Recap: Will “The Freelancer” Go Free? ‘The Blacklist’ Season 8, Episode 5 “The Fribourg Confidence”

Kailey
16 Min Read
NBC and Sony Pictures Television

If you missed last week’s recap, check it out here.

A couple is sleeping in their bed when their house alarm goes off, and their alarm company calls to say the police have arrived. The man goes downstairs to tell them it’s a misunderstanding, but there are three individuals with animal masks and guns when he opens the door. The man (Carl) is taken to a bank while his wife is held, hostage. The lead robber breaks open a safety deposit box that contains money, a passport with Reddington’s picture, and a flash drive. The leader puts a note in the safety deposit box that says, “Elizabeth Keen says ‘Hello.'” They leave, and Carl gets a call from his wife, who tells him that they left the house, but he immediately hangs up (come on, dude) and then makes a call to say, “Call Reddington. Tell him we got a problem.”

Red is seen talking to Carl in the back of Red’s car, and Carl tries to tell him that they knew exactly where to look. He says if it was a security issue, it didn’t come from him. Carl reaches into his pocket and hands Reddington the note. Carl leaves, and Red calls Cooper to tell him that Liz’s recent activity has been with “The Fribourg Confidence.” He says that the robberies were never reported because the accounts were all held by criminals. Red says, “I’ve never concerned myself with the ‘Fribourgians’ … ‘Fribergers’.” Red says that whatever was stolen is his business, but this case concerns them both if it means finding Keen.

Cooper briefs the team about “The Fribourg Confidence.” The team asks about Liz’s involvement, but Cooper says that Red thinks taking this case and finding these individuals is the best way to find Agent Keen. Cooper orders Park and Ressler to go to the bank to speak with the bank manager.

Park and Ressler are at the bank, speaking with the bank manager. The manager explains to the agents that if there was a breach, they would’ve called the police. Park asks about the security feed, but they said it was a glitch in the system, which Carl came to check out. After Carl’s associate leaves, Ressler tells him that they know the box belongs to Reddington, but Carl is still covering for Red. Eventually, he fesses up to say that the leader went right for the box, which Park and Ressler deduce that she had been there before.

At the Post Office, Cynthia Panabaker walks into Cooper’s office and tells him that “The Freelancer” (Alban Veseli), the first criminal the team had put away, has filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Panabaker says their case was built from information from a confidential informant and that Scooter Rovenpor has been hired to help with the appeal. Scooter has quite the reputation, and Judge Velchek wants both parties to appear in court tomorrow, including Keen. Cooper says that Keen is out in the field, but Panabaker says to get her back because if Reddington’s information gets excluded from the case, they’re toast. As Panabaker and Cooper talk, Scooter meets with “The Freelancer.” He asks Scooter about the appeal, and Scooter says it depends on Agent Keen.

Red is sitting on a bench, holding the note Carl gave him. He watches a woman who is fascinated by birds when his friend Vlad Cvetko arrives. Red tells Vlad that he needs him to find out who wrote the note. Back at the Post Office, Ressler brought Park up to speed about Veseli when Aram approaches them. He hands them a list of names and says that in order to find Keen, they need to go through this list of people.

At court, Scooter says that due to the judge’s ruling on not revealing the confidential informant’s identity, his client saw it in his best interest to enter a plea. The prosecuting attorney says that there have been many cases with confidential informants, and the judge made the right call back then. Scooter chimes in that new information has come to light, that Agent Keen has had a record number of cases with the same confidential informant. The judge asks the prosecuting attorney whether she can confirm there was more than one informant, but she says she can’t. The judge still wants to hear from Agent Keen, but Cooper stands up to say that Keen is on assignment, and he’s not sure when she will be back. Judge Velchek asks how long it will be until she can come to court and answer his questions under oath, but Cooper says he isn’t sure. The judge says he wants Keen in court by the afternoon, if not, he will grant Veseli’s motion, and he may be released.

NBC and Sony Pictures Television

Vlad comes back to Red in the park with an envelope, but before he gives Red the envelope, he says that Keen approached him last week to say that Red was dying. Changing the subject, Red asks what he had found, and Vlad states that since Red said it was a robbery, he had looked into the database for international robberies and found a handwriting match to a previous robbery. Red recognizes the robbery and the man who committed the crime.

A nurse is giving directions to her patient at his house, and she tells him she will be back.  Red tells the patient that he was robbed, and the note the thief left matches his handwriting. Red gets a call from Aram, Park, and Ressler to say that they looked through everyone who has a safety deposit box at this bank and found a woman who used a fake social security card. The team was able to look at the security feed from when she opened the account, and they send a picture to Red. They tell him that they can’t ID the woman, but Red looks up and sees the same woman’s picture in the man’s house. Red tells the man he didn’t know he had a daughter, but the man says that they’re estranged. Red wants to know where the man’s daughter is, but he maintains he doesn’t know.

Cooper and Red are on the phone, and Cooper asks if Red was able to identify the woman in the picture. Red says he has and that they are on the way to find her now. Cooper says they need to work together, but Red tells Cooper that after all these years, he should know Red doesn’t do “halfsies.” Cooper says that if they don’t work together on the case to find Agent Keen and bring her to court, Veseli walks free. “So, are we doing halfsies or what?”

Cooper briefs the team on the woman, Jennifer Moores, and her father, Abraham Moores. He was arrested for robbery, did time, and then he retired when he was released. Cooper says that Abe didn’t want his daughter to end up like him, and the two became estranged. Red doesn’t think Abe knows where she is. Aram finds her work and home address, and Cooper orders the team to follow her.

Ressler, Park, and Aram are keeping watch on Jennifer as Aram is trying to get audio. The team discusses the “double-edged sword” that is Keen’s return. Jennifer is standing at a table when a man approaches her, as well as her father’s nurse (Silvina). Aram decides to approach the trio in order to get audio. The nurse tells Jennifer that Raymond Reddington met with her dad and was asking about her. Aram walks past them, looks in the coffee shop, and then asks if they have a seen a woman he was supposed to meet. Trying to get him to go away, Jennifer suggests that he text her. He agrees, puts his bag on the table, but knocks something over. Once he picks it up, he sneakily puts a wire under the table and walks away to text Ressler. Jennifer makes a call to an alias of Keen’s and tells her she needs to move up the meeting place. Ressler calls Cooper and tells him that Jennifer is making the drop to Keen at a park today, and Cooper says that the minute Keen is taken into custody, he wants her at court.

Jennifer is at the park, as the team is waiting for the drop. Jennifer puts the drive into a cigarette carton and makes a call. Esi answers the call to say that her drop’s been made, but she has a plan, as Ressler, Park, and FBI agents start their move. Jennifer puts a coffee cup on a trash can, walks away, and she drops the cigarette carton in a woman’s purse. Ressler reaches Jennifer while Park is looking in the purse of the other woman. There’s no drive in the cigarette carton, but Ressler remembers seeing a coffee cup. He looks around as we see the gentleman who was near the trash can get into Esi’s car and hands her the coffee cup with the flash drive.

In court, Panabaker tells Cooper she knows something is up with Agent Keen, as Ressler arrives without her. The judge says that he gave Keen a chance to arrive, but the persecuting attorney asks to approach the stand. Judge Velchek agrees, and after the court was cleared, Cooper tells him that Raymond Reddington is the confidential informant. Judge Velchek is taken aback, and Cooper and Panabaker try to reason with him, but he ultimately decides that Reddington’s information is inadmissible. Without time to get a case together, Velchek grants Veseli his motion and drops the charges.

Aram and Red are on the phone, and Red asks if they got Keen. Aram says no, but they do have her associates in custody, and he sent Red a picture to ID them. Red says, “Harold has a unique definition of halfsies.” Aram says, “Oh, I love halfsies. Especially for food.” (We love Aram.) Red says he doesn’t recognize anyone in the photo and tells him the next time they get intel; he wants to know as soon as they do. Red goes back to Abe’s house and knows that he lied because his nurse was involved in the robbery.

Ressler, Park, and Aram interrogate the trio of robbers, while Red hears Abe’s side. It’s revealed that Abe picks the targets but told Jennifer that Red was off-limits. Abe tells Red that Jennifer met with a woman who was after Reddington, which Jennifer corroborates. The woman, who ordered the job, was seeking refuge at a safe house. Abe knows where the safe house is, and Jennifer is also willing to give Ressler the location, but she wants to leave her father out of it. Ressler tells Cooper that they got the safe house address, as Red calls to ask how the interrogations were going. Cooper says they asked for lawyers, and Red wishes them luck. As he hangs up with Red, he decides to go alone to the safe house.

Cooper arrives at the safe house and knocks on the door. Dembe answers the door as Red walks into view. Red tells Cooper that they’re too late and that he found out Abe’s nurse was involved, so he went back to Abe for the truth. Red says that Liz is gone, and she took something of his. Cooper says that now that she’s fled, “The Freelancer” will be released, which Red thinks Liz orchestrated every move of. In Cooper’s office, Cooper reveals to Panabaker that Liz wants to kill Red, and that’s why he’s put her on the Blacklist.

NBC and Sony Pictures Television

Skip meets with Scooter in his office and gives Skip gives him his money. As Scooter leaves, he lets Alban Veseli in to talk to Skip. Skip tells Veseli, “Miss Keen arranged for your released because she requires your services.” Cooper gets in his car and finds an empty coffee cup with a flash drive. Dembe tells Red that Liz left, and Red says that she has the flash drive. Dembe drops Red off at the park, and he makes friends with the bird woman named Anna. Cooper gets back to his office, puts the flash drive in his computer, and sees a plethora of files … from Russia? Gloomy Aram comes into Cooper’s office and asks about Keen. Cooper says they haven’t heard the last of her.

Thanks for reading, Blacklisters!

Check out the promo for next week’s episode! (Bring some tissues.)

The Blacklist airs Fridays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.

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By Kailey
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Kailey has been a writer for Nerds and Beyond since 2018. She received her bachelors degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders in May of 2020. Some of her favorite TV shows are The Blacklist, Supernatural, and Prodigal Son, to name a few. She also loves all things Disney! You can check her out on social media @kaileygross.
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