S04.E14: The Architect

[MostlyC]

Aram goes under cover as a hacker to find a criminal who designs and executes crimes for a price; Tom expands his search for details about his childhood; Red tries to find the source of his compromised business operations.

 

I wonder if Aram can pull off playing eeeeeevil and menacing.

Same rules- no posting until after the episode airs.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Nice to see Data.  Who babysat for Agnes while Tom went chasing his past?

Edited February 17, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Khat]

2 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Nice to see Data.  Who babysat for Agnes while Tom went chasing his past?

Actually, I think, in order to be ST canon correct, he'd be Lore, but that was my first thought, too.  

And, obviously, she went into status until such time as she is deemed important to the plot again...

[mertensia]

I'm not sure why whatsherface thought Data would just off Aram at the end of the operation; just disappearing with him would be much much smarter. Oh wait. This is The Blacklist.  Never mind.

[saber5055]

Why does this show keep making me fall asleep?

[paigow]

When the old lady said she got $100,000, I got a "Liar, Liar" Fletcher Reed "I could have got you 2" flashback...

12 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

 Who babysat for Agnes while Tom went chasing his past?

The White House daycare compound???

[paigow]

A titanium rod fired into the viewing room would also kill Neo-Nazi...why not call Datalore's bluff???

[milkyaqua]

I knew I wouldn't be the only one wondering who was watching Agnes.  Then my Mom said remember, that if this were real life, they'd be considered bad parents.  She likens them to the ones on the daytime soap operas...

And yes, I was waiting for the warden to call evil Data's bluff.

[Primetimer]

With Liz mostly doing nothing (surprise!), it's Aram's time to shine!

View the full article

[paigow]

How could Red - "Concierge of Crime" - not know other ways to find the Architect? They never crossed paths? Did nobody ever call Red needing a perfect crime? "I'm busy stealing a pipeline now, but let me call a guy..."

[Dowel Jones]

Can anyone explain how the Architect managed to escape from an standing building after it was breached by the rescue team?

Loved Dembe's knowledge of Italian, at least one word anyway, and "There was a girl."

So Red is the victim of some identity theft.  You know, Red, you can get one free credit report once a year.  Pay $7 and get your FICO score too, if you ever want to apply for a loan.

[ottoDbusdriver]

14 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Why does this show keep making me fall asleep?

Not just you -- I nodded off during the last 10 minutes on Thursday and only caught up today.

Is Megan Boone off filming something more important ? Some Oscar bait role in Breakin' 3: Electric Boogaloo 2: The Quickening ?
For a so-called "star" of 'The Blacklist' she was missing for most of the last half of the episode -- she called Tom to tell him that the old lady lied to him and Cooper tells Lizzie there was an explosion, and then she basically disappeared for the rest of the episode until after the Blacklister case of the week was resolved and Ressler drags out the box with Reven Wright's files.  Then she goes home.  What the hell was she doing the entire time ?  Because she most certainly wasn't watching Agnes.  Come to think of it, Agnes was't even in the episode.

We never did find out who was paying the Architect to boost this guy from death row ?  Or why ? Or even why they waited until the absolute last minute to spring him from prison -- this dude was minutes from a lethal injection ?

The old lady played the original designer of Pre-Crime in the movie 'Minority Report' -- she had those funky prehensile vines that stabbed Tom Cruise with a  paralytic and she gave him a cup of tea that contained the cure.

Having Evil Data/Lore blown up way way way in the background was disappointing and anticlimactic.   Even worse was the death row guy being recaptured off screen and they never even bothered to interrogate him.  Or investigate the prison to find the guard that compromised the security system ('cause that happened too), but I'm sure he was also paid anonymously.

Still no sign of the dogs or Mr. Kaplan.  And 3 full seasons and 14 episodes in, and we are still no closer to finding out Red's relationship to Lizzie.  I don't even think the writers care anymore. I know I don't.

5 hours ago, paigow said:

How could Red - "Concierge of Crime" - not know other ways to find the Architect? They never crossed paths? Did nobody ever call Red needing a perfect crime? "I'm busy stealing a pipeline now, but let me call a guy..."

It's mind-boggling that Red and the Architect never crossed paths before.

Did the FBI ever get their hands on Isabella Stone ?  Because she up and disappeared like a fart in the wind.  Sure Red mentioned where Cooper could find her (along with a discount on a party-size ice order if they mention Red's name), but did they actually go pick her up because they never interrogated her for details or anything.

Did anyone else notice the continuity error with the fancy schmancy titanium projectile gun that Aram fired ?  After Aram fired the gun you could still see the shiny silver point of the round in the gun.  And, the gun had 2 long prongs sticking out past the projectile before Aram fired, then immediately after Aram fired the bottom prong was missing.  Camera cuts over the Ressler and Samar then back to Aram, and the bottom prong on the gun has mysteriously reappeared.  Even the producers have checked out on this show.

Also, where did that giant bandage on Samar's forehead come from when they went back to the Post Office ?  She was not injured at all during shootout with the Architect and his henchmen.  How did she get injured ?  And how come Aram never even bothered to ask since he was at the shootout with her and would have noticed if she had a headwound ?

Edited February 18, 2017 by ottoDbusdriver

[Texasmom1970]

Still no Mr. Kaplan, really show!

[Dowel Jones]

I think the fact that Red's bank accounts were hacked implies that it was someone who knew about his organization, which points a finger toward Mr. Kaplan in the long con.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

6 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

 

I think the fact that Red's bank accounts were hacked implies that it was someone who knew about his organization, which points a finger toward Mr. Kaplan in the long con.

 

I would agree, except I don't think she would want "innocent" people like the accountant or Stavros and his wife to be collateral damage.

Edited February 20, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Ottis]

If the warden called Data's bluff, it wouldn't have only been the bad guy who was killed. He can't say no and cause the death of a dozen people. 

I forget what the point of this show is. 

I did enjoy Red's comment about waiting to see how the painting turned out before deciding whether to kill the painter. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

If the warden called Data's bluff, it wouldn't have only been the bad guy who was killed. He can't say no and cause the death of a dozen people. 

I forget what the point of this show is. 

I did enjoy Red's comment about waiting to see how the painting turned out before deciding whether to kill the painter. 

I'm convinced it's to make sure that Megan Boone stays employed so she can pay off a debt -- because she's basically unemployable as an actress.
The writers need to kill her character off (for real this time) and just focus on the adventures of Reddington, Dembe and Ressler.

[paigow]

2 hours ago, Ottis said:

If the warden called Data's bluff, it wouldn't have only been the bad guy who was killed. He can't say no and cause the death of a dozen people. 

Data cannot pull the trigger...He would lose his reputation for "perfect" crimes and be forever hunted by Aryan Nation members.

[mandigirl]

I greatly enjoyed the Aram-centric episode. Aram is so adorable and I'm loving the steady chemistry with him and Navabi. 

Best moment of the night was Cooper's mike drop: "I'm going home to people who love me." Ouch! 

Really glad Ressler is taking up the closed investigation.  Hoping for the Mr. Kaplan reveal next week. I'm pretty sure the attack is from Mr. Kaplan, even with the collateral damage. While her primary motive is revenge, I do think she is also trying to show Reddington  what she's been telling him for years-- that the people close to him get hurt.

 Speaking of which, Liz completely shrugged off the information that Reddington killed Mr. Kaplan. I was actually surprised by that. I guess I probably shouldn't be.

[MrSmith]

14 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

I think the fact that Red's bank accounts were hacked implies that it was someone who knew about his organization, which points a finger toward Mr. Kaplan in the long con.

Well, they've been implying that Mr. Kaplan is getting revenge on Red for some time. The fact they haven't shown us what's going on with her for many episodes now is, for me, Exhibit A.

And really? No one knows that the actor who portrayed Data and Lore is named Brent Spiner? Really?

[Ottis]

1 hour ago, MrSmith said:

And really? No one knows that the actor who portrayed Data and Lore is named Brent Spiner? Really?

What do you think that? I'm guessing a lot of people who, as soon as they saw Spiner's name in the opening credits, knew exactly who he was. But "Data" is shorter to type, especially when I am standing on a light rail train texting on my cell.

[MrSmith]

@Ottis Fair enough, but I very much doubt that most of the people who used "Data" instead of "Brent Spiner" were doing so from their phones....

[ottoDbusdriver]

2 hours ago, MrSmith said:

@Ottis Fair enough, but I very much doubt that most of the people who used "Data" instead of "Brent Spiner" were doing so from their phones....

I referred to him as Lore .... simply because the character Brent was playing was kind of evil.  :)

[ItCouldBeWorse]

4 hours ago, MrSmith said:

And really? No one knows that the actor who portrayed Data and Lore is named Brent Spiner? Really?

Funnier to call him Data.  If you don't know who Data is, Brent Spiner probably won't mean a thing.

What was Reddington saying about Cooper's sick child?  I don't remember that.

[MrSmith]

1 minute ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

What was Reddington saying about Cooper's sick child?  I don't remember that.

I don't remember Cooper having a sick child, either. In fact, I don't even recall him having a child. For that matter, I can't remember if he and his wife ever patched things up and got back together.

[Dittohead]

Nice to see Data.  Who babysat for Agnes while Tom went chasing his past?

"Who babysat for Agnes while Tom went chasing his past? "
Maybe the same person who is watching the dog.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

37 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

39 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

What was Reddington saying about Cooper's sick child?  I don't remember that.

I don't remember Cooper having a sick child, either. In fact, I don't even recall him having a child. For that matter, I can't remember if he and his wife ever patched things up and got back together.

I do remember them getting back together-maybe after the shoot out at the cabin?  The part about the sick child seemed to come out of nowhere.  I assume any child would be grown.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

29 minutes ago, Dittohead said:

On 2/16/2017 at 11:19 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Nice to see Data.  Who babysat for Agnes while Tom went chasing his past?

"Who babysat for Agnes while Tom went chasing his past? "
Maybe the same person who is watching the dog.

It really bothers me when a show adds a baby and then acts like having a baby does not change the way the characters previously did almost everything.  If you have a live-in nanny or easily available grandparent, ok, you don't need to tell me every single time where the baby is.  If you don't, and both parents are away from home without the baby, you do or I'm going to wonder.  This happens to a lesser extent on Lucifer, (although Trixie is a child, not a baby.)

Edited February 20, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[MrSmith]

39 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

It really bothers me when a show adds a baby and then acts like having a baby does not change the way the characters previously did almost everything.  If you have a live-in nanny or easily available grandparent, ok, you don't need to tell me every single time where the baby is.  If you don't, and both parents are away from home without the baby, you do or I'm going to wonder.  This happens to a lesser extent on Lucifer, (although Trixie is a child, not a baby.)

I just assume that Trixie is in school most of the time. She's school-aged, after all. Plus, Lucifer (the tv show, not the character) has done enough to show Lauren German's character interacting with her, caring for her, arranging for someone to care for her and such that I can comfortably assume she arranged a sitter when they don't show it. However, with Blacklist, I completely agree. It's like the characters have a baby only when it's convenient for them to have a baby. And they never show Liz caring for it or interacting with it. That makes all her wailing and gnashing of teeth while trying to get the baby back from her not-father seem staged and as if it's an affect.

Edited to add: It's almost like it's one of those stupid eggs you had to cart around in high school for two weeks. And since my stupid egg spent two weeks on the top shelf of my locker, except when I had to drag it to health class, that comparison is especially apt.

Edited February 20, 2017 by MrSmith

[ItCouldBeWorse]

7 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

And they never show Liz caring for it or interacting with it. That makes all her wailing and gnashing of teeth while trying to get the baby back from her not-father seem staged and as if it's an affect.

Well, in Isabella Stone, she was feeding Agnes when she saw the news about Tom's father's "death".  She even said "I was feeding Agnes..." which is why I remember it.  However, she doesn't seem very conflicted about missing milestones, or possibly dying and leaving Agnes without a mother.  She also seems to be encouraging Tom to go work as an operative for Scottie Hargrave: "that sounds like your dream job" - gee, I wonder if he'll listen to her?

I actually kind of wonder who they think would raise Agnes if they both died.  Doesn't really matter since Reddington would swoop in, but still.

Edited February 20, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[MrSmith]

47 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I do remember them getting back together-maybe after the shoot out at the cabin?  The part about the sick child seemed to come out of nowhere.  I assume any child would be grown.

The last thing I remember is them working on their relationship and yet not living together. Maybe they did get back together and I just don't remember it. Man, this show does a really terrible job maintaining the audience's knowledge of its characters' places in the world outside of work!

[cigar95]

On 2/20/2017 at 8:46 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

If you don't know who Data is, . . . . .

That would be me.

There's always the character's (quasi) name, I suppose . . . .