The Blacklist Declassified

🔴 Script: 2:17 The Longevity Initiative

 
Last updated: 3/30/2015 6:00 pm CDT, Program air date: 3/26/2015 in the US
Script Status = FINAL w links to Twitter images
Permalink: http://wp.me/pDKwi-LE
Slideshow link: https://youtu.be/4NuCEVjmsCg (8/3/2015)
Source: Raw Scripts from Springfield [UK]: http://bit.ly/1Do56Zu (dump of captioning)
NBC Episode Summary: http://bit.ly/1CUXCzd
 
Blurb: A billionaire is funding research to lengthen human life, but the doctor in charge is taking the research in a very different direction. Tom is faced with threats to his life and seeks refuge.
 
Created by: Jon Bokenkamp
Director: Donald Thorin, Jr
Writers: JR Orci, Lukas Reiter, Jon Bokenkamp

 

AG-To-Be Tom Connolly – Reed Birney
Billionaire Roger Hobbs – Ralph Brown
Dr Julian Powell – Josh Close
The Major (Bill McCready) – Lance Henriksen
Lyod Munroe (Powell’s assistant) – Elliot Villar
Dr Jeffrey Maynard – Kevin Weisman
Elias (German thug) – Chandler Willams

 
Note: Below is the script from Springfield http://bit.ly/1Do56Zu (which is really just the captions) with formatting and the names of speakers added, as best I can recall after several viewings. Not every line has a speaker assigned. Red’s lines are bolded. I am sure there are mistakes. If there is a better source, please let me know on Twitter @BlacklistDCd.
♤ = my favorite lines

Slideshow, The Longevity Initiative (3:19 mins)

 
⊰ ♤ ⊱

🔴 Script 2:17 The Longevity Initiative

 
Lloyd: This is the third one this month.
Dr. Powell: I’m well aware of that.
Lloyd: I wasn’t brought on for this. I thought we agreed we’re just supposed to find them.
Powell: Things change, Lloyd.
Lloyd: I need you to be more careful.
Powell: Are you telling me how to do my job?
Lloyd: I’m warning you. One or two more of these experiments goes south, and someone’s gonna get wind of what we’re doing here.
Powell: And you’re being well compensated to take on that risk, Lloyd, but if you’re telling me that you’d rather not continue, we will find somebody else. Is that what you’d prefer?

[ Police radio chatter ]
Officer: License and registration, please.
Lloyd: Evening, Officer.
Officer: Evening.
Lloyd: Sure. No problem.
Officer: What are you hauling here?
Lloyd: Produce.
Officer: And, uh, where to?
Lloyd: Sanborn.
Officer: Sanborn, huh? Are you aware that this highway’s a drug-smuggling route into Ontario?
Lloyd: I wouldn’t know anything about that.
Officer: Good, then you wouldn’t mind me taking a look in the back of the vehicle, would you? You want to remove the sheet, please?
[ Lloyd pulls back sheet revealing woman w a craniotomy ]
Officer: What the–
[ Lloyd hits him; struggle; Loyd gets Officer’s gun, points it at him ]
Officer: Don’t–
[ Lloyd shoots Officer several times, leaps into his police car and takes off ]
[ Siren wailing ] [ Alarm blaring ] [ Blaring stops ]

Charlene: Honey, what’s wrong? You left your cane.
Cooper: I didn’t need it. For the first time in I don’t know how long, Char, I just got up and walked. [ Both chuckle ] Just a few steps. Hurt like hell.
Charlene: [ Sighs ] Well, the treatment?
Cooper: It’s working. After the attack, I didn’t think I’d ever be the same, and after the diagnosis–
Charlene: And you heard what the doctor said– tumor’s shrinking. And it’s working. Mm.

Tom: Hey, don’t hang up. I’m in trouble.
Liz: The judge cleared you of everything.
Tom: It’s not about the harbormaster.
Liz: I can’t.
Tom: Look, when Reddington blew my cover, he exposed me to some very dangerous people, and now they’re looking for me. And the guy who places me, I can’t get in touch with him.
Liz: [ Sternly ] Tom–
Tom: And these people, these Germans–
[ Car pulls up with The Major in back seat ]
Tom: Hold on.
The Major: Get in.
Tom: Where the hell you been? How’d you find me?
The Major: If I can, they can. They flagged you leaving Dresden. Your passports are burned.
Throw me the bag! Get in!
Tom: [ To Liz ] All right, look, I got to go, – but I’ll be all right.
The Major: We got to leave!
Tom: I know! Give me a second!
The Major: Now!
Tom: I know what today is. Have fun at Wing Yee’s tonight.
Liz: Goodbye, Tom.

[ Red enters, pulls out bottle of wine ]
Liz: What’s this?
Red: You don’t remember, do you?
Liz: What?
Red: The grapevines. The ones you and Sam harvested.
Liz: Of course. I- I remember. Along the garden fence, we would pick– Is this from–
Red: A bottle of wine you made with Sam when you were a child. Happy birthday, Lizzy. You’ve become everything Sam dreamed you would and more. Share it with someone special. That said, it’s probably undrinkable by now, so I also brought you an ’82 Brunello as a backup.
Liz: [ Sighs ] 31! No offense, but that’s old.
Red: My yogi tells me that time doesn’t exist. He fully intends to live forever, and tragically, he’s not the only one. Tell me, what do you know about the Longevity Initiative?
Liz: I haven’t heard of it.
Red: It’s a private company dedicated to extending human life indefinitely, funded by none other than Roger Hobbs.
Liz: The tech billionaire?
Red: Yes. He started years ago. I know because he offered me the opportunity to invest as a founding partner in the project. I passed.
Liz: You know Roger Hobbs personally?
Red: Roger is considerably smarter than the above-average bear, and now it appears he may also be as deadly. You’re aware of the New York state trooper who was gunned down last night in the line of duty?
Liz: The suspect’s still missing, but they found mutilated bodies in the back of the truck.
Red: Not mutilated. Experimented on. The Longevity Initiative has entered the human-trial phase. If they’ve made a breakthrough, they need to test it.
Liz: On innocent victims.
Red: With any luck, I’ll be dead-wrong. Perhaps you’ll have a better sense once you’ve spoken with Roger Hobbs.

Ressler: Sorry to bother you at home.
Hobbs: Actually, the Longevity Initiative does not have any dedicated office space. We fund research all over the world.
Liz: How many employees?
About a thousand.
Liz: All doing research on immortality?
Hobbs: Sounds like science-fiction, I know, but it’s all grounded work. We have a goal– to solve the death riddle. To do that, we target the issue from every angle. We support unproven advanced genetic technologies that the mainstream establishment won’t even touch. Simply put, we are trying to extend the life of the human body as long as possible.
Ressler: How about we talk about the three dead bodies, all with craniotomies, found being smuggled in the back of a truck? What are the chances that we connect those dead bodies back to you and your, uh, experiment?
Hobbs: You can’t possibly think one of my scientists was responsible.
Liz: There is speculation that some of your employees might have thought it was time for human trials.
Hobbs: I mean, look, I have enough lawyers on speed dial to fill a stadium. I’m here talking to you because this project means everything to me. We have nothing to hide.
Liz: We’ll need a list of all of your researchers.
Done. You have my full cooperation.

Ressler: That was the ME’s office. We have to go. Thank you.
Liz: Thank you for your time.
Hobbs: Mm-hmm.

Maynard: You were right– these people were experimented on. All three victims died during a neurosurgical procedure.
Ressler: For what purpose?
Maynard: Unclear. But foreign cells were introduced into their brain tissue.
Liz: What kinds of cells?
Maynard: Well, some of them were fetal stem cells, but some were, well not human.
Liz: Bizarre
Maynard: When the bodies came in, they all had catastrophic damage to the frontal lobe of the brain. Naturally, I thought that damage was caused by whatever experiment led to their death, but then, I got an ID of one of the victims, and [ Exhales sharply ]
Ressler: So, the experiments didn’t cause the brain damage.
Maynard: No. You’re looking at William Eckhoff. He was in a skiing accident, suffered multiple bone fractures, but most importantly, a traumatic brain injury– couldn’t speak. In fact, he was reported missing three days ago from a care facility in Hagerstown.
Liz: Who would abduct a defenseless, disabled man and subject him to such cruelty?

Dr Powell: What did you do? Why am I looking at my patients on every newscast?!
Lloyd: I could care less about your patients. I murdered a cop.
Powell: [ Inhales sharply ] I don’t believe this.
Lloyd: I told you if we kept going, we’d attract unwanted attention. I’m gone. I’m leaving the country. You do the same.
Powell: I can’t do that. I have to go. I’m with a patient.
⋘⋙
[ Monitor beeping ]
Powell: Well, then [ Sighs ] Let’s continue. Tell me your name, please. [ Machine beeping ] There we go. Let’s try that again. Tell me your name. Tell me your name. Come on, you can try harder. Tell me your name, please. [ Shouts ] Tell me your name!
[ Monitor beeping rapidly ]
Powell: That’s it. Tell me your name.
[ Patient has seizure ]
Powell: Get in here! She’s seizing!
[ Flatline ]

[ Knock on door ]
Connolly: Is this a bad time?
Cooper: Of course not. Have a seat.
You look good, Harold. How have you been feeling?
Cooper: Much better, actually, thanks in part to you. Thank you, Tom.
Connolly: You’re welcome.
Cooper: So, what is it that brings you by?
Connolly: It came to my attention that a couple of your people paid a visit to Roger Hobbs.
Cooper: Came to your attention. Are you monitoring our investigations now?
Connolly: Easy, Harold. It’s not like that.
Cooper: This Hobbs a friend of yours, then?
Connolly: He’s a friend of ours. His companies hold multiple defense contracts. He’s one of the good guys.
Cooper: Why do I need to know this?
Connolly: I’m sensing some defensiveness.
Cooper: It sounds like you’re suggesting that all of this information should somehow impact my investigation, which can’t be true because we’ve known each other too long for you to cross that line.
Connolly: I’m not crossing any lines. I’m just passing along some background. That said, all things being equal, I’d like to see this guy given the benefit of the doubt.
Cooper: All things are never equal.♤
Connolly: Listen, Harold, you should do what you think is right. I certainly hope that nothing I’ve said would imply otherwise.

Cruz: We were all heartbroken when we heard about what happened to William. We were mortified when we thought he might have wandered away under our supervision.
Liz: Are you saying he was abducted?
Ressler: We think so, yes.
Liz: I imagine you must have some security measures in place. Would you be able to provide us with a list of people who had access to the facility the day he disappeared?
Cruz: I’ll get that for you right away.
Liz: And where was William last seen?
Cruz: The south yard. Diane, one of our best caretakers, was taking the patients out for some air. William was sitting with John Paul. Diane said she turned away for just a few moments and when she looked back, he was gone.
Liz: May I talk to John Paul?
Cruz: You can try, but he’s not very communicative.
⋘⋙
Liz: Looks like a good hand you’ve got there. I’m Elizabeth. I’m with the FBI. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about William Eckhoff? You were with him when he disappeared, am I right? The people I work with– we’re looking for him. Is there anything you can tell us? Did you see anything? [ he shoves King of Diamonds card at her ] Was there anyone else there with you that we could speak to? [ shoves King of Diamonds closer to her ] Thank you for your time.
⋘⋙
Ressler: Any luck?
Liz: No. You?
Ressler: Security log the day of the disappearance. Everyone on site was authorized to be here.
Liz: [ Looks at log ] Hmm. “Gold Crown Pharmaceuticals.” Lloyd Munroe.
Cruz: He’s one of their reps. He visited one of our physicians that afternoon.
Ressler: Does that mean something to you?
⋘⋙
[ Liz returns to John Paul ]
Gold Crown Pharmaceuticals? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?

Liz: [ On phone ] Hey, guys, what you got?
Aram: A birthday card and 31 red-velvet cupcakes. Uh, well, uh, 30. I couldn’t resist. When are you coming back?
Liz: Aram, the suspect.
Aram: Work. Right.
Okay, Lloyd Munroe– 37 years old, of North Beach, Maryland. No criminal history. I just called Gold Crown. They said he didn’t report for work today. I’m running his phone and financials now.
Samar Navabi: I’ve got something. One of the other victims was a patient at Landover Hills. Guess which pharmaceutical rep was there the morning he disappeared.
Liz: Lloyd Munroe. That’s got to be our guy. That can’t be a coincidence.
Ressler: Let’s bring him in.
Aram: That might actually be a problem. According to his recent credit-card activity, Lloyd Munroe just bought a bus ticket out of Buffalo on the Silver Line.
Liz: Get the local PD on the line. Tell them they need to stop that bus.
Ressler: You know, not everyone’s so anxious to leave. Put a flag on Tom, all his known aliases– he hasn’t left.
Liz: You don’t know that for sure.
Ressler: Has he reached out to you?
Liz: No.
Ressler: He’s a murderer, Keen. Just ’cause he got off doesn’t change that.
Liz: I don’t even know where he is.

The Major: I’ll drop you off at Hilltop Lanes. There’s a locker there– B-15. Tickets are in a go bag. Take the first flight you can to London. Mr. Pitts will be waiting.
Tom: Reddington just showed up. I don’t know how.
The Major: It’s not on Reddington.
Tom: [ Sighs ] I didn’t have a choice, bud. I’m sorry. Where’s my gun? I’m not going to London, am I?
The Major: [ Sighs, pointing gun at him ] My uncle was a farmer. He had a beautiful border collie– smart, well-trained, loyal as hell– but one summer, that dog, he got into the hen house, killed half the chickens. My uncle loved that dog, but he knew he had to be put down.
Tom: I can go someplace far away from here.
The Major: You burned Reddington for the girl, and I looked the other way. And then there’s Dresden.
Tom: This is me!
The Major: You went to the feds for the girl, Jacob.
Tom/Jake: You’re gonna put a bullet in my head? After Cape Town?
The Major: Roll down the window.
Tom: I’m not just some operative, all right? You know me. You raised me.
The Major: You knew the rules, kid. I warned you about the girl, and she’s cost you your life.
[ Tires screech; crash! German guys get out and grab Tom and The Major ]

Liz: [ To Lloyd Munroe ] You know what this is? It’s the ballistics report that proves the gun you had on you was the same one used to murder that cop. Killing a police officer is a capital offense. That makes you eligible for the death penalty.
Lloyd: I don’t know anything.
Ressler: Right, which is why we found you on a bus fleeing the country.
Liz: We want the people you work for. Give them to us, and we’ll talk to the US Attorney, recommend a life sentence. You do enough, you might even get the possibility of parole.
Lloyd: Julian Powell. That’s who paid me– a doctor named Julian Powell.
Ressler: Paid you to do what?
Lloyd: He needed test subjects, ones that fit very specific requirements.
Liz. People with frontal-lobe damage.
Lloyd: And I was able to locate them because, as a drug rep, I had access to care facilities.
Ressler: Tell us about Roger Hobbs. What’s his connection to all of this?
Lloyd: I don’t know who that is.
Liz: If you’re lying–
Lloyd: I’m not lying. I can help you. I always deliver and pick up the test subjects from the same place.

Townsend: Clinic’s secure. Upon entry, our team encountered two unknown subs– white males, mid-30s. They appeared to be med techs of some kind. They’re in custody.
Ressler: What about Powell?
Townsend: Not a sign of him, but what we did find, you got to see for yourself.
⋘⋙
Liz: Dr. Maynard.
Maynard: Meet victim number four. Same profile as the others, unfortunately, but at least now we know what we’re looking at.
Ressler: We do?
Maynard: Powell’s been experimenting on patients with a very specific and severe form of brain damage. He’s been injecting their brains with a collection of cells– a combination of fetal stem cells and some kind of foreign matter.

Ressler: So, he’s injecting their brains with jellyfish cells.
Maynard: Yes. He’s been keeping meticulous records, and jellyfish are at the center of all his experiments.
Liz: We should get those files over to Aram as quickly as possible.
Maynard: According to his notes, Powell’s focused on transgenic research, which is the transferring of genes from one species into the genome of another. Look. These two rabbits are sisters. Now, before their mother gave birth, Powell removed the embryos that made them and injected one with jellyfish DNA. He then inserted the embryos back into the mother. Do you see the difference?
Liz: They look identical.
[ Maynard turns off lights and one rabbit is glowing ]
Maynard: Legitimate researchers around the world are doing this. They’ve made glowing cats, monkeys, cockroaches. I mean, this is very impressive, but the new work he’s doing that’s in here.
⋘⋙
Maynard: Behold– turritopsis dohrnii, known to modern science as the immortal jellyfish. As far as we know, it’s the only living creature on Earth that never dies. Well, I mean, it’s born and grows old like we do, but then, when it encounters environmental stress or assault, it reverses the aging process until it’s just a little polyp again.
Ressler: How is that even possible?
Maynard: It has the amazing ability to change its own cells. Some say it’s like a butterfly that turns into a caterpillar that grows back into a butterfly or a chicken that becomes an egg that hatches a new chicken.
Liz: So Powell is using these jellyfish to conduct experiments on human brains.
Maynard: He must be trying to regenerate the damaged brain tissue. He wants our cells to learn from the turritopsis dohrnii. I mean, look, Julian Powell, clearly insane, if this ever worked, it would be a concrete first step toward human immortality.

Cooper: So, what do we know about this guy?
Aram: He joined Sadovo Solutions in 2005. It was a biotech company in Chapel Hill. Mostly worked on the research side. He was an endocrinologist.
Ressler: Why do you keep saying “Was” like he died or something?
Aram: Because it’s kind of like he did. The guy’s a ghost.
Samar Navabi: After he left the company in 2007, he stopped paying taxes. No residence on file, no active credit lines, and no medical or driver’s-license renewals in the last eight years.
Liz: He dropped off the face of the Earth.
Aram: Wait a sec. Get this– Sadovo Solutions, the biotech company that Powell worked for before he disappeared, guess who owned it.
Cooper: Roger Hobbs. That’s not enough of a link to secure an arrest warrant, but it’s certainly enough to bring him in for another chat.

Ressler: Hey, big day. Plans to celebrate?
Liz: Oh, uh, yeah, I’m gonna go to Wing Yee’s with a few friends. [ Laughs ] No big deal.
Ressler: Wow. Restrain yourself, Keen. Come on, smile. It’s your birthday. You got plenty to celebrate.
Liz: Thanks. You’re sweet.

Powell: [ On phone ] You’re not listening. My lab was raided. The FBI took everything.
Hobbs: I am aware of that, Julian, which is why you need to come in.
Powell: You authorized my research. You knew what I was doing.
Hobbs: I authorized you to begin preliminary trials for the purposes of second-stage research.
Powell: I’m on the verge of a breakthrough. You’ve seen the data.
Hobbs: You’ve jeopardized the entire Longevity Initiative, not to mention putting me and everything that I have worked for at risk. Julian, you need to come in.
Powell: No. This is bigger than you, Roger. This is bigger than any of us.
[ Call ends ]
Hobbs: This has become a serious problem.
Red: [ Who has been in room ] It’s not easy being God.
Hobbs: You got any idea how much this guy’s cost me? Not just his work, but the security.
There’s people out there that would pay a fortune just to know his name and steal his research away.
Red: What’s it worth?
Hobbs: Hard to say. A foot in the door to human immortality on the open market? [ Chuckles ] Now I got to get rid of him. I’m not gonna lie to you, it hurts. [ Sighs ]
Red: You know my feeling. Humans as a species are untrustworthy creatures. We don’t deserve to live forever.♤ What the hell were you thinking, Roger, even to consider authorizing this Powell to conduct human trials?
Hobbs: It was necessary for the research to reach the next level. I didn’t know he was gonna be so reckless.
Red: You had to know there was a risk innocent people would die.
Hobbs: How many innocents died in the search for the smallpox vaccine? All in the name of the advancement of science.
Red: This isn’t about science, Roger. This is about you actually believing that death is beneath you.♤
Hobbs: No, this is what it takes. Louis Pasteur– he wasn’t even a physician. The day that he injected that first small boy with the rabies vaccine, he was risking criminal prosecution. Jonas Salk injected the flu virus into men in an insane asylum in Michigan. Decade later, he’s being hailed as the genius who cured polio.
Red: I know of a doctor who agreed with you, a relatively young man also fascinated by genetics, a man who didn’t concern himself with morality, humanity. That was Josef Mengele.
Hobbs: I don’t need you to agree with what I’ve already done, Red. But I would like to know if you’re willing to help me now.
Woman: Sir, there are two agents from the FBI at the front door, and they’re insisting on seeing you right away.
Hobbs: I’ll be right down. [ She leaves; Hobbs gives folder to Red ] The identity of my scientist– everything you need to know to take care of the problem.
Red: If it were anyone else, I’d decline, but for you, Roger, I’ll see what I can do.

Hobbs: [At front door ] Agent Keen, Ressler, come on in.

Gerst [ older German guy ]: You are going to tell me! You are going to talk! You know that, right? Is it Reddington? You work for him? Because you are not cops.
The Major: If you’re gonna do it, do it. Two bullets. Get it over with.
Gerst : No, no, no, that’s not how we do things, not with boys like you.
[ Grunts, breathes heavily ]
Elias: Everything ready?
Man: Ja.
Elias: Him first.
[ Groaning ] [ Grunts ]
Elias: [ German with eagle tattoo on his neck ] Have you heard of the blood eagle?
[ Groans ] [ Breathing heavily ]
Elias, cont: We cut the skin along the spine –
[ Groaning loudly ]
– pull the lungs out through the ribs watch them flutter like bloodstained wings. It’s actually quite beautiful.
Tom: That’s a cute story. [ Chuckles ] I’m not gonna talk.
Elias: [ Looks through Tom’s wallet, finds ultrasound of baby w Liz’s name on it ] Okay! “Elizabeth Keen.” You still not gonna talk?

Cooper: Dr. Levin, you have excellent timing. I was intending to call you today.
Levin: Well, I hope it’s not because you’re feeling worse.
Cooper: No, actually, it’s the opposite. For the first time in a while, I feel like myself again.
This new drug you’re testing– I think we’re really on to something … Dr. Levin?
Levin: I’m here. I’m so pleased we’re having success, Harold, but to be honest, it makes this call all the more difficult. The study is evolving, as these things do. They’re always looking at the results and the funding and making adjustments.
Cooper: What kind of adjustments?
Levin: I heard today that they’re lowering the age parameters as we move into this next round of treatment. No final decisions have been made, but I need to let you know It’s possible we won’t be able to continue with the trial.
Cooper: So, they’re removing me from the program?
Levin: No. We’re still waiting on a decision, and I promise to do what I can to avoid any change. I really am sorry, Harold. You know how I feel about you and Charlene.

The Major: Keep your mouth shut!
Elias: Cut him open.
Tom: [ Grunts ] Sarah Hastings.
The Major: You son of a bitch.
German guy: And what about her?
The Major: Don’t say a word.
Tom: I’m not gonna say anything until you guarantee me that you don’t touch Elizabeth Keen.
Elias: What I can guarantee about Elizabeth Keen is, I’m gonna find her [Laughing] and I’m gonna kill her.
Tom: She’s FBI.
German: You a cop?
Tom: No. I was married to one.
Elias: But not now. Why do you care?
The Major: Jacob, no!
Tom: Someone in your group murdered Sarah Hastings.
The Major: Oh, God.
Tom: I was hired to find out who. Powerful people are looking for you, Elias. If you want to know who, then you promise me you never, ever touch Elizabeth Keen.
The Major: You sell me out for that bitch, and I swear I’ll hunt you down.
Gerst: [ in German ] We can’t afford to have the whole FBI looking for us. We don’t need that.
Tom: You need to let me go. I can help you.
[ Knife clicks ] [ Groans ]
The Major: Don’t say another word.
[ Groans ]
Tom [ to The Major ] You know that girl you said cost me my life? She just saved it.
Gerst: [ Chuckles ]

Liz: [ To Hobbs ] We don’t see a lot of billionaires suspected of murder.
Lawyer: And you’d be wise to remember that my client hasn’t been charged with anything, Agent Keen.
Ressler: Earlier today, we raided a clinic being used to conduct experimental transgenic research on human test subjects. That research was being conducted by a Dr. Julian Powell, and you failed to mentioned your connection with Powell the last time we spoke.
Hobbs: What connection?
Ressler: He worked for you at a biotech company called Sadovo Solutions. And now he surfaces, abducting disabled patients, doing illegal experiments, – killing people.
Hobbs: Have you any idea how many people I’ve employed over the last 20 years?
Liz: This is one hell of a coincidence, Mr. Hobbs. We come around asking about human experiments, and when we find the man responsible, he has a direct connection to you.
Hobbs: He may have been an employee of mine many years ago, but I’m sorry, I’ve absolutely no recollection of him.
Lawyer: And I’m gonna guess you’ve got nothing to suggest otherwise.
Ressler: We’re looking into every phone call, every correspondence, every shred of data that we can pull on Julian Powell and that clinic. If you’re funding him, we will prove it.

Cooper: What do you have?
Liz: We’ve got straight denial. He’s pretty much calling our bluff.
Cooper: He say anything we could use to connect him to Powell?
Ressler: Nothing of value, but it’s early. We’ll keep at him.
Cooper: If that’s all we have, it’s not enough to arrest him.
Ressler: Look, he’s lying to us about Powell. We can make a circumstantial argument that he’s involved.
Liz: If he is directly connected to Powell and we let him go, the first thing he’s gonna do is destroy the evidence. We should hold him.
Cooper: You see that lawyer in there? He can afford that suit and the beach house he owns because he’ll never let that happen.
Liz: Let him file. By the time he gets heard, we’ll probably have what we need.
Ressler: What’s going on, boss?
Cooper: I’m just saying– not all suspects are created equal.
Ressler: Look, if somebody told me that you were gonna say that, I’d have bet every damn dime that they were wrong. So, he’s got friends in high places. Since when do you care?
Cooper: Hey, if we don’t have enough, go get enough. But in the meantime, kick him loose.

Liz: Maybe we can’t connect Hobbs directly with the victims, but I have a feeling Dr. Powell can. All we have to do is find him.
Aram: I think I can help with that. Been going over the files we recovered from Powell’s facility, and check this out–
Ressler: These are the test subjects?
Aram: Yes and no. All of them are deceased except for one, the woman on the bottom right.
Leann McGrath– 34 years old, currently a resident of Twin Pines Assisted-Living Center in Springdale. Powell’s collected all of her medical files. He’s been tracking her condition for years. Liz: She has the same frontal-lobe condition as the others. I have a feeling we just found Dr. Powell’s next test subject.

[ Indistinct PA announcement ]
Dr Julian Powell: Sweetheart, I’m so sorry but I failed you. [ Sighs ] We need to go away from here. Don’t worry. I haven’t forgot your things.
Nurse: Julian? I wasn’t expecting you today. What’s going on? A- are you taking her somewhere?
Powell: Todd, I don’t have time to explain, but I need you to understand that that this isn’t personal. [ He knocks him out ]

Liz: We need you to escort us to Leann McGrath’s room immediately.
Yes, of course, Agent.
⋘⋙
Ressler: ‘What happened? You okay?
Nurse: He took Ms McGrath toward client pickup.
[ Powell has pushed Ms McGrath to client pickup ]
Red: Dr. Powell. Let’s go for a ride.
[ Powell gets in car; they drive off ]
Liz: Reddington!
Powell: [ In car ] I’m sorry, but I don’t know who the hell you are.
Red: My name is Raymond Reddington. I’m the man who was sent by Roger Hobbs to get rid of you. Relax, Doctor. I have no intention of killing you. You are a potential solution to a problem.
Powell: How so? A young woman I know and care for had a distant memory quite literally taken away from her when she was a little girl– erased.
Powell: So, you want to apply my work to the field of memory extraction.
Red: Not your work, Doctor– your research. If you’ve been able to prove that brain cells can regenerate, with time, would your breakthrough relate in any way to the restoration of this young woman’s memory?
Powell: No, my work will not help the woman remember. In theory, transgenics can help rebuild damaged memory synapses, but there’s a more– There’s a more fundamental problem.
Red: And that is?
Powell:’Let me show you.

Ressler: You know Julian Powell?
Todd: Of course. She’s his fiancé. Ms. McGrath was in a car accident. She suffered catastrophic damage to the frontal lobe of her brain. There’s an article here about the accident. I think it might have more of the story.
Liz: “The car Ms. McGrath was riding in jumped a center divide and hit an oncoming tractor trailer. Officers at the scene said Ms. McGrath’s car was being driven by her fiancé, Julian Powell.”

Powell: This is where she lived. It’s all I have left of who she was. I proposed in this room. Wasn’t supposed to happen like that. I had a more romantic plan, but once I had the ring, I couldn’t help it. Six weeks later, she was gone. We were in the hospital – St. Michael’s – and a good friend of mine and his wife were having a baby, and Leann and I were in the maternity ward until 4:00 AM. It was one of the happiest nights of my life. And then, in the car on the way home, we were both so tired.
Red: Yeah. You fell asleep at the wheel.

Ressler: So this is why he’s been experimenting on patients with frontal-lobe damage.
Liz: He’s not looking for immortality. He’s trying to bring back the woman he loves.

Red: I suppose Roger Hobbs doesn’t care about your motives or practices, as long as he profits from your findings.
Powell: I needed money to fund my research, and it was the only way that I could fix what I’ve done and the only way that I could get Leann back.
Red: So, what did you say to him, Doctor?
Powell: Told him that my work would help him live forever. And he wrote a check that afternoon.
This is where I do most of my real work. Thousands of hours spent sitting here, just searching, planning, believing. And for what? Look– look at this. Look at– Useless.
Red: You never found anything.
Powell: I lied, falsified the data. I had to. Hobbs would have cut me off. But none of this works. My research is a failure. I am a failure. I can’t save her.
Red: You killed a lot of innocent people, Dr. Powell.
Powell: I wanted to help them. What life did they have? What kind of life can she have now? [ Powell takes gun from drawer, cocks gun, fires ] [ Body thuds ]

TV: Once again, police have identified the man who died earlier today. We can now confirm his name is Dr. Julian Powell. So far, we’ve been unable to locate–
Hobbs: Nicely done. Every station’s calling it a suicide.
Red: It’s done.
Hobbs: And the FBI?
Red: Nothing leads back to you. Why so dour, Roger?
Hobbs: I lost a lot of money on this, Red. Tens of millions.
Red: This has nothing to do with the money. You wanted it to work. For all you’ve achieved, you actually thought this might be your legacy.
Hobbs: If it wasn’t for you, my legacy would be life without parole.
Red: Well, maybe you didn’t save mankind from an untimely death, but someday, you may be able to spare me from one.♤
[ Glasses clink ]

Liz: Care to tell me what the hell happened today?
Red: I suppose I should.
Liz: You stole Powell out from under us, and then an hour later, he ends up dead? Did you kill that man?!
Red: I’m happy to discuss the day’s events, but not if you insist on doing so at this volume.
Liz: You gave us this case because you wanted Powell, and then you used us to flush him out.
Red: Yes.
Liz: “Yes.” You wanted the science.
Red: The science didn’t work. Powell was falsifying his results. He was never interested in immortality, but you know that.
Liz: He wanted to get his fiancé back.
Red: He knew it was over, so he ended it. That’s the truth.
Liz: That’s half the truth. I don’t take anything you say at face value.♤
Red: Fair enough. My interest in Powell’s research was only half the picture. This was always about Roger Hobbs. I used the FBI to create a problem for Roger. I needed the man to be in my debt, and now he is.
Liz: Roger Hobbs is a murderer. He may not have conducted those experiments, but according to the law, he is just as guilty, and now without Powell, we can’t prove it.
Red: Don’t be so quick to make an enemy of Roger Hobbs. You don’t see it yet, Lizzy, but a dark cloud is approaching, and when it arrives, Roger Hobbs will be a very good friend at exactly the moment he needs to be.

Connolly: Harold, sorry to pull you away.
Cooper: Looking sharp.
Connolly: [ Chuckles ] I’m on my way to some fundraiser– another $5 piece of chicken for $50,000 a plate.
Cooper: I have a feeling you’ll be seeing a lot more of those in the future. Heard things worked out for Roger Hobbs.
Connolly: I’m glad to hear it. Hey, I just came by to clear the air about our conversation earlier.
I hope you didn’t misconstrue my intent.
Cooper: Not a problem.
Connolly: Good. I wouldn’t want anything to come between us.
Cooper: Let me ask you a question– I got a call earlier from Dr. Levin. He said I might get cut from the trial. You know anything about that?
Connolly: How would I know anything about that? But I wouldn’t sweat it. I’ll make a call. That’s what friends do.

Ressler: Hey.
Liz: Hey. What are you still doing here?
Ressler: I could ask you the same thing. What happened to dinner?
Liz: I just didn’t feel like going out.
Ressler: What’s going on, Keen?
Liz: You said earlier that I had so much to celebrate. You know that isn’t true. I mean, I thought by the time I was in my 30s, I’d have something to show for it. I would at least be a prestigious profiler. I mean, I was the top in my class. I thought I’d have a loving relationship with someone, maybe we would be raising a family together.
Ressler: At least you’ve got a dog. That’s one up on me.
Liz: I don’t know who I am. I don’t know if this is my birthday. I don’t even know my own name. No, I know who I am. I am the puppet of some high-functioning sociopath. I don’t even know what I’m doing here.
Ressler: What you’re doing here is celebrating your birthday with me.
Liz: [ Laughing ] What did you–
Ressler: See, I called the restaurant. I thought I’d send you and your friends a bottle of wine.
Turns out, there wasn’t a reservation, so I figured since you weren’t going to Wing Yee, I was bringing Wing Yee to you.

♫ tonight we’ll fly a while just give me the word and hold on to me

[ Liz takes bottle of wine out of her drawer ]
Ressler: Oh, look at you!
Liz: I’ve been saving this for a special occasion.

♫ like I hold on to you

Ressler: Well I’m honored.

♫ a steeple holds a bell
the night sky holds the moon

[ Red is looking through old pictures of Lizzy on her birthdays ]

♫ coverlets and down
will catch you when you fall

The Major: [ on phone ] I don’t care how long it takes or what expense you have to go to. I want Jacob Phelps found.

[ Tom is burning passports ]

[ Beeping as Liz unlocks her room ] [ Gasps as someone grabs her ]
Shh! Shh!
Liz: What are you doing?!
Tom: I didn’t know where else to go.

❌❌❌ 2:17

 
For Twitter photo montage: ⋙ from:BlacklistDCd since:2015-03-26 until:2015-04-03 [2:17 ⋘
 

 

 

Collage from subset of images selected by Twitter

TWEETS w Images

(Reverse chronological)
 

GENERAL 🔷

🐣 🔴 BlacklistDCd: SCRIPT: 2:17 The Longevity Initiative http://wp.me/pDKwi-LE with tweets & screenshot links #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist

🐣 Obligatory photo of Boston Legal James Spader (w Betty White) [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/QCuCauFCmi

🐣 Obligatory photo of hot younger James Spader (actually hotter now imho) [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/LabYgHVo1d

🐣 Fact that Red is looking to restore Lizzy’s lost memories shows he knows the truth is on his side [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist

 
PORTRAITS

🐣 The Major (Lance Henrikson) wants Tom found [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/6GAJEtS6YA

🐣 Ralph Brown as Roger Hobbs (same guy Fitch said was a ‘good guy’?) [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/d3aeTucseO

🐣 “Humans as a species are untrustworthy… We don’t deserve to live forever” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/pZrfZqHPYn

🐣 Aram Mojtabai (played by Amir Arison) [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/znTU4WfomF

 
EPISODE-SPECIFIC (reverse chronological)

🐣 Tom surprises Liz at her motel room “I didn’t know where else to go” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/g7yBqKj7dN

🐣 Tom burns his fake passports [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/OkD4Kgl8DY

🐣 The Major (Lance Henrikson) wants Tom found [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/6GAJEtS6YA

🐣 Red looks through photos of Liz’s past birthdays [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/KaaPBWJ9p0

🐣 Ressler & Liz celebrate Liz’s 31st birthday [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/CrB5Djj9gV

🐣 Ressler wants to know why Liz isn’t partying on her birthday [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/xtbMlzQ8Iw

🐣 “Be careful before you make an enemy of Roger Hobbs” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/yvEbJYb8el

🐣 Liz & Red face off about Red’s abducting Dr Powell [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/kzmjwIPUk4

🐣 Red to Hobbs: ‘You may save me from a premature death’ [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/vGBTsHEd4F

🐣 Red is taken aback by Dr Powell’s suicide [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/2F3Jjg4LFE

🐣 Dr Powell kills himself in Red’s presence [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/o3bblN9M3q

🐣 Red is moved by Powell’s remorse for his fiancé’s condition [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/CLGLtuaw0m

🐣 Tom offers his services to Germans, betraying the Major [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/eLCdFdWF9S

🐣 Sonogram of fetus – “Tom and Elizabeth Keen” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/CkGuxU1a6k

🐣 Badass Tom refuses to respond regarding Red [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist great acting http://pic.twitter.com/nAd7qZc4vb

🐣 Elias threatens Tom w ‘The Blood Eagle’ torture [don’t ask] [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/yCVqh9DSRw

🐣 Tom & The Major captured by German gang after Red blows Tom’s cover [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/qpWqxLs0nl

🐣 Ralph Brown as Roger Hobbs (same guy Fitch said was a ‘good guy’?) [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/d3aeTucseO

🐣 “Humans as a species are untrustworthy… We don’t deserve to live forever” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/pZrfZqHPYn

🐣 “It’s not easy being God” (to billionaire Roger Hobbs) [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/sXIv1RynxK

🐣 Tom’s in trouble [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/hl4vC9OM3E

🐣 “If I can find you, they can find you” – The Major [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/vfh04YkW98

🐣 “Gold Crown Pharmaceuticals?” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/qWVKAIb4Bi

🐣 “Tell me your name!” Dr Powell’s latest victim [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/zxxGutymZj

🐣 The patients all had brain damage before their craniotomies [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/VCeV2w7rOO

🐣 “It’s wine from the grapes you and Sam harvested when you were a child” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/wF6eZfMWk7

🐣 “What’s this?” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/eSfKgVgo8j

🐣 In the truck, three bodies with craniotomies [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/fwxoXm83ye

🐣 “Don’t shoot!” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/nm5gZoD5Ex

🐣 Lyod’s truck is stopped by cops [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/CSF9qcFpKb

🐣 “Are you telling me how to do my job?” [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/NNONUHiMjp

🐣 Dr Powell’s immortal jellyfish [2:17 Longevity Initiative] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/ygvDFugGKg