This episode begins with Liz holding a gun to Katarina. Katarina says that she left to protect her, and she didn’t want Liz to be hunted. Liz asks why she moved across the hall, left her identity a secret, and why she is here, but before Katarina tells her, she makes her put the gun down. Berdy, Katarina’s driver, listens in as Katarina cues him to come into the apartment. She tells Liz about how she went after Raymond and Dominic so they could stop “The Townsend Directive” from getting to her. Berdy gets into the apartment as Katarina continues to tell Liz that one person besides Red and Dom could stop the “Directive.” Ilya Koslov. Liz puts her gun back up and demands the truth because she knows who Ilya Koslov is. Katarina says she wanted to find Koslov but also get to know Liz. Liz hears something and turns around as Berdy hits her and knocks her unconscious, breaking her coffee table as she falls.
Back at the Post Office, the team, including Red and Dembe, are searching files of the woman in Paris from Orion Relocation Services. Dembe tells Red that Liz isn’t answering her phone as they continue searching. Katarina is in the car with Agnes in the backseat as she calls Berdy and asks how Liz is. There is FBI outside watching over Liz, and they will start to wonder about her as Liz is handcuffed to the pole with a gag in her mouth. Katarina tells him to handle the FBI. At the Post Office, Red tells the team that the woman they are looking for is on the run and wants to stop the people after her. Ressler asks about Red’s friend and if he’s alive. Red believes so, but he knows that the woman will do anything to get into the friend’s mind. Red sifts through files and remembers a name, Dr. Bogdan Krilov, and he can access the subconscious. Cooper and Ressler tell Red that Krilov is in jail, but Red insists that Krilov will know who the woman hired in his place. Aram interrupts to inform the team that a file is missing from a pile Keen was looking through. Dembe tells Red that Liz still isn’t answering, and they decide to check on her. He tells the team to get a hold of Dr. Krilov as he leaves with Dembe.
Berdy is posing as SSG and approaches the FBI agents who are watching over Liz’s apartment. He tells the men that the apartment is bugged, but the men weren’t informed of SSG. Berdy says that he isn’t going to debate it and asks if they want the equipment. The driver agrees and gets out to follow Berdy into the back of the truck when Berdy shoots him. The passenger gets out and tells Berdy that Cooper never notified them when Berdy shoots him as well, putting him in the back of the truck with the other agent.
At the prison where Krilov is, Ressler arrives and is face to face with Krilov, through his prison door. Krilov remembers him, and Ressler orders the corrections officer to open his door. Next, Red knocks on Liz’s apartment door with no answer. Red and Dembe burst through to find the apartment empty, and her coffee table broken. Red calls Cooper to tell him of their findings and Cooper says he will call the agents watching over the apartment if they noticed anything while Red sends Dembe down to speak with them. Red goes downstairs to the street where Dembe is standing near the agents’ car, windows open, and shows Red the blood on the street. Red hears a phone ring and opens the car door. He answers the phone to tell Cooper his agents will not be answering anytime soon.
Katarina is walking to the apartment and slips inside as she sees the FBI. Berdy is talking to Agent Park and tells her that he hasn’t heard anything. He gives her his name, Gregory Flynn when Katarina walks up and asks what is going on. Katarina tells Park her name is Maddy Tolliver, and Berdy tells her there’s been a crime. Park asked if she heard anything in the last hour, and she says no and asks about Elizabeth. Park gives her card if they hear anything, and Berdy and Katarina walk into their apartment. Katarina walks into the room where Ilya is, and Skovic says he is leaving because of the FBI. Katarina says he isn’t done because Ilya hasn’t talked yet. Katarina approaches Elizabeth and takes the gag out of her mouth so that they can speak. Liz asks about Agnes, and Katarina tells her that she dropped her off at a friend’s house. Katarina lets Liz talk to Agnes to prove her whereabouts.
In a garage, several SUV’s pull inside as Red is waiting with Dembe. Dembe tells Red that Elizabeth hasn’t been found, and they can’t get a signal on her phone. The car stops, and several agents bring Krilov out and sit him down. Krilov tries to negotiate terms, but Red approaches and Krilov asks what he wants. Red says he wants to kill him for betraying him, working with Mr. Kaplan, and hurting Agent Ressler. Red wants the name of a protege of Krilov’s, but Krilov says he works alone. Red asks for a competitor, and he gives the name Victor Skovic. Red asks Krilov how to find him, and he says that someone named Tongji can help find him.
Liz says that Katarina doesn’t need help finding Koslov because she had him in Paris. She tells her that Dom told her Red’s identity was Ilya Koslov, and Red confirmed it. Liz tells Katarina that Red has watched over her for her entire life, and nothing she says can change her allegiance to him. Katarina decides to bring Liz into the room where Ilya is being held and gives her his file. She tells her that this is the real Ilya Koslov.
Katarina tells Berdy to get Ilya ready as she handcuffs Liz to the pole again. Liz says the file doesn’t prove anything and asks about Red’s true identity. Katarina says she intends to pull the answer from Ilya’s head. Liz says that she thought she and Ilya were friends, but Katarina tells her Dom and Ilya planned to have her killed in a car bomb. Telling Liz that if the “Directive” saw her die, it would protect the person Dom cared for, Liz. She tells Liz that in Dom’s attempt to protect Liz, the bomb killed the love of her life instead. She tells Liz she disappeared when Liz chimes in that the Directive found Katarina again, but only because Liz was looking for her.
Katarina checks on Ilya as Victor says he wasn’t able to retrieve anything from Koslov, and he would like to leave. Katarina tells him that he would be walking right into the arms of the police. Berdy comes in to say to her that the Kazanjian brothers are in town. Katarina tells Ilya that Skovic is done with him, but she is just getting started. A car shop is shown as two men approach and say they need a vehicle. The owner tells them they have the wrong garage and goes to pull his gun, but the men shoot him and another man trying to escape. They tell the last man left to do work on a car for them.
Ressler and Park are outside discussing what Krilov did to him as Red, Dembe, and Krilov are meeting Tongji. The woman at the front desk won’t allow Red to see him without an appointment. Krilov stands up after Red’s failed attempts and says he has a meeting with Tongji. Tongji is surprised to see Krilov because he was supposed to be in jail. Krilov asks how to get ahold of Skovic, and Tongji said that a woman has Skovic under contract. He doesn’t know her name, but she had a handler, Berdy Chernov.
Red calls Cooper to give him the name Berdy Chernov and Aram remembers that name at the wedding he crashed with Elodie. A man who thought Aram was Frank Bloom gave him a piece of paper with a name. Red explains that Frank Bloom was an alias for his friend, and he was supposed to meet a contact there. Aram runs to his desk to find the paper as Ressler tells Red that Krilov is his, and he is taking him back to prison. Aram runs back to tell them that the alias of Berdy Chernov is Gregory Flynn. Cooper asks Red if he knows the name, and he says he doesn’t. Cooper tells him they will check it out.
Katarina comes out of Ilya’s room and lets Liz go as she tells Liz about “The Townsend Directive.” Liz asks if the bounty can be called off, and Katarina says she is “betting her life on it” and lets Liz out of the handcuffs. Red and Park are in the car as Red asks Dembe if they had found anything on Gregory Flynn. Park remembers asking Flynn questions at Liz’s apartment. She tells Red that Flynn is Keen’s neighbor, and Red orders Dembe to pull over to let Park out. Red and Dembe call Red’s men and do so quickly. Ressler arrives at the Post Office as Aram tells him they are on the way to Liz’s apartment because Chernov is Liz’s neighbor. Ressler asks about Liz, and Aram says she is talking to Cooper. Liz tells Cooper she had something come up with Agnes, and after leaving the office yesterday, she ran a lead and is heading back home as Cooper tells her that her neighbor is the woman from Paris, and he wants her there as soon as she can. Katarina overhears and knows that if the FBI knows, then Red knows. She still needs answers, but Liz says she will be caught. She tells Liz to go because she doesn’t want her to get hurt. Right as Liz is about to leave, she stops. “What if I can get you out?”
The Kazanjian brothers give the man at the shop the money for preparing the vehicle and leave. Aram is heard over the radio to the cops at Liz’s to set up a perimeter and describes Berdy and Katarina. He tells them no one is to go in or out of the building until they arrive. Katarina looks from the window and sees cops everywhere, but Liz says that she will get them out. Berdy says that Ilya is in no shape to walk, and Skovic asks what Katarina did to him. Katarina still didn’t get her answers, but Liz insists that if Katarina wants to escape, she needs to leave Ilya. Dembe tells Red their plan won’t work, but Red assures him it will. Two men, posing as Agent Ressler and Mojtabai, talk to the cop and breach the apartment as Liz is leading Katarina, Berdy, and Victor underground. Red’s men find Ilya, and Red tells them to get Ilya and get out. They put Ilya in an ambulance as the real Agent Ressler and Mojtabai arrive, and they run inside. Dembe asks Red if he wants to follow the ambulance, but Red says he wants to wait to see Katarina. Liz tells the group they need to split up. Berdy and Skovic leave as Liz tells Katarina she needs to get a car, and Liz will head back to stall the team. Katarina breaks into a car and takes off from the scene as Red sees her driving away. Red tells Dembe to keep their distance.
Liz gets back up to her apartment and meets up with Aram and Ressler. They tell her that no one is there, and Red’s friend is gone. They continue driving when an SUV comes and crashes into Katarina’s car. The Kazanjian brothers get out, heavily armed, and Red grabs his gun to try and help, but Dembe says the brothers will kill him too. Katarina tries to run away but is shot and killed, and her body is taken. The FBI and Ressler caught Skovic. Cooper walks into Liz’s office and tells her that he knows she was lying about following a lead. She tells Cooper that her mother is looking for answers that Reddington is keeping from her, and she isn’t choosing sides, she is choosing the truth. Red visits Ilya in the ambulance, and he tells Red that he didn’t tell her anything. Ressler brings Skovic back to Katarina’s apartment with Agent Park, and Krilov and Ressler are reducing Skovic’s sentence if he removes Krilov’s memories before Ressler takes him back to prison.
A mother's love transcends life and death. #TheBlacklist https://t.co/nFfHiCXAzJ
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) December 14, 2019
Liz is visiting her grandfather in his coma and tells him that she met her mother, and hopes her mother finds the answers he has been keeping from her. Red and Dembe arrive, and he breaks the news that the woman from Paris was gunned down. Red goes to read to Dom as Liz begins to cry. Suddenly, her phone rings. It’s Katarina, and she says she needs to disappear to find more answers, but she will come back. She needs to know Liz will keep her secret. “Of course, I can. I’m a Rostova.”
Here is the trailer for the next episode coming March of 2020!
The Blacklist airs Fridays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.