The Blacklist Declassified

🔴 Script: 2:9 Luther Braxton Part 1

 
Last updated: 5/30/2015 7:00 pm 5/30/2015, Program originally aired 2/1/2015 in the US
Script Status: FINAL with Twitter image links
Permalink: http://wp.me/pDKwi-15r
Slideshow link: https://youtu.be/aREIJLedrY0 (8/1/2015)
Raw Scripts from Springfield [UK]: http://bit.ly/1Do56Zu (dump of captioning)
NBC Episode Summary: http://bit.ly/1LPYyH9
 
Red allows himself to be captured so he will be “disappeared” to a secret U.S. prison in the Bering Sea where a thief named Luther Braxton is planning to break into secret government computers containing information on the Fulcrum. First part of two.
 
Created by: Jon Bokenkamp
Director: Joe Carnahan
Writers: Jon Bokenkamp, John Eisendrath, JR Orci, Lukas Reiter

 

Khan – Omid Abtahi
Desmond – Scott Martin
Kat Goodson – Janel Moloney
Yousef – Laith Nakli
Luther Braxton – Ron Perlman
The Director – David Strathairn
Warden Ramsey Mills – John Ventimiglia

 
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, Luther Braxton Part 1 (4:25 mins)

 
⊰ ♤ ⊱

🔴 Script 2:9 Luther Braxton Part 1

[ Several TV news people: ] We are just now getting word of a story developing out of Hong Kong. Sources say authorities there have apprehended legendary criminal Raymond Reddington. He’s been on the FBI’s Most Wanted list longer than any other fugitive, but tonight, sources are confirming Reddington was arrested in Hong Kong just hours ago. Reddington was once a rising star at the Pentagon. Sources say he was being groomed for admiral when, on Christmas Eve, 1990, while on his way home to visit his wife and daughter, Reddington vanished.
Reporter: Four years later, Reddington resurfaced and was charged with treason in absentia for selling top-secret American intelligence to foreign states.

Prison guard: From this point forward, you don’t exist.
Red: [ Chuckling ] Oh, that’s a load off.
[ Tires squeal ]

[ Reporter: ] Just hours ago, the US State Department confirmed Reddington has been remanded into US custody, but officials will not comment on his current location.

[ ♫ thruppence and sixpence each day too much, magic bus
’cause I drive my baby every way too much, magic bus [ Song ends ]

Cooper: Reddington’s off the radar.
Liz: What do you mean?
Cooper: We don’t know where Reddington is? CIA’s not saying.
Liz: Why not? Reddington’s our asset.
Cooper: Only 41 people in the US government know that. I’ve talked to all of them. Nobody knows where he is.
Samar: He’s been on the run for 25 years. His arrest was bound to happen.
Ressler: No, Reddington moves too fluidly to get caught up in something as obvious as a public assassination in Hong Kong. No, he wanted this to happen.
Liz: What if he didn’t?
Aram: Why would Mr. Reddington want to get captured?
Navabi: His arrest happened overseas. We have to assume he wanted proximity to something.
Ressler: Well, if he’s grabbed, it’s either by the CIA ground branch or JSOC.
Liz: You think it’s an intelligence apparatus that’s holding him?
Cooper: Scrub our sources at Langley, and do it fast. Once they drop him in whatever hole he’s headed for he’s not coming back.

[ Door shuts ]
Guard: You speak when you’re spoken to.
Red: Call the number. Ask for a houseman. Call the number. $50,000 will be transferred into the account of your choice. $50,000. All I want is two minutes with your warden.
[ Door opens ]

Ressler: All right. We found him.
Man: Hey.
Ressler: Hey. We got him. CIA analyst at Langley confirmed they’re holding Reddington at an off-book lockdown called The Factory.
Samar: That’s bad news. That’s really bad news.
Aram: That place is real?
Liz: The Factory? Wait, what’s The Factory?
Cooper: It’s a level-10 detention facility specifically designed to process detainees who’ve been trained to withstand interrogation and torture. Assets are brought in, information is squeezed out – data, intel, anything that may be of value.
Aram: This place is a slaughterhouse for spies.
Cooper: They reduce them to ones and zeroes. What’s left is a husk that either rots away behind bars or is executed outright.
Liz: We’ve got to get him out of there.
Ressler: You think the CIA’s gonna let us talk to him, just walk right in there? No.
Liz: He’s our asset.
Samar: No, they’re gonna keep him all to themselves.
Cooper: If he went to this factory on purpose, I suspect it was to make contact with somebody he couldn’t get to on the outside. Reddington gave up 25 years of freedom to see this guy. I want to know who he is and what intel he’s got that’s so damned important.

Warden: Mast Sergeant Desmond says you offered him a bribe. Care to explain?
Red: Within 12 hours, inmate Luther Todd Braxton will break out of his cell. When he does, he will steal a classified intelligence packet that contains secrets vital to your National Security. The means for his escape and his team are already in place.
Warden: This story feels like a desperate last gasp from a dying man.
Red: Could be. Regardless, if you don’t move quickly, the prison will be overrun and the dozens of innocent men and women who operate this facility will be subdued and executed, beginning with you.
Warden: Luther Braxton is in solitary.
Red: Not for long.

[ Machinery whirring ] [ Electricity crackling ] [ Whirring and crackling stop ]
Man: He’s not cooperating. Take him back to his cell. We go again in two hours.
[ Joints cracking. Guard slips a wire component into Braxton’s mouth ]

Goodson: Agent Cooper, Kat Goodson. As you know, the Director has brought me here to liaison with your task force.
Cooper: Of course. We’ve met – the correspondents’ dinner.
Goodson: Ah. You were the scotch – neat? Please, tell us what you know.
Cooper: I’m not at liberty to say.
Goodson: The clandestine service is aware of the arrangement your task force has with Reddington. It’s why we’re running point through your office.
Cooper: Well, then perhaps the Director should’ve notified me before sending Reddington to The Factory.
⋘⋙
The Director: The section chief sent a cable from the warden. Said that Raymond Reddington claims that a detainee, one Luther Braxton, poses a National Security threat, and we’re hoping that you can tell us something about their connection.
Cooper: I don’t know. Who’s Luther Braxton?

Liz: Braxton is a thief. Interpol’s been hunting him for years. He plans his heists to occur in the midst of chaos. He is organized, meticulous, and he is bloody.
Aram: He stole $282 million from Baghdad in the middle of Operation Shock And Awe, abducted a CIA asset out of Iran during the ’09 election protests. Later, he sold his secrets to Beijing.
Ressler: The CIA announced his death two months ago.
Goodson: We say that about a lot of the inmates at The Factory. Truth is Braxton’s being interrogated for secrets he stole from the Chinese, from the Iranians, us.
Ressler: Well, my money’s on the fact that these two have a history together. Reddington, Braxton – they’re planning something.
Cooper: Whatever it is, you’re going to find out.
Liz: Oh, we don’t have authorization.
Goodson: You do now. Get to Reddington. Find out what he’s up to.

Guard: Hey, Braxton, chow! [ Alarm blaring ]

Guard 2: We have a Code Oscar, block “B,” dorm six! Activate critical response! We need an emergency response team in block “B” now!

Guard 3: [ Indistinct shouting ] Get away from the door! Fire one! Hands– hands up! Get on the ground! [ Gunfire ] Aah!!

[ Handcuffs clicking ]
Warden [ Rushing in ]: Tell me what you know.
Red: I tried. It’s too late. You’ve lost your facility.
warden: No, you tell me I’m gonna have an escape before it happens. Now you’re getting evac’d out?
Red: Why the hell am I getting evac’d out?
Warden: Orders from up top. Bureau’s been cleared to send a team, incoming now.
Red: Radio that chopper. Tell them to turn around.
Warden: Why? What’s happening here?
Guards: We got a problem. ERF failed.
Red: Radio the chopper.
Guard: They’re sending in the riot squad.
Warden: Get him to the evac team!
Red: Radio the chopper!
[ Blaring continues ] [ Beeping ]
Guard: Back up, back up!
[ Beeping, heavy clang ]

[ In helicopter ]
Ressler: Inmate number 2532, Xavier Chavez. I know this name. He was a court-martialed special operator out of Fort Carson. We got Kun Phan, AKA “Cambodian Carl.” Did 10 years in USP Florence for hacking US Missile Defense Agency.
Liz: What are you thinking?
Ressler: I’m counting three, five, maybe more guys who’ve all been processed into this facility within the last three months. Got a munitions expert, special forces. I’m counting eight guys here – Khalid Sankar, Yemeni medic; Jonah Rodriguez, ex-Marine; and Cyrus Choy– he’s a Red Pole enforcer out of Taiwan.
Liz: He’s got an entire team in place.

Guard: What the hell is he doing? [ Blaring continues ]

Braxton: Go! Go!

Guard: Sir?
Guard: Nest Command to ACR; block “B” has been breached! We need tactical reinforcement to the Nest!
[ Radio whines ]
Guard: Sir, we just lost video! Camera two is down!
[ Beeping ] [ Muffled explosion, gas hissing ] [ Indistinct shouting, coughing ] [ Electricity crackles ]

[ On deck ]
Guard: Got to turn you back! We’re in a full-facility lockdown! We’ve had a breach! Detainee has taken –
Navabi [ Shot in foot ]: Aah!! Aah!! [ Groaning ]
Ressler: Easy!
[ Alarm blaring ] [ Beeping ]

Desmond: Desmond to Deck Command, prisoner for transport, come back.
Red: That $50,000 is still on the table, Desmond. It’s yours for the taking. All you got to do is help me to help you stay alive.

[ Beeping ]
Man: You sure about this?
Braxton: Do it.
[ Keyboard clacking ] [ Click and thud, blaring stops ]
Guard [ Intercom ]: Eagle, Eagle, this is Major. We have a breach alert. Please authenticate. Eagle, Eagle, this is Major.We have a breach alert. Please authenticate.
Braxton [ Picks up phone ]: The Eagle’s dead.
Guard: Identify yourself.
Braxton: I’m the man who just took over your gulag, and you’re a desk jockey that’s gonna put me in touch with somebody who matters – clear?

[ Grunting ]
Ressler: Samar?
Samar: Ressler, I can’t put any weight on my foot.

Man: Horrible, isn’t it– this room– this is where all the prisoners come to die. After you break their minds. They’re led here like cattle for you to slaughter.
Ressler: When they put down your little rebellion, pal, you’re gonna take my place up here, I swear.
[ Coughing, choking ] [ Laughing ]
Man: Hey! Get on your feet! Get your feet! Get on your feet! Get on your feet! Stay! Get on your feet! [ Laughing continues ]

Aram: Sir! Uh, sir, we have a situation. Uh, we’ve lost contact with Agent Keen.
Cooper: What about Ressler? Navabi?
Aram: Uh, nothing since after they touched down. I reached out to Langley. The entire facility is dark.
Goodson: We’ve got Braxton. The CIA’s patching him through.

Goodson: This is Agent Rosenberg. He’s our hostage negotiator.
Cooper: Tread lightly, Agent Rosenberg. Those are my people inside there.
Rosenberg: Understood, and they’re gonna be fine. We’re gonna take our time, hear what he has to say, and get everyone out alive.
You ready? [ Beeping ] Mr. Braxton, this is Agent Phillip Rosenberg. The Director of NCS has instructed me to open a dialogue with you.
Braxton: We’re not having a dialogue.
Rosenberg: I’m here to listen, but first, I just need to talk to the warden. I just need to make sure that he’s okay and can confirm the hostages are okay.
Braxton: No, you are a water boy, a bureaucrat with a stack of cue cards.
Rosenberg: Just need to talk to the warden.
Braxton: Of course you do – protocol. I have him right here.
Warden: This is Warden Mills.
Rosenberg: Mr. Mills, everyone’s okay?
Warden: Some casualties, but all accounted for.
Rosenberg: That’s terrific. Glad to hear your voice. See that, Mr. Braxton? I just wanted to talk to the warden.
[ Braxton shoots him ]
Rosenberg: Mr. Mills? Warden? Mr. Mills?
Braxton: I’m done talking to you, Mr. Rosenberg. I want to speak to somebody with real authority.
Cooper: This is Harold Cooper, Assistant Director for the FBI.
Braxton: Hello, Harold Cooper. I’m pretty sure you see how this works. I get what I need, or somebody dies. From here on forward I am the warden.

[ Someone approaches Liz, grabs her from behind ]
Liz: [ Gasps ]
Red: What the hell are you doing here?
Liz. I came to help get you out.
Red: You came out of curiosity.
Liz: Or maybe I actually care about what happens to you.
Red: Your government is being robbed.
Liz: From here? How? What’s he after?
Red: The Fulcrum.
Liz: I don’t know what that is. The Fulcrum– What is that?
Red: It’s a blackmail file– proof of the existence of an extraordinarily powerful clandestine organization. If their activities were made public, some of the most powerful and influential men would go to prison or be executed.
Liz: And it’s here, this Fulcrum?
Red: No, the Fulcrum isn’t here, but I believe information critical to finding it is, and that’s what Braxton wants.I’m here to stop it.
Liz: I can help you.
Red: No, you need to leave.
Liz: Ressler and Samar have been taken hostage.
Red: They shouldn’t even be here. You never should’ve come here.
Liz: Why didn’t you come to us? What aren’t you telling me? Why don’t you want me here?
Red: I’ll get to Ressler and Samar as soon as I can, but you need to get back on that chopper.
Liz; Not without Ressler and Samar or you. Now, how are we gonna stop Braxton? He has an entire team.
Red: Well, sadly, there isn’t a prison on Earth where I don’t know a few guys.

Man [ British accent ]: If Braxton wants to access the secrets they beat out of us, he’s gonna need to get into the server, which is only accessible from the Nest.
Red: How about during a lockdown?
Man: This facility’s like a submarine. It’s compartmentalized. It can only be shut down by sections. The security protocols render the entire server room completely inaccessible.
Desmond: How the hell do you know that? I didn’t know that.
Red: Khan has broken out of seven prisons. This will be eight.
Liz: This server room – where is it?
Man: Northwest quadrant, basement.mWe can’t get you inside, but the German – he has an idea.
German: [ German accent ] Who is she? Who is this girl?
Red: She’s with me. Your idea?
German: The boiler room. It’s located next to the server room. If you could get there, you could reprogram it to overload. The pressure would cause an explosion.
Liz: That would blow up the server room?
German: If you’re lucky, you’ll take out the server room. If you’re unlucky, the whole prison craters.
Red: You said, “If you could get there.”
British: Yes, the only way into the boiler room undetected is through a single air duct that’s less than 24 inches square.
Liz: [ Sighs ] Looks like I’m the tunnel rat.
Red: All right. Khan will guide you to the boiler room. Gernert and I will be waiting for you to let us in, then you’ll reprogram the system.
German: Good.
Man on couch: What about me? What’s my job?
Red: You don’t have a job. You’re here because of what your cartel did to Felix Moralez and my people in Reynosa. [ Shoots him ] Okay. Shall we go to work?

Man: [ Beeping ] Braxton, you need to see this.

[ Telephone ringing ]
Red: I’m sorry. The warden can’t get to the phone right now. May I please take a message? Nothing? Not a “Hello, how are you?” Say something, Luther.
Braxton: Reddington.
Red: That’s me.
Braxton: You’re locked out, Red. I have complete control over this hellhole.
Red: I’m confident you’ve got a plan for every imaginable scenario, but it’s the scenarios you can’t imagine that bite you in the ass, Luther, like me here.
Braxton: Do you think this is something that snuck up on me? After Belgrade?
Red: Ah. Belgrade. Boy, things got nasty in Belgrade, didn’t they?
Braxton: It’s funny– up until then, I was aimless, just an ordinary thief, but after Belgrade, I became known as the man who bested the great Ray Reddington.
Red: You didn’t best me, Luther. You butchered and clawed your way into my pockets, and innocent people died in the process.
Braxton: You’re such a snob, Red. Always considered yourself above the fray with your handmade suits and your fancy wine, your private jets. Do you even drive? You got everybody convinced you’re so hard, Red, but I know better. You’re soft.
Red:You’re not getting the Fulcrum.
Braxton: And how you gonna stop me, Red? Bore me to death with Beethoven? Put me to sleep quoting Nietzsche? Come on. We both know that in order to stop me, you got to have balls. You got to run the gauntlet. And after Belgrade, well that’s just not gonna happen. So, tell me – how are you gonna stop me, Red?
Red: “A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
Braxton: Was that Nietzsche?
Red: No. Bruce Lee.

Samar: This man has an abdominal wound. He’s going to die.
Ressler: Let him down. Damn it, let him down!

[ Door opens ]
Braxton: Okay, Harold, let’s test your reflexes. This entire facility has been put into lockdown meaning that all existing codes that ran this prison have been invalidated.
Cooper: We’re aware of that.
Braxton: Good, then you must also be aware that one single code has been generated by the mainframe – a master code giving the CIA and any rescue units all access. I want it.
Cooper: Understood. I can get my people working on that right away.
Braxton: Okay. Your reflexes, Harold– shabby. Mine, however– lightning quick. [ Shoots woman ] You just cost an innocent woman her life, which means we’ll just have to go get ourselves another one. Let me set the scene for you, just like them old radio dramas your granny used to listen to. I’m standing in front of a tall, fit very attractive Persian girl by the name of Samar Navabi. Maybe you’re familiar with her. Anyway, Miss Navabi has a noose around her neck– her very long, lovely neck, which is about to get a lot longer unless you give me the code. I’ll give you 10 minutes.
Aram: We’re gonna give the code, right? Sir, I’m sorry, but you have to give the code. It’s a black site. Nobody will know we’re negotiating.
Cooper: I’m sorry, but–
Aram: We’re gonna give the code!

Cooper: I am not allowing that maniac to lynch one of my agents.
Goodson: You can’t give him the code. You know the protocol.
Cooper: The minute that that negotiator got here, he gave me all the relevant details on the factory, including the master code. Why wouldn’t I give it to him?
Goodson: Braxton doesn’t want the code to break out of prison. He wants it to break into our network.
Cooper: What network?
Goodson: The factory isn’t just a black site. It’s a level-six intelligence node. It communicates directly with Langley, the Pentagon, the White House sit room. The intel being squeezed out of these targets, our highest-level targets, is mission-critical. We needed our interrogators and our operatives in the field working together in real time, so we removed any latency between the time we received a lead and our ability to act on it.
Cooper: You put an access point to the country’s most sensitive data in a prison with the country’s most dangerous enemies?
Goodson: Yes. Which is why I am asking you– do not release that code.
[ Knock on door ]
Aram: Sir, Braxton’s back online.
Cooper: Cooper.
Braxton: The code.
Cooper: If I give it to you, what assurance do I have that no hostages will be harmed?
Braxton: None. The code.
[ Machinery whirring ] [ Choking and gasping ]
Braxton: You hear that sound, Harold?
[ Choking and gasping continue ]
Braxton: That’s the sound of Agent Navabi’s neck being broken.
Samar: Please. Stop.
Braxton: The code!
[ Choking and gasping continue ]
Cooper: Dallas, Foxtrot, one, Charlie, three, seven, two. Now let– [ Click ] Braxton? Braxton, respond!
[ Gasps, breathing heavily ]
Samar: [ Subtitle ] Allah is ever-pardoning, ever-forgiving.
[ Machinery whirring; prisoners chains are lowered; guard exits ]

Man: We’re ready here.
Braxton: Good. Get to the server room. I’ll radio you once the system’s back online.

Cooper: Where are we?
Aram: I have attacked this from every angle. Once Braxton reboots the servers on his end, he’ll have full access to the intelligence network.
Cooper: How do we lock him out?
We can’t, not without flipping the switch on the entire network, and Braxton knows we won’t do that.
Cooper: What would that entail?
Aram: Our DOD satellites shutting down A temporary loss of real-time field communications.
Cooper: So, CENTCOM would go dark.
Aram: And assuming we could even get authorization to do that, it would take hours to shut it down.

British: Hey, once you make that last turn, it’s gonna be about 10 more feet. Gonna see a vent there going down.
Liz: Yeah, I think I see it. I’m here.
British: Follow that, and you’re in.

Phan: Braxton, we’re in.
Man: [ Keys in code ] Dallas, Foxtrot, one, Charlie, three, seven, two.

[ Device whirring ] [ Liz coughing ]
Red: You all right?
Liz: Yeah.
Red: Are you sure?
Liz: Uh-huh.
Red: Have you ever heard of Bruno Ashmanskis? The most skilled cat burglar I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Bruno mostly did jobs on commission, but he always wanted to do something for himself, something special, so he got it into his head that he was gonna break into the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to steal an imperial vase from the Qing Dynasty worth millions – the single biggest trophy of his career.
Liz: What happened?
Red: I never heard from him again. I’d always assumed he’d succeeded, that he was sipping some umbrella-clad cocktail on a beach in Tahiti, until five years later during a remodel of the Fitzwilliam, they removed a wall. There was poor Bruno– what was left of him, anyway – stuck inside a heating duct, still clutching that vase. I prefer to think of old Bruno on that beach in Tahiti.
Gernert: We have a problem.
Red: Mm. What?

[ The Alliance/Cabal meets: various accents ]
[ Indian accent ]: Our asset is tracking the extent of the breach.
[ Other accent ]: It appears that Braxton’s team has penetrated your country’s network.
[ Chinese accent ]: Do we have confirmation on what it is they’re looking for?
The Director: Yes, we do. The Fulcrum.
[ German accent ] So Reddington does not have it.
Director: I never believed he did, actually, and his efforts to stop Braxton only confirmed my suspicions.
What’s our collateral exposure?
The Director: Honestly? None. We are mirroring Braxton’s search algorithms, and if the Fulcrum comes into play, we will find it.
So, Mr. Braxton is a liability?
Director: Oh, yes, and Mr. Reddington may no longer be a threat. We haven’t touched him for fear that he’d use the Fulcrum as a– Well, to expose us, but he’s bluffing.
You can’t be sure of that. Alan Fitch did not think so.
The Director: Whether he is or not, it’s a moot point. He needs to be eliminated.
German woman: This prison of yours, The Factory, I understand the American public is unaware of its existence. Perhaps they would not notice if it were to disappear.

Man: How much longer?
Red: We’ve had a setback. Gernert is working on alternatives.
Gernert: I’m telling you– There are no other options. This model has redundant computerized safeguards. If I attempt to over-pressurize the boiler tank, those safeguards kick in automatically.
Liz: There’s nothing you can do to override it?
Gernert: It would have to be done manually. That means someone standing here, resetting those pressure-relief valves every 90 seconds, while someone else mans the temperature controls until this pressure cooker hits 700 PSI, and that is not gonna be me.
Red: You’re not going anywhere.
Gernert: Yeah, I am. Because whoever stays here to do this manually is gonna be blown into a million pieces.
Red: Or just one.
Wait. You shoot him, they’ll hear. They’ll be here within 60 seconds – We can do this, you and I. After the pressure reaches 700, how long do we have until it explodes?
Gernert: Anywhere from 10 to 20 seconds, but there’s no way to know for sure. You’re better off walking away now.
Other man: [ Chuckles softly ] Look, Red, you know that after Delhi, I’d do anything for you, but the truth is, you’d be lucky to get off this rig, and whatever your plan is, I’m not a part of it. I’ve helped you. I’ve done my piece. Way I see it, we’re even for Delhi.
Liz: We can do this.

Director: If we don’t stop this, the death toll isn’t going to be in the dozens, it’s gonna be in the thousands, and the world is gonna look quite different with Braxton in control of all our servers.
Every operative, every analyst, every case officer in his pocket. And Mr. Cooper has given him the keys to our kingdom. We have to make sure he never has the chance to use them.
Goodson: We have federal agents on site. Buy me more time. Let me activate an extraction team.
The Director: No. No, just order the strike.
Goodson: Yes, sir. I’ll have planes in the air within the hour. The target will be destroyed.

[ Two F-22s taking off ]

Aram: Sir, you got to see this. I just got confirmation that two F-22s were scrambled out of Wright-Patterson. They seem to headed toward The Factory.
Cooper: ETA to target?
Aram: Twenty-four minutes.
Cooper: Get Kat Goodson now.

Man: [ Dialing ] [ Beeping ] Braxton, accessing information now.

Red: [ Air hissing ] One. [ Air hissing ] Two. [ Air hissing ] Three. [ Beeping ]
Liz: 650 PSI. A few more, and the boiler blows. So, when are you gonna tell me the truth?
Red: What truth?
Liz: About why you came here– the blackmail file, the Fulcrum.
Red: I can’t allow Braxton to get it.
Liz: Why? What difference does it make to you if he gets it and exposes this–
Red: Cabal? The Group believes I have it. It’s one of the reasons I’m still alive.
Liz: So, if Braxton gets it, they’ll know you don’t have it, and they’ll kill you – is that it?
[ Rapid beeping ]
Red: What’s the number?
Liz: 680. So that’s what this is about – this whole thing? Protecting yourself?
Red: It may be hard for you to imagine, but I once had a relatively normal life– bills to pay, playdates, family, some friends, people to care about. Lost all that.
Liz: Lost how?
Red: In Mexico, there are these fish that have colonized the freshwater caves along Sierra del Abra.They were lost. They found themselves living in complete darkness. But they didn’t die.
Instead, they thrived. They adapted. They lost their pigmentation, their sight, eventually even their eyes. With survival, they became hideous.♤ I’ve rarely thought about what I once was.
But I wonder if a ray of light were to make it into the cave, would I be able to see it? Or feel it? Would I gravitate to its warmth? And if I did, would I become less hideous?♤ I didn’t want you to come here, follow me here.♤ Because the truth is if I don’t stop Braxton, what he’ll discover is that he can’t get the Fulcrum without you.
[ Beeping ] [ Pounding ]
Liz: What does that mean, “Without me”?

[ Alarm blaring ] [ Commandos barge in, shooting. Gunfight ]

Red: Get out of here! [ Blaring continues ] [ 💥Explosion💥 ]

Braxton: What the hell is that?
Man: We’re offline.
Braxton: Get down to the server room, see what’s going on.

[ Liz coughing ] [ Sighs ] [ Red is out ]
Liz: Red? Reddington?! Breathe!
[ Exhales sharply ]
Oh, my God. Red, breathe.
[ Sniffling, breathing heavily ]
Breathe, you son of a bitch! [ Exhaling sharply ]

Man: Down here– the boiler room!
[ Captures Liz. They don’t see Red ]
Man: Take her to Braxton.

Pilot: Paper-Dog, we are 10-zero minutes from primary target. Requesting authorization to arm and engage.

Cooper: You can’t let this happen.
Goodson: Don’t put this on me. You gave up that code.
Cooper: You have three federal agents and at least 40 innocent hostages in that facility.
Inmates included, over a hundred lives will be lost.
Goodson: I don’t agree with this course of action, but I understand it. We’re doing damage control because you couldn’t make the tough call.
Cooper: We don’t even know what Braxton’s after. What the hell is so important in that database that someone wants to kill all those people on the chance that he might get it? If you think I’m just gonna roll with this, you’re wrong.
Goodson: What are you gonna do? Go to the Post? The Times? This whole operation is deep black. It doesn’t exist. Every trace will be incinerated the moment Reddington’s a confirmed kill.
You know what happens to whistle-blowers– kooks, paranoid freaks. You’ll be a keynote speaker in their next woo-woo convention, and your people will be just as dead.

Man: Reddington, get up. You got to get up! Red!
Red: [ gasps, coughing ] Where is she? Where is she?

[♫ The Wright Brothers’ “Blood on My Name” plays:
There’s a reckoning a-coming and it burns beyond the grave
lead inside my belly…]

Braxton: Who the hell are you?
Man: The server’s gone. She blew it up. Carl is dead and so are the others.
Braxton: Get Beck and Wolcott on it.
Man: You don’t understand. The prisoners are loose. And if they find out we have a chopper en route, we’re gonna have a real problem. We need to go now.

[ ♫ why you so afraid? when the fires, when the fires have surrounded you ]

Braxton: Where’s Reddington?
Liz: He’s dead.

[ ♫ I’ve got blood on my name ]

Desmond: I count at least a dozen cells destroyed. We’ve got inmates in the southeast quad.
Red: You seem like a decent guy, Desmond. You should do something else for a living.
Desmond: I just told you the animals are loose. You can’t get to the Nest without going through them. They’re gonna kill you out there! What are you gonna do?
Red: I’m gonna get her back.
[ Shotgun cocks ] [ Indistinct shouting ] [ Alarm blaring ]

[ ♫ not a spell gonna be broken with a potion or a priest ]

Guard: Hey! I’m talking to you! I’m gonna need that shotgun.

[ ♫ how did your debts get paid? oh, Lazarus, why you so afraid? ]

Liz: It’s over. The server’s destroyed.
Man: Sir, we got reports of gunfire in the north hall. Now I can’t raise anyone on the comms.
Braxton: Reddington. Head him off. Get the chopper. Let Yousef handle the hostages.

[ ♫ and your sacred stars won’t be guiding you
I’ve got blood I’ve got blo-o-o-o-od blood on my name ]

Pilot: Paper-Dog, ETA two minutes. Making final approach to target.

[ ♫ mm-mmmm mm-mmmm it won’t be lo-o-o-ng till I’m dead and go-o-ne
it won’t be lo-o-o-ng ]

[ Gunfight. Red enters. Shotgun cocks. Liz points pistol at Braxton ]

[ ♫ and the whole wide world coming after you
I’ve got blood I’ve got blo-o-o-o-od blood on my name ]

Red: All this, Luther, and you don’t even know what the hell you’re looking for.
Braxton: I know what it’s worth.
Red: It’s not what you think. It’s not a golden ticket. It’s a target on your back.
Braxton: I know all the stories, Red. [ Sighs ] I know where it was and I know when it disappeared. I know about the house, the fire, the girl.

Aram: [ Beeping ] Sir, I just got word. The missiles have been launched. Impact in 30 seconds.

Braxton: No wonder you came for her. She was there that night, wasn’t she? She’s the one?
Red: Shoot him. Shoot him!
[ Air rushing and whistling – 💥 Explosion 💥 ]

⋙ Look Ahead:

Cooper: Reddington? Where is Keen?
Red: Braxton took her.
⋘⋙
Red: You will make a mistake and when you do, I will be there.
⋘⋙
Red: I want her back.
⋘⋙
Dr Orchard: I need to take you back to that fire. Three two one.
Liz: [Gasps] My father! My father was there.

♫ “Blood on My Name”

♫ There’s a reckon’n a-coming
And it burns beyond the grave
Its lead inside my belly
Cause my soul has lost its way
Oh, Lazarus
How did your debts get paid?
Oh, Lazarus
Why your so afraid?

♫ When the fires, when the fires have surrounded you
With the hounds of hell coming after you
I’ve got Blood, I’ve got Blood On My Name
When the fires, when the fires are consuming you
And your sacred stars won’t be guiding you
I’ve got Blood, I’ve got Blood
Blood On My Name

♫ Not a spell gonna be broken
With a potion or a priest
When you’re cursed you’re always hoping
That a prophet would be grieved
Oh, Lazarus
How did your debts get paid?
Oh, Lazarus
Why your so afraid?

♫ Can’t you see I’m sorry
I will make it worth your while
Made a dead mans money
You can see it in my smile
Oh, Lazarus
How did your debts get paid?
Oh, Lazarus
Why your so afraid?

♫ When the fires, when the fires have surrounded you
And the whole wide world coming after you
I’ve got Blood, I’ve got Blood On My Name
When the fires, when the fires are consuming you
And your sacred stars won’t be guiding you
I’ve got Blood, I’ve got Blood
Blood On My Name

♫ Mmm-mmm
It wont be long
Til I’m dead and gone
It wont be long
Til I’m dead and gone

♫ Watch the fires rise under my skin
Down to the bone
Scorching my soul
Nowhere to run
Nowhere to run
Nowhere to run

♫ When the fires, when the fires have surrounded you
With the hounds of hell coming after you
I’ve got Blood, I’ve got Blood On My Name
When the fires, when the fires are consuming you
And your sacred stars won’t be guiding you
I’ve got Blood, I’ve got Blood On My Name

♫ When the fires, when the fires have surrounded you
And the whole wide world coming after you
I’ve got Blood, I’ve got Blood
Blood On My Name

Lyrics: “Blood On My Name” by The Wright Brothers http://bit.ly/1LQ1bIS
YouTube: Blood on my name – The Brothers Bright http://bit.ly/1PUWSSw

❌❌❌ END 2:9

TWEETS w Images

 
For Twitter photo montage: ⋙ from:BlacklistDCd since:2015-05-30 until:2015-06-02 [2:9 ⋘
 

 

(this is a subset of images created by Twitter)
 

GENERAL 🔷

BlacklistDCd: 🔴 Script: 2:9 Luther Braxton http://wp.me/pDKwi-15r #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist Script Status: FINAL (newly added)

EW Review: Luther Braxton – Red takes on a high-level Blacklister to protect the Fulcrum http://bit.ly/1Dyr1wz #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist

TV[.]com, Cory Barker: #TheBlacklist “Luther Braxton” Review: The Fight for the Fulcrum Begins http://bit.ly/1EBtjyF very positive review

☒ Spoiler pics #TheBlacklist Luther Braxton 2:9-11 at @BlacklistDCd hint: there’s more than one http://bit.ly/1FJ2mXP …could be a mislead…

 
PORTRAITS

🐣 Aram, conflicted [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist (played by Amir Arison) http://pic.twitter.com/zaByh1yf9L // same as below

🐣 They finally gave Harry Lennix some good lines. [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/0dqpsG8OYi

🐣 The Director confers w members of the Cabal (aka Alliance) [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/1xRPez3kuA

🐣 Someone the camera loves almost as much as James Spader [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/LufrS3YUs6
// David Strathairn as The Director, #1 looks like exotic bird

 
EPISODE-SPECIFIC (reverse chronological)

🐣 The missiles hit [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/TMTaJDvJOH

🐣 Waiting on impact … [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/XZPE28h0mQ
// Aram

🐣 Who? Me? [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/CGrMZ6J5Le

🐣 “Shoot him. Shoot him!” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/32qGVht4h8
// teeth
🐣 As Red says, “Shoot him. Shoot him!” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist (has she ever killed anyone?) http://pic.twitter.com/1mjgfi4vkH

🐣 “Sir, the missiles have launched” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/M9dhvH2cgs

🐣 “No wonder you came for her … She’s the one” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/ohKjoIAksb

🐣 His look gave Liz away, I thought. [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/tUtcRP6To3
Dark
🐣 “I know the stories, Red … About the house, the fire, the girl” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/ksdrStDiiI

🐣 “The Fulcrum isn’t a golden ticket. It’s a target on your back” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/uHAhaB14pD

🐣 Liz has Braxton in her sights [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/AkMheL1Qg5

🐣 Red has wounded Braxton [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/EyrurabfW7

🐣 Red shoots his way through the control room [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/pfXhMpo7q8

🐣 Hell hath no fury … [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/piYyuELCda
// mean-looking Red

🐣 [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/cVvLfUbtjs
// shoots open lock

🐣 Looking for Lizzie [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/nKHtpL45ho

🐣 Gonna come and bleed on you, Braxton [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/VfX4YtAIE6
// unsure where this fits

🐣 Lyrics: “Blood On My Name” bit.ly/1LQ1bIS YouTube: http://bit.ly/1PUWSSw [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist

🐣 Liz is brought to Braxton. “Blood on My Name” plays [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/Cv6DelPLxf

🐣 “What are you gonna do?” “I’m gonna get her back.” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/h2yq8sD8B5

🐣 “Where is she?” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/3vynzcrq8w

🐣 Listening for a breath [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/wQIw6dWQXD

🐣 Liz is fine. Red is not. [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/44roWBalTa

🐣 Boiler room explodes [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/lt5IRPPPt7

🐣 Gunfight erupts [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/ke36kHGXyT
// shootout

🐣 “If I don’t stop Braxton, he’ll discover he can’t get the Fulcrum without you” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/GxrRYLwv4X

🐣 “I wonder if a ray of light were to make it into the cave, wld I be able to see it? Or feel it? Would I become less hideous?” #TheBlacklist

🐣 Ray of Sunlight [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist awful pun, I know http://pic.twitter.com/CiewD5VEWw
🐣 Yellow background in blind fish story suggests Lizzie is the “ray of sunlight” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/CiewD5VEWw
// importance of lighting in this episode; #2 yellow more emphasized

🐣 “With survival, they became hideous” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/cDqoE3jnIS

🐣 “They were lost. They found themselves living in complete darkness” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/boIW3eXkTN
// Liz against yellow background

🐣 “…There are these fish that have colonized the freshwater caves along Sierra del Abra… ” [2:9 Braxton] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/XIhA6rqjHC

🐣 “I once had a relatively normal life. … Lost all that.” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/9E4sCqhKaY

🐣 Liz & Red build pressure to blow the boilers [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/Srgu9BXC8A

🐣 Liz: “We can do this, you and I” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/j2SfYQtRXf ⋙ most pleased
🐣 Red’s reaction when Liz says “We can do this, you and I” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/lLi69KhGyi

☒ GIF: “We can do this, you and I”
 

🐣 The story of Bruno Ashmanskis, the cat burglar [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/RCB1fbQZHd

🐣 Aram listens as Braxton threatens Samar [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/Tlx9DrPNpe

🐣 Torture porn [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/pPE19lfF0J

🐣 “You’re not getting the Fulcrum” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/cyulZYAbhx

🐣 “You didn’t best me, Luther” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/sauhI1nvSB

🐣 The German: “Who’s she?” Red: “She’s with me.” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/nWkfaum9yk

🐣 Liz: “Not without Ressler or Samar – or you.” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/gDxf7cVLYa

🐣 Red: “You need to get back on that chopper and leave” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/6GBwNzzM7E

🐣 You can’t both lead, guys [2:9 Luther Braxton] lol #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/hQyrGpMJuK
DARK
🐣 “The Fulcrum … proof of the existence of a powerful clandestine organization” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/903eLPeLKr

🐣 Red: “What the hell are you doing here?” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/hFXgstfOXk

🐣 A little Lizzington baiting [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/YAs0Apxx1q
🐣 [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist hate myself for liking this picture http://pic.twitter.com/pvpD2aVeke
// original version

🐣 Liz evades capture [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/dk1QW3U6Vr

🐣 Braxton: “I wanna speak to someone with real authority” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/bUugVsJuwq

🐣 The Director of National Clandestine Services (NCS) [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist David Strathairn http://pic.twitter.com/nQgNTnVr5p

🐣 Day Spa, c/o US black site, Bering Sea [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/oPAV9ymZTK

🐣 “$50K will be transferred into the account of your choice” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist Bingo! http://pic.twitter.com/HXOhVF75TK

🐣 “From now on, you don’t exist.” “Well, that’s a load off” [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist http://pic.twitter.com/Ojr0dQgTNA

🐣 Fire 26 yrs ago, missing 24 yrs [2:9 Luther Braxton] #TheBlacklist @NBCBlacklist hmmmm http://pic.twitter.com/JJ1d1K0Gbh