S05.E03: Miss Rebecca Thrall

[ottoDbusdriver]

While the Task Force investigates a series of suspicious police shootings, Agent Ressler is distracted by increasing external pressures. With his back up against the wall, Red drafts Tom in executing an elaborate plan to help re-establish his criminal reputation.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Two words: tree stumps

How did they manage to not only cut down the trees, extract ALL the tree stumps and mow the grass for 500m of runway -- in 45 minutes ?

Apparently the immutable laws of basic physics do not apply in the Blacklistverse -- a herd of 100 elephants couldn't have pulled that off in 45 minutes.  I laughed when they showed them with the backyard lawn mowers.

Plus, I was so bored.  Didn't care about the Blacklister.  Didn't care about Ressler's shenanigans.

The only redeeming part of the entire episode was ..... Glenn.

[Surrealist]

4 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Two words: tree stumps

How did they manage to not only cut down the trees, extract ALL the tree stumps and mow the grass for 500m of runway -- in 45 minutes ?

Apparently the immutable laws of basic physics do not apply in the Blacklistverse -- a herd of 100 elephants couldn't have pulled that off in 45 minutes.  I laughed when they showed them with the backyard lawn mowers.

Plus, I was so bored.  Didn't care about the Blacklister.  Didn't care about Ressler's shenanigans.

The only redeeming part of the entire episode was ..... Glenn.

Glenn is the best thing about any Blacklist episode. Also, Dembé. 

[dwmarch]

When Glenn said "you want another dog?" I assumed the writers were trolling us. Glenn used to have two adorable Pomeranian puppies but like all dogs in the Blacklist universe they have learned to live without their master.

The insurance policy aspect was weird. I know insurance in the United States is a monster unto itself (witness for example a cop willing to murder because her sister doesn't have health insurance) but do policies really pay out in a timely manner when the person who held the policy is murdered? And do they continue to pay out when the recipient of those payouts happens to have an unfortunate number of murder victims? It doesn't seem like a sustainable scam, unless we're dealing with Dafuq Underwriters and Don Geevasheet Insurance.

I was glad Lizzie and Samar intercepted that cop before she could shoot the poor dude. That feels like a rare save by this team.

If that latex getup was tight enough over the guy's face to choke him it would be tight enough that he'd be able to chew through it. Latex is not a particularly tough substance.

I appreciated how they did Aram and Samar this episode. There's one shot of them where they're just closer together than co-workers would be. Nice and understated, way better than last week's makeout session in the elevator.

[Drusilla]

8 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Two words: tree stumps

How did they manage to not only cut down the trees, extract ALL the tree stumps and mow the grass for 500m of runway -- in 45 minutes ?

Apparently the immutable laws of basic physics do not apply in the Blacklistverse -- a herd of 100 elephants couldn't have pulled that off in 45 minutes.  I laughed when they showed them with the backyard lawn mowers.

Plus, I was so bored.  Didn't care about the Blacklister.  Didn't care about Ressler's shenanigans.

The only redeeming part of the entire episode was ..... Glenn.

Well Tom Keen can bury a body in seconds. SECONDS. Anyone who's ever tried to dig a big hole will wonder how he managed that. The Blacklist is in stupid universe. It's drama for the mindless.

[saber5055]

I watched this show with only one eyeball and half my brain, so I missed the dog comment and the runway building, two of the best things about this episode, apparently. DON'T make me watch it again with a full brain! I did like Glenn ranking on Red, but did not get the last part when Glenn said they would have to sleep with the plane door open. I'm hoping it wasn't for the reason I thought it was for. Also: Does anyone know what actor played the cop Maginnis? He looked like the guy who became Carter's rookie (spying) partner on Person Of Interest, but there is no listing for him on IMDB. Inquiring minds want to know. Oh: I also did not like Red's obvious disdain for Glenn at the end. He saved your ass, Red, you big jerk. Keep it up and he'll do a Mr. Kaplan on you. And could Ressler be any more of a dolt? "Hey Lizzie, check out the dead body in the trunk of my buddy's car." Geez.

[TheGreenWave]

I kept waiting for Tom to finish off his ridiculous diatribe to Red when they were "arrested" with: "I don't believe you when you say you don't lie to Liz...you know, like a body in a suitcase."  Yeesh Tom - nothing like sending the bat signal up that you have the freaking suitcase!!!  Idiot!

[milkyaqua]

Well come on now, people.  If you're looking for logic from any of the show characters (or the show runners) this is the wrong show.

17 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Two words: tree stumps

How did they manage to not only cut down the trees, extract ALL the tree stumps and mow the grass for 500m of runway -- in 45 minutes ?

Apparently the immutable laws of basic physics do not apply in the Blacklistverse -- a herd of 100 elephants couldn't have pulled that off in 45 minutes.  I laughed when they showed them with the backyard lawn mowers.

Plus, I was so bored.  Didn't care about the Blacklister.  Didn't care about Ressler's shenanigans.

The only redeeming part of the entire episode was ..... Glenn.

Yes, the tree stumps also baffled me but like most of this show, what's the point in looking for the logic?

When Red said that if anyone would put a bullet in Tom's head it would be him, I yelled, "Yes!"  Speaking of Tom, so you agree to enlist the help of some possibly loose cannon in figuring out the identify of the bones and then act all mysterious on the phone why you see Red looking at you?  Way to hurry up the inevitable beat down that's coming your way, idiot!

The only thing interesting in this epi was Red's offer to Ressler.  As big of a pickle as his dumb ass is in now with the cleaner, what would taking Red up on his offer entail?

11 hours ago, dwmarch said:

I appreciated how they did Aram and Samar this episode. There's one shot of them where they're just closer together than co-workers would be. Nice and understated, way better than last week's makeout session in the elevator.

 I liked that too.

Edited October 12, 2017 by milkyaqua

[VinceW]

13 hours ago, dwmarch said:

I appreciated how they did Aram and Samar this episode. There's one shot of them where they're just closer together than co-workers would be. Nice and understated, way better than last week's make out session in the elevator.

The relationship seems solid now, but little conversation between them to suggest where things are going in the future. At the end of last season, there was constant angst between them on screen with plenty of conversation.  I am surprised that viewers have not seen them together, as yet, outside of the workplace given the elevator scene.

Edited October 12, 2017 by VinceW

[Rosebud1970]

Apropos of nothing to do with this episode, Mr. Kaplan (or rather the actor who played her) resurfaced on this week's episode of Bull on CBS.

[VinceW]

2 hours ago, Rosebud1970 said:

Apropos of nothing to do with this episode, Mr. Kaplan (or rather the actor who played her) resurfaced on this week's episode of Bull on CBS.

Judge Lucille Abernathy (Mr Kaplan).  So cool!

[saber5055]

Nuts. My tv reception does not include CBS. -- signed: Mr. Kaplan fan.

[paigow]

Mr. Kaplan on Law & Order Mothership as a judge was comedy gold...

Edited October 13, 2017 by paigow

[Chaos Theory]

I liked this episode but then I always like episodes with female bad guys....feminism baby!

If we are still playing the is she or isn't she with Liz's paternity I am going to scream!!!!!    To be honest I wouldn't have minded if Tom had just stayed away in "Out of town".  All his quest to save Liz from Red is doing is annoying me.   I am actually liking the happy go criminal Liz.

Don't care about the FBI stuff AT ALL. 

Edited October 15, 2017 by Chaos Theory
Now my autocorrect is only sometimes misspelling words so..progress?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

So, Dembé clearly knew that thugs had gone into the motel looking for Red (since when Red called Dembé he didn't give him this info, but just responded "yeah" to what Dembé said and asked if he'd gotten a plate #), yet he didn't run to Red's aid, but just hung out in the parking lot?  How did he know they wouldn't capture or kill Red?  Isn't he his bodyguard?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Leroy and Quackers!

How did the structured settlement company take out a $5,000,000 insurance policy on a brain damaged drug addict?  Insurance companies don't just give a company as much insurance as they are willing to pay for, especially when their interest in the insured is only $100,00.

Why would Rebecca Thrall remained involved with the Stansbury family as their attorney after covertly arranging for their son's structured settlement to be bought out?

Had the cop with the ill sister never heard of a Go Fund Me campaign? Everyone else seems to have.  Did murder sound easier?

Liz cares more about Red now than she does about Tom's safety.  Red cares more about Tom's safety, for Liz's sake, than Liz does herself!  It seemed kind of obvious that the cops arresting Tom, Red and the gun runners weren't genuine, since Red needed to get the guns and keep that $1,000,00, but I wasn't thinking of the plane, although Dembé did say earlier to Red that they couldn't deliver the guns without a plane, yet they did just that since they have no pilot or fuel.

What did Tom mean by saying that he would be going to jail and that the only saving grace would be that Red would be even further away, buried in the hold of a ship somewhere in the Indian Ocean?

On 10/12/2017 at 0:22 PM, saber5055 said:

I also did not like Red's obvious disdain for Glenn at the end. He saved your ass, Red, you big jerk. Keep it up and he'll do a Mr. Kaplan on you.

I don't know.  At the very end, Red open Glenn's beer for him and patted him on the back.  He may not want Glenn to hang around, but he knows he owes him big time.

[Loandbehold]

8 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Why would Rebecca Thrall remained involved with the Stansbury family as their attorney after covertly arranging for their son's structured settlement to be bought out?

In all likelihood, the family called her after they got the call from the FBI. Thrall would want to know why the FBI is interested and what information they have, to see if it could lead back to her. Similarly, if the FBI called her because she was the attorney of record for the family, she'd not only have an ethical obligation to inform the family that the FBI wanted to speak with them, but she'd again want to know what the FBI already knows.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

20 minutes ago, Loandbehold said:

9 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Why would Rebecca Thrall remained involved with the Stansbury family as their attorney after covertly arranging for their son's structured settlement to be bought out?

In all likelihood, the family called her after they got the call from the FBI. Thrall would want to know why the FBI is interested and what information they have, to see if it could lead back to her. Similarly, if the FBI called her because she was the attorney of record for the family, she'd not only have an ethical obligation to inform the family that the FBI wanted to speak with them, but she'd again want to know what the FBI already knows.

I suppose the family might have called her based on their son's 20 year old lead-poisoning settlement (she would have been a fairly young attorney back then, I would think.) However, since the FBI did not even know that there had been a settlement and were approaching the victim's family cold, I don't see how they would have decided that she was the "attorney-of-record" for the family.  They would have had to do a search of court documents to determine that.  Unless Rebecca Thrall was the son's attorney-of-record on his past criminal cases, but that doesn't seem like her area of practice, although you never know. I don't think the FBI had any idea as to who she was before they went to interview the victim's parents.