If you missed last week’s recap, check it out here.
Well, Liz didn’t get that rest, necessarily. Do with that what you will. Liz reminisces on this *eventful* night with Ressler while she is being driven in a car. The morning after, Liz is looking for her unicorn sock, as Ressler tries to convince her not to go after Reddington. She thanks him for letting her stay, and we see Liz making a call for someone to meet her.
Liz and Esi are at Tom’s old apartment where Liz hopes there are useful resources. Liz says that she has a list of people they will need to call, then she can get Agnes back. As Liz talks, Esi says that they’ve been found (thanks to Tom’s cameras). Liz grabs her bag and she pauses at the washer ring Tom gave Liz. Esi snaps her out of her flashback, and they run. Red’s men infiltrate the apartment, but Liz and Esi have broken into a car, which Red soon discovers.
There’s always at least two sides to every story…. who’s ready for an all new episode of #TheBlacklist tonight? @NBCBlacklist pic.twitter.com/YcPbYkb4Z6
— Harry J. Lennix (@HarryJLennix) January 29, 2021
Cooper tells the team that he has just spoken to Reddington and that he wants a BOLO on the car Liz stole. The team discuss what to do about Liz, when Aram mentions that Red put Liz on “The Blacklist.” Cooper reminds them that Red wants her found, not hurt. Before the team is dismissed, Cooper reminds the team that if Liz reaches out for help, he needs to be notified. Park issues the BOLO as Aram and Ressler get eyes on Agnes.
Liz finds Tadashi at the library and offers him a job, which he denies. She tells him that Red is sick and she’ll inherit everything when he’s gone. Liz also gives him a list of Red’s known associates and tells him that she needs their phone numbers. Next, Tadashi is sitting in the car with Red and he relays what Liz said about his health. Red says anyone who helps Liz will face consequences, which prompts Tadashi to tell him about Liz’s list. Liz is making calls to Red’s known associates, but Red’s right on her tail. Liz is seen trying to convince Red’s people to turn, but they’re loyal. At one of Red’s many headquarters, Dembe tells Red that our “friend from the East” is requesting his presence. Red says to hold off because he doesn’t have the energy to fight a war on two fronts.
Aram and Ressler discuss Liz contacting them, and Ressler says that it might make a difference if Liz was asking for help in person. They knock on Merritt’s door and ask if Liz has coordinated a time to pick up Agnes. Back with Red as he takes his pills, Dembe walks in. He tells Red that their “friend from the East” expects him in Moscow, and hands Red a file. Red opens it and it’s a file from the “Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence” from the U.S. House of Representatives. “Well, it looks like the second front has officially engaged.”
In the car, Liz tells Esi that everyone on her list said no, but she wants to try one more person: Marvin Gerard. She needs Esi to get a lead on his whereabouts, and gives her a burner phone so she can let her know when it’s safe to meet him. In the meantime, Liz wants to get Agnes back.
On the phone, Cooper tells Red that they found the car that Liz stole, abandoned. Red asks if Cooper has gone outside the Task Force for help, but Cooper says they can handle it. Red disagrees, but Cooper says that blasting Liz as a fugitive won’t help her. He also asks Red about his phone call with Katarina, and about N-13. Red tells Cooper that Elizabeth Keen is their target, not him. Red hangs up, picks up a man, Rakitin, who gets in the backseat with Red. Rakitin says that their “mutual friend” is concerned about Liz, but Red sternly states that she is not to be touched. Rakitin is being investigated by a House Intelligence Committee, and he wants Red to make it disappear.
At Agnes’s ballet class, Aram and Ressler follow her and Merritt inside as Agnes goes to change. Aram and Ressler tell Merritt that they need to find Liz, and know that since she didn’t pick a time to get Agnes, it could be any time. Merritt doesn’t want them to take Agnes away from Liz and they tell her that’s the last thing they want to do. Merritt goes to check on Agnes in the dressing room, but finds Liz with Agnes. Merritt tells Liz that there are agents outside, but Agnes has already told Liz. Liz has Agnes go to her class, as she tells Merritt she has a plan. As she tells Merritt, she gets a text from Esi on Marvin’s location.
At Lu’s Diner, Marvin is talking to a new associate named Skip (Drew Gehling from the Broadway musical Waitress!) and is reprimanding him, but Liz shows up to convince Marvin to join her. She tells him that once Red is gone, she gets everything and she can make him rich. Marvin tells Liz that he’s Red’s friend, but Liz says that Red deals transactionally, and once he’s done with Marvin, he’ll get rid of him. Skip puts in his two cents, and Marvin says he would think about it.
At a woman named Guinevere’s house, Red needs her to insert a thumb drive into the server at the House Committee on Intelligence (which she has access to) in order to erase data, with Tadashi’s help, of course. At first she refuses, but Red has a tempting offer of living the rest of her life on a beach house with plenty of money in her account. When she still is weary, he mentions how she hasn’t paid her taxes and that the FBI won’t be as forgiving.
Since Merritt has the night shift, she is handing off Agnes to Liz. “Liz ” walks towards the car and the FBI pounce, but it turns out that Liz paid a woman to wear one of her beanies. The real Liz watches the scene go down as the FBI searches in the area for her. Aram talks to Agnes (in one of the sweetest moments) to tell her that he has known her since she was born. He continues by telling her he was at her christening, where she was the bravest little girl, just like her mom (okay, we’re crying). Liz calls Ressler to tell him that she needs Agnes, but he tells her that the FBI is taking Agnes to the Post Office. Liz tells him that Agnes needs her mother, but Ressler reminds her that she is a fugitive. Liz walks away from the scene, about to be picked up, when Ressler asks why she called. She says that every time they say goodbye, she’s afraid it will be the last time.
Esi meets Liz at the train station, and Esi asks about the washer ring. Liz tells the story of how Tom proposed to her with it and that he was much better at being on the run. She says he wouldn’t have let Agnes get taken into custody, and she wishes he could’ve seen her grow up. At the House Committee of Intelligence, Guinevere’s on the phone with Tadashi as she puts the thumb drive into the server, crashing it. She spills coffee over the box and hangs up because she is about to get fired (poor woman).
Next, Red is at the Post Office with Cooper and he asks about Agnes. Aram and Agnes are making paper airplanes, as Ressler walks into the Post Office. He gets a text from number and then gets a phone call. It turns out to be Liz, asking about Agnes. Ressler tells her that she’s making paper airplanes with Aram. She tells Ressler that she got Gerard to turn. Ressler asks about Agnes, but Liz tells him he was right. Being on the run is no place for Agnes. He assures Liz that Agnes will be okay, and she’ll have plenty of uncles looking out for her. Liz says goodbye, and she means it. Ressler calls over Aram and tells him that Liz called him. He needs Aram to enhance the audio of their phone call, but Aram is not letting go of the fact that he thinks this isn’t the first time Keen contacted him. Aram hilariously asks if Ressler saw Liz at his apartment, but eventually goes to enhance the audio. Aram, along with Ressler, tell Cooper and Red that they know Liz is at the Silver Springs train station. As the team is about to head out, Red questions Ressler’s intentions, and if he is working with Liz. In response, Ressler tells Red that Liz got Marvin to turn. After Red and Dembe leave, Cooper asks about other contact that Ressler may have had with Liz. He says that she called him twice, and he saw her at his apartment last night. Hilariously, Aram says, “called it” (our favorite line) as Cooper says they will discuss it later. He says that he is going with them to the station because they need all hands on deck, and Aram will stay with Agnes. Liz is seen leaving the train station.
In a slow-motion montage, the team searches for Liz at the station. Park tells Cooper and Ressler that cameras show Liz left the station just after her call with Ressler. Cooper gets an alert on his phone and the team rushes out of the station. Aram is playing with Agnes when Cooper calls Aram to tell him that Liz is at the Post Office to get Agnes. Liz arrives and she thanks Aram for taking care of Agnes. Aram, who’s been hurt by Liz’s actions, says that he doesn’t recognize her anymore. As Agnes hugs Aram goodbye, the alarms go off and Liz pleads for a head start.
Red, Marvin, and Skip are sitting down as Marvin tells Red that he turned Liz down. Red says he purchased plane tickets to Switzerland and a suite in his name. Red has locked Marvin out of the accounts, and Skip takes his place. Gerard says Red is making a mistake, and Skip vouches for him as Brimley arrives to interrogate Marvin. The rest of the team arrive back at the Post Office to see Agnes gone, and Aram tells Ressler that it is different in person. In the car, Liz finishes a phone call with Esi. Agnes tells Liz about how nice Aram is and asks if they will see him again.
As Marvin is being tortured, Dembe asks Red if he wanted Liz to see him kill Katarina, knowing it would turn her down a dark path. Dembe continues and asks if this was his plan all along, but Red replies that he didn’t have a plan. Meanwhile, Skip is getting access to Red’s accounts. Suddenly, Liz is on a jet with Agnes and Skip (WHAT!), who transferred 35 million euros from Red to Liz. She calls Red to let him know what her and Skip had done. Red goes to Marvin, who is tied up, and apologizes to him.
In Cooper’s office, he is sitting down with Aram and Ressler; he needs them off the case. They agree and also turn in their resignations. Cooper says that if they resign, he would have to as well, since he wanted to compromise the case. Cooper throws away their resignations and says that he will not have strangers go after Liz. He tells them that Red told Cooper he’d misjudged Gerard and gave access to Skip, who then had 35 million euros transferred to Keen’s account. Liz and Agnes are on the jet, and Liz tells Agnes the story of how Tom proposed.
Red meets with his associate in Moscow. The man tells Red that he did a good job and that Scuti Global is happy (where the data was erased). He hands Red a thumb drive from the archive (is he Sikorsky from the Sikorsky Archives?). Sikorsky says he knows about Keen discovering that Red is N-13. Red states, “An allegation no one believes,” but Sikorsky replies, “A fact no one knows is true” (whoa, what?). Red warns Sikorsky and says what he told Rakitin, that Liz is not to be touched. Sikorsky says that he agrees… for now.
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The Blacklist airs Fridays at 8 P.M. EST, only on NBC.