The first part of The Blacklist season 1 finale is filled with emotion and suspense. Someone is after Red. And it turns out it’s Berlin, who’s actually a person. But will Lizzie care that Red’s in trouble? She spends most of the episode saying she’s done with him and giving him the silent treatment. Everything changes, though, when she realizes that everything the task force has done and everything on the Blacklist is connected.
This week’s episode of The Blacklist, titled “Berlin,” starts with a man coughing up blood. But he says he’s fine and talks about going to his daughter’s talent show. He just keeps getting worse, though, at work. He pulls out a case with a vial of something suspicious looking. His ear starts bleeding too so he calls himself an ambulance. He asked if they record the calls, and they say yes, so he leaves a message for his wife to say that he loves her and he collapses. The emergency personnel say that he may be contagious, so everyone at the bank he was in has to be quarantined. Everyone panics.
Lizzie’s Silent Treatment
At the start of the episode, Lizzie shows Ressler her destroyed house. She finally comes clean to him about Tom, and he says that he’ll help, but she has to follow through. So Lizzie tells the FBI everything she knows. While she’s talking, we see that Tom is being followed. Lizzie also finds out that one of Tom’s accomplices escaped from jail.
Tom grabs the man who’s following and has him call Red to say that he lost him. He questions him, but the guy won’t talk. Tom’s a pretty ruthless guy. Tom says that Red is “cautious, controlled and ruthless,” but the guy he works for is more so, and he’s coming. Then he kills the guy.
Lizzie says she’s resigning from the task force. She also completely ignores Red who’s in the room. She will not speak to him. She’s giving him the silent treatment, which probably isn’t going to work for long. She reveals to Cooper that Red killed her father. So Cooper asks to speak to Lizzie alone. Red says no. There’s a new case and it has something to do with Tom. Lizzie still refuses to work with him. But Red asks if she’s willing to put her anger with him above the lives of innocent people. She says fine, but this is her last case.
Red says that Lizzie’s life won’t go back to normal if she leaves the task force. He also gives her a copy of Tom’s codebook. It contains a lot about Lizzie, but not that much about Red. She takes it, but gets up and sits away from Red.
If Lizzie leaves, Red won’t have immunity anymore. An FBI agent tells Cooper that he thinks they’ve been too lenient with Lizzie. Cooper defends her, but he’s not safe either. They start planning how they’re going to bring Red in now that they won’t be working with her anymore.
Red is still trying to convince Lizzie that they need each other. He even shows her the gross skin from Tom’s victim that he sent him.
Cooper tries to convince Lizzie not to leave. Red will be taken and the taskforce will break up. Red won’t even go to jail, he’ll be in solitary confinement. She says it’s just too much and she’s not strong enough. He says that she’s wrong. Malik wants her to stay, but Ressler’s supportive of her. He’s a great guy. Seriously, when are they going to happen? Lizzie and Cooper make a plan to set Red up. She calls Dembe to say that she needs to see Red.
The Virus That is Too Deadly to Study
Red tells the task force about the man that died. It might be the Cullen virus. He was infected as a part of a larger plot involving Red and the task force. He thinks this is just the first shot in a war. The man who died was following orders in a greater scheme to get to Red. There will be a biological attack against Red and it won’t matter how many people die as long as Red is one of them.
Ressler and Lizzie go to the crime scene. They find out that the virus is so lethal that it’s actually too deadly to study. It didn’t go airborne, though nobody was infected except that man. It doesn’t spread. Somebody designed it to infect a specific victim.
Ressler finds out that the dead man could have had a cure. They didn’t think there was a cure at first, but someone has it. He was blackmailed for the antidote. He chose to die instead of doing what he was told. So, there’s a new guy. He’s sick and he receives a message from the mastermind that he’s going to die unless he does what he’s told and doesn’t tell anyone. He receives one treatment and will receive another after the task is complete.
Red and Lizzie go to visit a doctor named Dr. Sanders. Red loves the doctor. He has a hard time remember Red, but he finally gets it. He looks for cures for deadly illnesses. He’s even injected himself with some illnesses. He’s actually pretty crazy. He turns out to be a mental patient. They ask him about the Cullen Virus, which he says is “Spooky, spooky stuff. Bad news.” They tell him about the infected man, and he says there will be more. It’s a sign of the apocalypse and that there are five horsemen of the apocalypse. Lizzie tries to say that that’s wrong, but he gets upset. He knows from “the space agent.”
Red knows what he’s talking about, but Lizzie’s looking a little annoyed. He does share his research, though. Lizzie walks out. She thinks that Dr. Sanders is ill and that Red just brought her along to get to her. She doesn’t even think the case is real. She leaves to fly back on her own.
Ressler tells Lizzie that Dr. Sanders is actually working with someone outside of the institution to create an antidote. His partner might be the one infecting people. Dr. Sanders won’t talk to Lizzie, so she has to go back to Red.
Red and Lizzie go back to Dr. Sanders. He won’t talk to Lizzie, but they finally convince him. He keeps calling his partner UD4126, but Lizzie needs a name. He starts to lose it. A nurse goes to comfort him, and Lizzie realizes that that UD4126 is a badge number. They find out that it’s someone from the CDC. They storm his house and find a lab with vials of the virus. They grab the man, Dr. Vogel, and interrogate him. He says, “He’s coming.”
Lizzie also questions Dr. Vogel. He’s infected a bunch of people and he’s the only one with the cure. They’ll carry out his instructions or die trying no matter what she does. He says, “That’s how blackmail works, sweetheart.” She says it’s a good plan, and shows him that she has the virus too. In a truly awesome move, she puts the virus in his water. I’m not quite sure how she got away with that and how that didn’t get her fired, but now he has to do what she says. He was right, that is how blackmail works.
It’s All Connected
Lizzie goes through her notes and has a huge realization. Everything’s connected. The blacklist is connected. They all trace down to Berlin. Someone’s after Red, so he’s been trying to get allies, like the FBI. They all seem shocked that Red was using them, but that really shouldn’t be all that shocking. He doesn’t know who’s after him. They’ve heard that the apocalypse is coming and that “He’s coming” and realize that Berlin’s not a place. It’s a person, and he’s coming for Red today. We suddenly see someone being led away.
Dr. Vogel also talked. Everyone he targeted has something to do with airports. There are five of them, like the five horsemen Dr. Sanders mentioned. He’s not as crazy as Lizzie thought. They realize that there’s going to be some sort of a breakout. Lizzie wants to go back on her resignation because Red is in danger, but Cooper says it’s done.
Lizzie’s Change of Heart
Lizzie rushes to Red and tries to take him away. He asks her what she’s done.
Lizzie says the FBI is coming from him, but Red wants her to admit he was right. He refuses to leave until they talk things out. She says that she knows the cases are connected. Red’s in danger and the FBI are coming for him. Red’s not worried. He says that nothing’s worse than losing her. He points a gun at her so they don’t think they’re in cahoots and the FBI shows up. She says she’s not going to forgive him, but she needs answers. They both can’t get them without the other, so they’re stuck with each other.
Lizzie tells Red that the FBI voided the agreement and that she set up a meeting so he’d be taken down. Lizzie wants them to leave, but Red still won’t go until she talks to him.
Berlin’s Apocalypse is Coming
The task force sees a message of Dr. Vogel giving his instructions. And people are following them and putting his plan into action.
The FBI shows up at the airport as the plane containing Berlin is landing. People are dying and killing all over the place. And, of course, the bad guys get away.
Some fighter jets take off. They have shoot-to-kill orders and are targeting Berlin’s plane. Berlin says they need to land. Ressler and Malik also find a fancy car that’s some sort of clue. I’m not quite sure what that’s about, but we’ll probably find out in the season finale of The Blacklist.
Berlin’s trying to escape from the plane, but they’re under attack. Red surrenders himself just as Berlin’s plane, which is on fire, flies over them. They all see it and Red says, “Now it begins.”
There’s only one more episode of The Blacklist season 1. Red’s surrounded by the FBI, Berlin’s ready to attack and Tom’s still on the loose. How will the team get out of this mess?
The Blacklist season 1 finale airs next Monday at 10pm on NBC.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
