BWW Recap: Berlin, Mossad, Mrs. Reddington Kick Off BLACKLIST Season 2

When last we saw Rayomnd "Red" Reddington on THE BLACKLIST, he was on a stoop in front of his latest safe house, plotting to find Berlin, but now in the Season Two premiere, "Lord Baltimore," he's on the road in Cameroon, ducking down in a Jeep being chased by a military vehicle full of kids; bullets flying and rocket launchers launching - ah, for adventure.

He finally meets up with a local military dictator, with whom he wants to do a little business. Three million dollars for the names of the people Berlin has tracking him seems fair, no? Well, no. Red excoriates the use of child soldiers and starts bombing the area around them. Finally two names emerge - one a Cuban, the other a "Lord Baltimore." Red thanks the generalissimo, dumps a bottle of rum on his pile of cash, and burns his money. It's a beautiful sight, completing what we wanted to see in "The Good Samaritan" last season - something burning from a combination of Red's cigar and a bottle of liquor.

A grouchy Deputy Attorney General is criticizing an annoying interim director of the Post Office brigade, Agent Martin (Jason Butler Harner), and she wants to meet Red. The one thing Martin understands is that Red only speaks to Liz. Liz is in a lovely bedroom not her own, with faithful dog Hudson (this looks like the third different-breed Hudson) on the bed. Our excitement for the season is that she emerges from the bed in black lingerie with a gun in hand, and what might be divorce papers in the other hand. She meets up with Red after donning more clothing, and he informs her that "Lord Baltimore is in town."

Lord Baltimore is a tracker who finds people using computer analytics. Aram, computer geek of the gods and now full-time cast, knows of the infamous Lord Baltimore, whom he thought an urban myth among hackers. Game on, Aram!

Ressler is as sure that Liz isn't being followed, as she is that she is. Any bets on who's right? Liz falls back on her professional psychological skills to tell Ressler that he needs to see a mental health professional. It doesn't take a degree to know that, but it's nice to be reminded that Liz Keen is in fact a trained psychologist. She rarely uses the skill set any more.

Berlin is resting in a delightfully frigid ice cube bath when an informant comes in to tell him that Lord Baltimore is on the prowl for them. Berlin likes this so much that he nearly drowns his employee in anger - expenses!

Rowan, an area computer analyst at a data analytics firm, fears she's been set up - mass quantities of data were stolen from her computer, and a huge payment transferred into her bank account. She knows nothing - could Lord Baltimore be behind this? But a location's been found full of computers and information that traces back to her; the FBI, or at least Liz and Ressler, suspect she's connected to Lord Baltimore though she seems to have no knowledge of anything.

Red pays a visit to Ailing Director Cooper. Harold's unshaven and rough-looking - you would be too, if you'd nearly been killed by Berlin's forces. Harold and his wife want to relax in the Dominican Republic, but Red wants him back at the Post Office: "Things are at a tipping point, Harold. Your replacement is untrustworthy and incompetent."

Red hates incompetence, so Cooper must be competent. Red gives him a peace offering... well a bribe - a thumb disk containing the only record of "our adventure in Kuwait." That was mentioned last season in "The Judge," and is one of our new Things To Wonder About. What happened there, Harold? Also, what else is wrong? Red tells Harold that he knows what they found at the hospital while he recovered; "I know about your diagnoses." Plural. Something's afoot here...

But wait! Rowan has a dead sister, Nora. A twin sister. But is she really dead? Is Nora Lord Baltimore? And if she's not, then who's setting Rowan up, and why?

But wait again! Red's checked into a spiffy hotel with huge plate glass windows and a suspicious concierge. Red tells Dembe to investigate "Steven." But before that can happen, a helicopter begins shooting at them through the windows. Bullets fly, smoke grenades are tossed, Red's down, Dembe's down, and then someone carries Red off to the chopper. Berlin has struck!

"Lord Baltimore," Red greets from the chair to which he's fastened. He gets fastened to a lot of chairs. Apparently this will be a running theme through the series. "Aren't you a saucy little minx?" Um, no, she's not. Because she is Tamar Katzman from Mossad, looking a lot like Ziva David from Mossad. The conversation is basically "I am Tamar Katzman. You killed my brother. Prepare to die."

Red informs her that he'll be out within the hour. "Aren't we confident today?"

He smirks (cue sound of female audience members swooning at James Spader's smirk): "I'm confident every day." It turns out that she tracked him herself by having tracking devices placed in earth-tone Zegna ties on the Northeast, because apparently these are only bought by Raymond Reddington. My husband's Zegna ties were only in shades of gray and blue so this could be true.

Amir, the wonder hacker of the federal government who is not named Penelope Garcia, has cracked Lord Baltimore's algorithms. The tracker was looking for someone who lived in DC before 1990. Who has a prescription for Lipitor. Who has an online subscription to the Wall Street Journal. And who has an online subscription to Cat Fanatic. Liz is shocked - Red has never shown a weakness for cats...

But Berlin's been looking not for Red, but for a woman. She needs to be in protective custody. Berlin is looking for a Naomi Hyland. "Who is she?" asks Liz.

"My wife." Okay. We were not expecting Raymond Reddington to be married to Mary-Louise Parker.

There's a cocktail party at an expensive home full of expensive booze and expensive people. Mary-Louise Parker is there discussing religion. Also hanging with her husband, who is not Red. Berlin's informant peeks through the window and scares her just as federal marshals drop in for the party. She has only one question: "He's back, isn't he?"

Berlin's informant is named Marcus. Rowan knows him. He puts a record on and makes her listen. It doesn't sound suspicious, just dorky. But the next thing we know she's getting into a car with him and then expertly assembling a rifle and shooting people.

Ressler visits Rowan's family home, where there's a trailer. With a box in it. With a dead twin sister in it. Ressler's found twin sister Nora, it seems.

Naomi Hyland dispenses wisdom to FBI Agent Liz. "You can't imagine what it's like having a man like Raymond Reddington turn your life around."

Nope, Liz surely can't imagine that. And she probably didn't imagine that Rowan and a team would break into the house just then and tase her and kidnap Naomi. Liz recovers from tasing quickly, takes down Marcus, and chases and captures Rowan, but Naomi is gone. Berlin greets Naomi: "Hello, Mrs. Reddington."

Liz interrogates Rowan at the Post Office while Ressler takes on Marcus. Is Rowan Lord Baltimore? Is Rowan... Nora? Liz uses her super power of psychology: Nora killed Rowan. Nora has dissociative identity disorder; she's the evil Lord Baltimore when she's herself, but guilt from killing Rowan makes her turn into the innocent and set-up Rowan. What's the trigger that changers the personalities? It's that record Marcus played. It was playing when Nora killed Rowan. Nora reveals where Berlin took Naomi, but when Liz and Ressler get there, there's nothing but a dying crowd of Lord Baltimore's people, taken out by Berlin. One of them has an address where Naomi was taken.

Red and Dembe visit the crack-den looking apartment building where Berlin took Naomi, but nothing's there but Berlin's pocket watch with the picture that Red also has of a young woman.

Ressler tells off the Deputy Attorney General. She wants to recommend his suspension, but he's right. Liz's attorney has papers for her; her marriage to Not-Tom Keen has been annulled because, well, he wasn't Tom Keen. Cooper thinks. Ressler takes some pills. Ressler needs pills. Naomi looks out a window. Amir smiles broadly - because inept Agent Martin is no longer interim director. Cooper is back, and all is well at the Post Office today.

A package arrives at Red's hotel room. It contains a cell phone that contacts Berlin, who has a simple message for Red. "I'm going to do to your wife what you did to my daughter. Send her back to you piece by piece by piece."

Now we know: Red's wife is alive. Berlin's daughter is dead, and is neither Red's wife nor Liz (both fan speculations after the season finale). The immunity deal may still be in place, since Martin was busy explaining how Red's deal with the FBI works to creepy Deputy Attorney General.

Unknown: What about Naomi? Next week, a face-to-face meeting with Red and Berlin.

What did you think of the Season Two premiere? Let me know in the comments below. Before you go, check out the preview for next week's episode:

Photo Credit: Will Hart | NBC

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