- Red (James Spader) leads Liz (Megan Boone) and Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) in a hunt for a kidnap victim and his abductor - The Blacklist No. 85, a secretive criminal courier whose inability to feel pain makes him impossible to stop. Liz uncovers evidence linking Tom (Ryan Eggold) to a Russian defector's unsolved murder.—Anonymous
- "The Blacklist" - "The Courier" - Oct. 21,2013
Tom is trying to get Liz hot and bothered but she's not having it. She shows him the pamphlet from the hotel and says a man was shot and killed there and she asks if he was involved. He suddenly grabs her and says the man he's working for is very powerful and she has to tell him everything she knows. She says she doesn't know anything and he begins choking her. And then she wakes up.
He gets up full of joy and light and says today will be a great day because it's an ultrasound for their new baby. He's very excited. He tells her to call if she can't make it. we watch the apple man do his surveillance of the house.
We then see a video of a bound and gagged man dragged from a truck by a masked man. The masked man puts a gas mask on him and then staples a newspaper to his chest. The bound man, who is being videotaped, stabs his masked assailant but he doesn't appear to feel it. The man begs for his life and is then thrown into some kind of concrete box.
At his hideaway in Maryland-- of a great unsung author he loved-- a minion informs Reddington that his sources were correct. "The Iranian" is seeking a high level intelligence package. Red wants it intercepted but when he learns "The Courier" was hired to make the exchange he thinks they should bring in the FBI.
Ressler comes in and chats with Liz about a Red debrief. She says she prepared a profile. He says he doesn't place stock in profiles. She thinks he's jealous that Red wants to work with her and not him.
She goes to see Red at his hideaway and he tells her about the Courier. He says once he's hired to make a delivery he can't be bribed or stopped and if anyone tries to doublecross anyone else the Courier kills them both. Red says he's carrying a package worth $20 million. Red says he knows the Iranian spy the package is being delivered to in 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Courier is busy stitching up his wound.
They set up an op at the drop point, the Farmer's Market in Alexandria. Meera and Liz are on the ground following the target. The target makes contact with the produce guy. The man is shot right through the head in front of the women. They chase after the shooter in his SUV. After a high speed chase the shooter opens up on them and then drives off again. They continue to chase him.. They plow into him. He walks away from the accident and they chase him on foot. He hides behind a corner and sticks a small memory card in his open wound. Liz and Meera corner him.
They bring the courier in for questioning and ask after the package. He's not talking. Red is not helping. They try to use pain but notice it doesn't work on him. A doctor confirms he has a rare disorder that means he cannot feel pain. They have the doctor look in the knife wound. He finds the memory card.
On it is the video of the man being attacked at the beginning, his name is Seth Nelson and he is confused. With the newspaper on his chest they realize it's a "proof of life" video. The Iranian that the Courier killed was bringing the ransom for Seth. There is no "package."
We cut to Seth in his concrete box. He appears to have oxygen tanks attached to his chest that indicates he has less than 24 hours to live.
They look into Seth who appears to work in IT for a cable company, but is really an NSA agent. They need to make the Courier talk. Liz goes to Red. Before he helps, he asks about what she learned about her husband. She tells him about the Russian tourist that was killed while they were vacationing in Boston. Red opens up about the Courier. He thinks he has a friend who can help find the Courier's safe house. He thanks her for being honest with him.
They bust into the house and investigate. Apparently, his name is Tommy Phelps. They find works, weapon, and a single personal photo. They also find the woman who was behind the kidnapping.
They investigate the woman.
Meanwhile Tommy/the Courier is being examined. He has five objects inside his body. Harold wants them out. The Courier finally speaks and says he will tell them where the kid is in exchange for immunity. They say no. Liz shows him the picture saying she wonders if he cares about his little brother. They say they're bringing him in from prison to talk to him. He talks about their childhood and their abusive father, who hated that he couldn't hurt Tommy because of his disorder. So his father had dogfights: dog vs. Tommy. He invited people from all around to watch in the barn and drink and take bets. His brother says Tommy is broken, the switch in his head flipped. He says he can't help.
Red IDs the woman. She's French and sells secrets. She owns a nightclub and once tried to kill Red. Red doesn't think the woman will help. Liz wants to try and fake her out by pretending to be the Courier. Harold thinks it's risky since she may have met the Courier. Ressler offers to give it a try.
Tom calls Liz at work agitated saying he needs to talk right away. He canceled the ultrasound. She says she can't and they can talk later. Tom has found the box in the floor.
Ressler heads to the nightclub to meet the French woman. Liz and Meera standby. Ressler beats up the doorman and gets in. He gets shown to the French womans' office. She has not met the Courier judging by her reaction. He tells her the Iranian was working with the FBI and he killed him. He says he's leaving. She thinks he's bluffing and asks him to prove he can't feel pain. He drags a broken bottle up his arm. She realizes if he was the real Courier he would have killer her. Ressler fights his way out and they bring her in.
Liz tells them to offer the Courier a reduction in his brother's sentence for the whereabouts of Seth. But he is in a transport, bound. He works his way out his cuffs thanks to various things embedded in his body.
Tom texts Liz and asks her again to come home.
Seth is running out of air.
They learn of the Courier's escape. Police are searching for him. They go to his childhood home which was in the area. Red says to let the French woman go and he will make her talk.
Red goes to meet her at her club and asks about Seth. He notes she has a target on her back. He says he has a private jet to help her flee. She doesn't want him to swoop in and profit from her mistake to protect her from someone she hardly knows. Red reiterates she's in big trouble. She says she will help.
Meera and Ressler find the Courier in an old abandoned trailer. They exchange gunfire. They catch up to him. He's been shot in the head. He collapses, dead. They calculate Seth only has 40 minutes to live.
Red comes back with the info of where Seth was picked up. They work out a radius and begin their search. They find him and he's not breathing. They apply CPR and revive him. (Red notes he died once in Marrakesh.) Seth awakes and asks who they are. Red says "The FBI and friends." He asks how he can repay them. Red says he'll find a way.
Ressler congratulates Liz on saving the kid's life.
She heads back to the office and gets a delivery. It's a file from Red marked "The answers you seek." It's the classified case file on the Angel Station Hotel incident in Boston. The man killed was named VictorFokin he was a suspected mole (KGB?) who may have plans to defect. She notes a man in a surveillance picture who looks very much like Tom.
We learn that Red was repaid by Seth with a one time only dip into classified files to get the file for Liz. His minion notes he could've used that one time access to find their "adversary" and wonders why he wasted it on the girl. He says it wasn't wasted and the circumstances are complicated and he is betting on the long game and the future. His minion says Red's future is arriving now. Liz enters in tears. She says she doesn't even know why she's there.
She heads home and the surveillance camera picks her up. She calls out to Tom.
We cut to the surveillance team, watching them.
We cut back to Liz and Tom. She says they need to talk. He says that's funny, he was just going to say the same thing to her and shows her the box full of passports, money, and a gun.
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