‘The Blacklist’ Season 6, Episode 16 Recap: “Lady Luck”
If you missed last week’s recap, check it out here.
This episode begins with Reddington arriving at a warehouse when an argument has ensued between his associates. Red diffuses the situation but learns that Henry Morris is missing, the key reason the argument began. As this happens, Henry is met by a mysterious woman who says that she can change his luck if he does one last bet, on himself. Henry calls Red who answers and says, “5 Albanians and 4 Nigerians walk into a shipping depot. There is no punchline. Where the hell are you?” Henry says that he will fix everything, because he met a lady that will change his life. “Luck is finally on my side.”
Red knows who Henry has been contacted by, and her name is “Lady Luck,” our next Blacklister.
Ressler meets with an old friend, MJ, who is helping Ressler find information on Katarina Rostova, Liz’s mother. MJ says he sympathizes with Ressler about Reddington, but Ressler says that Red is gone and no one will find him. He requests that MJ find a manifest for a ferry ride that could have held Katarina.
Smokey Putnam (an associate of Red’s), Reddington, and Dembe are all on his plane, and he talks to Smokey about those who went behind his back while he was in jail and the person who sent him to jail. Elizabeth arrives, and Red tells her that he is leaving but tells her about Lady Luck and that she gives her victims a second chance if the person bets on themselves.
But it’s not all good news. Liz briefs the team and tells them that she was an urban myth that came true. Red believes that Henry may also be connected to “The Third Estate,” so they need to find Henry. Cooper has them find Henry’s wife.
Lady Luck is a tough critic. #TheBlacklist pic.twitter.com/Xs579rJkVy
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) April 13, 2019
Henry calls “Lady Luck,” and he says that he isn’t sure he can do the task she has ordered him to do. She says that he needs to do it, or his family will suffer. As Henry decides, Keen and Ressler are meeting with Henry’s wife, as she is told he is back to his old habits after he was fired and he lied to her. They tell her that once she hears from him again, she needs to contact them.
In Maryland, where Henry is, a woman is in her bathtub where she hears a noise outside her bathroom door. Her dog barks when suddenly Henry busts through and drowns the woman.
Ressler arrives at the scene of the crime while another detective briefs him. They have Henry on camera from a liquor store, and it matches the description of someone entering the building. The detective tells them that he is wanted for murder if they find him. Henry’s wife gets a call from Henry saying that he has so much to tell her, he has something for her, and that he wants to meet at a park at 11 a.m. the next day, as Ressler listens in.
Red is cooking, as Dembe brings in another associate of Red’s as Smokey watches from behind. Carlo greets Red and is surprised he made it out. Red is there to ask him if Carlo had turned him in, not taking advantage of the situation. Carlo says that he didn’t turn him in. Red bumps up Carlo to 10%, but Carlo says it wasn’t fair under the circumstances. Red makes it 15% and Carlo agrees, before Red decided to punish him.
Aram tells the team about Henry’s victim: she was a former gambler who had just paid off her debt. As he informs the team, Ressler receives an envelope that Liz grabs from the messenger. She reads it and becomes angry. Cooper says for Aram to keep looking for a connection between Henry Morris and his victim. Ressler arrives with news about a meeting place from Henry’s phone call with his wife. Keen confronts Ressler about his envelope, and he lies and says that he requested it weeks ago and tosses it. Liz forgives him and calls in the surveillance operation.
There is a gambling meeting for addicts, and a man says he gambled his daughter’s college tuition away. “Lady Luck” listens and decides on her next target. Ned is in his car in the garage with the engine on, about to take his own life, when “Lady Luck” comes in the car and offers him a deal, if he bets on himself.
Bartending? Is there anything Raymond Redding can’t do? #TheBlacklist pic.twitter.com/ZDFl0B3LCd
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) April 13, 2019
Red is at a bar with Dembe and Smokey when another associate, Martin Walcott, walks in and greets Red. Red introduces Smokey and Martin. Red reveals that he knew that Martin had been distributing meth using his business and his name. Red asks Smokey what he should do, and Smokey says he made a mistake but he should be fired because he has kids and a family, instead of being killed. Red remains quiet but decides to kill Walcott without blinking.
Henry meets with his wife at the park as Ressler and Keen watch with their operation team. His wife begs to know what is going on, when Henry gives her the ring he pawned that was her grandmother’s. Ressler says there is a man by the playground that is watching, and Ressler goes after him. Ned is the one by the playground, and he shoots Henry as Ressler shoots Ned.
Ressler calls MJ and says that he might have found something about Rostova so MJ can look into it. He agrees and will get back to Ressler. Henry and Ned are interrogated and tell Ressler and Keen what they know about “Lady Luck.” The team figures out that “Lady Luck” has gamblers kill other gamblers to pay off their debts, not knowing they are the next target. Ned calls Agatha at her home with her daughter and grandson, and Ned asks to meet.
Ned is at the meeting place and has his ear piece in as Liz sits in the restaurant and Ressler waits in the parking lot. “Lady Luck” calls and says that she knows the regulars in that restaurant, and she knows that he has been talking to the police. She hangs up and drives away, and Ressler and Keen try and find her car, with no success.
Red, Dembe, and Smokey are on Red’s plane, when Red asks how Smokey knew Walcott had children. Smokey confesses that he knew Martin in the circus business and helped him while Red was in jail. Red is angry and feels the ultimate betrayal. Smokey apologizes, but Red goes on a tangent about flying vs. falling dreams, perhaps foreshadowing Smokey’s fate. “Flying is life, falling is death.”
Agatha tells her grandson goodbye and goes to Delaware to get the money at the house where she and her husband live. Aram finds the license plate of a car that drove away at a parking lot across the street, and they found “Lady Luck’s” identity: Agatha Tyche. Liz and Ressler arrive at Agatha’s daughter’s house and tell her that her mother was lying to her about her father’s “death” and the money that her father had won for the lottery. Agatha had kept the money and paid for former gamblers to kill each other. Agatha hadn’t given away the money after the accident that paralyzed her husband and killed her son.
Liz and Ressler call Cooper and say that they believe that daughter. They say that the husband died, but Aram tells them that there was no death certificate for the husband, and the lottery money is still being delivered to an address in Delaware.
Agatha is packing a bag and talking to her husband about what they have done. He is in what looks like an “iron lung” that is keeping him alive, since he is paralyzed. The FBI bursts in, and they tell Agatha to drop her gun. She does, but she throws her toaster in the sink and blows the breaker. Liz arrests her while Ressler finds the breaker to keep the husband alive as his machine dies.
Cooper tells the daughter that her mother lied about her father and the money. He tells her that now she knows her father is alive, and she can have the rest of the lottery money. She asks to speak with her mother before she is taken to jail. Red arrives at a school in California, and Dembe isn’t pleased how he handled Smokey. Red and Dembe greet a woman who runs the arts program at the school. She thanks him for all his contributions and brings him inside to enjoy the show.
Red has questions. Dembe has answers. #TheBlacklist pic.twitter.com/S4XiNSTJAV
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) April 13, 2019
MJ and Ressler meet, and he discovers that they might have found Rostova’s mother, which could lead them closer to Katarina. Liz apologizes to Ressler about looking into her mother and Reddington, as Ressler was about to tell her what he found. He decides to wait, and they talk to Cooper about what Henry knows about “The Third Estate.” Red watches the show in awe from backstage as Dembe discusses how Red could have done better. Red asks that if Dembe knew who had betrayed him, if he would come forward. Dembe agrees, but we know he is keeping Liz’s secret.
Agatha and her daughter meet, and Agatha apologizes for everything. Her daughter says it’s okay. The daughter once again meets her father after all this time and says that she is now going to be taking over the family business, which leaves her father horrified. The episode ends with a wooded area and a body lying in the snow. It’s the body of Smokey Putnam.
Here is next week’s trailer:
The Blacklist airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on NBC.