S06.E05: Alter Ego

[ottoDbusdriver]

Episode Description:

While Red argues in court to uphold the validity of his immunity agreement, Liz and the Task Force question a man whose recent inheritance seems too good to be true and Dembe offers Red some advice.

[Dowel Jones]

So Red actually misjudges an event.  He's slipping.  It turns out, the bad guy simply hired on some Dollhouse Alter Ego actors to get it done. 

I was rather sort of rooting for Reddington in the courtroom, but his inherent snarkiness was cutting his testimony off at the knees. They left the door open a bit, though with the order for a trial on the firearm possession. 

Liz has gotta be sweating bullets now, after she heard Red's vow. 

I had to rerun the scene twice when Ressler actually effected an arrest, but then I realized one of them got away, at least for a bit.  Of course, it always helps when the evil guy wastes time explaining his evil plan.

That poor, soon to be ex-husband is in for a lot of shame now.

[saber5055]

I actually liked Red's courtroom speeches. Made me think I should be watching Boston Legal reruns instead of this show.

Isn't Red in New York? That state abolished the death penalty in 2007, with executions already stopped in 1984. So his "going before the firing squad" speech was a bunch of ... well, a bunch.

Ressler having to hire an actress to go with him to some out-of-state wedding is so bogus. Why didn't he ask Lizzie? Or maybe some FBI clerk? Or quick, get a Tinder profile. I'd gladly go with Mr. Ressler pretty much anywhere, just ask me, pal.

The actress leaving her "wedding reception" wasn't a good recommendation for that business. She could have at least stayed for some cake and drinks, plus dinner. And a nice honeymoon with her "husband" would have been fun IMO. Such a corny story line, who has a wedding in the park with invites sitting on a sidewalk table anyway.

[preeya]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

I actually liked Red's courtroom speeches. Made me think I should be watching Boston Legal reruns instead of this show.

 

 

Since many shows were on hiatus over the holidays, I rewatched Season 4 of Boston Legal. That was where Alan argued in front of The Supremes.

"Isn't that Alan Shore a hoot?"

Edited February 3, 2019 by preeya

[saber5055]

4 minutes ago, preeya said:

"Isn't that Alan Shore a hoot?"

"DENNYCRANE!"

[edhopper]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

I actually liked Red's courtroom speeches. Made me think I should be watching Boston Legal reruns instead of this show.

Isn't Red in New York? That state abolished the death penalty in 2007, with executions already stopped in 1984. So his "going before the firing squad" speech was a bunch of ... well, a bunch.

Ressler having to hire an actress to go with him to some out-of-state wedding is so bogus. Why didn't he ask Lizzie? Or maybe some FBI clerk? Or quick, get a Tinder profile. I'd gladly go with Mr. Ressler pretty much anywhere, just ask me, pal.

The actress leaving her "wedding reception" wasn't a good recommendation for that business. She could have at least stayed for some cake and drinks, plus dinner. And a nice honeymoon with her "husband" would have been fun IMO. Such a corny story line, who has a wedding in the park with invites sitting on a sidewalk table anyway.

It's Federal Court, has to be for them to have jurisdiction over the FBI. There are Federal death penalties, though they are rare.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Seriously, the killers in the monkey masks and booties went out the front door.  The front door -- are you kidding me ?
Was the beverage they forced the 2 couples to drink just meant to knock them out -- or kill them ?  Because it sounds like the explosion was not originally part of the plan.
And they also killed van Ness' dog.

Can Red ever stand up straight ?  In court it looks like he's always leaning like he's on a ship or something.

While Harris van Ness was killed in the explosion, what about his wife and the other couple ?  No one seemed to even care about them.
And would they really be reading the will this quickly ?  Shouldn't there be a funeral/wake first ?

Officer Baldwin really does look like the grownup version of Barry Goldberg from 'The Goldbergs'.

Red's closing arguments kind of sucked. No wonder he lost the decision.

So, Alter Ego the company was not even a Blacklister. 
An employee of Alter Ego used inside information from his primary place of employment to work ON HIS OWN with fellow Alter Ego employees to kill their way to millions -- except he was also not really a Blacklister, just a greedy opportunist running a long con.

Still no sign (or mention) of Agnes or the dogs. :)

ETA: if Peterson's "girlfriend" was pregnant, why would she have gone on the op to kill van Ness and the other 3 people ?
That seems like an unnecessary risk if something had gone FUBAR and she ended up losing the child.

ETA2: corrections since the last name of was 'van Ness' instead of 'van Nass'

Edited February 3, 2019 by ottoDbusdriver

[saber5055]

Oh, thanks but no thanks Otto for reminding me this show killed that freakingly cute dog. I actually said something not very nice to my tv when that dog got blasted to bits. Why not just blow up Agnes too and get that over with. The crooks could have at least let the dog out the front door. WTH, writers.

Is this episode historic in that it's the first without a blacklister number?

I can't think about this show in too much detail, but wasn't the girlfriend story that he met her at the bowling alley a year ago? Or was she hired to be the girlfriend by the geek guy and that was a bogus story?

Not that it matters. Not that any of it matters.

I want Red to stay in prison, pass the bar (again) and defend prisoners. Sort of a Blacklist Shawshank Redemption.

[Kelda Feegle]

Does Red really not know that it was Lizzie that phoned in the tip, part of me thinks/hopes he knows and is playing her.

[preeya]

17 minutes ago, Kelda Feegle said:

Does Red really not know that it was Lizzie that phoned in the tip, part of me thinks/hopes he knows and is playing her.

I had the same feeling. I believe he does know it was Lizzie. I hope this doesn't drag out forever. Let's move on to Navabi and Aram's problems.

[Dowel Jones]

They showed Alter Ego to be #131 at the very beginning.  For whatever obsessions I have, a few seasons back I created the full list (as shown), and have been following up every episode since then.  If anyone wants to see it, I will create a separate thread and post it.  I can't even remember half the names anymore.

[VinceW]

18 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

....So, Alter Ego the company was not even a Blacklister. 
An employee of Alter Ego used inside information from his primary place of employment to work ON HIS OWN with fellow Alter Ego employees to kill their way to millions -- except he was also not really a Blacklister, just a greedy opportunist running a long con.,,,

 

The personal assistant at the law firm that managed The Van Ness affairs had access to all legal matters of the billionaire including the wills. The FBI uncovered that he was behind the op, but Ressler just speculated that he was an actual employee of Alter Ego. It seems that he was just a client who secured the services of the actors he needed to pull off the scam on the illegitimate son. The FBI should have dealt further into the hiring practices of Alter Ego for criminal liability after the murders. IMO.

Edited February 3, 2019 by VinceW

[ottoDbusdriver]

21 minutes ago, VinceW said:

Tim Peterson was a lawyer at the law firm that managed The VanNess affairs, As the personal assistant to the billionaire, he had access to all legal matters including the wills. It was never revealed whether Peterson was an employee of Alter Ego, but rather just a client who secured the services of the actors he needed to pull off the scam on the estranged son. The FBI should have dealt further into the hiring practices of Alter Ego after the murders for criminal liability. IMO.

Roger Price was the lawyer at the law firm that managed Van Ness' affairs -- who spoke to Ressler and Keen outside the will reading -- and he also worked at Alter Ego.  And Price was part of the legal team that filed the amendment to Harris Van Ness' will after Tim Peterson was discovered (after van Ness had his heart attack).

Price was found to be part of the Alter Ego list of actors from the files that Samar obtained.  When Aram, Ressler, Lizzie and Samar were going through the head shots of actors employed by Alter Ego, they found pictures of Peterson's girlfriend, his "sister", his "sister"'s boyfriend ..... and Roger Price.  And that's when they took Roger Price in for interrogation.

Price initiated the long con with the cooperation of the 3 other Alter Ego employees -- but it wasn't an Alter Ego contracted job.

[VinceW]

2 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Roger Price was the lawyer at the law firm that managed Van Ness' affairs -- who spoke to Ressler and Keen outside the will reading -- and he also worked at Alter Ego.  And Price was part of the legal team that filed the amendment to Harris Van Ness' will after Tim Peterson was discovered (after van Ness had his heart attack).

Price was found to be part of the Alter Ego list of actors from the files that Samar obtained.  When Aram, Ressler, Lizzie and Samar were going through the head shots of actors employed by Alter Ego, they found pictures of Peterson's girlfriend, his "sister", his "sister"'s boyfriend ..... and Roger Price.  And that's when they took Roger Price in for interrogation.

Price initiated the long con with the cooperation of the 3 other Alter Ego employees -- but it wasn't an Alter Ego contracted job.

I missed Liz with the Price photo on first watch. However, with that many employees involved in the Van Hess murders, the FBI should have followed up with Alter Ego for criminal liability if there was no client.  That could explain why Alter Ego was listed then as a Blacklister for the episode.

Edited February 4, 2019 by VinceW

[ItCouldBeWorse]

3 hours ago, VinceW said:

I missed Liz with the Price photo on first watch. However, with that many employees involved in the Van Hess murders, the FBI should have followed up with Alter Ego for criminal liability if there was no client.  That could explain why Alter Ego was listed then as a Blacklister for the episode.

Alter Ego isn't responsible for criminal acts its employees commit on their own time.

[VinceW]

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Alter Ego isn't responsible for criminal acts its employees commit on their own time.

That is not how it works under Federal law; It's about the type of crime and who/what facilitated the criminal act.

[paigow]

On 2/3/2019 at 12:32 PM, saber5055 said:

I want Red to stay in prison, pass the bar (again) and defend prisoners. Sort of a Blacklist Shawshank Redemption.

Morgan Freeman was Red 1.0 -

 

On 2/2/2019 at 10:23 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Can Red ever stand up straight ?  In court it looks like he's always leaning like he's on a ship or something.

Symptoms of The Negan Syndrome

[Johnny Dollar]

I love on this show that a suspect can be a young actress/con artist or a fifty year old rogue pharmaceutical scientist and still turn into a cage fighter with lethal hands of steel when confronted by Liz in an elevator or Ressler on a stairwell.