I can't wait until this show gets put out to pasture so I can let it go.  It doesn't help that my TiVo doesn't do a good job recording with all the deep black that the show seems to love.  I think it is time for me to just stop watching on TiVo and just watch it online.

Edited February 26, 2016 by HawaiiTVGuy

[saber5055]

No kidding, TVGuy. I wish Red would just cut his whatever-ties with Liz and just move on. Neither he nor the FBI need Liz, she is just a PITA for everyone, including viewers. Red could team up with Tom's ex, the kick-ass one, and this would be a WAY better show. The only thing keeping me watching now is Spader. Even Ressler is being written like a big jerk, what with his newly expressed views on motherhood and women in general. Aram ... I used to like you, but now you are a petulant baby just like Liz.

 

GAH! Where did my show go!

Edited February 26, 2016 by saber5055

[AbsoluteShower]

Did anyone else get a distinct "Kill Bill" vibe from the previews for the next episode?

[ottoDbusdriver]

Liz and Tom got annulled so they are no longer married and technically....legally never were.

Legally, yes, but it's not like the first wedding ceremony never occurred. So it will be their 2nd ceremony if they ever get married ... again, I guess.

[slowpoked]

Did anyone else get a distinct "Kill Bill" vibe from the previews for the next episode?

That's what came to my mind when I saw the previews. Even the little chapel had Kill Bill vibes in it.

[Free]

Red could team up with Tom's ex, the kick-ass one, and this would be a WAY better show.

 

It would, shame we got stuck with Liz's melodrama.

[Danielg342]

Maybe it was the acting, but I thought Lizzie's family drama was interesting in this episode. For once I get a sense that there's a really big secret about Katarina Rostova that Red has- and regrets- and doesn't want Lizzie to find out about. Sure, I've known about that for a while, but now I'm actually interested in it- perhaps because, for once, Megan Boone actually rose to the occasion and played Lizzie just right. Maybe it's just me but I felt she was less "petulant child" and more "angry but suspicious", while Red was his usual "you don't know what you're getting into" routine.

 

For once, it actually worked.

 

As for Tom, well- great idea to want to "start anew" and decide to stop being a criminal. Finally, he's learning that his past life had its difficulties and prevented him from really being with Liz, so it's great that he was willing to change for Liz. I do have a funny feeling that what will happen to Tom will mirror what happened to Red and Katarina- Red tried to "walk away" and start a family but his past caught up to him, and I'm sure Tom's will too.

 

Speaking of Tom's past, this isn't likely the last of Gina Zanetakos...that was some fight between the two and Tom had quite the throwdown. Which means he's now fought and subdued three women on this show- Jolene Parker, Lizzie and Gina. Sure not afraid to hit a woman, is Tom? It's something I can get behind, because story-wise and character-wise, it all made sense, and "being a woman" shouldn't give any criminal special treatment. So props for that.

 

(Side note- boy, I sure wish I was Tom looking at Gina when she took off her towel...wow. Stupid FCC rules. :P)

 

I'm still torn about Gina now firmly separated from Tom- on the one hand, her and Tom have far better chemistry than Tom and Lizzie, but, on the other hand, if the storyline plays out the way I think it will, it might be fun seeing Tom's attempt at a normal life blow up in disaster with both Red and Gina looking at him saying "I told you so". Of course, then after that's done, I hope Gina and Tom wind up riding off together- because both characters are better that way.

 

Other notes- interesting idea but poor execution (ding! Seem to say that a lot about this show). This episode had all the pace of a high school infomercial...I just sat there watching and thinking, "who cares?" Perhaps what could have made it better is if they played the German side of the plot up more and actually made it integral to the takedown- Red coming in and figuring out the van's installer made that whole issue academic. Perhaps they intended the case to be "filler" for the drama of Lizzie and her family but that's disappointing- a guy who covers up the secrets of the "movers and shakers"? That's something you run with and put on full display. Did we really see any of that tonight?

 

Oh, and Aram...seriously? I was behind you with regards to Samar but you totally blew it...deciding to hold hostage Ressler and Samar because your widdle feewings are hurt? Come on...you put not just them in danger but a whole SWAT team as well as a whole city block. That's about as textbook a situation there is for a fireable offence. Besides, as others have noted, there are plenty of IT guys to go around...hey, Penelope Garcia helped out two teams for the Behavioural Analysis Unit and was once a hacker herself...surely she could work wonderfully with a dark guy like Red.

 

(I also think I'd pay to see Garcia prattle and Red yell at her to "just shut up already!")

 

Overall...meh. At least Red had more to do...and Dembe actually talked and said some important things. Plus Lizzie wasn't under or overplayed, as she usually is. So I guess that's a "win"...but the case was another wasted chance. Anyone want to take bets that if this show had even the small husk of a decent writer it could have been a bellwether of a series? So many great ideas wasted.

 

C-

[krimimimi]

Legally, yes, but it's not like the first wedding ceremony never occurred. So it will be their 2nd ceremony if they ever get married ... again, I guess.

Second one aired, but third one for those two wacky kids, because they renewed their vows back in season 1 (iirc).

(That provided them with the chance to interrogate Tom's "brother.")

My take away from this ep is Lizzie's cool with and happy to forgive people who try to kill her, but continually revisiting the the "I must keep secrets from you for your own good" plot is a hanging offence. At first I thought that makes her an even less sufferable idiot than normal. Then it dawned on me: she and I are in complete agreement for once.

[alias1]

Yet the stupidest thing in this episode was Aram forcing Ressler to apologize to Navabi for calling her a bitch while he is defusing an actual ticking time bomb with the potential to kill them both.

I so agree with this.  I used to like Aram, too.

[Dowel Jones]

So, you can get a Glock from the corner pharmacy?  What's the insurance code for billing purposes?

 

I don't really get the entire premise of "The Caretaker".  Why entrust your secrets to a third party?  Especially if they're buried (literally) so deep that they can't be easily retrieved should you want them back?

 

Dembe stepped just a bit too far in the car scene there.  "Just watch the road, Dembe".  I guess the account is squared in the final scene, though.  That snowboarding injury seems to have healed up nicely.

 

...that was some fight between the two and Tom had quite the throwdown.

 

You could see that coming as soon as she got out of the shower (with her underwear on).  Why would Tom, an accomplished assassin, stand so close to his quarry that she could rope in his gun arm with a piece of clothing?

 

I swear, in the first seconds of the kidnapper's takedown, I thought that was Wes from HTGAWM.  Annalise ain't gonna help you on this one, kid.

 

Ressler was juuust a bit too quick on the trigger for the van stop.  "Freeze, FBI", followed immediately by two dead guys.  And then the SWAT guy opens the van while standing directly behind the door.  Red shirts on sale now at the five and dime, for all you excess characters.  He got lucky this time, though.

[mertensia]

Poor kid with those two as parents. Just hand kiddo over to the only one who's going to take care of kiddo: Dembe.

Why don't bomb makers only ever use one or at most two colors of wire? Hard to cut the blue wire when they're all blue.

[RCharter]

Lizzie keeps forgetting the word 'again' -- as in " Tom and I are getting married ..... again". Then again maybe Lizzie has forgotten that she was ever married -- much like she has forgotten that she has a dog (I guess we can actually up that tally to two dogs Lizzie has forgotten about because the new dog has up and disappeared like a fart in the wind as well).

Am I the only one that seems to remember the extraordinary levels of hate she had for Tom ? It was off the charts, and now they are all lovey dovey.

The Blacklister of the week, "The Caretaker", is an actual caretaker at a cemetery, and he hides secrets inside dead bodies. Except for one thing -- how did the Caretaker have access to the body BEFORE it was buried ? And if he did have access why did he have to carve the bodies open -- shouldn't there already be a hole in the body from when he inserted the tube ? And it turns out he was being coerced by his own daughter. Did he leave the ledger just lying around the house ? This whole plot was pretty stupid.

Even stupider -- the secret pneumatic tube systems under the streets of New York. WTF ?

Yet the stupidest thing in this episode was Aram forcing Ressler to apologize to Navabi for calling her a bitch while he is defusing an actual ticking time bomb with the potential to kill them both.

 

agree about Aram forcing Ressler to apologize being off the charts ridiculous.  I love Aram, I think his crush on Navabi is cute, I wouldn't kick Aram out of bed for eating crackers, but I straight up rolled my eyes at that.  

 

I'll be cool with the caretaker because I love that actor.  But I'm assuming that he would hide the tubes in the bodies while preparing them and then used the ledger to figure out what bodies the tubes were in.  The reason he would have to cut them back open is probably because he had to glue or cement the body back together again for open casket funerals.  I also love the idea of a secret pneumatic tube system because I love pneumatic tubes (I was a child of the 80's and thats when they were big at banks)

Edited February 28, 2016 by RCharter

[paigow]

The Blacklist names are getting progressively less scary.... Who's next? #793 - The Crossing Guard?

[RCharter]

The Blacklist names are getting progressively less scary.... Who's next? #793 - The Crossing Guard?

LMAO,  Followed by #825 -- Front Desk Attendant at the Gym

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'll be cool with the caretaker because I love that actor.  But I'm assuming that he would hide the tubes in the bodies while preparing them and then used the ledger to figure out what bodies the tubes were in.  The reason he would have to cut them back open is probably because he had to glue or cement the body back together again for open casket funerals.  I also love the idea of a secret pneumatic tube system because I love pneumatic tubes (I was a child of the 80's and thats when they were big at banks)

But the caretaker of a cemetery very rarely has anything to do with preparation of the body prior to funerals. That's what confuses me.

[RCharter]

LMAO,  Followed by #825 -- Front Desk Attendant at the Gym

#204 -- The Avon Lady

But the caretaker of a cemetery very rarely has anything to do with preparation of the body prior to funerals. That's what confuses me.

Oh, I didn't really know what everyone at a cemetery did.  Maybe he does it all because its a small family operation?

[saber5055]

I almost had to schedule my own funeral since I was drinking coffee and eating Mini Wheats when I read paigow's post above. "You're KILLING me, paigow!" That, indeed, was comedy GOLD.

 

In major cities, dead bodies go to an assigned mortuary where the body is embalmed and fixed up for viewing, and a room is set aside for family and visitors to pay their respects. Sometimes there is a religious service held at the mortuary after the viewing. That's where "The Mortician" works. We'll see him as #324 in an upcoming Blacklist ep.

 

Then the mortuary puts the casket into a hearse limo and the deceased is driven to the cemetery where the deceased has purchased a burial plot. The grave has already been dug (by the cemetery caretaker!) but is disguised. After a grave-side service (if any), the casket is lowered into the grave after everyone leaves the cemetery and the grave covered up. By the caretaker on a little backhoe. I guess that's when our Caretaker could open the casket and insert the tube. Although why he doesn't just chuck it into the casket is beyond me.

 

Except it made for good "Eww" if pretty stupid tv.

 

Oh: Some mortuaries have their own cemeteries. That's when owners of those businesses get in trouble, when they "neglect" to bury the indigent, or bury people one on top of the other to save space and pocket burial-plot monies. There have been a few cases of just that in the Chicago-land area. Family goes to visit "mom's" grave ... and it isn't there.

Edited February 28, 2016 by saber5055

[ottoDbusdriver]

In major cities, dead bodies go to an assigned mortuary where the body is embalmed and fixed up for viewing, and a room is set aside for family and visitors to pay their respects. Sometimes there is a religious service held at the mortuary after the viewing. That's where "The Mortician" works. We'll see him as #324 in an upcoming Blacklist ep.

 

Then the mortuary puts the casket into a hearse limo and the deceased is driven to the cemetery where the deceased has purchased a burial plot. The grave has already been dug (by the cemetery caretaker!) but is disguised. After a grave-side service (if any), the casket is lowered into the grave after everyone leaves the cemetery and the grave covered up. By the caretaker on a little backhoe. I guess that's when our Caretaker could open the casket and insert the tube. Although why he doesn't just chuck it into the casket is beyond me.

 

Except it made for good "Eww" if pretty stupid tv.

 

Oh: Some mortuaries have their own cemeteries. That's when owners of those businesses get in trouble, when they "neglect" to bury the indigent, or bury people one on top of the other to save space and pocket burial-plot monies. There have been a few cases of just that in the Chicago-land area. Family goes to visit "mom's" grave ... and it isn't there.

That would have made at least a little more sense if he just tossed the tube in the casket prior to burial, but putting it inside the body was just a stupid idea by the writers.

[saber5055]

Plus, whatever "secret" is on the paper that goes inside the tube ... who wrote the paper? Does putting the "secret" on paper, writing it down, make it disappear from the originator? That person still has the secret in his/her head. Like Red burning his secret at the end ... he still knows what was in that envelope. Yeah, the "secret" was suppose to go to Lizzie after Red dies, but ... seriously, folks?

 

The entire premise of this episode was ... well, just plain stupid. Red burns his secret so it just disappears forever, and from Red's memory? Maybe in Sleepy Hollow, but not NYC. Or wherever this show is suppose to take place.

Edited February 28, 2016 by saber5055

[orza]

Of course people still carried around their secrets in their heads. The caretaker's job was to keep the documented proof of those secrets in secure escrow until such time as his clients wanted to use them as leverage or whatever. He kept documents and objects secure in random graves so that third parties couldn't find them and use them against his clients. If his clients never needed the items again they would stay buried for as long as the grave continued to exist.

 

The caretaker probably put the cartridges inside that bodies in case anyone ever opened a coffin to take a peek inside. Embalmed bodies hold up for quite a while so a perfunctory graveside visual inspection of a body wouldn't necessarily reveal the cartridge. If he was reasonably sure the bodies would never be exhumed for an autopsy the items buried with them would never be found.

[thuganomics85]

Really, show?  You get Emmy-winning Reg E. Cathey and his badass voice (not to mention a vet from The Wire), and you use him this little?  It's like they're not even trying with these Blacklister of the week bits anymore.  Totally saw the "twist" of the daughter being in on her own kidnapping coming a mile away, and the actress was so obvious about it, that I kept wondering if Ressler and Samar got hit by stupid sticks, for taking so long to figure it out.  But still, the biggest offense was the waste of Cathey.  Boo!

 

So, now Tom and Lizzie are going to get hitched (again?)  Burst out laughing when Harold said something like "It's so great after all you've been through," because he makes it sound like they simply had common issues like money-related or hospital bills, instead of that their entire relationship was started by a lie and he even tried to kill her at one point.  I guess those things are normal problems according to Harold!  Anyway, they act like lovesick tweens, Red gets all disappointed daddy on her, and basically I end up kind of disliking all of them.

 

I usually like Aram, but I would have been all for Ressler decking him after that stupid "Not going to tell you how to defuse the bomb until you apologize to Samar for calling her bitch!" stunt.  That's not going to impress her, buddy.  Grow up.  Is anyone on this show capable of acting their age?  Dembe, I guess?

[Danielg342]

Is anyone on this show capable of acting their age?  Dembe, I guess?

 

LOL. Considering Dembe barely talks, he's the best candidate.

[krimimimi]

Or maybe Mr. Kaplan? Although to be that good at her job, she's either a wiz at compartmentalizing, or a stone cold sociopath, so I'm not sure if that doesn't disqualify her.

Also, maybe white bearded henchmen? But he's got the "doesn't talk much" bonus Daniel mentioned going for him...

[Danielg342]

Also, maybe white bearded henchmen?

 

Boz?

[krimimimi]

Boz?

Is that the name of the guy stuck living across from her? The one who gets to charge in when she fails to pan fry toaster waffles?

(Liz and Tom *so* can't take care of themselves.... I now have images of them hollering for Boz when the wee babe's diapers need changing...)

[Danielg342]

Is that the name of the guy stuck living across from her? The one who gets to charge in when she fails to pan fry toaster waffles?

(Liz and Tom *so* can't take care of themselves.... I now have images of them hollering for Boz when the wee babe's diapers need changing...)

That would be the guy.

[saber5055]

I usually like Aram, but I would have been all for Ressler decking him after that stupid "Not going to tell you how to defuse the bomb until you apologize to Samar for calling her bitch!" stunt.

 

I actually would have paid money to see that.

[RCharter]

Of course people still carried around their secrets in their heads. The caretaker's job was to keep the documented proof of those secrets in secure escrow until such time as his clients wanted to use them as leverage or whatever. He kept documents and objects secure in random graves so that third parties couldn't find them and use them against his clients. If his clients never needed the items again they would stay buried for as long as the grave continued to exist.

 

The caretaker probably put the cartridges inside that bodies in case anyone ever opened a coffin to take a peek inside. Embalmed bodies hold up for quite a while so a perfunctory graveside visual inspection of a body wouldn't necessarily reveal the cartridge. If he was reasonably sure the bodies would never be exhumed for an autopsy the items buried with them would never be found.

This is how I interpreted it too.  Putting the tubes in the bodies was just a part of showing just how important the secrets were, even though there is a 1/1000 chance someone is ever gonna open up a casket, you want to take the additional security of putting them in the chest cavity.  I don't know what he would do in the event of an exhumation, like you said, maybe he just picks people who died of certain things that are unlikely to be investigated.

 

And like you, I saw this as a means of "escrow" for the secrets.

[krimimimi]

This is how I interpreted it too.  Putting the tubes in the bodies was just a part of showing just how important the secrets were, even though there is a 1/1000 chance someone is ever gonna open up a casket, you want to take the additional security of putting them in the chest cavity.  I don't know what he would do in the event of an exhumation, like you said, maybe he just picks people who died of certain things that are unlikely to be investigated.

 

And like you, I saw this as a means of "escrow" for the secrets.

Spitballing, but my take was his job as the actual dude who buried the bodies, and presumably exhumed them if need be, was supposed to provide him with an added level of security (also why it was a family business). The reality of it, though, is I think for chain of custody reasons, there might be someone from law enforcement present in the event of an exhumation, which sort of blows the whole retrieval thing. So maybe they only use poor people who die of obvious causes. (Paperboy killed by falling piano.) No heirs and no questions. But whatevs. I can listen to that actor talk forever, might not have caught all the details while I was focusing on the voice...

[saber5055]

What? No Blacklist tonight? What happened? Why not? This is ruining my evening viewing plans ...

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

The Blacklist Can't Keep Its Secrets Buried
Why store information in computers when there are so many dead bodies just lying around?