The Blacklist Declassified

Episode 1:22 Berlin (Conclusion) – 2013-2014 Season Finale:

1) Liz: You still haven’t told me how Sam was involved in this.
Red: The way Sam told the story was that one night, an old friend showed up at his door scared. The friend told Sam he was leaving town, that he was in danger and that he needed someone to care for a little girl that her father had died that night in a fire. So Sam took the little girl in, and he raised her as his own always sheltering her from the truth about her biological father.

2) Red: Lizzy, there’s something I want you to understand about your father Sam. That night when he took you in–– without hesitation–– Sam made a difficult choice that changed the course of his life. And that’s where you find yourself now. You can turn away and run from it. You can hide from it. And if you choose to do that, I’ll fly away. Or you can face it and confront it engage it. And maybe–– maybe you prevail and rise above it. <<>> I understand. I’ll be on a plane tonight.

The first time I heard Red compare Sam’s taking Liz in to Lizzie’s decision on whether to stay on or quit the Task Force, I thought it was a stretch. Then I realized it isn’t such a stretch if in both cases, it is Red doing the asking – at a time when “his life is in danger” and he has nowhere else to turn. James Spader is a very “accurate” actor – he really nails it, even when he is working through three or four emotions in the span of a second, as when Liz says “no”: http://bit.ly/1FmeEVZ

Then fake smiles all around: http://bit.ly/1rmJpBQ

I love this – the moment Red realizes it’s Lizzie in the cab and that she’s changed her mind (okay, I love subtle): http://bit.ly/1FmNJrl

The cleverness of the posing is perfect in this scene. They LOOK like father and daughter. http://bit.ly/1rmIb9G (The burn scar scene is coming right after this.)

What changed Lizzie’s mind was that she went home and looked at the picture of her and Sam, and then at the emptiness of her home and life with Tom gone and Red leaving… And, this time, in the way I like to see her showing her strength, it’s she who is saying to Red, in effect, “It’s gonna be alright…” http://bit.ly/1FmNJrl Pearl Jam’s lovely “Just Breathe” plays:

Practiced all my sins, never gonna let me win, uh-huh
Under everything, just another human being, uh-huh
I don’t wanna hurt, there’s so much in this world to make me bleed

Stay with me
You’re all I see…

Did I say that I need you?
Did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn’t I’m a fool you see
No one knows this more than me

As I come clean…
I wonder everyday, as I look upon your face, uh-huh
Everything you gave
And nothing you would save, oh no

Nothing you would take
Everything you gave…

Did I say that I need you?
Oh, did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn’t I’m a fool you see
No one knows this more than me
And I come clean, ah…

Nothing you would take
Everything you gave
Hold me til I die
Meet you on the other side…

__________

I’ve never been sure there aren’t two little girls in Red’s home movie (photo: http://bit.ly/1phTd4v). Are there two girls, one older with thick wavy hair and a long face; the other younger, with darker straighter hair and a rounder face? They are wearing the same blue floral dress – but I often dressed my two boys, who are three years apart, in matching clothes. Andrea Reiher offered a nice overview of this theory back in September: Zap2It: What if Red & Naomi had two daughters http://bit.ly/1zochxZ

Twitter pictures:

Lizzie & Sam in old photo #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist
http://bit.ly/1yaKse0 pic.twitter.com/NcHcdFqioW

One girl or two? If there are two, which girl is in picture with Sam? #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist
http://bit.ly/1phTd4v pic.twitter.com/yAfsOSHRUF

Red and Liz sure look alike – but Megan Boone was cast first #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist
http://bit.ly/1rmIb9G pic.twitter.com/oTbdlhk06t

“When Sam took you in…” (( “I need you to take me in” )) … Devastated #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist
http://bit.ly/1FmeEVZ http://t.co/F3xcsSVcLB

Fake smiles all around: “I’ll be on a plane tonight …” #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist
http://bit.ly/1rmJpBQ pic.twitter.com/tXgBOGtyGo

Dawn of recognition … Liz has come back. “It’s gonna be alright” #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist
http://bit.ly/1FmNJrl pic.twitter.com/mTXADCDV81

Zap2It, Andrea Reiher (Sep): ‘#TheBlacklist’ Season 2 episode 2: Is Naomi Highland Elizabeth’s mother?
http://bit.ly/1zochxZ @NBCBlacklist

Zap2It, Andrea Reiher (Sep): What if Red & Naomi had two daughters
http://bit.ly/1zochxZ @NBCBlacklist #TheBlacklist
// 9/30/2014

[Cross-posted at WSJ Speakeasy]