The Blacklist Declassified

@Belle I had also concluded that Fitch was doing the surveillance. It would make sense that Fitch would be surveillancing Liz because of his interest in Red, but this dialogue threw me off:

[ Door opens where they are monitoring video feeds from Liz & Tom’s house ]
– Oh, the one night you’re on time. I was really looking forward to the make-up sex.
– Do you believe he’s innocent?
– It can’t be that simple, right? The only thing that’s clear to me is that he [Tom] doesn’t work for Reddington.[!]
– Well, then, who the hell DOES he work for?

Would Fitch be interested in Tom? Maybe these guys don’t even know whether their bosses are interested in Liz or Tom; maybe they’re just technical people. But if they do know, why are they so interested in Tom? Also, note the one guy concludes ‘he’s not working for Reddington.’ So he doesn’t work for Fitch or Red. Are we to think they determined he simply worked for Berlin? Then that’s that. But it does leave open the possibility he is simply rogue – no loyalties to anyone. But then he has no protection, and no basis of power: just a punk.

This leads me to a larger question. What happens to Berlin’s organization now – which has had its access, money and the reach to threaten Red’s whole organization (which is huge), sponsor terrorism and hire agents with deeply disguised identities taking years to establish (Jolene, maybe Tom)?

Berlin’s organization is still out there and, though decapitated, likely remains a threat (or opportunity) to Red. Maybe that’s why Red lets Tom live – because he has access, but then why didn’t he let Berlin live? Seems to me if Red wanted to, he could have killed Tom and blamed it on Berlin or Berlin’s people getting back at him for selling Berlin out. He’s told Liz he’s never lied to her, but he’s pretty good at avoiding direct questions. Maybe he really wants to earn her trust, as he often tells her. And to earn that trust, he’ll even let stay alive the person he believes she’s in love with, regardless of his personal feelings of jealousy and/or protectiveness.

@Belle and others: Just a note that Red said Gina Zanetakos was “taking the fall” by fingering him (1:6). Would Red, who is entirely adept at money-tracing, put money that could be easily traced to an off-shore account of his in boxes clearly marked with her scar sign that Tom also used when sending her photos intended to incriminate Red? Don’t forget that Liz was persuaded by this that Tom was innocent when Tom clearly was NOT innocent. Also, how would Red have gotten the murder weapon to put in the box? Did Tom or Gina return a dirty pistol to him? Even if they had done such a thing, would Red have kept it and put it in a box with money that could be traced back to him?

@Jim 4) I thought those tapes of Red outside the hospital were from public surveillance tapes that Tom simply requisitioned from their public source because they’d show Red going into the hospital. Red had kept even the fact he was in Nebraska a secret from Liz, so just letting her know that would be damaging. Tom didn’t necessarily have to have known who Red was at the time, though subsequently, he could have figured it out.

I’m assuming you all know that a scar like Liz’s (a localized third degree burn on the interior of her wrist/palm – protected areas) without other burn scars on her body doesn’t make sense. Either long exposure to a flame or briefer exposure to a source you can’t wipe off (eg napalm-like) would have been required. Maybe the plastic from that melting doll face dripped on her. The scar doesn’t have the shape of a burn scar (third degree surrounded by second degree). It looks like a scar from a laceration that did not receive surgical care. It’s too irregular and wide to be a surgical scar. Mysterious.

[Cross-posted at WSJ Speakeasy]