S04.E11: The Harem

[MostlyC]

Liz tries to prove herself to the leader of a group of female thieves so she can infiltrate the organization; Red deals with problems in his operations; Tom focuses on fatherly duties.

 

Same rules as always lovely people; do not post until after the episode airs. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

How ???  Just how in the hell can Lizzie do undercover work ever again ?

She was part of a national manhunt (womanhunt ?) for assassinating the sitting Attorney General where her face and name were plastered all over the national media, and then she was back in the news very recently in the Blacklist-Verse for being pardoned by the President for that same crime (which had to have been politically controversial).

Yet somehow none of the members of the 'The Harem' figured out who she actually was -- she didn't even change her first name, or change her hair color, or even her hair style, nor was she down with banging the boss.

Lizzie got to display her mad profiler skillz.  Yawn.

Did they ever properly explain why Margaux Roché was intent on stealing things from other thieves ?  Other than to make money.  You would think that would draw a lot of attention and get her team killed.

Even though Kate did get a mention, still no sign of Mr. Kaplan or the dogs.  Or Tom or Agnes for that matter.

Edited January 21, 2017 by ottoDbusdriver

[ItCouldBeWorse]

7 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

How ???  Just how in the hell can Lizzie do undercover work ever again ?

She was part of a national manhunt <womanhunt ?) for assassinating the sitting Attorney General where her face and name were plastered all over the national media, and then she was back in the news very recently in the Blacklist-Verse for being pardoned by the President for that same crime (which had to have been politically controversial).

Yet somehow none of the members of the 'The Harem' figured out who she actually was -- she didn't even change her first name, or change her hair color, or even her hair style, nor was she down with banging the boss.

Last week, the girl's mother recognized Liz in the grocery store and followed her home!  Maybe The Harem members never watch tv.

Also, how much money do these women need?  They don't seem to be living large or supporting families.  Is it mostly for the thrill?

Edited January 20, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[surfer]

Am I the only one who would watch a "Harem" spinoff? Minus Liz, of course. I'd find that much more interesting than Tom reconnecting with Jean Grey and John Locke. And as a Crossing Jordan fan (RIP Miguel Ferrer) it's always good to see Jill Hennessy on TV.

And yet another person is declaring "war" on Red. It wasn't fun the first time. Or the second. Or the third. Hopefully it's Mr. Kaplan or Katarina. Otherwise, yawn.

Edited January 20, 2017 by surfer

[Smitty227]

There was something really strange about Lizzie's face this week.  I really don't think it's due to baby fat or anything of that nature.

I started googling to see if she's had plastic surgery or something.  Her face was almost flat with bruising under the eyes.  What is up with that?

[dwmarch]

Interesting but strangely paced episode. We saw Lizzie get tested by the Harem, pass the test and cut to hangover but no party. And then later on we see her partying it up but no hangover. I think a scene got switched around somewhere.

4 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Lizzie got to display her mad profiler skillz.  Yawn.

I respectfully disagree. After three full seasons of watching the FBI chase their own tail and occasionally bite it off, it's refreshing to see some competency for a change. Ressler's tradecraft needs work (he kept trying to look at Lizzie while pretending not to talk to her) but other than that the FBI was actually doing a decent job for once. I'm fully okay with competent, emotionally stable Lizzie. Instead of having a snit-fit at Red and storming off, she stands her ground. It was much more than I had hoped for.

Another nice change was seeing Red prepared to admit he doesn't always do the right thing. He's totally caught off guard when Lizzie confronts him about Mr. Kaplan (although I loved how he immediately shot Dembe a "dafuq, dude?!" look) but instead of being smug and superior about it he just crumbles, knowing he handled that situation all wrong. It could be a very interesting conflict in that he's very sorry about the whole situation but when Mr. Kaplan catches up to him she's not going to feel so forgiving. I feel like she was responsible for the "heart attack" Red's money guy had.

Mr. Kaplan has a sister who's in WitSec? Maybe that's where the whole Mr. thing came from... the Russians aren't looking for a Mr., they're looking for two ladies, neither of whom conventionally exist any longer.

In any case, fun episode and it's actually got me wanting to see where we go from here.

[mertensia]

That was Beverly Katz from Hannibal as Sasha! 

So I guess this means Mr. Kaplan isn't Liz's mom.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

So Emma basically said that Liz gave up details about why she was there when she was drunk? And no one else heard? And Liz didn't even remember? Doesn't sound like good undercover work to me, unless we're supposed to think that Red told Emma to watch out for Liz and Emma just made up the blabber mouth part. But if Liz can't recall what she said while drinking, that's still a big problem.

[saber5055]

This gang of rogue women is known for stealing from thieves, but instead they are cold-blooded multiple murders. Stealing a diamond-invested vehicle is A LOT different than killing everyone they feel like shooting. That should have put them at the top of several "wanted" lists, not just Red's. And "Harem." I have to really ponder if women would actually name their group that. The gang letting Lizzie in was really stupid. They were doing fine before her, why was she needed? The lesbian-almost-experience scene had to have been written by a man. And the other gang member "saved" Lizzie from it? Geesh. And so how does Lizzie feel knowing she's not Red's only "woman"? I liked that part best, you are not all that after all, Lizzie. But when Dembe admitted to Red he told Liz about Mr. Kaplan, all I could think was, well, bye Dembe. My biggest take away was Red getting the address of Mr. Kaplan's sister ... was she the drive who picked up Kate in Leon Rippy's woods? If so, DRAMAH! And yeah, Ressler and Liz meeting on that park bench was all kinds of poor moves, and Lizzie getting drunk was all kinds of stupid. So yeah, I guess Lizzie kept to character this week after all.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

48 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

This gang of rogue women is known for stealing from thieves, but instead they are cold-blooded multiple murders. Stealing a diamond-invested vehicle is A LOT different than killing everyone they feel like shooting. That should have put them at the top of several "wanted" lists, not just Red's.

That's what I thought, too.  "Robin Hood" thievery is about stealing from the rich to give to the poor, not about killing.  It's suppose to be "admirable" in a certain kind of way. It's not about stealing from the rich, killing the rich and/or their employees, and then keeping the loot.

[Primetimer]

Liz infiltrates a group of female thieves known as The Harem. And not just to do shots like a bunch of suburban moms.

View the full article

[Dowel Jones]

12 hours ago, saber5055 said:

And "Harem." I have to really ponder if women would actually name their group that.

Setting:  A group meeting.  "What are we going to call ourselves?  The Cabal?"  "Sorry, that's taken."  "Amazon?"  "Really? What are we, online?"  "Butch Cassidy and the Hole in the Wall Gang?"  "NO!!!!"  "Alright, The Harem it is."

Why did the barroom bathroom have "Ladies" stenciled on the inside of the door (clearly visible when Liz goes in)?

[ottoDbusdriver]

53 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

Why did the barroom bathroom have "Ladies" stenciled on the inside of the door (clearly visible when Liz goes in)?

I believe since we were seeing it from a reflection in a mirror.

[Texasmom1970]

Too much Liz in this episode for my taste. I did love seeing Jill Hennessy I loved her on "Law and Order" and especially "Crossing Jordan!"

[thuganomics85]

Damn, Liz's profiler skills return with a vengeance!  She was like a fucking mind-reader at times!  It has been ages since she ever actually used those skills effectively, so that alone took a lot to get use to.

I actually enjoyed this episode more then usual due to the Harem or, really, the actresses.  It was great seeing Jill Hennessy, Anastasia Griffith, and Hettienne Park (Hannibal!!!) in it, even if the latter was extremely underused (we weren't even allowed to see her get arrested.)  At least she faired better then the Jessica character that just got dropped without any fanfare.

I did feel kind of bad for the snitch that got killed as part of the "test", and the FBI was just like "Eh, at least it won't be meaningless when we capture the Harem!" about it.

I guess Emma is suppose to be some kind of cautionary tale about what can happen if you work with Red for too long.  Lizzie's potential fate, perhaps?  I doubt it though.

So, now there is some guy out there that is deliberately going after Red's businesses and even killing one of his accountants.  I wonder who'll he or she will end up being. 

[navelgazer]

On 1/19/2017 at 8:36 PM, surfer said:

Am I the only one who would watch a "Harem" spinoff? Minus Liz, of course. I'd find that much more interesting than Tom reconnecting with Jean Grey and John Locke.

This!!!  Was just coming in to see if anyone else thought they were baiting us with another possible spin-off.  So glad I'm not the only one who would want to watch that.  Also relieved I'm not the only one who thinks of Famke Jenssen first as Jean Grey.  Lol.  

[saber5055]

Dowel, the brilliance of your group name meeting scenario cracked me up. And now, of course, I can see why they named themselves The Harem. And I thought that one actress looked familiar. Because I hated the last season of Hannibal, my one-time favorite show, so much, I didn't even make the connection.

[tvfanatic13]

On January 19, 2017 at 11:36 PM, surfer said:

Am I the only one who would watch a "Harem" spinoff? Minus Liz, of course. I'd find that much more interesting than Tom reconnecting with Jean Grey and John Locke. And as a Crossing Jordan fan (RIP Miguel Ferrer) it's always good to see Jill Hennessy on TV.

And yet another person is declaring "war" on Red. It wasn't fun the first time. Or the second. Or the third. Hopefully it's Mr. Kaplan or Katarina. Otherwise, yawn.

Count me in for the spinoff! I was thinking the exact same thing.

[CaptainE]

So much cringeworthy writing/directing.  I have Never seen as faked a kiss as the bathroom shit.  They showed only the back of Lizzie's head.  Is she that scared of kissing another woman? If so, just have the other haremette barge in earlier.  

 "Oh no, I only have 2 darts! What do I do now."  Then Lizzie escapes how?   

 

At at least I have Homeland back finally.

[Artsda]

Liz doing undercover work is beyond ridiculous.

[Khat]

  On 2017-01-19 at 11:36 PM, surfer said:

Am I the only one who would watch a "Harem" spinoff? Minus Liz, of course. I'd find that much more interesting than Tom reconnecting with Jean Grey and John Locke.

This!!!  Was just coming in to see if anyone else thought they were baiting us with another possible spin-off.  So glad I'm not the only one who would want to watch that.  Also relieved I'm not the only one who thinks of Famke Jenssen first as Jean Grey.  Lol.  

Yeah, I can't get off that image, either. Every time I see her, that's all I think. I can't even remember her name in the show, actually, other than 'Tom's Mom'. I'd have to look it up...

[paigow]

18 hours ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Count me in for the spinoff! I was thinking the exact same thing.

Haremdemption

[Ottis]

On 1/20/2017 at 2:25 AM, dwmarch said:

I respectfully disagree. After three full seasons of watching the FBI chase their own tail and occasionally bite it off, it's refreshing to see some competency for a change.

ITA. This season they clearly are trying to show that Lizzie does actually have some skills (she had some good ideas last week, too). It took them long enough. She has been one of the most maddeningly incompetent lead characters not in a comedy ever. 

Poor guy who helped Liz and got shot and killed, though.

Isn't being in a harem dependent on the harem members servicing someone? Was that someone supposed to be Roche? Seems like maybe but they never quite got there. 

[Ailianna]

Could anyone read the license plates during the "Georgia" scene?  They definitely weren't Georgia, and I found it totally distracting the whole time.  Any help is appreciated!

[ottoDbusdriver]

4 hours ago, Ailianna said:

Could anyone read the license plates during the "Georgia" scene?  They definitely weren't Georgia, and I found it totally distracting the whole time.  Any help is appreciated!

I'm pretty sure they were all fake plates but they kind of looked like the current 'Peach State' Georgia license plates.  Kind of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Georgia_(U.S._state)

The part that was even more unbelievable in this episode is that Reddington went from DC to Sydney to Atlanta to Sydney to wherever Emma's son was playing soccer to DC (that's where the money laundering operation was, according to the license plates on the car in the driveway) all in about a couple of days.  From anywhere on East Coast to Sydney via a direct private flight is around 18-20 hours --- one way -- and Reddington did that 4 times in this episode.

Edited January 29, 2017 by ottoDbusdriver

[tanita]

I got to say that the Harem spin off just writes itself, with a few minor adjustments.

You have a cop/FBI agent/or some other three letter group chick going undercover in a all woman gang. The leader is a fierce woman, and a lesbian. The cop needs to get close, so they hook up and do their thing steeling abont for a year or two. Then the cop has to bring the members to justice, it almost works but the leaders escapes and in the process realizes that her lady love betrayed her. She goes into hiding and spends a few years find who the chick really is and plotting her vengeance. And the show starts as our cop lad finds out that her former lover and criminal is back in play, and the cat and mouse game is on. We find out the whole tail in flashback. Now for extra flavor, the cop could be married (to a man if you want extra messiness, maybe with a kid or two). We would have a lesbian and bi leads, a juicy love triangle, because people are into that sort of thing, ,....

Who wants to produce it with me.

 

As for the episode itself, I like that Lizz was actually competent in it, but the fact that non of those criminals knew she was former government fugitive and that she was reinstated as an FBI agent compliantly stretches any believability.

Edited February 5, 2017 by tanita