If you missed last week’s recap, check it out here.
This episode begins with a woman walking alone at night, thinking someone is following her. She runs back to her apartment and thinks she is safe. Suddenly, she is attacked by a person in all black. She is hit on the head, and she collapses. The next morning, a male is running along a trail and sees a woman standing facing away from him. He asks her if she needs help, and he finds that she is completely frozen, as her body breaks when it hits the ground.
And the truth shall set you free. #TheBlacklist pic.twitter.com/BZFG56flK8
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) April 27, 2019
Liz arrives at Red’s as Dembe answers the door. She asks Dembe about the meeting with Ruddiger, and he says that it is set for lunch that day. She enters, and Red greets her with his fascination about podcasts. He tells her about Tobias Carlyle who has been in prison for 6 years for killing college girls. A murder that fits his profile has just been committed, and he may be eligible for release due to this murder. He wants Liz to investigate.
Liz tells Reddington to cancel the lunch with Ruddiger because she was the one who turned him in. She explains that she wanted to know who he really was, but once she saw how close he came to death, she decided to end her investigation. Dembe knew and kept her secret, but she doesn’t want Red to blame him. Red feels betrayed by both of them and had suspected it was Elizabeth.
Ressler is looking at footage of the man who is picking up the letter that Mr. King sent and sees him messing with a candy coin machine. He has Aram try and find any fingerprints on the coins from the machine at the post office to try and identify the man in the video.
Liz briefs the team about “The Brockton College Killer,” as she mentions that Tobias could be set free due to this murder that matches his MO. All women had a connection to Carlyle. Carlyle is seen in jail talking to his lawyer and how they are going to try and dismiss the charges. Liz also tells the team how his trial has gained national news from a podcast called Thaw by Kimberly Owens, who believes he is innocent. Aram has listened to the podcast and feels that the English professor Dr. Adrian McCaffrey had committed the murders. He had a sexual misconduct suit filed, and he seems to have a connection to all the victims. Cooper has Aram talk to McCaffrey while Liz and Ressler talk to the Medical Examiner.
The ME tells about the bruising on the back of the skull of the most recent victim, which exactly matches the weapon used on the other girls. They ask the ME if someone could have been told how to do it, and he replies that anyone who listens to the podcast by Owens would know how to do it.
We see a young woman, alive, stuck inside a freezer filled with liquid nitrogen. She screams for help.
Owens is seen hosting her podcast and talking about the case that another girl is missing. She reminds her listeners about McCaffrey and his alleged sexual misconduct and supposedly liking to sleep with his students. Ressler and Liz question Carlyle as his lawyer states he has a solid alibi. Aram talks to McCaffrey about the filing of the sexual harrassment, and he becomes defensive saying that it was untrue. He claims that even in his divorce, nowhere did it say he was acccused of having an affair.
Dembe asks Red where he is going, and Red says that he needs some time to think about the news he has just recently learned. They argue, because Dembe believes there was no difference in keeping his loyalty to Red as he kept his loyalty to Liz. They don’t keep secrets from each other, but Red needs to think about where they go from here.
Ressler and Keen see no evidence of any abnormal money transfers or any unusual visitors, but Aram has discovered something from McCaffrey. In his divorce, he got everything he wanted, at least that is what he told Aram. Aram found a cabin that was owned by his family that could be where the bodies are being hidden and frozen. We again see the girl in the freezer, and the hooded figure is there, seemingly adding more nitrogen inside the freezer.
We see the man in the post office video, Dom Wilkinson — who is also Liz’s grandfather — fixing his car when Raymond shows up. He tells Dom he heard about his accident and that his car is on life support but he is fine. Dom tries to ask why he is there, but Red says he came there just to think, not talk.
Liz and Ressler arrive at McCaffrey’s family cabin. Ressler knocks but no answer. Liz looks inside and says it seems abandoned. Liz and Ressler come in through the window and eventually find the girl in the freezer, barely able to move.
Back at Dom’s house, Red is trying to help fix the car when Dom asks why Red came to “think” at his house. Red says that he is thinking excommunication, about Liz and Dembe, and how they betrayed him. Dom says, “You’ve killed for less.” Reddington replies, “I’ve never killed for more.” Dom said that Liz is off limits. We see Dembe talking to his friend at the mosque and that his relationship with Red is broken, just as it is with Liz and Red. Dom asks why Liz turned Red in, and he says that it’s because he hasn’t been upfront about his true identity.
Cooper, Carlyle’s attorney, and the state attorney are in the judge’s office about what they discovered about McCaffrey’s cabin. The judge drops the charges due to the evidence found and urges Cooper to make a case against McCaffrey.
That's what you get when you follow Ressler. #TheBlacklist pic.twitter.com/erCHYohiLh
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) April 27, 2019
Ressler calls Aram about any news on the coins when he believes he is being followed. He hangs up and catches the man off guard. He asked why he was being followed, and he said it is because Ressler is looking into Katarina Rostova’s father. He lets the man go as more of his men arrive. As the man leaves, he tells Ressler they will be watching him.
Carlyle is released from jail with a plethora of reporters in his face. Kimberly Owens gets his attention and asks him how it feels to be released. He says that it feels good, and it’s all because of her. He is driven away as she looks on, mesmerized.
Liz is sitting in her office when Ressler walks in and sees Liz upset. He tells her about how McCaffrey hasn’t been able to be located. He asks her what is wrong, and she is worried about Dembe and what Red might do to him. We see Dembe praying at the mosque as they discuss Dembe’s possible fate. Just as Ressler is about to tell Liz about her grandfather, Aram walks in with a possible location on McCaffrey. Liz and Ressler show up to the house of a former student, and they arrest McCaffrey.
Red and Dom talk about how Red just does what he wants, regardless of what Dom says. Red says that he can’t forgive him for what he has done, but Dom says that he is forgiving, much to the surprise of Reddington. He tells Red that when Katarina betrayed her country, their country, he was also seen as a traitor. He could have turned her in, but instead he went into hiding, leaving everything behind. Even Masha (Liz) doesn’t even know that he is her blood relative. He forgave Katarina, because she was his child. Red isn’t his child, and that’s why he can’t forgive. Red leaves and says he came for advice on how to live with this news as he wishes Dom good luck on the car.
McCaffrey says that he doesn’t know how the young woman was found in his cabin, and he says that someone is trying to frame him. He has an alibi for the original murders, because he was having an affair with one former student, Margo. He didn’t mention it, because he could have lost his job, but he would rather not be in jail. Liz, Cooper, and Aram are in Cooper’s office as Liz confirms McCaffrey’s alibi checks out. They believe that he was framed after all. Now that McCaffrey is innocent, who is the killer? Carlyle arrives at Kim Owens’ house.
She invites him in, and they talk over wine. He thanks her for all that she has done and he kisses her. She pulls away but then goes back in for the kiss. Tensions escalate, and they end up in bed together.
Red comes back to Dom and says that he knows that Dom gave up so much. He asks Dom if Katarina was there asking him why he forgave her, what would he say. He says, “love, love, love.”
Liz finds the team discussing the case and tells them she found fingerprints on the liquid nitrogen that belong to Paul Lemar. They show up to his office to ask questions, and he wants a lawyer. Carlyle and Kim are lying in bed when Kim suggests they make a night out of spending time together. Paul talks to Liz and Ressler about how he noticed things started to go missing. As he continues, Kim is in the shower, and she admits she had a crush on Carlyle. Carlyle walks around her room as we hear Paul say that his stepdaughter was obsessed with Tobias Carlyle. His stepdaughter is Kimberly Owens.
Tobias finds the murder weapon as Kim walks into the room. He is angry, and she says that she got the other girls out of the way because they were distractions. He tries to leave, but she hits him on the head with the meat grinder. She drags him down to her basement and explains that a popular girl had once stuck her in a freezer. These victims reminded her of the girl who bullied her and she gave them what they deserve. She puts him in the freezer, and he screams. The FBI storm in and take Kim into custody as Liz and Ressler rescue Tobias.
Back at Dom’s garage, Dom finally gets his car to work. Liz calls Red’s phone as Dom says that Reddington is going to exact revenge. Dom tells Red that what he did about Katarina’s betrayal almost killed him. Red figures out that the reason he keeps the car is because the last time he saw Katarina was in his rear view mirror. As the two talk, Dembe is seen packing a bag and has an airline ticket. Red asks if he is at peace and Dom says that he is. “The real question is, how much do you love Dembe?”
Dembe is about to leave when Red is seen sitting in a corner chair. He tells Dembe that he missed him and that their partnership and the life they shared together, he will always remember. He tells Dembe that he doesn’t need his forgiveness as he can do no wrong. Dembe voices his appreciation but says that he can’t forgive Raymond. Raymond doesn’t understand, and Dembe knows that. Red asks where he is going, and Dembe says that he needs to follow his own path.
Ressler comes into Liz’s office, and she figures that he hasn’t stopped investigating Red. He says no, but he did happen to find her grandfather on her mother’s side, but he can’t find his location. Liz sees the picture and smirks. Liz arrives at Dom’s house, and he address her as Agent Keen, asking her what she needs. “You could begin by saying hello to your granddaughter.”
The second half of this two-hour event is coming soon, so stay tuned!
The Blacklist airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on NBC.