If you missed the previous episode’s recap, check it out here.
It begins with several young boys gathered around candlelight who are trying to recruit someone to their society. Another boy is directly under them in the basement providing sound effects, but he accidentally pokes holes into bags of hidden drugs. Unfortunately, that boy needs medical attention.
Aram and Cooper are at the Post Office. Aram tells Cooper that of the four men suspected to be Rakitin, he can’t prove it. Cooper tells Aram that he wants all four followed and wants Park to gather resources to make it happen.
At Red’s restaurant, Cooper, Red and Dembe sit down for Red to brief him on their new Blacklister: Captain Kidd, who we see briefly. Red tells Cooper that Kidd helps facilitate transactions between criminals with GPS-tagged hiding spots. Red informs Cooper that this case is urgent because Kidd also hides people, and he believes Safiya Maroun is his next target.
Cooper briefs the team about Safiya Maroun. She’s a major opponent to Saudi Arabian repression and she’s now Neville Townsend’s target. He’s been contracted by the Saudi secret police to abduct Safiya. As the team discusses, we see Safiya being taken from her home. If they don’t make it in time to stop her abduction, she will be buried alive until Townsend is paid by the Saudi secret police. Kidd will provide her location via GPS so that the Mabahith (Saudi police) can dig her up and kill her. Ressler and Aram head out to Safiya’s house, and Aram lets Ressler know that Park is hunting down Rakitin.
Aram and Ressler arrive at Safiya’s house, but it’s too late. Aram walks to the husband’s side of the bed and sees the word “Nora” written in blood. Aram decides to try putting that name into the security system to see if it shows them what happened before the abduction, and it works. In the meantime, Safiya is brought to a warehouse and she’s put into a wooden box with oxygen.
Rakitin calls Red to ask him to meet so they can discuss the intercept out of China, and the pending cyberattack. Red suggests they meet at his restaurant. Meanwhile, Aram walks into Cooper’s office to tell him he bought drugs online, and of the dealers he bought from, one sent him a GPS-tagged location. Cooper wants Ressler and Aram to go to the site, get the drugs, and get any surveillance footage from the area.
Rakitin arrives near Red’s restaurant and is walking to meet with Red, when he notices that Agent Park is following him. He calls Red to tell him that he has a tail, and Rakitin tries to lose Park. Once he does so, he finds her car and takes a picture of her license plate.
Aram and Ressler are at the drop site. The drugs are gone, and they wonder if someone else got there first, or that someone knew it was a set up. Ressler notices several cabs sitting across the street and hopes that one of their dash cams captured footage of Captain Kidd.
Back at the Post Office, Ressler, Aram, and Cooper are going over the footage that was able to be captured from the dashcam. The video only caught the end of the drop and there’s no viable angle for facial recognition. Cooper notices the suspect throw a cup away, and they discover it’s from a local coffee shop. Cooper wants them to pull sale records and surveillance from the shop, and if the suspect paid with a credit card, they may have his physical address.
Ressler sits down to interrogate the suspect, Jarrett, with his lawyer (or “poorly prepared mouthpiece,” as Ressler calls him). Jarrett says that he doesn’t work for Kidd, he steals from him and he isn’t the only Seeker. He explains that Captain Kidd uses droppers to stash his product, so other Seekers will follow droppers and look for their stash. Ressler says that if Jarrett hands over all the contraband he stole, and that evidence helps lead the team to Captain Kidd, he may help him stay out of jail. (Side note: Ressler was sassy and hilarious.) Rakitin finally arrives at Red’s restaurant and says that the FBI were following him. Cooper isn’t standing down, and they need to do something about it.
Ressler goes to the FBI lab and talks to one of the techs. The tech says that there’s a discrepancy with drugs found by MPD from Jarrett’s apartment. It was found with powdered milk, notable of a drug cartel. Since MPD picked up one of this drug cartel’s dealers, the tech called their evidence lock up to compare samples, but they don’t match. From testing to now, someone took the drugs and replaced them, but the only person to have come into contact with the sample is the drug lab chemist, Tyler Schwartz.
Back at Red’s restaurant, Rakitin tells Red that he’s worried about exposure because he was tailed, but Red says that because he killed an innocent man to cover his tracks from Cooper and the FBI, he only made it worse. Red continues that he said he would handle Cooper, and he will, but Andrew’s antics made it more clear to Cooper that he’s being played. Andrew wants all his “theatrics” appreciated by Red, but Red has other ideas. He threatens Andrew and assures him he will take care of Cooper.
Ressler is interrogating Tyler, the drug lab chemist. After Ressler is attempting to leave, he decides to talk. Ressler wants to know what happens to the drugs, and he tells Ressler he’s not the only one; there’s an entire network that steals and resells drug evidence. Ressler tells Tyler they want Captain Kidd, and he wants to know where to find him.
At Captain Kidd’s operation site, he runs a criminal transaction between Saudi Arabia and Townsend, as Safiya struggles to find a way out. Saudi gets the location and instructions, and the transaction is complete. Suddenly, the FBI storms the site and Captain Kidd is taken into custody.
At the Post Office, Cooper asks if Aram has the prints on Kidd, and he does, but he also tells Cooper he heard from Agent Park. While she was following Andrew Patterson, one of the Rakitin suspects, he made her. She thinks Patterson is Rakitin because he gave her the slip near Red’s restaurant.
Captain Kidd is interrogated by Ressler and Cooper walks in to give Ressler the file of Kidd’s fingerprints. Ressler wants to know where Safiya is, but he maintains he doesn’t know anything. Kidd says he wants a deal, but Cooper refuses to do so as a woman’s life hangs in the balance.
Cooper and Ressler talk outside the interrogation room. Ressler states that without a deal, Kidd isn’t going to tell them where Maroun is. Cooper tells him that he refuses to look the other way while another criminal gets away with their crimes. Red and Dembe arrive at the Post Office, and Cooper instructs Ressler to try and get Kidd to talk, but they aren’t offering him a deal.
Red approaches Cooper and congratulates him on capturing Captain Kidd. Since Safiya’s location is still unknown, he offers to talk to Kidd. Cooper appreciates his offer, but knows that’s not the only reason he came. Red is hoping the truth can be revealed, with Captain Kidd and with them. Red and Cooper talk in Cooper’s office, and Cooper reveals to Red that they know Andrew Patterson is Rakitin. He says that he knows Patterson was going to meet with him at his restaurant because Park was tailing him. As Cooper continues, Red asks him to stop, as a friend. Cooper says his friends aren’t traitors to this country. Red tells Cooper that he knows he cares deeply about Elizabeth and wants to understand her path to destroy him.
“But for what I hope is the final time, let me be clear – I am not a traitor to this country, and I do not divulge sensitive intelligence to this country’s enemies.” –Red
As his friend and colleague, Red pleads with Cooper to let this go. Cooper asks if Red’s request is a threat, but Red says that his associates, when cornered, may do unpleasant things. Red advises Cooper that this situation is between him and Liz, and they may not agree on much, but they would agree on the fact that they couldn’t forgive themselves if something happened to Cooper.
Cooper tells Ressler to make the deal with Kidd, and Ressler asks about what happened with Reddington. He says that if they have to choose a side between Red and Liz, it’s about time they choose Liz. They need to get to Liz before Reddington does, and since Kidd works with Townsend, he may be able to help them. Ressler and Kidd talk about his full immunity; he says he will help with Maroun, but Ressler says he also has to give up Townsend.
Captain Kidd explains to Ressler how the network operates. He reveals that the buyer (Saudi) wanted a remote location for the drop of Safiya, as she’s seen ripping off a piece of her wooden box. Kidd says he can give Ressler the location, but they won’t get there in time. Aram, Cooper, and other agents look at the map of Safiya’s approximate location, as Kidd tells Ressler that the buyer most likely has a head start. We see the Mabahith arrive at the drop site, as Ressler discovers she only has less than an hour of air left.
The Mabahith dig up Safiya and begin walking as Cooper is helping to lead Aram and Ressler to the site. The Mabahith arrive at their vehicle and get all of their equipment prepared. They order Safiya to get on the ground, and she complies. Aram, Ressler, and a team of agents look at a map and decide split up on foot. One of the men start to record Safiya, and as one of the men go to kill her, she stabs them with a piece of wood from her box. Shots are fired, and Ressler and his team head that direction. There’s a struggle, but Safiya successfully shoots all of the men. One is still strong enough to crawl to his weapon, but he’s thwarted by Ressler.
At the Post Office, the surviving Mabahith member is in custody looking too comfortable, but Main Justice is on the way. Aram tells Cooper and Ressler that he got Safiya’s statement and about his hilarious, short-lived circus career. Cooper wants Ressler to go talk to Kidd — who’s in protective custody — about Townsend.
Kidd is at a safe house with three marshals, and says that they’ll need more to protect him. A knock is heard at the door and it’s Townsend with two men; the marshal who answered the door also works for Townsend. Kidd tells Townsend that he didn’t reveal anything, but Townsend says he never will again. Concurrently, someone from Main Justice arrives to meet Cooper and says he won’t be needing to meet with Safiya.
Ressler arrives at the house where Kidd was being protected, but he finds the marshals dead and Kidd gone, so he calls Aram. Aram walks into Cooper’s office and tells him that Townsend grabbed Captain Kidd. Cooper informs him they had to let the Saudi operative go because of the influence the royal family of Saudi Arabia has. Main Justice isn’t interested in Safiya or her statement.
Dembe talks to Red at the restaurant about Liz and Cooper. He goes on how Red gave Cooper the case so that he could get to Captain Kidd and eventually Townsend. Instead, Townsend grabbed Kidd and both him and Cooper learned nothing. He pleads with Reddington to call a truce with Cooper, because they can’t fight each other and Townsend. Dembe says that Cooper’s list of enemies has grown too long, and Red mentions their friend in the East.
Rakitin meets with Sikorsky (still an assumption) in Moscow. Sikorsky slides an envelope over the table and to Rakitin and he opens it. He warns Rakitin to follow the directions exactly as they’re written. Rakitin is concerned about going after the Assistant Director of the FBI, but Sikorsky says he will do whatever, even if it means eliminating Harold Cooper.
Thanks for reading, Blacklisters!
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The Blacklist airs Fridays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.