At an outdoor café, a man is accosted by a balding stranger who wants something and "wasn't sent here to negotiate." His victim runs away but is almost hit by a car; meanwhile, the stranger comes over and injects him. The guy wakes up being rushed into surgery - but "Mr. Wyatt" is then found in a pile of garbage with a missing heart. It's all the work of Dr. James Covington, #89 on THE BLACKLIST.
Not-Tom Keen, now shaggy Not-Tom, faces Liz in her hotel bed. She needs to ask Red about what he really knows about the night of the fire. Red breaks in and tells Liz she should have killed Tom before. No kidding! He also asks her the difficult question, "what do you really want, Agent Keen?" What she really wants, she does- she wakes up. Then she decides that a guy in a leather jacket is following her from the cheap motel she's at this week, so she stops and frisks him. Kinky, Liz.
Meanwhile, awake-world Red is cutting a deal with his friend Niko and his syndicate. Red wants them to take control of a Malaysian port, and he's tripling his Syndicate investment to make it possible. While he's scheming to get even richer, Liz calls on him, demanding to know why he's keeping her from speaking to Naomi, she who was Red's wife. Red distracts her with the information that the fiendish Dr. James Covington killed investor Paul Wyatt to get his heart. Covington kills people on contract to provide transplants for international scum- mobsters, petty dictators, and other people you don't want coming to dinner. Aram finds that Covington has prestigious degrees but was cast out of polite medical society for performing fiendish experimental operations upon children.
When Samar Navabi walks in, she admires Aram's live NSA feeds. "They'd love them in Tehran." Why is an Iranian working for Mossad, the agents ask. Other than the fact that there are plenty of Iranian Jews outside Iran? "I work for Raymond Reddington." Liz gets snippy. Ressler accuses her of being jealous that Red "has a new crush". Funny, she never seemed that jealous of Luli last season. And she's not pinning up target photos of Naomi, either. But maybe Ressler's smarter now that he has Red's blood in him.
The coroner tells Liz that Paul Wyatt had a previous heart transplant. Covington's selling used transplant organs? Wyatt's wife reveals that you only rent organ transplants from Covington. Fail to pay half a million a year in rent, and he takes his organs back. The Wyatts are in bankruptcy, and Covington foreclosed on Wyatt's internal organs.
Niko is concerned that the Syndicate will be bankrupted in the Malaysia deal. Fortuitously, Mr. Vargas (Paul Reubens looking like a 60's Mod) has arrived with a business deal from the kindly Mr. Berlin.
Aram, a viewer favorite, reveals to Samar that he's part-Jewish and part-Muslim, an extraneous detail that Samar's presence allows to be revealed as background on a character. More extraneous details shortly on another viewer favorite...
Mr. Vargas has apparently sealed a deal with Niko for the Syndicate. Red expresses gratitude for the intel, but he's feeling bullish, Miko must understand. So anyone who doesn't like Red's original deal can take it up with him and pray for their health.
Red dashes off to where Liz has taken Mr. Kaplan for a set of field autopsies on Covington victims all missing hearts and lungs. Red recalls when they made barley stew with a coroner from Des Moines, and Kate recalls that it was Reuben stew. A Paul Reubens joke? A HANNIBAL reference? Reuben who? I just don't think it was corned beef, swiss cheese, and sauerkraut stew on rye. Entirely extraneously but adding background to a viewer favorite, Kate Kaplan recalls sleeping with the coroner's sister. Oh Mr. Kaplan, you are so full of surprises. Amaze us always.
Liz, Ressler, and Aram are trying a sting on Covington. It involves a fake victim and a pig's heart that should be almost indistinguishable from a human one. While Red decides to investigate the details of Vargas' deal with Niko's Syndicate, Liz and Ressler trail a motorcycle courier for organs. He realizes that he's being followed and does some fancy traffic weaving, only to go DOA from an MVA with a truck.
Red informs Niko that he understands Vargas made an offer on behalf of Berlin. What he doesn't understand is that only one member of the Syndicate had the wisdom to inform Red of the fact. Red is not happy. When Red ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Something bad will happen. And since it's Red's show, chances are it's not happening to Red.
Ressler, now much smarter than last season, finds papers on the dead courier revealing WHO THE new transplantee was to be. Red explains that it's a mobster from NOLA known as "BB," which are, amazingly, the mobster's initials. He's an obese food fan who certainly needs a new heart, just like he had to have weights added to a flight Red was on with him as counterbalance to his substantial girth.
Red meets BB at a restaurant where BB is eating with both hands and consuming mass quantity alcohol. Red asks for Covington's contact information, but BB only has an emergency phone number, and he doesn't want to get Covington upset before the transplant; can Red wait? Red can't. Neither can BB, because Red has doped AB's drinks with enough Viagra (or a similar drug) to give him an amazing erection and a cardiac arrest at the same time. If AB doesn't give Red the number, Red won't have the paramedics at the next table save BB. Tricky, tricky!
Cooper's gotten a report from the psychologist. Ressler, despite Liz's best guess, is supposedly fine; it's Liz who's the wreck. Cooper wants her to take time to grieve; she intends to wait until she's got Berlin.
Covington's phone is traced to an abandoned-looking building. Ressler breaks into it. Go, New Improved But Painkiller-Popping Ressler! The building has a basement that isn't on its plans. In the Secret Basement? A full clinic and operating rooms, full of children. Covington uses his Rich Creep Organ Rental service to finance a children's transplant clinic where he saves lives. Liz forces Ressler to wait until a lung transplant is over before bringing in the police for Covington.
Niko meets with Red and informs him that Red is out. Niko brings Vargas, gun in hand, to execute Red. Whoops! You can't back-stab a back-stabber. Vargas hands the gun to Red. The rest of the Syndicate comes in behind good buddy Red. Red's gotten the Malaysian pier deal. They know which side their bread is buttered on. Red executes Niko. God's in His heaven; all's right with the world, except that Vargas faints when he sees blood. Whoops.
Samar tells Liz, "I'm working for Reddington, with all that implies." What does that imply? That she's a great shot? That she's untrustworthy as all get-out but she doesn't lie outright to Liz? That she's making like Luli and sleeping with Red? Liz tells Samar that she doesn't know what she's getting into. Is she warning Samar or is she warning herself?
Back at the motel, Liz says hi, and apologizes, to the good-looking guy she frisked that morning. She goes into her room and stares at pictures of Not-Tom. Guy opens his briefcase and extracts handguns and an assemble-it-yourself hit man special rifle.
Red drops in on Naomi. He says she looks different now, and she says he looks more different. Then she gives him the bitchslap heard 'round the world.
The trailer for next week indicates that Naomi does know something about Liz's past. Now that we know about the now-missing Jennifer, it seems clear that it's not that she's Red's daughter. What is the secret, and will we actually hear it?
Will Berlin make a new appearance next week? Is the cute guy with guns after Liz or Not-Tom? Is Ressler really sane, or are the painkillers just making him look adjusted? And what about Naomi? Tell us what you think in the comments, or post re #THE BLACKLIST on Twitter: @MarakayBWW or @BWWTVWorld.
Check out a sneak peek at next week's episode titled 'Dr. Linus Creel' below:
Photo Credits: Will Hart/NBC
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