On the bright side, there are elephants…
It is the stuff of fantasies, of imaginations run wild.
Its a heightened, absurd, fantastic premise that happens to exist a world very much resembling our own.
Credit: Will Hart/NBC
If only the circumstances of unarmed killings were that improbable.
Its one thing to not want to politicize your very fictional show.
So its especially unfortunate that the truth of that message is trivialized by an outlandish plot rig.
MISS REBECCA THRALL, NO.
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I did, however, enjoy the slightly leading, cheeky title of this weeks Blacklister.
The episode opens with two police officers kicking the door of an apartment open.
Then he shoots him in cold blood.
Back at the police station, McGuiness sits in his car, clearly stunned.
McGuiness says he didnt think it would be this bad.
Youre alive, Officer McGuiness, which is more than we can say for Scotty Stansbury, she responds.
Youve done your job.
Now let me do mine.
He would have no reason to lie about which shot made contact.
But, whatever, now were all on the same page the kid is dirty, dirty.
And speaking of dirty, theres that blond woman from before.
Red tells them to give him 36 hours.
Red has no guns, no money, and no plane with which to deliver them.
Interestingly, their lawyer looksjustlike the blond dominatrix/cop-hiring mercenary, just missing all the high heels and leather.
Aint no way he shot the officer, his mother says.
But for him to be in a position where thats a question I blame Waterday for that.
His reasoning: Look, were a nationwide company.
We made over 1,400 home loans in the past fiscal year, 174 of them to cops.
Um, excuse me sir.
Those are not of course its a coincidence odds.
So it simply couldnt be them…
But Liz and Samar arent buying it.
So Aram, precious FBI angel, finds more.
Killed by police officers who got loans from Waterday that they never seem to have paid.
Its bad news: The FBI is raiding his office; they know about the Waterday scam.
And speaking of merry: elephants!
But Smokey just needs to get Leroy and Quackers on site, and then all will be well.
Who are Leroy and Quakers, Reddington asks.
Why, theyre the elephants Smokey has brought along to create a runway, alongside his human carnie pals.
Thats when the FBI shows up.
Waterday doesnt just buy settlements from the cognitively impaired; they also take out life insurance policies on them.
Based on that, Aram pinpoints Robert Erwiler as the next cop target.
He rejects one final call as the cop lights flash on behind him.
Thats a real-life fear for many, played here for drama-for-dramas sake.
AndThe Blacklistgot its terrifying moment, dammit.
The cop drops her weapon, and Robert crawls out of the car, terrified.
Wheres Ressler during all of this, you might wonder?
Well, hes attempting to settle the score with his fixer.
She calls Rebecca Thrall and says she wasnt able to kill Robert.
There was a secret plan all along!
It wasnt the FBI that arrested them; it was Smokey N the Gang in disguise.
Red and Tom are free, and Cooper happily accepts a side order of Blacklister No.
2 in the form of Adika.
Oh, and Red happily commandeers Adikas jet.
I will never get bored of Glen being the one person in the world who can make Red uncomfortable.
Its a fun little ending to a burdened episode.
A Few Loose Ends:
