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The Blacklist [3]: the Complete Third Season (2015-2016) [Blu-ray]
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Rated: |
TV |
Starring: |
James Spader (Raymond 'Red' Reddington, Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff, Harry Lennix, Hisham Tawfiq, Ryan Eggold, Amir Arison. |
Director: |
Jon Bokenkamp |
Genre: |
Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller |
DVD Release Date: 08/02/2016 |
Season (1) | Season (2) | Season (3) | Season (4) | Season (5)
Tagline: Hit Man of the Year.
Former government agent Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader) has eluded capture for decades. But he suddenly surrenders to the FBI with an offer to help catch a terrorist under the condition that he speaks only to Elizabeth "Liz" Keen (Megan Boone), a
young FBI profiler who's just barely out of Quantico.
Storyline: Former government agent Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader) has eluded capture for decades. But he suddenly surrenders to the FBI with an offer to help catch a terrorist under the condition that he speaks only to Elizabeth "Liz" Keen
(Megan Boone), a young FBI profiler who's just barely out of Quantico. Written by NBC
3.01 The Troll Farmer [No. 38] - With Liz and Reddington on the run, Reddington reaches out to his contacts to help flee the city and help clear Liz's name. Ressler interrogates Cooper about Liz's last known whereabouts
and also does everything to find them now as Director of the task force. Meanwhile, an associate of the NCS Director kidnaps Dembe's infant granddaughter to attract his attention, blackmailing him to inhale an unspecified drug in exchange for her
life.
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A computer genius, Chang, aided by a team of other "internet trolls", specialized in using the internet to create diversions or provoke reactions. Using false status updates in social media by thousands of fake accounts and even staged or doctored photos
to spread disinformation, he could create convincing fake news stories that somehow benefited the people who hired him. Reddington, who had him on retainer for 3 years, told Liz that Chang was responsible for triggering an ebola scare in Atlanta to raise
the stock value of a drug company and for creating the impression of a terrorist attack in Paris to cover up an art heist.
3.02 Marvin Gerard [No. 80] - After Liz turns herself in to the Russian Embassy, the Cabal uses this opportunity as a means to covertly kill her. Reddington warns Ressler of Liz's impending doom and has him stop that
convoy, which gives Liz a chance to escape. Later on, Liz and Reddington reunite at a diner which later turns into an improvised hostage situation when Ressler and his team show up. Reddington demands the release of fellow Blacklister Marvin Gerard a
former top defense lawyer, who Red wants to help decode the Fulcrum and expose the Cabal. The hostage situation is later revealed to be a jailbreak for Gerard, as the diner turns out to be a smuggling location, which allows them to flee the scene.
Elsewhere, Cooper is forced to resign without facing charges with connection to Liz. Dembe is tortured for information on Red's whereabouts and Tom reappears to Ressler, offering help.
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A Harvard alum and magna cum laude graduate, Gerard became the college's third youngest professor at the age of 31. He went on to serve as prosecutor for the state of New York for 3 years, after which he made partner at his father-in-law's criminal
defense firm. While Gerard was being considered for a seat on the federal bench, his teenage son, Timothy, fell in with a bad crowd and, suffering emotional abuse from his mother, abused prescription drugs he got from her supply. Gerard separated from his
wife and filed for custody, but since his wife came from an influential family, he wasn't able to. He eventually went so far as to kidnap Timothy to keep him away from his mother, for which he was disbarred and sentenced to 7-10 years at Federal
Correctional Institution, Cumberland. Timothy hung himself a year later. Gerard continued doing legal work behind bars, serving as shadow counsel to politicians, CEOs, and high-profile criminals, including Reddington, who apparently consulted with Gerard
before he turned himself in to the FBI against Gerard's strong objections.
3.03 Eli Matchett [No. 72] - Red and Liz continue to be on the run and end up in Iowa to search and help destroy the Cabal. Ressler and the rest of the task force continue to track the fugitives. Meanwhile, Cooper turns
to Tom Keen for help.
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Matchett was the leader of an eco-terrorist group known as “Los Segadores“ (Spanish for “The Reapers“). Composed of small business farmers, they targeted Verdiant, an agricultural company that dealt in genetically modified organism produce and had forced
small farms into bankruptcy. Matchett himself had a vendetta against the company because of a lawsuit that cost him his livelihood. He had owned a farm adjacent to one of Verdiant's facilities. When some of their genetically modified seeds blew onto his
field and grew there, Verdiant sued him for infringing on their patent, costing him a fortune in legal fees as well as his farm when the bank foreclosed on him. Adding insult to injury, Verdiant bought the property, along with other farms in the area, and
used it to expand their own industrial farm.
3.04 The Djinn [No. 43] - Reddington and Liz continue their quest into clearing Liz's name. Meanwhile, Redington seeks help from the task force into catching Blacklister named "The Djinn" a criminal who seeks revenge
fantasies and that could lead them to the Cabal. Tom accepts Cooper's undercover assignment to pursue Karakurt, and looks to infiltrate a crime ring that may be protecting Karakurt. Meanwhile, Dembe successfully escapes, but is shot by Mr. Vargas when he
learns how to locate Reddington.
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Born male, Nasir Bakhash was the eldest son of Bahram Bakhash, the owner and CEO of a New York-based holding company, Azeri Financial. When Nasir came out as gay at the age of 19, Bahram, unable to accept it, forced him to undergo a sex change to make his
attraction to men more acceptable and change his name to the feminine Nasim. Even after she went through all that suffering, Nasim was still effectively disinherited by her father and began her own business as "the Djinn" (named after a genie-like
spirit from Islamic mythology).
3.05 Arioch Cain [No. 50] - Reddingtion and Liz receive news of someone trying to kill Liz to avenge their mother's death, believed to have been killed by Liz, a Blacklister named "Arioch Cain." Meanwhile, Ressler
testifies before a court which leads to partnering with Director Peter Konzioklis. Also, Reddingtion is betrayed by one of his own thinking that Dembe has been killed. Tom continues his undercover mission for Cooper.
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An enormous bounty is posted for Agent Keen drawing out any number of unknown assassins including Arioch Cain and Wendigo, while the FBI and Reddington join forces to protect Keen.
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• Blair's internet name, "Arioch Cain", referred to Arioch and Cain and Abel. Blair lost her mother, Sharon, in the OREA bombing, which was carried out by Karakurt and blamed on Liz in "Karakurt". Believing the official story
that Liz was the bomber, Blair, assuming the internet name "Arioch Cain", created a profile at "deadnotalive.org", a website that set up bounties for contract killers via crowdfunding from civilians. During a confrontation with Raymond Reddington and
Elizabeth Keen, Blair refused to take down the page, believing that Liz killed her mother and having her killed was the only way to avenge her.
• Arioch Cain / Blair's Status: Alive - Liz makes Blair aware of the dangers of her actions in helping the Cabal recruit assassins to execute her. When she deleted the page, Blair realizes that Liz was framed and the Cabal was responsible for her
mother's murder.
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• Wendigo was a vigilante who operated independently of other organizations and was said to go after criminals for no other reason than that he found them unworthy of society. His origins besides that are unknown, though some suspect him of
being former Special Forces. He was credited with at least 2 assassinations known by the FBI. The first was El Malo Grande (Spanish for "the Big Bad"), the head of a Guatemalan drug cartel who was living in Madrid under an alias. The other was an exiled
Angolan dictator, Jose Perez, who was hiding in Brasília.
• Wendigo's Status: Deceased - Cause of death Suicide - Dropped from rooftop by Raymond Reddington.
3.06 Sir Crispin Crandall [No. 86] - Ressler adjusts to working with the Director, who has forced the FBI to cooperate with the CIA in tracking Reddington and Keen. The two fugitives learn that an advisor with
connections to the Director has gone missing, which leads them to Sir Crispin Crandall, a reclusive billionaire who has kidnapped some of the smartest people in the world in a bid to save the human race from a supposed mass extinction. They track Crandall
to his lab, a perpetually airborne aircraft that Reddington forces to land, and take the advisor's thumbs to open a lock, which contains money that the Director had been stealing from the Cabal, as an escape plan. Tom ends up in a fight club in order to
find and capture Karakurt. He kills Asher Sutton after being forced to fight him to the death, but succeeds in finding Karakurt and dragging him back to DC to exonerate Liz.
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Crandall was a reclusive billionaire and owner of Crandall Cryonics, a legitimate company that researched cryogenic preservation, i.e. freezing living humans to the point of suspended animation so they can be brought back at a later date. Crandall spent
most of his time living on a constantly airborne Airbus A380. Because he had it refueled regularly while still in flight, he could go months without even touching ground. In addition to serving as his living quarters, the plane also served as Crandall's
"ark", on which he stored pairs of kidnapped distinguished scientists, each pair from a different field.
3.07 Zal Bin Hasaan [No. 31] - The task force looks for a Blacklister named Zal Bin Hasaan, an Iranian terrorist responsible for the murder of numerous Mossad agents, including those Samar worked with, and the capture of
several scientists working on Israel's missile defense system. In doing so, Samar is reunited with her brother, thought to have been killed in a bombing years ago. It turns out that her brother is Zal, and in the end, she gives her brother to Reddington
to provide him with the leverage he needs to set up an important meeting. Meanwhile, Tom delivers Karakurt to Cooper, and they force Karakurt to agree to confess to framing Liz. Ressler becomes upset that Cooper went behind his back to work with Tom.
After an emotional day, both Ressler and Samar end up sleeping together.
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Born in Iran, Shahin and his older sister, Samar Navabi, lost their parents to an Iranian government assassin in 1992 because of their political affiliations. Samar eventually abandoned her country because of what happened to her parents and became an
operative of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Meanwhile, Shahin became a political activist. In 2009, he and the Scimitar were responsible for a bombing in Pishin, Iran at a meeting between the opposition leaders and members of the army. 41 people
were killed at the bombing and Shahin's blood was found on the scene. With everyone believing that he was dead, Shahin adopted the alias "Zal Bin Hasaan" and became an assassin for Iran, targeting and killing numerous Mossad operatives all over the
world. Among his victims were the partner of Samar, who was killed in 2012 in an explosion in Cairo that hospitalized Samar, a Mossad operative named Avi Lebov, who was killed by a car bomb along with 12 civilians, and 31 people, 14 of them women and
children, killed in a synagogue bombing in Buenos Aires.
3.08 Kings of the Highway [No. 108] - While waiting for Dembe to retrieve an important item for their plan to clear Liz, Reddington is kidnapped by the "Kings of the Highway," a common gang that aims to steal money and
possessions from unsuspecting travelers. Stranded by Reddington's abduction, Liz calls Samar to locate him, but Ressler fires her from the task force after he finds out she used his laptop to track him. Liz tracks the gang down by taking one of their
members hostage to trade for Reddington. The exchange, which also involves the item Dembe had retrieved, is interrupted by the FBI, and Ressler arrests Liz after a lengthy chase, while Reddington escapes. Cooper and Tom find themselves being pursued by
Solomon's men, and must protect Karakurt from being killed and prevented from confessing to the OREA bombing. The hunt for Solomon takes Reven Wright to Laurel Hitchin, who helped Solomon when he worked for the CIA. Hitchin then kills Wright to cover up
her involvement with Solomon.
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The Kings of the Highway (KOTH for short) was a criminal gang situated in West Virginia. Led by a man known as Cash, they made their living on motorists who happened to be passing through the area. The gang would hold them captive, rob them of any cash
they were carrying, empty their ATM accounts, and max out their credit cards before setting them free, pennyless.
3.09 The Director [No. 24] - Ressler puts Liz in the box at the post office to protect her until the U.S. Marshals can transport her to her arraignment. The Director and Hitchin, hoping to prevent her from testifying,
arrange to remove Liz from the box before the Marshals arrive. Aram, determined to protect Liz from the Director, changes the door code to the box to keep the Director from taking Liz. The Director resorts to flooding the box with nitrogen, suffocating
Liz, to force Aram to give up the door code. Meanwhile, Tom and Cooper take Karakurt to an empty cabin belonging to a neighbor with whom Cooper's wife Charlene was having an affair. With Ressler's help, they fend off an assault by Solomon and his men, who
have tracked them to the cabin, and arrest Solomon in the process. Ressler returns to the post office quickly enough to prevent the Director from taking Liz, and warn Hitchin that he knows that she killed Wright. Reddington and Samar manage to retrieve
the case the FBI took. The case, containing state-of-the-art printing plates for money, created from the software upgrades General Ludd stole from the U.S. Treasury, is Reddington's leverage to get Venezuela to agree to help him and Liz and help take down
the Cabal.
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Almost nothing is known about Kotsiopulos; his name wasn't even revealed until "The Troll Farmer". What is known is that he is the director of the National Clandestine Service, the CIA component that deals with covert operations. This is why he is usually
referred to simply as "the Director". He is also a high-ranking member of the Cabal, the criminal syndicate that Alan Fitch belonged to. However, he has far less respect for Reddington than Fitch had and is certain that Reddington is bluffing about having
the Fulcrum. He seems to represent the more radical side of the Cabal, one far more ruthless than the rest of the organization.
3.10 The Director, Conclusion [No. 24] - Reddington secretly meets with the task force while Ressler brings Liz to the federal courthouse and protects her there. Through an elaborate ruse, Reddington and the task force
kidnap the Director and bring him to the Venezuelan authorities, who intend to charge an American official with war crimes. The threat of war crimes prosecution is leverage that allows Reddington to strike a deal with Laurel Hitchin through Marvin Gerard,
his attorney who helped him to design the plan to prove Liz's innocence. Thanks to Tom delivering Karakurt to the federal courthouse, Gerard is able to get the U.S. government to drop all the charges against Liz except an involuntary manslaughter charge
from the killing of Attorney General Tom Connolly (in 2.22). The plea deal prevents Liz from going to jail but also prevents her from returning to the FBI, unless as an asset to the task force. With Liz finally set free, Ressler
steps down as head of the task force, giving authority back to Cooper, and Reddington, on Hitchin's permission, kills the Director to rid the Cabal of a liability. Reddington and Hitchin meet afterwards to discuss involving him in the Cabal.
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Having effectively isolated Kotsiopulos, Red, the task force and Marvin Gerard team up together to bring him down. As Kotsiopulos schemes with Laurel Hitchin to assassinate Liz before she can testify, he gets a call about his wife having a panic attack
and rushes to the psychiatrist's office. Unknown to him, this is a trap set by Red's team and he is captured. He is then taken aboard a Venezuelan plane where Red reveals he plans to have the Venezuelans turn him over to the Hague to be tried for war
crimes as an American representative. As Kotsiopulos is a high ranking CIA official, this would cause the government international humilation. Red then contacts Laurel and demands that she publically exonerate Liz to prevent this. Laurel reluctantly
agrees and strikes a deal through Marvin Gerard where Liz is exonerated of all but the Thomas Connolly murder. As Liz murdered the man and did so in front of witnesses, she can not be fully cleared of that charge and Laurel states she'll take her chances
with Kotsiopulos and the Hague if he refuses. Her offer is for Liz to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Connolly's murder and will serve 3 years probation though it will keep her from becoming an agent again. On Gerard's recommendation, Red and
Liz reluctantly agree to the deal. Laurel asks Red to deal with Kotsiopulos in exchange as the Cabal now sees him as a liability which Red agrees to. They watch a news report in which Laurel exonerates Liz, but implicates Kotsiopulos in his role in the
Cabal, stating that he has fled the country. Kotsiopulos tells Red he knows who Red really is and his relationship to Liz, but Red is unconcerned. As the plane descends, Red throws Kotsiopulos from the plane and he crashes through a house's roof, killing
him. The shocked family see his face on the news and realize who just fell to his death.
3.11 Mr. Gregory Devry [No. 95] - Liz, though exonerated, finds adjusting to normal life difficult without being an FBI agent. She is stripped of her concealed carry permit, has difficulties finding a new apartment and
passersby look at her with suspicion. Marcus Caligiuri, an international criminal, kills Mr. Kaplan's team of cleaners as a warning to Reddington that he knows about his connection to the FBI, endangering his criminal empire. In response, Reddington has
the task force look into a gathering of criminals which includes Caligiuri, and their hunt leads them to a man who claims to be Raymond Reddington. In the box at the post office, the impostor warns the task force that Caligiuri plans to kidnap an FBI
executive to expose Reddington as an informant. The kidnapping succeeds, which forces the task force to offer the impostor immunity in exchange for infiltrating the criminal gathering. The real Reddington, however, joins the meeting first, and the
late-arriving impostor is then falsely presented as the FBI asset hired by Caligiuri to betray the gathering of criminals. Both are then killed by Reddington, restoring his reputation among his fellow criminals. Beyond suspicion once again, Reddington
tells Liz the impostor was his friend, Gregory Devry, a con man dying of cancer who sacrificed himself to help Reddington. Meanwhile, Tom proposes to Liz again, a prospect that Reddington explicitly forbids. Liz is assaulted in the street, and during her
recovery in the hospital, she finds out that she is pregnant.
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Doppelganger - an apparition or double of a living person but in this case not a look alike.
Gregory Devry was a talented con artist who specialized in conning other criminals. At some point he met Reddington and they became friends. He eventually learned he had stomach cancer, and he later agreed to help Reddington clear his name with the
attendants of the Shell Island Retreat, a formal meeting between the heads of major criminal syndicates, if Reddington would euthanize him when the job was done.
3.12 The Vehm [No. 132] - Tensions within the post office begin to endanger the relationships within the task force, as Cooper is sleeping in his office after separating from Charlene, and Ressler and Navabi are
partnered together on their next case. A series of grisly murders, including the murder of one of Reddington's associates, prompts the task force to track down the Vehm, a group of religious fanatics who hunt and kill pedophiles. Reddington, not convinced
that his associate was a pedophile, suspects that someone involved in money laundering is controlling them to also eliminate the competition. The investigation leads Reddington to a priest who has been using the Vehm to target money launderers under the
pretense of murdering pedophiles. Reddington then turns the Vehm on the priest by convincing them they were tricked. The priest is killed, and the Vehm become allied with Reddington. Meanwhile, Liz ponders whether to keep the baby she is about to have or
put the baby up for adoption. Tom is eager to start a new life with Liz, but his plans to take Liz with him are sabotaged when Reddington interferes by cutting off his career opportunities and placing Liz under his protection and surveillance.
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After an associate of Red's is murdered by a rare medieval device, he alerts the task force that a vigilante group from the Middle Ages known as "The Holy Vehm", a modern-day revamp of the Vehmic court which was a society of proto-vigilantes in Germany
during the Middle Ages, has been resurrected and is lethal. Red teams up with Liz and the task force to stop the assassins before any more of the targets are killed. Meanwhile, upon receiving the shocking news that she is pregnant, Liz decides that she
does not want the child raised by the black market and plans to put it up for adoption.
3.13 Alistair Pitt [No. 103] - The task force pursues Alastair Pitt, the head of an organization called the Promnestria, which brokers arrangements between criminal empires for profit. Pitt is brokering a merger between
two warring crime families by arranging a marriage between their children. The groom-to-be is already engaged, so Pitt has his fiancee killed and blames it on the other family. To stop the violence, the two children agree to get married. Reddington
infiltrates the wedding party to stop it by exposing the truth about the fiancee's murder, forcing Pitt to reveal himself before the FBI swoops in. They arrest everyone except Pitt, who is taken by Reddington to France, where years ago, Pitt arranged a
similar marriage between a woman Reddington loved and a man who eventually beat her into a catatonic state. Reddington then kills Pitt in revenge. Tom, seeking money to take Liz away from Reddington, seeks out Gina Zanetakos, who brings him in on an
elaborate but successful jewelry heist. Liz works with an adoption agency for her baby, but while a couple has agreed to take the baby, they insist on a closed adoption that would prevent Liz from seeing her child. Samar has to handle the news that Levi,
her former Mossad partner and ex-lover, is engaged to someone else.
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Known as a promnestria, a term from Ancient Greek that translates roughly as "matchmaker", Pitt would find some way to get rivaling criminal gangs to unite and then get a cut of whatever profit the newly formed merger resulted in. He usually accomplished
this by manipulating people on both sides of the conflict and sometimes arranging for select members to be murdered. In the past, he arranged for Josephine Molire/Moliere, an old love of Red's and daughter of an Eastern European arms dealer, to be married
to Gabriel Stockwell, the violent son of her father's rival.
3.14 Lady Ambrosia [No. 77] - Reddington brings Liz a case involving a series of abductions of children who have special needs. One of the abducted children is found, leading the task force to investigate the child's
parents and an employee of an adoption agency who takes children unwanted by one of their parents to Lady Ambrosia. In turn, Lady Ambrosia and her son, who also has special needs, take care of the children and, when they turn twelve, euthanize them in a
magical spectacle for the other children. Reddington abducts their accomplice from the adoption agency and tortures him to reveal the location of Lady Ambrosia's school of children. He takes one of the girls and leaves Lady Ambrosia to be killed by her
son, who then commits suicide, while the other children are taken to safety by the task force. The girl Reddington rescued is returned to her mother, who returns the favor by giving him a file with information on Katarina Rostova, Liz's mother. Liz
finally finds a couple who will take her child in an open adoption, but needs Tom's consent to complete the adoption. Unbeknownst to Liz, Tom is betrayed by Gina, who has him shot and left for dead. He survives long enough to be found and taken to a
hospital.
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Lady Ambrosia, whose real name is never revealed, and her husband, Noah Shuster, once had two sons together, one of whom, Theo, was mentally handicapped. When the boys were in a canoe accident that resulted in the death of the other son, Lady Ambrosia
snapped. Using her husband's job at an adoption agency to find children whose parents were going to give them up because of their disabilities, such as autism or muteness, she kidnapped them with Theo's help and made them part of a cult she started,
telling the victims they would be "turned into butterflies" and live forever as children. In order to keep them from having to face adulthood as outcasts, she would kill them when they reached the age of 12, the end of adolesence, and wrap them into a
cocoon of burlap and wooden sticks and throw it into a well on the cult's compound, an abandoned schoolhouse known within the cult as The Colony.
3.15 Drexel [No. 113] - Drexel is a serial killer whose murders double as performance art, and his latest murder of a co-founder of a start-up financial firm is investigated by the task force. The murder is posted by an
underground publication before the police investigate, and the task force concludes that Drexel has been using stolen NSA technology, a RAT, to hack into personal computers and access their webcams. The task force reveals that the murder was meant to lead
them to an illegal business that sold access to webcam feeds of unsuspecting people. Reddington uses the investigation to track down Drexel, who, according to the file he received, has been working on a painting commissioned by Katarina Rostova, depicting
Liz standing over his grave. Liz finds Tom recovering in the hospital thanks to Nik, a doctor and Liz's ex-boyfriend, now under Reddington's employ after taking his money for saving his life. With his and Reddington's help, Tom escapes the police's
investigation of the jewelry heist he participated in. The entire ordeal leads Liz to change her mind about giving her child up for adoption.
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This episode was a commentary on the National Security Agency and its surveillance programs. A remote administration tool (RAT) is a piece of software that allows a remote "operator" to control a system as if he has physical access to that
system. See RAT in Extra Info.
Reginald Turner was once a teacher and later a failed artist. He only ever had 1 exhibition, a poorly reviewed pop-up show in the East Village. Having failed to make a name for himself there, he started committing murders under the alias
"Drexel", making him a celebrity within an underground movement. His victims were billionaire businessmen, either established or up-and-coming, and were posed after being killed. After committing the murders, he posted images online within his
underground movement, labeling the killings as performance art. In 2015, he killed the owner of the largest Controlled Animal Feeding Operation in Europe and then hung his body from a meat hook, like his company did with the cattle they
slaughtered.
3.16 The Caretaker [No. 78] - When a US state government official is killed by the Chinese as retaliation against a murder of a Chinese official in USA by a Chinese American and US forces. The contract of this killing,
which puts the blame of the killing to the US government is protected by The Caretaker. Reddington then introduces Keen to this case who then, via the FBI, interrogates the Chinese-American to reveal his method of communication with the Caretaker. After
getting to know that underground pipes by US post are used, Reddington, Keen and Dembe pay a visit to one of Reddingtons's clients of which The Caretaker is also a client. Simultaneously, Tom confronts Gina Zanetakos on the intent of peace which leads to
a fight between the two. Reddington provides the location of The Caretaker to Ressler and Navabi who hunt down The Caretaker, who is digging up a canister from a corpse in the cemetery. Upon interrogation, he says that he was releasing the canister to a
group which had abducted his daughter. This canister involved a contract between an airline and the Germans. Upon further investigation, it is found out that the group of terrorists that orchestrated an attack on the airline has acquired a metric ton of
C4 which via Reddington is located, however that truck contains a bomb made of that C4, which was triggered after Ressler shot the person holding the button. With the bomb squad 12 minutes away and the bomb exploding in 2, the duo enlists Aram's help via
phone on defusing the bomb, which is completed in remaining 9 seconds. At the same time, the duo of Reseller and Navabi infiltrate the place where The Caretaker's daughter is held and shoot one of the guards. It is later revealed that the guards are
former marines, and that the daughter had staged her own abduction: In order to could get away from The Caretaker, as he had kidnapped her when she was a baby. Keen also finds out the truth about her mother, via a retired Russian agent. However towards
the end, Reddington burns a piece of information, leading to his information about Katarina Rostova which would have proved Keen's current knowledge wrong.
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Dating back 3 generations, the men of the Janus family, the active one being known as "the Caretaker", ran a safety deposit service where they stored countless incriminating documents, recordings, and photos on behalf of powerful clients, such as
corporations, criminals, and governments. The evidence, which was stored in canisters hidden in the corpses buried at graveyards, could then be released according to instructions set by the clients, such as them dying or being arrested. Janus used the
pneumatic tubes formerly used by the U.S. Postal Service to transport hard materials.
Albert Janus, the present day Caretaker, had an adopted daughter, Rose Janus, who was the only thing in the world he valued higher than his work. A few months after his wife and child had died, he got into a confrontation with Rose's drunken father when
he abused her and knocked him down. He then took Rose, whose real name was Jessica Van Zandt, and raised her as his own, never telling her about her real family.
3.17 Mr. Solomon [No. 32] - Mr. Solomon is broken out of federal custody and nearly killed by Cabal agents before being rescued by an unknown patron. Liz and Tom decide to get married immediately, despite Reddington's
objections. Liz asks Cooper to officiate at the wedding and invites the other members of the task force to attend. Gina Zanetakos and the Major pay Tom a visit at Liz's apartment. The Major prepares to kill Tom, but at the last minute Zanetakos kills the
Major instead and departs, leaving Tom to bury the body. Tom confesses what happened to Liz, fearing that she will change her mind about marrying him, but she reaffirms her love for him. The task force learns that Solomon is attempting to steal a tactical
nuclear weapon. They capture one of Solomon's accomplices, who tips them off about his plans, but the tip turns out to be a dead end. After investigating further, Reddington realizes that the accomplice deliberately allowed herself to be captured and the
plot to steal the nuclear weapon was merely a distraction to divert the FBI's attention from Solomon's real target: Liz. He rushes to the church where Liz and Tom are about to be married, arriving just before Solomon surrounds the church with his men and
demands that Liz come out. A massive firefight breaks out, with Reddington, Dembe, Tom, Cooper, and Navabi managing to hold off Solomon and his men until Ressler arrives to help. Liz and Tom escape the church and drive off, still unmarried.
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Matias Solomon's execution by Cabal agents is stopped by an unknown person who hires Solomon to kidnap Keen. Matias Solomon was a high-ranking member of the Cabal. He was a CIA asset in Ethiopia until he enlisted for the Eritrean-Ethiopian War (6 May 1998
- 25 May 2000). The CIA disavowed him after he committed horrific war crimes. Despite this, he was in charge of Operation Backslide, a CIA operation to assist Somalia against the Islamic Courts Union (6 June 2006 - 27 December 2006).
3.18 Mr. Solomon Conclusion [No. 32] - Solomon continues his relentless pursuit of Liz and Tom, using satellite and data surveillance to track them. During the chase, Liz and Tom end up in a car accident, injuring her
baby. Mr. Kaplan takes them to a secure location where Reddington's medical team is waiting. Nick, Liz's ex who now works for Reddington, examines Liz and says he must perform an emergency Caesarian section or the baby will die. Mr. Kaplan rebukes
Reddington for endangering Liz and her baby. Meanwhile, the task force frantically tries to identify Solomon's men. The C-section is successful, but Liz refuses to let Reddington see her child, whom she names Agnes after her adoptive grandmother. Shortly
afterward, Liz has a life-threatening reaction due to amniotic fluid leaking into her blood. Just before Nick puts Liz into a medically induced coma, she forgives Reddington. Left with no choice, Reddington has Liz taken to a hospital, despite the risk
that Solomon will find her, and alerts Cooper of his plan. Solomon's men pursue an ambulance which they believe contains Liz; this turns out to be a decoy. They then find and stop the real ambulance. The FBI arrives and kills Solomon's men, however
Solomon escapes. Inside the ambulance, Ressler finds that Liz has died despite Nick and Reddington's efforts. The task force grieves her death, and a devastated Reddington goes to comfort Tom, who is watching over Agnes.
[Show Spoiler][Hide Spoiler]
It is safe to assume that Solomon’s employer is an enemy of the Cabal. They rescued and freed Solomon and killed a number of their agents. Their access to the satellite network implies they are a rival to the Cabal. The “Eye in the Sky” was able to locate
the real “van” ambulance after the decoy was intercepted because the computer kept footage of the video feed, followed the ambulance backwards to the nightclub and then found the other vehicle leaving at the same time.
3.19 Cape May [No. N/A] - A distraught and broken Reddington travels to Cape May, New Jersey, where he saves a woman from drowning herself and it is revealed that he has a connection with her. Reddington tells her his
feelings about Liz, her death, and the future of her child Agnes. Later on, she reveals that there are people after her to kill her. She and Reddington team up to take them down. Afterwards, she again tries to drown herself and Reddington is unable to
save her this time. It is then revealed that this woman was a ghost who existed only in Reddington's mind: his memory of Katarina Rostova, Liz's mother.
[Show Spoiler][Hide Spoiler]
Is Katarina Rostova dead? The dream/hallucination seems to represent Katarina Rostova's death or could just be how Red was interpreting things in his confusion. Sort of like the Katarina Red knew died that day, and a new Katarina was born. There is still
the letter and photo from Anton which indicated Katarina was alive after her drowning. Red did not see Rostova die. When she first walked into the water, he pulled her out. At the end of the episode, he saw from the hotel her heading back out, but before
he could get out there she either disappeared or he came out of his hallucination. All along he has said that she died walking into the sea.
3.20 The Artax Network [No. 41] - The task force mourn Elizabeth Keen's death and seek revenge on her killers. They discover Solomon's employers were using a defunct satellite network, the Artax Network, to track Liz at
every step. The investigation uncovers a mysterious, unidentified woman who may be the mastermind behind Liz's death. Meanwhile, Reddington is in hiding, trying to make amends with Liz's maternal grandfather, Dom. Eventually he returns to the task force,
ready to help find Liz's killers.
[Show Spoiler][Hide Spoiler]
The Artax Network was originally a telecom project intended to provide complete global coverage using 73 satellites. The project was abandoned due to bankruptcy, but the satellites remained in place. After an unexpected loss devastates the FBI task force,
they must track down their assailants; a mysterious group whose agents operate using a worldwide satellite network. Meanwhile, Reddington is forced to confront a ghost from his past -- one who knows many of Red's secrets.
3.21 Susan Hargrave [No. 18] - The task force continues to mourn the loss of Liz. Reddingtion comes out of hiding and tells the task force to search for a powerful woman who was assigned to kidnap Liz named Susan
Hargrave Famke Janssen. It is later revealed to Reddingtion that the person who is responsible for Liz's death is a man named Alexander Kirk.
[Show Spoiler][Hide Spoiler]
The FBI task force's hunt for revenge nears its endgame. As Reddington and the team close in on the mysterious arch-criminal responsible for recent tragic events, they're forced to operate outside their comfort zone -- and outside the law -- in order to
take down their enemy once and for all.
3.22 Alexander Kirk [No. 14] - Reddington informs the task force to search for Alexander Kirk, the man responsible for the death of Elizabeth Keen. It is revealed that Kirk is after Liz's daughter Agnes and Tom, Solomon
and Hargrave must team up to protect her. To draw Kirk out, the team reluctantly co-operates with Solomon and his crew to pull off a heist for Kirk's money. Everything runs smoothly until Solomon makes a remark about Elizabeth, causing Tom to shoot him,
although he escapes soon after. Despite this hurdle, the heist is successful. After the team splits paths, Tom returns to the hospital only to find Agnes missing. He meets with Hargrave with the intention of killing her, but finds that she moved Agnes to
save her from Kirk. Tom also discovers that Hargrave is also his mother.
[Show Spoiler][Hide Spoiler]
In a race against the clock to find Kirk who order the attack of Elizabeth the task force and the syndicate of Hargrave team up to get to Kirk. During that episode Scottie shares a bit of her story about her loss and her life. Later Tom Keen runs wild
after the attempted attack on Agnes and Red tells him the truth about Susan Hargrave, he then realized that she is his mother.
3.23 Alexander Kirk: Conclusion [No. 14] - The task force is closing in on Alexander Kirk. Meanwhile, Reddington reveals that he wants to leave the task force following Liz's death because he has no use left. Mr. Kaplan
keeps an eye on Tom and Agnes as Kirk's men track them. Tom eludes his security details and flees to a villa Cuba with his daughter to go into hiding. When Red discovers this, he learns that Mr. Kaplan helped Tom flee the country which makes Reddington
furious, as Kirk has also tracked Tom and Agnes to Cuba. Mr. Kaplan reveals to Reddington that Elizabeth Keen is actually alive and that she arranged to fake the death of Liz in order to protect her from Reddington. Reddington travels to Cuba only to find
the empty villa and signs of a struggle. A captive Elizabeth is met by Alexander Kirk, who reveals himself to be her father; Konstantin Rostov. May 19, 2016
[Show Spoiler][Hide Spoiler]
Liz is now in the custody of Kirk and she wants to know what he wants with her. Kirk tells Liz he’s been waiting 25 years to speak with her. He reveals his real name is Constantine Rostova and he’s her father. (He address his daughter by her Russian birth
name Masha.) ------------------------------
Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Michael Reuben, August 10, 2016 Ever since Lucille Ball gave birth at the same time as her fictional counterpart on I Love Lucy, producers of episodic TV have had their imaginations challenged by the pregnancy of
a female lead. When the creators of NBC's The Blacklist learned that star Megan Boone was expecting, they concocted one of the riskiest solutions since The X-Files had Dana Scully abducted by aliens (thereby giving actress Gillian Anderson a
break for motherhood). The arc of Boone's tormented FBI agent in Season Three kept fan sites buzzing for weeks, but rest assured that it will not be revealed here.
As if Boone's pregnancy weren't enough of a storytelling challenge for an action heroine, The Blacklist's producers upped their degree of difficulty by undertaking the creation of a spinoff series, for which the final episodes of Season Three serve
as a covert pilot. Centering on Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold), the duplicitous husband of Boone's character, The Blacklist: Redemption is set to debut later this year. But between preparing for an imminent birth and laying the groundwork for a new series,
The Blacklist may have taken on too much in Season Three. While the production values and acting flair remain undiminished, the series seemed to be idling by mid-season, without the propulsive forward momentum that fuels its suspension of
disbelief. Even James Spader's Raymond Reddington seemed to be losing his edge, although he regained it by the season conclusion.
Spoiler alert: While the key developments of Season Three are not revealed below, events from prior seasons are freely discussed. If you aren't caught up with the first two seasons of The Blacklist (reviewed here and here), proceed at
your own risk.
The twenty-three episodes of Season Three divide into three distinct "acts". The first (episodes 1-10) deals with the fallout from the previous season's conclusion, when embattled FBI Agent Elizabeth Keen (Boone) became a fugitive after publicly executing
the U.S. Attorney General in what amounted to an act of self-defense. The second act (episodes 11-18) turns on Elizabeth's discovery that she is pregnant by estranged husband Tom, necessitating a re-evaluation of her life in general and specifically her
ongoing association with the notorious "concierge of crime", Raymond Reddington (Spader). The season's final act (episodes 19-23) follows the birth of Elizabeth's child, and all that can be said without spoilers is that it sends The Blacklist in
such an unexpected direction that her initial flight from justice, with her former FBI colleagues in hot pursuit, seems tame by comparison.
Blacklist episodes continue to be titled with the name of a villain-of-the-week, but in Season Three Reddington is no longer the exclusive source of these so-called "blacklisters". At least one appears by chance; another is discovered by Aram (Amir
Arison), the technical expert in Elizabeth Keen's FBI unit headed by Asst. Dir. Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix); and a third is actually an ally recruited by Reddington in his ongoing war with the criminal organization known as "the Cabal". Yet another is an
ambiguous figure who turns out to be essential to the foundation of the Redemption spinoff.
A noteworthy aspect of Season Three is the change in Reddington's function after he learns that Elizabeth is pregnant. Still unwilling to reveal what he knows about her background and the reason for his singular devotion, "Red" now finds himself relegated
to the sidelines, as he repeatedly implores Elizabeth both to reject her former husband and to give up her child for adoption. For several episodes, the investigation of "blacklisters" effectively takes a back seat to Red's monotonous nagging, robbing
The Blacklist of the energy that the series usually draws from the criminal mastermind's unflappable elan.
Still, the pregnancy machinations do allow The Blacklist's creative team to experiment with the show's format, of which the most notable example is episode 19, "Cape May", which is unique among Blacklist episodes for being titled after a
place instead of one or more persons. "Cape May" provides both a new perspective on Reddington and further clues about the dark past that connects him to Elizabeth Keen. Still more clues appear in the final episodes of the season, which are an uneasy
mixture of emotional drama and dense exposition. With the appearance of a reclusive Russian oligarch named Alexander Kirk (Ulrich Thomsen), The Blacklist seems poised to answer at least some of the questions that have remained hanging since
Reddington first walked into FBI headquarters in the pilot episode. Only time will tell whether this latest twist is the beginning of a new era for the series or just one more misdirection.
The Blacklist's inventive premise, slick writing and talented cast led by James Spader have allowed the series to bank a sizeable reserve of goodwill with its fans. Season Three drew down on that reserve, as the show's creative team labored in
service of multiple goals that often seemed incompatible, but by season's end, the show seemed to have regained its equilibrium, and I eagerly await both Season Four and Redemption, if only to see what's next. Highly recommended on its technical
merits, but be prepared for a different kind of Blacklist.
------------------------------
Cast Notes: James Spader (Raymond 'Red' Reddington /....[31 episodes, 2013-2015]), Megan Boone (Elizabeth Keen [31 episodes, 2013-2015]), Diego Klattenhoff (Donald Ressler [31 episodes, 2013-2015]), Harry Lennix (Harold Cooper [30 episodes,
2013-2014]), Hisham Tawfiq (Dembe [29 episodes, 2013-2014]), Ryan Eggold (Tom Keen [27 episodes, 2013-2014]), Amir Arison (Aram Mojtabai [26 episodes, 2013-2014]), Parminder Nagra (Agent Meera Malik /....[21 episodes, 2013-2014]).
IMDb Rating (11/16/17): 8.1/10 from 132,005 users
IMDb Rating (07/28/15): 8.2/10 from 77,540 users
IMDb Rating (11/29/14): 8.2/10 from 55,004 users
Additional information |
Copyright: |
2015-16, Sony Pictures |
Features: |
- Commentaries: Series creator Jon Bokenkamp joins producer Brandon Margolis and
writer Kat Goodson to discuss two of Season Three's pivotal episodes. Their discussion
provides useful insight into the complexity of the group effort required to create
successful series TV.
- 9. "The Director": With Jon Bokenkamp, Brandon Margolis and Kat Goodson
(disc 2).
- 19. "Cape May": With Jon Bokenkamp, Brandon Margolis and Kat Goodson
(disc 4).
- Deleted and Extended Scenes: The scenes have titles, but no other information is
provided.
- Disc 1
- 1. The Troll Farmer (3:30)
- Patience
- Stick Shift
- You Let Her Go
- 5. Arloch Cain (2:37)
- Disc 2
- 6. Sir Crispin Crandall (0:37)
- 8. Kings of the Highway (1:40)
- 9. The Director (0:30)
- Disc 3
- 12. The Vehm (1:02)
- 13. Alistair Pit (1:18)
- 14. Lady Ambrosia (4:36)
- Death Certificate
- Watching Ethan
- Access to Ethan
- No Hard Feelings
- Speech
- Duct Tape
- Finding the Children
- Happy Reunions
- Disc 4
- 16. The Caretaker
- Gathering Information (3:30)
- 17. Mr. Solomon (0:41)
- 18. Mr. Solomon: Conclusion
- 19. Cape May (15:07)
- On the Beach
- By the Fire
- Away from the Window
- Breaker Box
- Axe
- Have You Ever Killed Anyone?
- Finding the Keys
- Through the Kitchen
- Just Me
- Disc 5
- 20. The Artax Network (0:25)
- 22. Alexander Kirk (3:53)
- Rooftop
- Red & Tom
- Getting to Kirk
- 23. Alexander Kirk: Conclusion (1:08)
- Capturing the Stunts: Script to Screen (disc 4) (1080p; 1.78:1; 11:10): Bokenkamp and
an assortment of cast and crew discuss how stunt sequences are developed from script
ideas, with emphasis on episodes 9 ("The Director") and 17 ("Mr. Solomon"). An
additional deleted scene from episode 9 is included, featuring a fight between Tom Keen
and FBI Agent Donald Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff).
- All About Aram (disc 4) (1080p; 1.78:1; 10:49): A portrait of The Blacklist's resident
tech expert and chief expounder of exposition.
- From the Shadows: The Villains of Season 3 (disc 5) (1080p; 1.78:1; 14:21): The
highlight of this overview of Reddington's latest crop of adversaries is James Spader's
participation. The featurette concludes by replaying the provocative moment in episode
17 when a car window rolls down and Mr. Solomon (Edi Gathegi) addresses the unseen
occupant: "And who might you be?"
- Outside the Box: Making The Blacklist Comic Book (disc 5) (1080p; 1.78:1; 8:42):
Staff writer Nicole Phillips talks about creating the Titan Comics series that parallels and
"teases" the series, with contributions from producers and cast.
- Red's Gems: Favorite Lines from Season 3 (disc 5) (1080p; 1.78:1; 7:05): As selected
by members of the creative team.
|
Subtitles: |
English SDH, English, French |
Video: |
Widescreen 1.78:1 Color Screen Resolution: 1080p Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1 |
Audio: |
ENGLISH: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
|
Time: |
15:39 |
DVD: |
# Discs: 5 -- # Shows: 1 |
ASIN: |
B01CT4CBNS |
UPC: |
043396476288 |
Coding: |
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC |
D-Box: |
No |
Other: |
Producers: Jon Bokenkamp; Writers: Jon Bokenkamp; Directors: Joe Carnahan; running time of 939 minutes; Packaging: Slipcover in original pressing.
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