To be fair, Task Force 836 does sound a teensy-weensy bit treasonous when you spell it all out.
The Blacklist recap
Which is exactly what Rep. Arthur Hudson (Toby Leonard Moore) and his FBI buddy Jordan Nixon (Derrick Williams) are doing for Attorney General Stromberg (Dan Butler) at the start of this week's episode.
The Blacklist recap
Stromberg is mostly annoyed that a low-level congressperson is messing with a task force that is well above his pay grade, until Hudson links Red (James Spader) to last week's huge security breach at the Capital. That tea is piping hot enough to make the AG skip a meeting with the president.
Which is not great news for our team — but they don't know what's happening quite yet.
In Miami, Red is busy dropping by to visit Heddie Hawkins (Aida Turturro). The last time we saw bird-loving Heddie, she was proving her loyalty to Red even as Marvin tried to set her up. (For the record, I didn't believe it for one second. Heddie would never).
That loyalty pays off now as Red buys her a bird sanctuary in Guatemala. It's a thoughtful gift and a sweet way to say goodbye to a fan-favorite character.
Back at TFHQ, the team is trying to figure out what happens now that Red has shut down his massive spy operation. Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) and Malik (Anya Banerjee) are both trying to figure out Red's motivations, but Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) points out it is impossible to really know.
Herbie (Alex Brightman) cuts off their speculation, calling it "throwing darts in the dark on a train going off a cliff." He wants to get to the important stuff — like whether there is still a Blacklist and if not, if there is still a Task Force. After all, he just got this desk the way he likes it.
Ressler gets a message from Jonathan Pritchard's (Mackenzie Astin) wife, saying that she hasn't seen him in days and his credit cards have been used at bars. His sponsee has clearly fallen off the wagon, pushed by Hudson.
Back from Miami, Red is once again letting go of real estate. This time, it's tahe bathhouse. He signs the building over to the historical society just in time for Weecha Xiu (Diany Rodriguez) to arrive.
She wants to understand why he's selling the only place he's been sleeping lately, and he says he'll soon be off to "chase the moon across the world." This chapter of his life is ending, having lasted longer than he thought it would.
He asks her to come with him, but Weecha is reluctant. Despite their love, they're too similar and eventually, one of them will get restless and leave. Red tells her that the jet leaves at 4 p.m. If she wants to be with him, she'll be there.
Back in D.C., Cynthia Panabaker (Deirdre Lovejoy) tells Cooper (Harry Lennix) that they've been summoned to the attorney general's office. Because she has learned her lesson over the years, Panabaker also asks if Harold knows what the meeting is about. When Cooper tells her to come in and sit down, the look on her face is hilariously resigned.
Ressler tracks down Pritchard at a seedy motel and however bad you imagine the addict looks, he looks worse. He admits everything to Ressler, who promptly calls Cooper from the hotel landline to warn him just as he's about to walk into Stromberg's office.
Which means that Cooper is not surprised when he finally enters the meeting and hears his own voice on tape saying all the juicy parts from last week. Yikes!
While that's happening, Red's goodbye tour has taken him to visit our very favorite torture expert. Teddy Brimley (Teddy Coluca) does not have good advice about Weecha, with the anti-romantic recommending that Red take off early to ensure she doesn't make it. Luckily, Dembe interrupts with a call explaining Hudson's spying and the meeting Cooper is currently suffering through.
We cut back to that gathering, and it's a doozy. Hudson is full of outrage, Panabaker is defensive, and Cooper has had quite enough. "I can sleep at night. If you want my badge, take my badge. I'm done apologizing."
At that very moment, the monitors in Stromberg's office come alive and Red appears. The look of shock on everyone's face (except Cooper's, natch) is amazing.
Back in Teddy's barn, Tadashi Ito (Alex Shimizu) is running the hacking feed. No Mama Ito, unfortunately, but it's still nice to see the computer expert in this last run of episodes.
Hudson is livid at the intrusion, telling Red, "It's clear to me that you have more power than any confidential informant ever should." The C.I. in question shoots back, "It's funny, you have more power than a congressman should."
Panabaker clearly smothers a laugh, but I do not smother mine.
Stromberg is not amused, though, especially when Red lets him know that he deleted all the case files. But Red isn't there to defend himself; he's there to defend the Task Force. He gives a fiery speech that reminds them who they're dealing with, ending with this:
"What's truly inarguable is that Harold Cooper and his team have lost, and sacrificed, and given their lives and still delivered to you time and time again. You wanna blame someone, blame yourself and the others who preceded you, because you want your information from Raymond Reddington. You want to solve cases, you want to save lives, you want to have an effect — but you don't want to be guilty of doing business with me. Not in the harsh light of day. Well, shame on you. I am what I am. You made a devil's bargain. Did you really expect me to stop being the Devil?"
The Blacklist recap
Whew! Let me take a moment to fan myself and recover, because oh, my.
Okay, I got a glass of ice water. I can continue.
Meeting over, Cooper arrives back at TFHQ and tells our crew they should answer all questions they're asked. By whom? Nixon, Hudson, and the team of FBI agents who have just shown up to take over. The Task Force is being raided.
Nixon tells the team that they aren't under arrest, but they want any information that will lead them to arresting Red before he leaves the country. The individual interrogations are amusingly unproductive; Dembe explains how he got an FBI job with, "I applied for it, I had an interview, and they hired me."
Ressler has an even better comedic moment when Nixon asks if he's ever seen Red commit a crime, responding simply, "Are you for real?"
Unfortunately, Hudson has found a clue among Herbie's desk decorations: a framed picture of Herbie and Sue posing in front of Red's private jet. The tail number is visible, and they start to track the plane through its transponder.
Dembe pickpockets the cell of an agent to call Red and warn him. Red is already on the plane, waiting to see if Weecha will arrive. He checks his watch. It's 3:55 p.m.
Nixon tells the small airport to ground all planes and sends a team to intercept the jet.
At 4:15 p.m., Red's pilot Edward calls to let him know they're grounded. Red figures out Hudson and Nixon have found the plane and despite his reluctance, agrees to take off immediately.
The Blacklist recap
In time, too, because as Nixon pulls up with his team, the plane is in the air. Yay! And then the plane blows up. Boo!
I'll give Hudson credit, he immediately suspects shenanigans and demands that Nixon go and find a body. They won't find one, though, because we cut to Red and Weecha in a car, driving away from the airport.
Red is teasing her for being so late, but Weecha defends herself by saying she needed to know he would wait for her. It's adorable, and I am fully rooting for them. Weecha is less amused to learn that the plane has always been rigged with explosives for a situation like this, but Red points out that Edward is an excellent pilot.
A pilot who is waiting in the middle of the street to get picked up, parachute still in hand. And who is playing Edward? ANDREW FRICKIN' MCCARTHY.
McCarthy has directed multiple episodes of The Blacklist over the years, but he and Spader haven't been on screen together since their days of Pretty in Pink, Mannequin, and Less Than Zero. It's an absolute Gen-X delight to hear a Huey Lewis song play as Edward climbs in the car and they drive off after their successful mission.
It's over too soon, and we are suddenly back at a much moodier TFHQ. Stromberg lets Cooper know that there were no bodies, so Red is still at large. They dip into Cooper's scotch, and the attorney general explains that he's letting the Task Force continue because he knows they're good agents.
The Blacklist recap
He doesn't care about Hudson, who has had his chance and failed. But the savvy politician also knows that someone is going to take the fall for everything that has occurred. Stromberg boils it down to a simple choice: either the Task Force arrests Red, or he'll recommend prosecution for every member of the team.
Everyone gets their cell phones back and for Ressler, it just makes everything worse. Pritchard has called multiple times, leaving desperate voicemails. By the time Ressler gets back to the motel, it's too late. Pritchard has overdosed and died.
Hudson will probably not be held accountable for that tragedy, but it's on his ledger nonetheless.
Cooper finally arrives at home and is somehow surprised that Red is sitting in his kitchen. They catch up with the whole "it's Red or the Task Force" thing, but Red is remarkably blasé about the situation.
The Blacklist recap
"Let's have a little fun on the way out," he says. "Catch me if you can."
"I don't know if I can handle more. I should check my systolic pressure first." I swear poor Cynthia Panabaker has lost literal years off her life dealing with these people.
Red has a lovely get together with Agnes (Sami Bray) where he gives her Elizabeth's FBI badge.
When Hudson tells Red he wants to put him behind bars, Red snaps back, "I've been, several times. It doesn't take."
