S04.E15: Apothecary

[MostlyC]

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After being given a dose of a deadly poison, Red must find out which of his closest confidants betrayed him; Liz and the task force search for the toxin's designer in a desperate attempt to save Red.

 

Guess who it is?  No, it's not him.  And it's not her either.  Furthermore, it's not him.  Or....Anyway, don't post here until after the episode has aired.

 

Unless you've been given a deadly toxin.  You can guess then, but you'd probably be better off calling 911, or 333 or whatever your emergency phone number is.  

[paigow]

DVR Alert: Starts 9pm

[ottoDbusdriver]

The Hangover: Part 4 (or 'Dude, where's my Dembe ?')

What the hell was that ?  What an incredible waste of an hour for a mid-season break until April.

For starters, Megan Boone was as terrible an actress as ever, in the limited time she had on screen, because this episode was nearly all Red all the time.

The Apothecary was probably the easiest Blacklister to find -- so lazy that he made no effort at all to hide his connections to a source of rare poisons that he used in his poisons-for-sale scheme, but he found time to go all rapey on his sedated wife.  WTF ?

Still no idea how Lizzie is connected to Red.  No sign of Mr. Kaplan -- we have no idea if she is pulling the strings, or if Red even knows that she is alive. Plus, no sign of the dogs. And they are setting it up to make it look like Dembe was the poisoner.  Which they will probably walk back almost immediately.

ETA: Did the restaurant staff not come back at all the next day ?  Because they would have found all the people stashed in the kitchen.  So why were those people still locked in the kitchen ?  Plus that door locked pretty flimsy -- how did they not force their way out ?

Edited February 25, 2017 by ottoDbusdriver

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

ETA: Did the restaurant staff not come back at all the next day ?  Because they would have found all the people stashed in the kitchen.  So why were those people still locked in the kitchen ?  Plus that door locked pretty flimsy -- how did they not force their way out ?

Since the food was still on the table, I guess the staff was told to stay away.

Did they show Red taking all their phones? Did no one have to use the bathroom after being locked up all night? I know there were sinks, but still.

Were they standing up all night, or did they stand up because they heard Red outside but all agreed not to bang on the door?

Didn't Marvin Gerard have to stay out of the country since his jail break, or did Red get a pardon for him, too?

Edited February 24, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Happytobehere]

So Dembe poisoned Red, was he finally fed up with the Lizzie nonsense too.

And NBC and their false advertising that made it look like you had to watch Blacklist to get how Redemption begins.  Not a good look network.

[mertensia]

Red-headed krait? WTF?

[mandigirl]

I highly doubt Dembe poisoned Red. If he had, why drive Red to get medical treatment? I'm assuming that Mr. Kaplan is trying to get Red to destroy the relationships that are closest to him, one by one. If Liz hadn't called, Red was very close to blowing away one of his best friends. 

A neat episode even if the Dembe red-herring at the end was unsatisfying.  Who knows why Dembe is in the wind-- probably trying to help Red in some way. Even if Dembe did poison him, I don't know that Red could bring himself to hurt him. 

I hope Red sends Marvin's neighbor a stack of cash. 

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Did they show Red taking all their phones? 

They did show all the cellphones on the table, so I guess Red gathered them up at some point. I do agree the barricade was pretty flimsy keeping everyone in the kitchen overnight, but maybe they didn't want to suspected of being the traitor if they left. Best to stay put then to have Red chasing you down, I bet...

[dwmarch]

Was it just me or did it sound like Lizzie had a cold? Her voice was very nasal. However, she did provide me with one genuine laugh out loud moment when she clocked the suspect with the little baby chair and Ressler was all "WTF?!" Her deadpan snark about tripping over one of those things in the dark was great.

So there was this random gal that Red kidnapped because she was there and he locked her in a trunk for a day and when he lets her out she just goes right along helping him? I'd actually like that plot better if she turned out to be one of his imaginary friends like the one he stayed at the beach house with last season. Because otherwise it just doesn't make sense that when he passed out in the middle of robbing a pharmacy she dragged his ass out, got him to safety, held onto his gun for him and said "alright, whateves" when he decided to go off on his own.

Does it make sense for Dembe to be behind it all? Like would he know Red's medical history and financial information? I know as Red's primary bodyguard he'd certainly see a lot of that stuff passing by but he's never been all that involved in plotting out Red's byzantine plans. Unless there's a lot we're not being shown Dembe's role mostly seems to consist of giving Red dire warnings which Red then ignores. And why poison him and then drag him off to where there is help? If Dembe just keeps Red secure for a couple of days Red is dead. Or he could have shot/choked/drowned/defenestrated Red at his convenience. So I think Dembe is actually still on Red's side but figures he or Red will be safer if they split up.

[kassygreene]

Since Dembe is a character I care about, this makes an effective cliffhanger for me.  And I don't trust Show to not kill him off; Show made him a credited regular and did not seem to increase the number of lines he has.

Still, we have Baz warming up in the bullpen.  I find Baz interesting too.

[Johnny Dollar]

My guess is that Dembe is busy trying to find Red's attempted killer. When he finds out it was Mr. Kaplan, he will be forced to kill her. Red will then launch into an insufferable story about vengeance and this great cafe in central Gdansk that served the most mouth-watering pierogi. Basically telling Dembe "Told ya."

Loved the banker telling Red that if he started up with one of his parables that he was going to kill him himself.  Although not likely, I hope it was an ad lib by Brian Stokes Mitchell. 

Edited February 25, 2017 by Johnny Dollar

[paigow]

10 hours ago, mandigirl said:

I highly doubt Dembe poisoned Red. If he had, why drive Red to get medical treatment?

Did anybody else have access to the whiskey? 

[milkyaqua]

You've all covered my "what, what" moments of the epi.  I did like seeing Brian Stokes Mitchell though.  Also, they better not be trying to kill off Dembe.  Heck, knock Liz off.  It's not like anyone will really miss her.

I did like when Red told Ressler that he was going to get his wish and he was dying.  Hah!

[TheGreenWave]

4 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

My guess is that Dembe is busy trying to find Red's attempted killer.

I bet it's Lizzie's Not!Dead mother!  Ok, that may be a stretch, but the scope was narrowed a bit when they insisted it had to be someone who had intimate knowledge about Red's medical history (and access to the whiskey or at least planted it).  If not Dembe (which, I agree, not him), then who would also have that knowledge?

[mandigirl]

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I highly doubt Dembe poisoned Red. If he had, why drive Red to get medical treatment?

Did anybody else have access to the whiskey?

 

Technically, anyone who had access to the house had access to his whiskey. Alternatively, the whiskey could have already been tainted when it was delivered to Red.  He didn't get it from a liquor store--he probably has some charming anecdote about his small-batch whiskey-maker. 

Out of all the characters, Dembe has the least motive to kill Red, and with the exception of maybe Ressler, it would be the most out-of-character for Dembe to put a hit on Red. Dembe is straight-forward. If he wanted to leave, he would leave (I would also expect that he would put more distance than NYC, just an hour away!) If he wanted to kill Red in retribution for Kate, he would do it in person, to his face and he sure as hell wouldn't frame Marvin for it.  

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 Dembe is a character I care about, this makes an effective cliffhanger for me... Show made him a credited regular and did not seem to increase the number of lines he has.

The actor who plays Dembe and James Spader have good chemistry. But I  have always despised the concept of the Dembe character who IMO is a stereotype rooted in a very imperialistic and racist narrative of the silent African manservant.  Dembe is highly skilled and well-educated (Oxford or something, right?) yet he mostly drives Red around, pours his drinks and hands him his phone.  He's there to be seen, not heard, not just by Red, but by the viewers as well. There have been several episodes where Dembe hasn't said more than a few words, if anything at all. And he is a series regular as kasseygreene pointed out! They've never done much to elevate the Dembe character beyond the stereotype and whatever nonsense they have him involved in now isn't likely to do so either. 

[paigow]

1 hour ago, mandigirl said:

The actor who plays Dembe and James Spader have good chemistry. But I  have always despised the concept of the Dembe character who IMO is a stereotype rooted in a very imperialistic and racist narrative of the silent African manservant.  Dembe is highly skilled and well-educated (Oxford or something, right?) yet he mostly drives Red around, pours his drinks and hands him his phone.  He's there to be seen, not heard, not just by Red, but by the viewers as well. There have been several episodes where Dembe hasn't said more than a few words, if anything at all. And he is a series regular as kasseygreene pointed out! They've never done much to elevate the Dembe character beyond the stereotype and whatever nonsense they have him involved in now isn't likely to do so either. 

Red saved Dembe - a child soldier - and evolved into a father figure. Red is evil and may be a colonialist, racist or many other things. But up to now, Dembe is one of the few people that Red completely trusted.

[saber5055]

I really enjoyed this episode, and I haven't liked a BL for a pretty long time. Then I read here all the problems with it (and I agree with everything said here!) and now I wonder what's wrong with me that I liked it. I really thought Dembe did the poisoning and thought so as soon as Red took that drink in the beginning shot. Reading here, I'm sure it was NOT Dembe. My money is on Mr. Kaplan, back from Deliverance to wreck havoc as Black Lister No. 1. That would have been cool if the neighbor woman had been a figment of Red's imagination. My only problem was at the end, Red appeared to recover *SNAP* like that from the deadly poison. I guess the writers were done with the script so had to make up that last paragraph quickly. And yes, I thought Lizzie had a cold, she was croaking out her lines. Not that I care all that much about her one way or the other.

[saber5055]

Forgot to mention: I loved seeing Fisher Stevens, he is on the level of Spader for acting. I wish he would be a regular. I also liked seeing DMV guy. And I guess Red replaced the doctor who lied to him about Lizzie being dead.

[Texasmom1970]

I don't think Dembe poisoned Red. But I love Dembe, still will even if he did!

[paigow]

9 hours ago, Texasmom1970 said:

I don't think Dembe poisoned Red. But I love Dembe, still will even if he did!

So there is an uninvited apostle to the Last Supper? How convenient that Red forgot about another prime suspect...

[Ottis]

Another episode where Lizzie is a decent investigator and has a sense of humor. That's several in a row. The show is clearly trying to rehabilitate what has been a near useless character forced upon us because of her mysterious relationship with Red.

I just want to know what brand of scotch Red drinks. He said scotch, otherwise I would assume it was Pappy Van Winkle whiskey. 

[misstwpherecool]

I thought for sure it was going to be Mr Kaplan because she one of the few that has detailed information on Red. She drops a dime on Red's bodies she drops a dime on herself.  Is Dembe acting with Mr Kaplan or is in pursuit to tell her enough already-tell her to tell Red you learned your lesson right.

[Brian Cronin]

12 hours ago, misstwpherecool said:

I thought for sure it was going to be Mr Kaplan because she one of the few that has detailed information on Red. She drops a dime on Red's bodies she drops a dime on herself.  Is Dembe acting with Mr Kaplan or is in pursuit to tell her enough already-tell her to tell Red you learned your lesson right.

You are almost certainly still correct. It's Mr. Kaplan behind it all and Dembe is just the red herring. 

[Utpe]

29 minutes ago, Brian Cronin said:

It's Mr. Kaplan behind it all and Dembe is just the red herring.

Exactly.  It must be why we haven't seen or heard from Kate in quite a while.

Megan Boone seemed under the weather while filming this episode.  I remember her face looked droopy and her eyes were bloodshot in Season 4, Episode 11 - The Harem.  Maybe NBC airs them in a different order.

[NaughtyKitty]

I wonder if it was Tom so they can get him out of the picture for Redemption....

[ItCouldBeWorse]

44 minutes ago, NaughtyKitty said:

I wonder if it was Tom so they can get him out of the picture for Redemption....

If it was, he sure made a lot of extra work for Liz.