S05.E10: The Informant

[MostlyC]

Red targets a Blacklister who uses his position of power to sell sensitive information; Ressler finds himself at risk; Liz plans her next move.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Wow !! We're back to an actual Blacklister -- and he is extremely disappointing.

Lizzie takes all the momentum she built up from last episode and dives headlong in to finding Tom's killer, and actually successfully makes her way up the Nash drug syndicate foodchain -- only to revert back to her normal idiot status and fall for Navarro's whispered words and leans in close enough for Navarro to headbutt her, they battle and Navarro manages to strangle her unconscious. 

I hope Navarro kills Lizzie, and we can move on to a better, Lizzie-free show.  But no, Red will probably come to her rescue ..... again.

As soon as that judge left Ressler and Red alone in the room you knew she was going to kill herself after her speech -- I just expected her to shoot herself vs. throwing herself out the window.  

On the bright side, at least Ressler is no longer on the hook to the cleaner.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

55 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

I hope Navarro kills Lizzie, and we can move on to a better, Lizzie-free show.  But no, Red will probably come to her rescue ..... again.

Navarro's dead. Lizzie drew strength from dying Tom and they fell on something breaking some glass which punctured and killed him. Now Lizzie is in the same position as Ressler before he called the cleaner, except the guy whose death she accidentally caused had first been handcuffed and threatened by her. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Navarro's dead. Lizzie drew strength from dying Tom and they fell on something breaking some glass which punctured and killed him. Now Lizzie is in the same position as Ressler before he called the cleaner, except the guy whose death she accidentally caused had first been handcuffed and threatened by her. 

My tv feed went to commercial when Lizzie passed out from Navarro's chokehold.  WTH ?

I'm going to have to re-watch the ending apparently (unfortunately) from the West Coast feed .

ETA:  I finally caught the actual ending -- so Lizzie did manage to kill Navarro.  I'm just surprised that Lizzie didn't fall into a 10-month coma from falling down on top of Navarro.

Edited January 11, 2018 by ottoDbusdriver

[Dowel Jones]

Let's hope the city Health Inspector doesn't make a surprise visit to look at the refrigerator in that cafe'.

It sure sounded like there was a struggle in the judge's bedroom before she exited the window, but I was fully expecting that outcome after her closing statement. And to that end:

Judge: Are you honest?  Red: Yes, I have been known to be.  Judge:  Are you moral, decent?  Red:  (Shrugs)

[mandigirl]

So relieved that the Ressler black-mailing storyline is over. It was a good episode for Ressler, and I liked his conversation with Cooper. I enjoy episodes where Red and Ressler team up, so I was pleased tonight. 

43 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

It sure sounded like there was a struggle in the judge's bedroom before she exited the window

That's what I thought too.  In any case, I'm surprised the cleaner would put someone who knew his real name in Ressler's orbit! Seemed out of character, but whatever, just glad he's gone.  Also, did anyone else find it odd that the Informant gave up everything in one hour of interrogation?

2 hours ago, forumfish said:

Is it just me, or did Lizzie adopt the Spader Head Tilt when she was talking to Navarro?

That's where they're going with this-- Liz turning into Red. The way she talks to targets now is pretty much full on Red-mode.  And to be honest-- I'm kinda digging it. Red is such a compelling character that Liz play-acting being Red is still fun to watch. Angry Liz is the best version of Liz I've seen on this show so far.  As ottoDbusdriver pointed out, Liz actually managed to get quite a bit done since she's been back. I would have no problem at all with Angry Liz... except that I'm pretty sure soon after we're going to get Angsty Liz, and that I have no interest in watching. 

Glad to see the Task Force this week.

I generally like the assortment of random associates Red hangs out with, but I particularly got a kick out of that 'saucier' that Red had cooking and making drinks for him tonight! The drink he made Red looked amazing! Maybe without the absinthe. 

[Chaos Theory]

I mostly like Liz in this until the last guy tricked her so easily.  I really like the last couple episodes.  I am really a fan of the Liz character and like the idea of her going after the guys who killed her husband.  Honestly I don’t really care at all about the FBI.  It was mice to see an end to the boring is Ressker dirty Story.  I wouldn’t mind if the FBI got dropped entirely and the show focuses on Liz and Red.

[Surrealist]

9 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

It sure sounded like there was a struggle in the judge's bedroom before she exited the window, but I was fully expecting that outcome after her closing statement.

I was thinking the same. She screamed and I thought to myself "If she had committed suicide, she probably wouldn't have screamed."

[ItCouldBeWorse]

4 hours ago, Surrealist said:

13 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

It sure sounded like there was a struggle in the judge's bedroom before she exited the window, but I was fully expecting that outcome after her closing statement.

I was thinking the same. She screamed and I thought to myself "If she had committed suicide, she probably wouldn't have screamed."

The scream confused me too, but then I thought perhaps it was meant to be someone on the street who witnessed the suicide or its gruesome aftermath.  I don't know if the judge would have had time to scream after throwing herself out the window.

The lesson I draw from this and from the final arc of Major Crimes is that a mother should never cover up her son's sexual misdeeds.  Let him face the consequences

I also don't understand how Red completely removed Ressler's file from the files that were confiscated from the cleaner.  Aren't there audio files out there?  Who knows where they are backed up?  Also, did the FBI find the barrels full of pickled bodies?

Edited January 11, 2018 by ItCouldBeWorse

[TheGreenWave]

7 hours ago, mandigirl said:

That's where they're going with this-- Liz turning into Red. The way she talks to targets now is pretty much full on Red-mode.  And to be honest-- I'm kinda digging it. Red is such a compelling character that Liz play-acting being Red is still fun to watch. Angry Liz is the best version of Liz I've seen on this show so far.  As ottoDbusdriver pointed out, Liz actually managed to get quite a bit done since she's been back. I would have no problem at all with Angry Liz... except that I'm pretty sure soon after we're going to get Angsty Liz, and that I have no interest in watching. 

Agree with this - I couldn't handle both Angsty Liz and Angtsy Ressler having their internal moral conflicts for the rest of the season.  Angry Liz has at least injected some new blood into this show lately.  And just when Liz has gone all Red, she'll find out that Red is not her father.

[saber5055]

After the good episode last week, I was back to doing other things while this was on, so I'm depending on the posts here to fill me in. I was uncomfortable with Cooper and Ressler exchanging (potential) blackmail letters. Lizzie letting the bad guy get the jump on her was all kinds of stupid after she was so kickass last week. I guess the Alaskan air agreed with her; downstate air, not so much. I also wondered where she was going to get a cleaner to get rid of her DNA all over that murdered guy. Is anyone keeping track of Lizzie's body count? Handcuffing that guy to the steering wheel was pretty boss, but Red setting that truck on fire with the guy handcuffed inside was all kinds of NOT cool or even humane. His torched body is going to be found like that, meaning more work for the FBI Task Force. Gah.

[paigow]

Spader must have a contract rider that one person must be burned alive every episode until cancellation....

[mandigirl]

Quote

I also wondered where [Liz] was going to get a cleaner to get rid of her DNA all over that murdered guy.

Apparently she's not going to bother with a middle man. Liz is going all ' Stewmaker', the BLer from Season 1-- and using chemicals for 'disposal'.  

Edited January 12, 2018 by mandigirl

[milkyaqua]

Glad the Ressler nonsense is over.  I did have to wonder why Cooper would give him an envelope though.  But I guess he figures Ressler is still "boy scout" enough to trust.  Though, Red knowing everything is worse for the both of them so there's that.

Liz made it one and more than half epis before going back to being a bonehead.  I knew she couldn't last that long.  As for the dead body, I have faith the show will manage to explain it away like most things they can't be bothered with or expect the audience to not pay that much attention to.  She is going to be so pissed when she finds out about what Tom's death was actually about.  I'm more than fine with her not being Red's daughter because I've always thought that was too easy.  Megan Boone was fine on Blue Bloods as one of Danny's multiple female partners but she really brings little to this character.

The scream from the judges apartment confused me too until they showed the side walk and then I just went with passerby seeing a body flying out of the window.

What's Garvey's reason for leaving Liz alone right now?  Does he think she knows something or is he going to share what he knows?  How does Red not apparently know who this guy is?  Or is he biding his time for some reason before he moves on Garvey?

[No 2 in our Hearts]

18 hours ago, TheGreenWave said:

And just when Liz has gone all Red, she'll find out that Red is not her father.

God, I nope not. I was glad to see this nonsense laid to rest even if it was the most obvious explanation.  To be honest the unconditional love of a parent is probably the most logical explanation for Red's all consuming and never ending  devotion to someone who isn't THAT special.

Edited January 12, 2018 by No 2 in our Hearts

[misstwpherecool]

Was the screaming when the judge jumped the pedestrian reaction on the street after she went splat?

The cleaner guy was pretty thorough and maticulous. I can't believe he wouldn't have a dead man's switch with information being sent to the police upon his death(which was unnecessarily cruel). Red needs Ressler in the FBI, it's to his benefit in more ways than one. Also didn't the cleaner guy keep a bodies in drums in storage somewhere?

Also it's the better part of a year and team task force seems to operating as normal. Did Iram get his field training? Was Liz replaced?

Maybe I missed some blacklist mumbo jumbo what did the terror attack in Toronto have to do with the cleaner again? Or the guy he arranged the suitcase swap for?

I think Liz is getting ready to take over the family business. If she's able to successfully dispose of Navarro she's the new Red. Notice how he will be apparently 'disappeared' so even if Liz confesses there will be no body and he she still gets to play FBI agent-boooo

[paigow]

Does Garvey have the suitcase? Does it matter anymore?

[Loandbehold]

14 hours ago, iheartET said:

7) What envelope did Harold hand to Donald?

I think it's supposed to be Harold's confession. The entire unit has committed so many crimes, I'm surprised the "full confessions" are only one or two pages long. (Since the envelopes are practically flat.)

[TheGreenWave]

40 minutes ago, paigow said:

Does Garvey have the suitcase? Does it matter anymore?

Oh yeah!  The suitcase!   I feel like Red probably has it.

[milkyaqua]

2 hours ago, misstwpherecool said:

The cleaner guy was pretty thorough and maticulous. I can't believe he wouldn't have a dead man's switch with information being sent to the police upon his death(which was unnecessarily cruel). Red needs Ressler in the FBI, it's to his benefit in more ways than one. Also didn't the cleaner guy keep a bodies in drums in storage somewhere?

I did think that was odd as well but considering Red managed to somehow remove Ressler's incriminating evidence, I just went with Red somehow circumventing that as well because apparently Red is all knowing...

As for the suitcase and Garvey, I find it hard to believe that Red has it otherwise why would Garvey still be tracking Liz?  Red obviously was able to track the worker bee's down but he seems to not have been able to track Garvey yet and he had a year's head start with Liz in her coma.

2 hours ago, misstwpherecool said:

Maybe I missed some blacklist mumbo jumbo what did the terror attack in Toronto have to do with the cleaner again? Or the guy he arranged the suitcase swap for?

As far as I can remember it was an elaborate plan to get some accounts numbers from some powerful people and then hold the accounts hostage while the account holders paid big bucks to get their accounts back and there may have been some terrorism thrown in the pot too.

 

7 hours ago, No 2 in our Hearts said:

God, I nope not. I was glad to see this nonsense laid to rest even if it was the most obvious explanation.  To be honest the unconditional love of a parent is probably the most logical explanation for Red's all consuming and never ending  devotion to someone who isn't THAT special.

Point taken but Red as Liz's father has always been too easy and obvious (at least for me).  Frankly, it's always been the least interesting or important part of this for me.  Though it would explain Red's seeming need to be a part of Liz's life.  As for her taking over the "family business," I think you need a personality for that and Liz doesn't really have enough of one and at some point I would guess she'd actually want to raise Agnes.

[marionette]

I love reading these comments.  It is true that the show is really sketchy on their writing.  There are so many holes in all the stories and we are sitting here going "huh?".  Liz is so poorly acted it is laughable.  I love the eyes half-closed gaze that she does.  She looks like she has brain damage.  She certainly has not been the sharpest knife in the drawer up to this point, so maybe that is possible.

[paigow]

18 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

 I'm surprised the "full confessions" are only one or two pages long. 

Using 6pt Arial Condensed.... 

[Loandbehold]

10 hours ago, paigow said:

Using 6pt Arial Condensed.... 

Or written on a microdot. Wait, they actually could do that ...

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 1/12/2018 at 1:14 PM, TheGreenWave said:

On 1/12/2018 at 0:32 PM, paigow said:

Does Garvey have the suitcase? Does it matter anymore?

Oh yeah!  The suitcase!   I feel like Red probably has it.

I thought Garvey had it and was waiting for the right moment to use it against Red, whenever that is.

If it truly does contain the bones of the real Raymond Reddington, and Liz finds out that Tom died because Red was trying to keep this a secret from her, she could actually wind up allying herself with Garvey to get revenge on Red.  And then killing Garvey. Not sure where this would leave Dembe, who is sympathetic to Liz but has enabled Red in keeping the secrets of the suitcase.

Edited January 14, 2018 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ottoDbusdriver]

5 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

If it truely does contain the bones of the real Raymond Reddington, and Liz finds out that Tom died because Red was trying to keep this a secret from her, she could actually wind up allying herself with Garvey to get revenge on Red.  

At this point I'm convinced that they just stole the suitcase full o' bones from another show, and they're actually the bones of Drago Musevni from the show 'Andromeda'.
And I wouldn't be at all surprised if the next time the suitcase is opened the bones glow like the suitcase from 'Pulp Fiction'.

Those ideas are no stupider than what the Blacklist writers have come up with this stupid sub-plot.
 

[paigow]

8 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

At this point I'm convinced that they just stole the suitcase full o' bones from another show
 

The actual suitcase is Odo... Red is hiding the existence of aliens on Earth...

[Dowel Jones]

Maybe it's a mixture of bones from the real Liz, the real Tom, and the real Reddington.  They're all imposters, and they realize at last that they're in a "Truman Show" situation.  Camera fades back to the control room, and executive producer Mr. Kaplan says "Okay, move on to the next step."

[Ottis]

Does it matter if Red is Red, Tom is Tom or anyone is anyone on this show? They could all be Kardashians, and what changes? We are who the world perceives us to be.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 1/18/2018 at 0:52 PM, Ottis said:

Does it matter if Red is Red, Tom is Tom or anyone is anyone on this show? They could all be Kardashians, and what changes? We are who the world perceives us to be.

It will definitely matter to Liz.

[Ottis]

9 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

It will definitely matter to Liz.

If Agnes and her dog doesn't matter, why should this? That's half in jest, but truly, what matters on this show to the characters is what the writers decide matters. They could easily decide that Liz has had enough of this silliness (or, if you're more serious, death and killing) and moves on.

Edited January 22, 2018 by Ottis

[ItCouldBeWorse]

21 hours ago, Ottis said:

On 1/22/2018 at 4:11 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

It will definitely matter to Liz.

If Agnes and her dog doesn't matter, why should this? That's half in jest, but truly, what matters on this show to the characters is what the writers decide matters. They could easily decide that Liz has had enough of this silliness (or, if you're more serious, death and killing) and moves on.

I suppose, but they've already established that she is far less attached to Agnes then she is to avenging Tom.  Red's role in Tom's demise will be shattering to her, especially if I am correct and he is not her father, because the relationship that has been propping her up is now based on a huge lie.

Edited January 23, 2018 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Ottis]

On 1/22/2018 at 11:55 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Red's role in Tom's demise will be shattering to her, especially if I am correct and he is not her father, because the relationship that has been propping her up is now based on a huge lie.

What props Liz up is whatever Liz wants at the moment. Sometimes it's revenge, sometimes it's being left alone, sometimes she hates Red, sometimes she thinks of him fondly (and lately she joins him in illegal escapades). The only consistent factor is that whatever props up Liz is about Liz - and that's the least interesting part of this show.

On 1/12/2018 at 11:47 AM, milkyaqua said:

Point taken but Red as Liz's father has always been too easy and obvious (at least for me).  Frankly, it's always been the least interesting or important part of this for me.

ITA. And I don't know why Red feels he has to be so opaque about it. Lizzie is a big girl. What could he be hiding? Liz's dad killed her mom? Sort of covered that. Liz's dad is an outlaw/traitor/criminal? Liz doesn't seem bothered by that. Liz's dad killed Lincoln? Liz's dad is part of an alien invasion? Liz's dad is Larry Nassar?

On 1/13/2018 at 5:21 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Not sure where this would leave Dembe, who is sympathetic to Liz but has enabled Red in keeping the secrets of the suitcase.

If it left Blacklist as the Red and Dembe show, it would be much improved. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

On 1/12/2018 at 1:47 PM, milkyaqua said:

Point taken but Red as Liz's father has always been too easy and obvious (at least for me).  Frankly, it's always been the least interesting or important part of this for me.

ITA. And I don't know why Red feels he has to be so opaque about it. Lizzie is a big girl. What could he be hiding? Liz's dad killed her mom? Sort of covered that. Liz's dad is an outlaw/traitor/criminal? Liz doesn't seem bothered by that. Liz's dad killed Lincoln? Liz's dad is part of an alien invasion? Liz's dad is Larry Nassar?

Red killed Liz's dad and took his place?

[Dowel Jones]

On 1/12/2018 at 9:56 AM, Loandbehold said:

, I'm surprised the "full confessions" are only one or two pages long.

 

On 1/13/2018 at 4:29 AM, paigow said:

Using 6pt Arial Condensed.... 

 

On 1/13/2018 at 2:40 PM, Loandbehold said:

Or written on a microdot. Wait, they actually could do that ...

Or contain a link to an online page, so they can download the pdf document.

[Ottis]

6 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Red killed Liz's dad and took his place?

If you want to be serious about it, that’s the obvious choice. Which was was apparent a season or two ago. And if that’s it, who cares? Liz apparently doesn’t remember her dad enough to know the difference between him and Red. And she does know Red enough to know he has been protecting her and cares about her. If she finds out he killed her dad, she can have a fit and be mad at Red again I guess. It would matter to exactly one person... Liz.