S04.E09: Lipet's Seafood Company

[MostlyC]

The allegiances of the task force are tested when a probe into an international terrorist operating on American soil is revealed;  Aram must face the repreccusions of his girlfriend hacking into the FBI computer systems; Red pulls in a favor.

 

I'm not locking the thread because there seem to have been difficulties with the thread opening on time.  Please refrain from posting until the episode has aired.

[ottoDbusdriver]

They shouldn't have called this episode 'Lipet's Seafood Company', they should have called it 'The System' considering how many times it was said during the episode. Seriously, was "Lipet's Seafood Company" even mentioned after the 10 minute mark ?

Lizzie was completely useless this episode, and she was barely in it.  But all is good, Reddington convinces the President to give Lizzie a fucking pardon.  I liked how it was announced on national TV that the person responsible for assassinating a sitting Attorney-General skated on prison time and was pardoned.  But all is just swell and Lizzie gets her FBI badge back.  It's almost like it never happened.

Navabi lurves Aram.  And Aram lurves Navabi, to the point of considering marriage -- seriously ?  He was sure as hell not talking about Elise at that point.  I just don't see them being that close let alone the fact that they haven't banged yet and Aram's talking about marriage.  They've dragged this out so long who cares anymore ?  Aram can't date her (and doesn't want a rain check on dinner) because, oh noessss, Navabi's a spy.  Like Aram didn't already know that.  FFS !

What was up with Michael O'Keefe's bizarre accent ?  Doesn't matter since he's dead.

Apparently the FBI strike team has all the accuracy of stormtroopers since they couldn't take that drone down -- even after the drone paused in mid-air with 'the system' before taking off.

Ressler throwing the bad guy under SUV was just plain funny.
 

[Primetimer]

Someone is smuggling stolen computer chips inside fresh fish, and it's never really clear why.

View the full article

[ottoDbusdriver]

When the camera zoomed in on the dead-eyed fish as the grenades exploded, all I could think of "Is that you Lizzie ?"

Watching Lizzie do her own version of MTV's Cribs was just sad.

[buttersister]

What a mess.

[ottoDbusdriver]

54 minutes ago, PreviouslyTV said:

Someone is smuggling stolen computer chips inside fresh fish, and it's never really clear why.

View the full article

Yeah, they never did get around to why they were smuggling the timing chip in a fish.  
That seemed like something that should have been a LOT better explained.

And how exactly does 'Lipet's Seafood Company' qualify for a place on the Blacklist -- this is actually worse than 'Kings of the Highway' ?

[thuganomics85]

So, after all the Kirk drama and convoluted storytelling, I guess I can see why they decided to take it back a bit and do a good old fashion Middle Eastern terrorist storyline!  With an added bonus of a shady military contractor organization (as if there was a non-shady one out there!)  Too bad it was boring and didn't hold any surprises.  Oh, well.

Wasn't the Lipet Seafood Company just a front for the military contractor organization?  How did it get onto the blacklist, if it was only really a cog in the wheel?  Dammit, I don't think I'll ever figure out the actual blacklist anymore, and how they are deemed worthy of being on it.

Samar finally decides that she wants Aram that she is even willing to toss aside Oded Fehr for him (poor Oded.  Why aren't you headlining your own show?), but, of course, Aram now suddenly doesn't trust his taste in women, and feels her ability to lie and keep secrets will doom them?  Yawn.  Way to make these two decently normal side characters kind of suck, show.  Ressler is the only one I kind of like now, since he seems to just want to stay out of any drama.

Anytime I see Tom now, I'm just wondering when are they going to finally ship him off to his spin-off, and how they are planning on making that work.

This episode felt pretty light on both Lizzie and Red, surprisingly.  Sure, Red did some of his usual wheeling, dealing, and scheming, and Lizzie.... stared at screens and looked pensive, but that was about it.  I'm starting to wonder if both James Spader and Megan Boone want less screentime now.  Hey, if it doesn't effect their paychecks, more power to them!

This show is definitely set in fantasy land now, because after the way this real life election turned out, no way would Benito Martinez become President!

[mertensia]

I paid zero attention to the plot because Oded needed all my attention. 

[dwmarch]

I missed this dumb show. I appreciated that what seemed to be a formulaic Blacklist episode turned ninety degrees with the Mossad being involved.

I know the Queen's English has been the accent of choice for villains for a long time now but this episode makes a compelling case that a Bostonian accent is the new villain's go to when he is being a bahstid and pahking the caaaahr.

LOL'ed at the FBI getting punked by a drone from Radio Shack.

Did this show actually suggest that the President-Elect was issuing pardons?

[ottoDbusdriver]

2 hours ago, dwmarch said:

Did this show actually suggest that the President-Elect was issuing pardons?

I think so -- and that's not how that works.

And wouldn't it be a REALLY big deal (especially in the media) that a new President would be issuing pardons on his first day in office, let alone for the assassin of a cabinet-level position.  That just screams corruption.

[Princess Lucky]

I'm sorry, but Samar:

a) thinks fucking Ressler is a better option than dating Aram,

and

b) thinks dating Aram is a better option than fucking Oded Fehr?

GIRL. Get some taste.

[jtb34]

41 minutes ago, Princess Lucky said:

I'm sorry, but Samar:

a) thinks fucking Ressler is a better option than dating Aram,

and

b) thinks dating Aram is a better option than fucking Oded Fehr?

GIRL. Get some taste.

So, so true.  I mean, Aram is a great guy, but Oded Fehr?  She is crazy!

[saber5055]

Well, darn it, I missed the end of this episode because the dogs said they needed outside NOW. I was so happy Liz was denied her agent status, then I read here that, of course, it was given back. Glad I missed that part. Do agents get paid more/less than consultants? Since she's been on the payroll all along anyway. I'd like to see what the Blacklist Social Media Universe has to say about her reinstatement after murdering a highly ranked public figure. Aram reveals he has had a ton load of ex girlfriends! Who knew? Here we thought he was a solitary computer nerd, but he's been burning up the dating scene since forever, I guess. My takeaway from what I saw: I couldn't follow anything in this episode, I didn't remember who any of those background people were, who were good guys, who were bad. And guess what: I don't care that much any more. Side note: Tom is now a SAH dad! And close ups of that baby did nothing to make my cold heart go "Awww."

Sorry I missed the Radioshack drone thing though, that would have been cool. And Ressler throwing some guy under the SUV. (And yes to causing that driver a lifetime of angst.) I still like Ressler though. It's a ginger thing.

[milkyaqua]

55 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

And Ressler throwing some guy under the SUV. (And yes to causing that driver a lifetime of angst.) I still like Ressler though. It's a ginger thing.

I laughed out about that especially when Ressler didn't bat an eye and just retrieved the bag and went on his merry way.

And how are these FBI folks not able to shoot down a drone?  Come on!

1 hour ago, Princess Lucky said:

I'm sorry, but Samar:

a) thinks fucking Ressler is a better option than dating Aram,

and

b) thinks dating Aram is a better option than fucking Oded Fehr?

GIRL. Get some taste.

Thank you!  I was like really, Samar?  You tossed over Oded Fehr?  And yes, why isn't this guy on some show or in some great movie?

I was fine with the lack of Lizzie to be honest.  But no, no President-elect gets to do pardons and compared to some of the unbelievable stuff they do on this show that was too far out even for me.

I knew Michael O'Keefe was the bad guy as soon as I saw his name in the credits and I love it when characters on shows think they can make a deal with bad people and come out of it alive.

Edited January 6, 2017 by milkyaqua

[missbonnie]

49 minutes ago, milkyaqua said:

 

Thank you!  I was like really, Samar?  You tossed over Oded Fehr?  And yes, why isn't this guy on some show or in some great movie?

A question that I ask myself every time I see him in something. 

[Loandbehold]

Since I slept through most of the episode the first time, I watched it again (thank you DVR?). The president-elect didn't issue the pardon. He somehow was able to get the current president to do so. Red told PEOTUS that the current president wanted his legacy, so I guess that was one thing used to convince him to issue the pardon.

[Texasmom1970]

I need some Mr. Kaplan please show. Her and Dembe I always want to have more screen time.

While she was being held captive they must have really hit Samar hard in the head for her to pass on Oded, crazy woman!

I also loved Ressler just grabbing the bag and leaving the bad guy under the SUV. He just couldn't be bothered!

Someone get Lizzie to a hairstylist stat. Her hair is flatter and more lifeless than her delivery of her lines.

[Dowel Jones]

To answer a question above, the chips were the software to a missile guidance program that would avoid Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.  Hence the entry of Mossad into the mess. The processing plant was the NMB front (No little fishies were harmed in the making of this episode!  At least until the cast dinner.)

I rather agree with the FBI in the drone problem.  Bullets go where they are pointed, not where they are aimed.  If they miss the drone, the bullet comes down somewhere in town, possibly with fatal results. 

[paigow]

37 minutes ago, Texasmom1970 said:

Someone get Lizzie to a hairstylist stat. Her hair is flatter and more lifeless than her delivery of her lines.

Is this real hair or another wigbomination???

[paigow]

1 minute ago, Dowel Jones said:

  If they miss the drone, the bullet comes down somewhere in town, possibly with fatal results. 

Is that what happened to everyone objecting to "The Pardon"????

[paigow]

8 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

Thank you!  I was like really, Samar?  You tossed over Oded Fehr?  And yes, why isn't this guy on some show or in some great movie?

Dude keeps doubling down on Resident Evil....Karma is a bitch....

[ottoDbusdriver]

52 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

If they miss the drone, the bullet comes down somewhere in town, possibly with fatal results. 

But that's the thing -- they did lob off a couple of shots at the drone .....  and missed.

[AbsoluteShower]

• No matter how hard I looked, nowhere in Lizzie's fake apartment could I see her well-thumbed copies of The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare or her extensive Dr Seuss collection...
• So, let me see if I have this right: Agent Keen no longer had the right to be called Agent Keen because she was fired from the FBI for that whole 'shooting the AG' thing, but Agent Keen still had full access to the FBI black site and was allowed to conduct interviews, and then Agent Keen somehow got a pardon from Not President Yet And Therefore No Executive Powers Diaz and got her badge and gun back and was officially Agent Keen again which means everybody can go back to calling her Agent Keen even though they never stopped calling her Agent Keen despite the fact that she actually wasn't Agent Keen but Consultant Keen - is her first name really 'Agent' and we just didn't realize it?
• Writers - instead of calling the shady military contracting company Blackwater  Blackthorn, why not just go the whole hog and call it "EvilCorp"?

[saber5055]

"If they miss the drone, the bullet comes down somewhere in town, possibly with fatal results. " Yes, Kurt Vonnegut wrote a book about such an event. I'd quit this show except reading here is so much fun. It's getting pretty sparse in here though. Don't you guys leave me! And a big YES to where is Mr. Kaplan.

[Johnny Dollar]

Why was it so important for Liz to be reinstated? Agents get dental. And hopefully company paid hair care.

They've got to start building up the scenario where Tom gets to leave Lizzie and Aggie and go back to Mommy. Maybe he'll take Mr. Kaplan with him. I'd be on board for that.

It was good to see smarmy Red back to blackmailing shifty politicians. They should have the incoming POTUS be more Trump-like. Hell, Trump might offer to play himself if they throw him an Executive Producer's credit.

I also don't get why the fish company was on the blacklist and not the defense contractor, or the Second City Terror Brigade. The fish company was a one-time front to smuggle fish 'n chips. Or is it chips in fish? And wouldn't the chips have to be smuggled out of the country and not out of the company that makes them, since the CEO is in on the whole scam? And did I understand correctly that they were willing to assist the Not Ready For Primetime Terrorists for a paltry $200k? Seems a little fishy.

[Rosebud1970]

Did anyone besides me laugh uproariously when Ressler literally threw Farook Al-Thani ('bad guy of the week') under the bus? Not a metaphor. The guy got run over by a minivan. And Ressler picked up the bag with the chip and strolled off.

Just me?

Alrighty, then.

[CaptainE]

This is so bad, it's becoming unwatchable quickly.  Liz is a murderer, and accessory too (harbor master).

But who cares, give her her badge and gun.  Garbage simpleton Hollywood endings every week.  Oy.

 

I'm only in it now to see what happens to Mr K.

 

And Oded?  Kinda odd looking if you ask me, but I'm a guy so what do I know.

[Danielg342]

So I watched this to give this show another spin, because the Alexander Kirk story was ridiculous.

Turns out The Blacklist is still ridiculous...it doesn't matter who the focus is, they'll just always get it wrong.

Great to see Anthony Azizi again...loved his turn on Criminal Minds in S2E10's "Lessons Learned" (which apparently got an award for its treatment of interrogations) and I think he was a real highlight.

Oh, and Ressler kicked a lot of ass. Especially when he threw Azizi's character literally under the bus...er, okay, it was a van, but still.

That was really it though.

It was hard to really be engaged with this one, because it felt so very generic. The tone was very off, as everything I saw just screamed "shady" and things just seemed to happen randomly to give the appearance that the story was having "twists"...I mean, the "shock" that Samar Navabi led the assault should have packed quite the punch but it really fell flat.

(I also need to cry foul- major foul- on the show deciding that it doesn't need to actually show Navabi getting beat up by her kidnapper. Seriously, Hollywood...enough of the "we can't hit these poor, fragile women". When the plot calls for it- like it did in this show- use it. Don't chicken out because of some outmoded idea of "chivalry".)

True, I was slightly interested in Navabi's sudden decision to go rogue, but that was only because I'm invested in Navabi as a character...or, rather, I'm invested in what Navabi could be. She always feels like she could be a kickass, badass agent who's fearless, willing to take on any mission, no matter how dangerous. This episode even adds an element where you learn the character is a maverick, someone who will disobey protocol but always with the right motives.

The elements are all there to create a truly classic character (and one that fits far better with Red than the woman Red is actually paired with)...but the show decided the meat of her character's storylines has to be stupid love triangles with Ressler and Aram.

*barf*

It's here where I think I know why I left this show in the first place- like Navabi, everything about The Blacklist just screams like there's something "more" under the hood, some grand story, some masterful epic that's waiting to be told...they just never get there.

This show is never at a loss for ideas- smuggling technology within fish is a pretty crafty idea, I think, just like The Doughnut's cryonics program or "The Kingmaker" or "The Cypress Agency" or the stuff with Veridient or many other things- but it rarely ever seems to execute on them. Perhaps it's unsurprising, given how many other things the show never thinks through (like basic things like FBI tactics), but it's still infuriating to think that if these writers did more than just come up with an idea, they could have truly had a memorable show.

So...I conclude this episode review like I conclude many other reviews, leaving with a foul taste in my mouth after having a delectable first few bites (and this time it's not the fish). It's stuff like this where I think, "this is why I write", because when The Blacklist fails to execute on their many ideas, it gives me fuel to try to execute them better myself.

So maybe I do have a reason to come back next week. Maybe.

Episode Grade: C-. Another great idea just poorly done.

[paigow]

19 hours ago, saber5055 said:

 It's getting sparse in here 

So take off all your clothes....

[CaptainE]

7 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

This episode even adds an element where you learn the character is a maverick, someone who will disobey protocol but always with the right motives.

I'm not sure the motives were even explained.  Mossad killing Americans, in the US?  Why?

To get some software that Americans produced? Was it ever proven that all of the fish processor guys were bad?   

 

I also think too much of a free ride is given to the writers.   The "show" doesn't make poor, lazy, predictable and simplistic writing decisions, writers do.

And after watching some Orphan Black, and Tatiana's performance there, it's really difficult to sit through this garbagefest.

[tvfanatic13]

All episode I kept waiting for Mr. Kaplan and to see what happened to her, but alas.... 

[Danielg342]

3 hours ago, CaptainE said:

I'm not sure the motives were even explained.  Mossad killing Americans, in the US?  Why?

To get some software that Americans produced? Was it ever proven that all of the fish processor guys were bad?

I believe the fish processors were smuggling a chip that would compromise Israeli defences, and they were giving it to Anthony Azizi's character.

I think. The episode wasn't engaging enough to make me really pay attention to the details.

3 hours ago, CaptainE said:

I also think too much of a free ride is given to the writers.   The "show" doesn't make poor, lazy, predictable and simplistic writing decisions, writers do.

I did criticize the writers:

11 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

it's still infuriating to think that if these writers did more than just come up with an idea, they could have truly had a memorable show.

[Dowel Jones]

5 hours ago, CaptainE said:

Was it ever proven that all of the fish processor guys were bad?

I'm not invested enough to watch again to be sure, but I thought that, after killing the people in the immediate vicinity of the chips, they  bum rushed everyone else, i.e, the actual processing staff, out the door before destroying the facility.

[CaptainE]

3 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I believe the fish processors were smuggling a chip that would compromise Israeli defences, and they were giving it to Anthony Azizi's character.

Sorry, still not a reason to bypass the US agencies and kill American workers. Involve the FBI, raid the joint and get the chip back.

 

 It's on the writers though.

Edited January 9, 2017 by CaptainE

[Danielg342]

1 hour ago, CaptainE said:

Sorry, still not a reason to bypass the US agencies and kill American workers. Involve the FBI, raid the joint and get the chip back.

I think Samar was worried about compromising the mission...but it's still a poor excuse. You're right- since this was technology the U.S. and Israel would both have an interest in curtailing, you'd think at the very least Mossad would work with the CIA on this.

[saber5055]

Paigow: LOL. And so is Navabi a good guy or bad guy. Because I don't have a clue. Just like I don't have a clue why Red insists Lizzie be given agent status again. Seems nothing changed during her time "off," not that there ever was any down time for her working w/the team. It's like that entire "special" FBI team is rogue off the tracks, not just Navabi. Saw a commercial for Tom's new show, named "Blacklist Sometime Or Other." Redemption? Maybe. Does being linked to Blacklist mean it will suck too? How about this new show: "Blacklist: Mr. Kaplan Rides Again." I'd watch that.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

I am WAY late to the party, but man...this show is really hitting hate-watch territory for me.  Seriously, Cooper saying that Keen deserved to be reinstated for everything that she has "done"?  Umm...besides break a bunch of laws and pout and whine about losing her baby, what exactly has she done?  And in what way does it supersede the fact that she murdered someone in cold blood?  Sure he was a bad guy, but come on the optics is HORRIBLE!  Especially for someone who is supposed to ARREST people, not just execute them.
 

Other than that, nice to see Mossad in it to win it, except for the stupid thing of just deciding to hang around on US soil instead of taking the first FREAKING EL AL FLIGHT BACK TO ISRAEL!  If this chip is SOOO important, DESTROY IT ASAP.  And why were they speaking in English?  "Fire in the Hole"?  And as many have mentioned, what was the point of the fish smuggling?  It wasn't like the parts were coming in from overseas right?  I mean the defense contractor was in the same city, did they have a open sewer line to send the fish down the pipes so that the fish could go out into the sea to get caught and processed by the Lipets?

[Dowel Jones]

It would have been much funnier, even if  unintentional, to name the company The Limpet Seafood Company.

[andipandi]

I liked liz keen better on the other side of the law. Very nice of Red to arrange a pardon though.

Agreeing with all of you that Samar made a poor choice.