Last night was a crazy turn of events! Check out my recap from last night’s episode here. This episode starts with Moreau cleaning himself up, using makeup to cover his plastic surgery bruises and shaving. Simultaneously, he is talking to his client as she makes sure that is his prepared to do the job he is being paid for, to assassinate someone. He dresses as a Turkish courier and tells her it will be done and everything is on schedule. She said that, “the fate of an entire country rests on your shoulders…” He travels to where he needs to go and gets in the car with the courier he will be impersonating, who has no idea who he is. “Believe it or not, I’m you.”
A surprise visit from Red is treat! #TheBlacklist pic.twitter.com/giGPPXhQrx
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) January 5, 2019
Elizabeth and Jennifer are at Liz’s apartment trying to recover the lost file from the USB drive. Jennifer is on the phone and tries to get help from an old friend but he is asking too many questions. Jennifer pleads that they get help from the FBI but Liz says that Reddington will find out, and that person will end up dead. Suddenly, a knock at the door, its Reddington. Liz and Jennifer quickly clean up any evidence of their investigation and Jennifer hides in the closet. She lets Reddington and Dembe in and he seems slightly suspicious at her scrambling. Reddington told Liz that he has more information on Moreau or “The Corsican.”
Liz and the team meet up to discuss any more information they have on Moreau. Moreau is reaching out to arms dealers and Reddington is reaching out to his contacts to get the team any more information. Moreau is gearing up to kill someone which can’t be good. The Task Force still has no positive facial idea as Moreau has avoided the camera, but Aram figured out what flight that Moreau was planning on traveling to New York and the name he planned to use. Ressler informs the team that he is already there and the vehicle he stole from earlier has been flagged and they know where he might be. The team knows that he is a nationalist and now know what type of target he is after and they get to work.
Moreau gets information from the courier, his badge, codes, checkpoints and everything he needs to be able to get in to the building. He then tells the carrier to get into the back of the trunk and Moreau shoots and kills him.
Reddington and Dembe make a stop to an old friend Aaron, who is in the movie business, to try and get information as to why Moreau is reaching out to him and to get his whereabouts. Aaron says he doesn’t know where he is going and Reddington asks a follow up question about where the supplies he ordered will be sent. Surprisingly, Moreau didn’t really order any, all he wanted was a reference phone contractor, Maxwell Ruddiger. Reddington knows this man and as he puts it, “a blast from the past.”
Next, we see Liz Keen and Ressler at the sight of where the courier’s body and the car where found as the two have tension because Ressler wants to know what really happened about the bag of bones, (which we discovered the identity last season) and why Liz is “good with it.” The Turkish Consulate sent out an alert that their courier never showed up for work. He was supposed to be carrying a diplomatic pouch with classified information, which is now gone, and the courier’s badge. Aram tells Ressler and Keen that the courier was supposed to be headed for a meeting at the United Nations, which fits Moreau’s MO. Reddington calls and gives them an update that Moreau is indeed at the United Nations and that he is carrying a bomb. Raymond, however, has the creator of the bomb with him on his plane so he can deactivate it. The bomb is volatile and can wipe out even the building. As Reddington says, “the slightest bump or jostle can detonate the thing without warning.”
Moreau uses the badge and enters the building, passing security because the pouch he is carrying isn’t required to be searched since it’s a diplomatic pouch. He walks past security with no issue and places the pouch down with his supposed target, has the detonator in his hand and presses it for countdown. Ressler and Keen show up just in time to shut down the building and follow the trail to where the courier’s ID badge was swiped. Moreau is seen evacuating with the others and tosses the detonator in the trash. Keen finds the pouch and tells him that there is a device in there that is dangerous and he needs to slowly set down the briefcase.
Evacuation is continuing as they continue to try and track down “The Corsican”. Back at the Task Force Headquarters, Aram pulls up the feed of the security cameras and talks with the security guard as Moreau slips behind them. Suddenly, a shot is heard and Ressler runs to the sound of the shot. Moreau shoots another security guard and takes his gun, as the officer down exclaims. Meanwhile, Keen is seen arguing with security about their evacuation plan when the security guard gets a call from his superior for even emergency personnel to evacuate the building. “Who are you people?”
Little did they know, here is Reddington with Ruddiger, both criminals, as they come into the building, with an escort from the FBI, to dismantle the bomb. Reddington, as he puts it, “the police and I have a special type of relationship.” Ressler is on the move – with the help of Aram watching the cameras – to catch Moreau. He finally catches Moreau but Moreau shoots a hostage and Ressler gives up the chase to put pressure on his wound.
Raymond and Ruddiger finally get to Keen and the bomb. Keen orders the FBI to get their men out as Ruddiger walks up to the bomb to do his job. As Reddington gets inside the room, he says the UN room is much smaller than he thought, “a little tacky… it smells kinda funny.” Ruddiger approaches and Reddington asks how much time they have until it goes off, he replies with a few drinks in his system, “I have no idea.” Yikes.
Ressler, on the phone with Director Cooper and Aram, are working with NYPD and securing a perimeter. No sightings of Moreau yet so Ressler goes up to the bomb and Keen. Reddington is having trouble even being in the room as the tension rises. Ruddiger, to everyone’s surprise, grabs a hammer after freezing the locks on the briefcase to try and break it open. “I’m going to smack the lock, I’m going to whack it to pieces and pray that opens the case…” After a sneeze from Ruddiger scares Reddington out of the room, Keen is left with him but he bangs the box and, no detonation. He opens the diplomatic pouch to see the bomb inside.
Aha! We're in the clear. #TheBlacklist pic.twitter.com/c4Qe9eEuov
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) January 5, 2019
Reddington and Dembe leave Keen and do some exploring as Raymond plays around in the meeting room in the UN and gives a very “telling” speech, about LSD. Concurrently, Keen watches over Ruddiger as he dismantles the bomb and Ressler comes to help by holding some of the wires. After a possible hiccup, the bomb has been deactivated! Keen runs to tell Reddington the good news and warn him to leave the building before NYPD arrives, as he is a still a fugitive, as Ressler and Ruddiger enjoy a few sips of relief. Reddington plans to celebrate and Keen stays to tie up loose ends.
“Second thoughts?” Keen seems to be unsure as she and Jennifer discuss their options. They try to find a common ground as Keen seems to be struggling with their decision. As Reddington and Dembe arrive at the restaurant, Reddington is being investigated by an officer when the officer and a few others that show up to the scene decide to arrest him! Dembe watches from the bushes as this can’t be good.
Aram calls Keen and Ressler to inform them that Reddington has been arrested. NYPD is holding him and Keen wants to intervene but he is in the system. Keen suspects that perhaps Ressler or someone close has disclosed his whereabouts. Panabaker and Cooper have it out to try to decide what to do about Reddington. Cooper tells her that Reddington stopped a bombing at the UN and has helped the Task Force with so many cases, but she says there is nothing she can do about it.
We find Raymond Reddington at the precinct, getting his mugshots and getting interrogated by an officer. He tries to bribe him but no go, so the officer requests a statement. Instead of a written statement, he writes, “Get Well Soon Officer Baldwin” and encourages him to sell his autograph on Ebay. Swiftly, a woman and another officer arrive to inform Officer Baldwin that Reddington is now in the hands of the federal government. The woman from the federal government gets right to the point and informs him that he will “never be free again.” He will go on trial and he will be executed, but Reddington says he has made other arrangements. The female official says, “this is gonna be fun.” Without hesitation Reddington states, “Winning always is.”
The agent’s name is Holt and she arrives at the Task Force so Cooper can explain that Reddington has been working with them to solve cases and was granted immunity. Holt is displeased as Cooper wants to let him go and fears for the public finding out about their arrangement. She fiercely says that he will be prosecuted to the “fullest extent of the law” with or without immunity. Her motivation? As Cooper makes evident, that she is running for governor. Following this intervention, Holt holds a press conference about Reddington that he has been arrested and says that his case will be her top priority.
Elizabeth visits Reddington in prison and asks for time alone since he is her “father.” As she tries to explain the seriousness of the situation, Raymond believes someone tipped off the police and set him up. He says that whoever did this, was someone close. “They must have told them as little as possible, something that a couple of cops could follow up on.” Reddington reassures Elizabeth that he has always been one step ahead so he isn’t worried. He wants Keen to find the person who betrayed him. Reddington, in chains, is being heavily escorted to prison, as we see glimpses of the dismay from the Task Force.
Jennifer and Elizabeth meet as Liz is visibly upset. Jennifer tries convincing Liz that him being in prison is the only way that they are going to be able to find out who he really is. Liz tells Jennifer she is tasked with finding out who tipped off the police and that’s all he cares about. “I can’t imagine what he’ll do, if he ever finds out it was me.”
Woah! That’s it for this week! Thanks for reading guys!
Here is the trailer for next week: