S05.E12: The Cook

[MostlyC]

Liz works with Red to hunt for Tom's killers but begins to question his motives; the Task Force enlists the help of one arsonist to catch another.

 

Eta: Tiger Moms are Scare-EEeeeey! 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Meh.  Except for Liz getting wise to Red's ways after all this time.  And that was a creepy version of Ring of Fire.  When the other priest was surprised that men were being killed, I expected it to tie back in to the ER doctor's brother being the target since the implication was that the arsonist was now being tempted by men, but that went nowhere.  I will say that the young woman in the airport was extremely handsy with the arsonist priest, unless that was just meant to be the way he perceived it.

Edited February 1, 2018 by ItCouldBeWorse

[dwmarch]

I know this show revolves around Reddington and his deadly secrets but this mystery that he's chasing with Lizzie is never going to be worth what it's being built up to be. The secret was a body in a suitcase. So who was it and why are they in there? Is it Lizzie's mom that she never knew? Is it some sister of Lizzie's that has somehow avoided appearing in all the flashbacks? But mostly, who cares? Whoever it is in there they've been dead for about thirty years. How is it that this secret is supposed to be something that Red dares not reveal to Lizzie? Is it because it will make him look like a monster? The man who murders people with casual grace and gives spiders as a gift? No, can't imagine that dude being a monster! Seriously, there is no plot about a body in a suitcase that should equal a shocking revelation that would make Lizzie mad in today's world.

We've also got a number of people who know the truth about this situation and for some reason they're all keeping it to themselves. Tom couldn't summarize it in a phone call (as he was not genre-savvy enough to know that having "the truth" would get him ambushed and killed), the bad guy leaves cryptic notes, Mr. Kaplan killed herself rather than blurt it out and Reddington just won't tell Lizzie even though he knows she's going to have a bug up her ass about it until she finds out.

I always find it funny in these Hollywood fires where there's big blazes all around someone and they carry on casually despite what should be crippling amounts of smoke. The priest can just sit there and watch as his victims burn and then at the end of it all he just gets up and leaves. And Ressler, lovable lunkhead that he is decides to smash out a window while in the middle of a big fire in a room full of accelerant. In Hollywood fires that's a great escape plan. In real life, adding oxygen to fire equals more fire!

[Dowel Jones]

Not to mention that there are apparently no trained arson investigators in all the jurisdictions where these fires occur, thereby creating the need for a prisoner to be released from jail to assist the FBI.

I was also taken aback by the abbot's reaction to the fact that Wattles killed men, too.  What, you didn't think it was odd that he killed women, but throw him under the bus if he killed some men?

Claire's fiancee' is still waiting at the airport. She's got some 'splainin' to do.

A question came up for me.  If the glass eye had a GPS embedded in it, did Ian Garvey's crew insert that into the unfortunate Mr. Navarro's skull to keep track of him? 

[calipiano81]

3 hours ago, dwmarch said:

I know this show revolves around Reddington and his deadly secrets but this mystery that he's chasing with Lizzie is never going to be worth what it's being built up to be. The secret was a body in a suitcase. So who was it and why are they in there? Is it Lizzie's mom that she never knew? Is it some sister of Lizzie's that has somehow avoided appearing in all the flashbacks? But mostly, who cares? Whoever it is in there they've been dead for about thirty years. How is it that this secret is supposed to be something that Red dares not reveal to Lizzie? Is it because it will make him look like a monster? The man who murders people with casual grace and gives spiders as a gift? No, can't imagine that dude being a monster! Seriously, there is no plot about a body in a suitcase that should equal a shocking revelation that would make Lizzie mad in today's world.

This is where the Impostor Theory seems to fit in. The fact that in this episode, Red tells Liz almost everything without telling her anything, IMO supports the idea that the truth doesn't really have to do with Liz getting mad, but something that Red really just needs to keep hidden.

If Red is outed as an impostor because the suitcase possibly contains the real Raymond Reddington, that could potentially undermine his power and position in the criminal world, which Red in the past has stated he needs in order to protect Liz (from what still needs to be revealed).

As far as why Red doesn't want Liz to know...well, look at what happened to Tom when he found out the truth.

[No 2 in our Hearts]

34 minutes ago, calipiano81 said:

This is where the Impostor Theory seems to fit in. The fact that in this episode, Red tells Liz almost everything without telling her anything, IMO supports the idea that the truth doesn't really have to do with Liz getting mad, but something that Red really just needs to keep hidden.

If Red is outed as an impostor because the suitcase possibly contains the real Raymond Reddington, that could potentially undermine his power and position in the criminal world, which Red in the past has stated he needs in order to protect Liz (from what still needs to be revealed).

As far as why Red doesn't want Liz to know...well, look at what happened to Tom when he found out the truth.

Why would anyone care that Red stole some mid-level squid's identity thirty years ago? Why would Liz? The identity of the bones causing her to finally walk away from Red is the reason that Kaplan dug it up in the first place. Kaplan didn't know that Liz discovered her father's identity and I can't imagine anyone thinking that Liz would decide that identity theft is the one thing she can't abide by.

[Kelda Feegle]

That was a snoozefest.

[Suzysite]

I ff'ed through a lot of it.   Fire creeps me out, so I just watched the Red and Lizzie parts.  I want them to catch Tom's killers but that's all I'm interested in.  And "interested" is a stretch.

[calipiano81]

5 hours ago, No 2 in our Hearts said:

Why would anyone care that Red stole some mid-level squid's identity thirty years ago? Why would Liz? The identity of the bones causing her to finally walk away from Red is the reason that Kaplan dug it up in the first place. Kaplan didn't know that Liz discovered her father's identity and I can't imagine anyone thinking that Liz would decide that identity theft is the one thing she can't abide by.

If someone is not who he says he is, doesn't he lose significant power, influence, and credibility? With Season 3's "Gregory Devry" episode (con man claiming to be Red), the show actually already hinted at the possible effects of Red not being Red.

In "Requiem" (Mr. Kaplan backstory episode) Red said that he needed to become the powerful criminal the world already thought he was. Red needs to be Raymond Reddington to protect Liz. If Raymond Reddington is really dead and Red is a fraud, that likely puts Liz in a lot of danger.

As far as Liz walking away...if Red turns out to be an impostor, perhaps Kaplan thought that would cause Liz to lose complete trust in him. Without trust, there would no longer be any reason to associate with him, whether professionally or personally.

Edited February 1, 2018 by calipiano81

[calipiano81]

Theories aside, I appreciated Red being so straight-forward with Liz about what went down with Tom, as well as Liz taking in the information without getting hysterical and storming off. 

[TheGreenWave]

Everyone has made a lot of good points on this episode - @Kelda Feegle a snoozefest indeed.  I couldn't believe that they actually thought they had tracked down Damascus based on reverse whatevering the eye.  They saw the computers at the kid's house...did Red & Co. not think that they would realize they are trying to track Damascus & Co.'s location??  Dumb, dumb, dumb.

On a side note, talk about out of character on Samar's "isn't he adorable?" comment about Amar.  Vomit.

[saber5055]

Ressler and Samar stand there, guns drawn and pointed, at the priest as he gives a lengthy speech, then after his speech he dumps accelerant on himself, more than once. They continue to stand and stare at him, guns drawn. WTH? These are FBI agents? Shoot the guy in the leg or shoulder or something so he falls down. But no, they just stand and do nothing. So the guy lights himself on fire and they continue to just stand and stare. WTH? No one has a fire extinguisher in their car? No one can take off their jacket (I'm looking at you, Ressler) and beat the flames out? No, we're FBI and we do nothing. Way to go, Protectors Of Our Country.

Dumbasses.

[TheGreenWave]

19 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Ressler and Samar stand there, guns drawn and pointed, at the priest as he gives a lengthy speech, then after his speech he dumps accelerant on himself, more than once. They continue to stand and stare at him, guns drawn. WTH? These are FBI agents? Shoot the guy in the leg or shoulder or something so he falls down. But no, they just stand and do nothing. So the guy lights himself on fire and they continue to just stand and stare. WTH? No one has a fire extinguisher in their car? No one can take off their jacket (I'm looking at you, Ressler) and beat the flames out? No, we're FBI and we do nothing. Way to go, Protectors Of Our Country.

Dumbasses.

In the very least, they could have shouted, "We're going to need a fire extinguisher over here!!" Because didn't they bring the FD with them?  I assumed there were firefighters and cops standing behind them.  I guess they thought saying "no, don't do it" a few times was sufficient.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

5 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Ressler and Samar stand there, guns drawn and pointed, at the priest as he gives a lengthy speech, then after his speech he dumps accelerant on himself, more than once. They continue to stand and stare at him, guns drawn. WTH? These are FBI agents? Shoot the guy in the leg or shoulder or something so he falls down. But no, they just stand and do nothing. So the guy lights himself on fire and they continue to just stand and stare. WTH? No one has a fire extinguisher in their car? No one can take off their jacket (I'm looking at you, Ressler) and beat the flames out? No, we're FBI and we do nothing. Way to go, Protectors Of Our Country.

Dumbasses.

 

4 hours ago, TheGreenWave said:

In the very least, they could have shouted, "We're going to need a fire extinguisher over here!!" Because didn't they bring the FD with them?  I assumed there were firefighters and cops standing behind them.  I guess they thought saying "no, don't do it" a few times was sufficient.

Before they went to catch him, Cooper had called for the fire departmen to meet them thwrw, as one should probably do with an arsonist. That's a very slow fire department.

Perhaps they thought that the bullet passing through the accelerant might ignite it.

13 hours ago, No 2 in our Hearts said:

Why would anyone care that Red stole some mid-level squid's identity thirty years ago? Why would Liz? The identity of the bones causing her to finally walk away from Red is the reason that Kaplan dug it up in the first place. Kaplan didn't know that Liz discovered her father's identity and I can't imagine anyone thinking that Liz would decide that identity theft is the one thing she can't abide by.

I still think that Red somehow, perhaps accidentally, killed her real father, Raymond Reddington. After Cooper tested the old blood and matched it to Liz, she knew she was Reddington's daughter. In order for the current Red to tell her that he is not her father, he would have to explain what had transpired, which he clearly doesn't want to. I can see where she might be upset at the revelation. 

[Dowel Jones]

7 hours ago, saber5055 said:

So the guy lights himself on fire and they continue to just stand and stare. WTH?

They were setting up a perimeter, as they always do.  ;)

[Just my 2 cents]

9 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Ressler and Samar stand there, guns drawn and pointed, at the priest as he gives a lengthy speech, then after his speech he dumps accelerant on himself, more than once. They continue to stand and stare at him, guns drawn. WTH? These are FBI agents? Shoot the guy in the leg or shoulder or something so he falls down. But no, they just stand and do nothing. So the guy lights himself on fire and they continue to just stand and stare. WTH? No one has a fire extinguisher in their car? No one can take off their jacket (I'm looking at you, Ressler) and beat the flames out? No, we're FBI and we do nothing. Way to go, Protectors Of Our Country.

Dumbasses.

Some how I just thought they didn't feel like wasting bullets and they wanted to see what a man burning alive would look like.  I halfway expected them to shrug and walk away when he fell to his knees.

[Just my 2 cents]

22 hours ago, dwmarch said:

I know this show revolves around Reddington and his deadly secrets but this mystery that he's chasing with Lizzie is never going to be worth what it's being built up to be

Although I gave up before it ended I expect it to be somewhat like Lost.  I don't think anyone that watched all the seasons cared by the time they got the big reveal when it ended.

 

13 hours ago, calipiano81 said:

Why would anyone care that Red stole some mid-level squid's identity thirty years ago? Why would Liz? The identity of the bones causing her to finally walk away from Red is the reason that Kaplan dug it up in the first place. Kaplan didn't know that Liz discovered her father's identity and I can't imagine anyone thinking that Liz would decide that identity theft is the one thing she can't abide by.

From what I remember the 1st season made a big deal out of Raymond Reddington.  He was an Annapolis graduate in the top of his class that was in Naval intelligence and was on his way to becoming the youngest admiral in history when he disappeared and then reappeared a couple of years later looking slightly different and selling U.S. intel.  Cooper said that he was hunting the elusive Russian spy Seaduke when he was captured and almost tortured to death.  I'm still wondering about that one.  If he was supposed to be so super intelligent, why couldn't he ever find him, unless he wasn't supposed to because they were on the same side.  I always thought if they were going to go with the impostor theory Red would have to be one of those low level employees that nobody noticed.   I remember an episode when he and Liz needed to find out some intel and he went to the hotels janitors or some delivery person.  She told him she hardly seen how he could help and Red told her that if you want to find out the best intel you find out from the low level employees, because they hear everything, but are ignored because they are deemed insignificant.

[milkyaqua]

Meh.  I'm just ready for the "who killed Tom" to be over.  I'm glad that Liz seems to be suspicious of Red but really she has been before and where's that gotten her?  Again, don't care about the suitcase or whose remains are in it.  As others have said, it's been 30 freakin' years.  Why should anyone care?  Even someone as uptight as Liz.  The reveal would need to be so big and mind blowing that I know this show won't come anywhere close to a satisfactory conclusion.  I'm already prepared to be disappointed or to go, "Meh."  At least we can hopefully move on from whatever the big mystery is.

For some reason, I found Red not knowing that four was a bad number in Japanese culture more unbelievable than anything else.  I am interested in why he wanted Fagin out of jail and of course, the Task Force doesn't ask these questions.  As far as letting the priest burn, I got the feeling that Ressler and Samar didn't want to fire for fear of igniting the fuel.  But yes, where the heck is anyone with a fire extinguisher or hose?  Somebody?

[Just my 2 cents]

1 hour ago, milkyaqua said:

For some reason, I found Red not knowing that four was a bad number in Japanese culture more unbelievable than anything else.  I am interested in why he wanted Fagin out of jail and of course, the Task Force doesn't ask these questions.  As far as letting the priest burn, I got the feeling that Ressler and Samar didn't want to fire for fear of igniting the fuel.  But yes, where the heck is anyone with a fire extinguisher or hose?  Somebody?

Yeah, I thought that was interesting too since Red seems to be well-versed in many things.  I overlooked the Star Wars thing because I guess that was around the time of the Cold War and he was too busy to go to the movies. 

I found it extremely amusing that he could not charm the computer tech kid's mom and that he seemed to be intimidated and afraid of her.  Seeing his discomfort around her made me laugh.

[dwmarch]

1 hour ago, milkyaqua said:

 As far as letting the priest burn, I got the feeling that Ressler and Samar didn't want to fire for fear of igniting the fuel.  But yes, where the heck is anyone with a fire extinguisher or hose?  Somebody?

The last word in the episode on the priest is courtesy of Samar who says "we caught the Blacklister." So that could mean he's still alive, chained to a bed in a burn unit somewhere. Which makes it way worse than if they had just shot him. Ressler almost admits as much at the parole hearing. "I used to think in terms of black and white but now..."

[saber5055]

There's no way that burning man lived through that, his upper torso was fully engulfed. If he did live, he didn't live long. And Ressler talking about things not being black and white, I think he was talking about himself. He's not exactly squeaky clean. Then the end ... Red could have at least given that guy a ride somewhere instead of just driving off and letting the guy (the man he needs so badly!) to just walk off to ... where? How is Red going to find him? Geez, give him a lift to some hotel and pay for a month's rent or something Red.

Edited February 2, 2018 by saber5055
Double post. Website went wack for a minute!

[mxc90]

Did the kid not hear Red explain many times he doesn't know any thing about Star Wars??!!!! Yet he continued quote many Star Wars references to Red and received "WTF" type responses. 

I understand Dembe is loyal to Red but what is preventing him from saying "enough is enough" with holding secrets from Liz and he tell her what he knows.

[Neiman]

I like the addition of the the teenage geek squad and his mom. I also liked Ressler's speech for the parole board.  Can't wait to see why Reddington felt the need to help that arsonist get paroled.  Guessing Tom's killers need to get ready.  It surprises me that they have been able to elude Reddington and Dembe so far.

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 2/1/2018 at 7:07 AM, Kelda Feegle said:

That was a snoozefest.

 

On 2/1/2018 at 7:51 AM, Suzysite said:

I ff'ed through a lot of it.   Fire creeps me out, so I just watched the Red and Lizzie parts.  I want them to catch Tom's killers but that's all I'm interested in.  And "interested" is a stretch.

That was probably the worst episode since the Kings of the Highway -- and how does The Cook get such a high ranking (No. 56, seriously).
Barely qualifies as a Blacklister.
 

On 2/1/2018 at 1:45 PM, saber5055 said:

Ressler and Samar stand there, guns drawn and pointed, at the priest as he gives a lengthy speech, then after his speech he dumps accelerant on himself, more than once. They continue to stand and stare at him, guns drawn. WTH? These are FBI agents? Shoot the guy in the leg or shoulder or something so he falls down. But no, they just stand and do nothing. So the guy lights himself on fire and they continue to just stand and stare. WTH? No one has a fire extinguisher in their car? No one can take off their jacket (I'm looking at you, Ressler) and beat the flames out? No, we're FBI and we do nothing. Way to go, Protectors Of Our Country.

Dumbasses.

Why not just shoot the lighter out of his hand ?  Or even throw their guns at him to distract him ?  Or something versus just sitting there and doing nothing.  Go ahead light up, Johnny.

Wouldn't the team have been able to track this guy based on his excessive use of mason jars in the crimes ?
 

20 hours ago, Neiman said:

I like the addition of the the teenage geek squad and his mom. I also liked Ressler's speech for the parole board.  Can't wait to see why Reddington felt the need to help that arsonist get paroled.  Guessing Tom's killers need to get ready.  It surprises me that they have been able to elude Reddington and Dembe so far.

I hope Tadashi sticks around as a recurring character like Glenn.

Seriously, I did not recognize C. Thomas Howell as Fagan -- he has not aged well.

[Loandbehold]

57 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Why not just shoot the lighter out of his hand ? 

If you google "are police trained to wound" or similar searches, you'll come up w/ dozens of articles about why this they don't shoot a weapon out of someone's hand or shoot them in the leg. 

I took a paragraph out of one of the articles that sums it up: 

Quote

Minimizing Risk to Maximize Safety

It's a misrepresentation to say that police are trained to shoot to kill. Instead, they are trained to shoot to stop. The quickest, safest (for the officer and any bystanders) and most effective way to do that is to aim for center mass. Though this may increase the chance of death for the involved subject, it maximizes the chance of survival for the officer and anyone else around.

[Neiman]

Wow, I had no idea C. Thomas Howell is Fagin! I kept thinking he looked familiar as he walked around the scene of the fire.  Flashbacks of Johnny and PonyBoy from The Outsiders!  I look forward to seeing him again on The Blacklist.

[saber5055]

John Reese shot bad guys in the knee all the time on Person Of Interest, and never missed. He also could have shot the lighter out of that guy's hand, as Otto suggested. Doesn't matter what any google search tells you, Reese always got it done. Cooper's FBI team needs to hire him ... if they can find him.

[ottoDbusdriver]

27 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

John Reese shot bad guys in the knee all the time on Person Of Interest, and never missed. He also could have shot the lighter out of that guy's hand, as Otto suggested. Doesn't matter what any google search tells you, Reese always got it done. Cooper's FBI team needs to hire him ... if they can find him.

Heck, even if they bumrushed him while throwing their guns, at least it would have been something -- and still not violated any procedural issues  But as we have seen on previous episodes the Post Office team lives in a gray area when it comes to individual's rights. 

Come on, they let him pour the accellerant all over himself and throw away the mason jar without his lighter even lit -- they could have tackled him right then.  Were they waiting for an invite ?

[paigow]

Someone on the show must be related to a stuntman that specializes in fire scenes....this show should be renamed Burn Notice...

[saber5055]

Or, more accurately, BURNED Notice.

[paigow]

16 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Or, more accurately, BURNED Notice.

The next Blacklister is a hipster attending BURNING MAN....

[Kelda Feegle]

Wow - you guys are on FIRE!

[paigow]

Like the Farmers Insurance commercial - Mascot In Parade Car ????

[Dowel Jones]

1/31/18.  Man who committed suicide by immolation while the FBI watched, but we covered it.  We know a thing or two...

[saber5055]

This thread makes this show tolerable. Thanks for that.