The Blacklist – The Cook (No.56)

By starrymag | February 7, 2018

By: Robert Warren

 

 

Wall of Voodoo`s song “Ring of Fire” starts the episode as a man is cooking. He takes some jars that he has and places them on the roof of the house attached on a string. The man sits in his chair and ignites the string that has all the jars attached to it. As the fire follows the line of the string, we see jars fall one by one setting fire to the floor. A woman enters and screams as she is trapped by fire and the man exits safely.

In Washington D.C. we see Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) exiting her car after getting Raymond Red Reddington`s (James Spader) message. She walks to Dembe Zuma`s (Hisham Tawfiq)/Reddington`s car and they ride together. Keen hopes that Reddington was able to find someone to analyze Bobby Navarro`s (Happy Anderson) glass eye and who put it in his head because maybe that can lead them to Tom`s killers.

Keen was in search to find out the truth, which Tom was as well before his murder. This is why she went home previously and now she returns. Reddington has a contact that lives with his mother who is not fond of him. Reddington has a gesture of good will, a terrarium with a jorogumo spider (said to be able to change its appearance to a beautiful woman who seduces men in Japanese folklore) inside for this man`s mother who owns a pet café in Kyoto, Japan.

Reddington hands Keen a note for the man`s mother along with the terrarium with the spider inside. Keen and Reddington/Dembe take off in their separate cars. Reddington walks into a dining room with Samar Navabi  (Mozhan Marnò) talking about an article titled, “Husband and Wife Die in House Fire.” Reddington bring up that this wasn`t an arson created by murder but rather a murder created by arson. Reddington brings up that the cook that did this is the next name on The Blacklist.

Navabi is at the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters talking with Donald Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff), Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix) and Aram Mojtabai (Amir Arison.) Navabi brings up that Reddington knows someone who may be a lead named Earl Fagen (Thomas Howell.) Fagen was both a lead detective and arsonist for years who investigated dozens of fires that he set off. Navabi brings up that Reddington said that he could help them find the cook and in return wants the bureau to help Fagen in return.  Cooper agrees to maybe put in a good word for Fagen if he can help them find he cook.

Fagen starts looking at the fire scene in the home and analyzing as Ressler and Navabi watch/listen to the man. Fagen requests to get a black light in the scene to potentially pop up any hidden messages that may be in the room. Sure enough, a star shows, drawn in the room with the black light that says “discipline not faith.” What could that mean? The mystery continues.

Mojtabai at FBI headquarters brings up the fact that so far there have been four fires with the same design and inscription. Each of the buildings burns, each only leaving one wall that contains the star (inverted pentagram) design. The bureau is so far up to seven deaths with these fires happening. They need to investigate quickly. It seems the person setting the fires only missed once, having only one survivor from his fire settings, when he burned a small ranch house in Tenleytown, the owner of the home being an ER doctor named Corrine Egan (Steffanie Leigh.)

Navabi is sent to Egan to investigate and Ressler is tasked with looking at the inscription/pentagram. They better move quickly.

Reddington shows up to a home with Keen introducing Keen to Tadashi Ito (Alex Shimizu) a 15-year-old boy who turned down Harvard. Reddington is looking to talk to the boy`s mom.

Meanwhile, Navabi is talking to Dr. Egan and Ressler is having the pentagram looked at. Ressler is informed that the pentagram represents the five limbs of man—his five senses. Navabi is seeing if the pentagram means anything to Egan. Ressler is informed that an inverted pentagram represents evil—a natural order turned on its head.

Navabi is seeing if Egan has had any problems or anything at all that may be of use to this investigation. Ressler is informed that the symbol may be of the killers belief that his victims are deserving of being punished by victims. Navabi is informed that Egan was not alone at home, it was also her brother, so Egan may have not been the intended victim. Ressler is informed that the thought may have been a punishing for some sin that the criminal would have thought the victim deserve punishing for.

Egan asks Navabi about the man being out there still and whether Egan may still be in danger if he is. Yes, the man is still out there and who knows? She may still be in danger.

Ito is typing up information on a computer on a search as Keen stands over him wondering whether or not Ito is finding any leads or clues that may be of help to this situation. Reddington is wandering the room with Zuma. Keen is just stressing.

Keen starts questioning Reddington about the truth that Tom discovered but Reddington remains quiet about it. Keen is irritated because at this point she has killed someone who was keeping things from her and she mentions that she may be crazy if she didn’t believe that Reddington was keeping something from her. Reddington remains quiet and Keen just moves on looking at Ito working.

Mojtabai starts thinking if the killer is killing people all over the place how is he getting to them. Cooper brings up that he is traveling and Ressler brings up that would mean the killer probably was renting the Honda car that he was driving. Mojtabai checked and there are only two rental companies in the city he was at and only one had the color of the car that the killer used. Under these conditions it would mean that the killer would be, William Seavers.

Agents break into the home of Seavers with no one answering the door. Looking around Ressler sees  ammonium nitrate on the floor along with jars aligned on a shelf and black lights show writing on the wall that say “the evil deeds of….” And a man pops out attacking Ressler. The attacker quickly lights a string of jars on the roof of the building. Fire breaks out and Ressler escapes through a window with Navabi.

Fagen is brought to the scene where the fire broke out to investigate with Ressler, and Navabi as Ressler tells Fagen about the glass jars that were rigged to fall of the string to start the fire on the floor getting bigger and bigger.  Ressler mentions how each of the glass jars Seavers rigged to be filled with some kind of fire accelerant. Fagen points out that maybe the arsonist was talking to himself and not just the victims.

Fagen finds a receipt from Haverson Hardware for the nitrate which lists the time and date of purchase. At the FBI headquarters, Ressler and Navabi are doing some research to find out some more information. Meanwhile a woman named Claire Homan (Jenna Williams) is talking to a priest as she is getting to meet with her soon-to-be husband who will be getting off a plane.

The priest is claiming to be praying for a friend, and Homan comes over to sit with the man and talk about something. She is about to be getting married, and she slept with a guy only once but is nervous as she was going to tell her soon-to-be husband. She is worried however that if she tells her husband that she will lose him and is very worried about it. She needed someone to talk to about it so she needed to tell this priest and get some of his advice.

They grab hands for a second and he looks into her and tells her to forgive herself. He advises she just tell him. Don’t tell her soon-to-be husband the man advises but rather tell God, that is the him that she should tell. He will help her find forgiveness of herself the priest advises.  Homan kisses his cheek.

Mojtabai, at the FBI headquarters finds out that the man who caused the fires, the cook is actually a priest. Looking, Mojtabai sees a cross on a lapel that mathes that of the Traditum Primarius “Tradition First,” church. Mojtabai mentions that the temple is in Cromwell, a few miles from Arlington.  Ressler and Navabi are sent there.

Meanwhile, Keen is with Ito who found a serial number on one of the chips and s looking to see what it does. Zuma is sitting with Reddington talking to him about being dishonest and hiding things from Keen.

Ito claims that they have a situation because his computer is transmitting there location which is not good for them. Ms. Ito, Mariko Ito (Anzu Lawson) comes down mad, and both Reddington and Zuma prepare for anything that may happen. Keen is a bit freaked, Reddington understands they may not be at the upperhand and Dembe is ready for whatever is coming their way. Reddington knows that they must get out of there.

Two men come down and the Reddington squad leaves as Ian Garvey (Jonny Coyne) looks around not seeing anyone in sight.  The scene ends.

Ressler and Navabi enter a church with a photograph of Seavers who the priest informs him is Thomas Wattles a.k.a. Tommy Wattles ( Michael Rogers) who was a priest but was stripped of that title about a year ago because he violated his oath of celibacy.  Agents needing to find them they mention how he is killing both men and women in fires. The spiritual director (Rocco Sisto) seems surprised that he is killing both men and women, not just women.

The spiritual director claims that Wattles was killing women, in supposedly dreams and visions, that he thought were attractive because he thought of it like personal failings. The spiritual director didn`t know that he was actually killing them, and men too. The spiritual director said that Wattles had visions of killing these women, he called temptresses by fire.

Navabi reiterates that these were not dreams. This was real. Navabi wonders if God will forgive this spiritual director for not saying anything earlier even though he thought they were dreams.

Navabi and Ressler inform Mojitabai of the name Tommy Wattles which they just got. Mojitabai gives them Wattles address at 9021 Fisher Drive in Pimmit Hills Virginia. Cooper calls they notify Virgina State Police. Cooper wants flags on him where they can.

Reddington meanwhile is talking to Ito`s mom about staying in a hotel until it is safe for her to return to her home. She stays silent as Ito is working on his computer. He is trying to see if he can reverse the signal to find them.

Reddington mentions to Keen that he knows what Tom figured out and it had to do with Reddington. This does not surprise Keen. Reddington continues that it had to do with an item in which he wanted to keep hidden.

Keen wants to know what item but Reddington does not want to say. He can`t tell Keen. This upsets Keen deeply and she tears up from the dishonesty and hidden ways of Reddington. He says that he has a secret and needs to keep it, even from Keen.

Ressler is talking to a religious expert (Benim Foster) about the priest that was talking to Homan who was waiting on her soon-to-be husband. Ressler is trying to figure out the womans description of who he was talking to. The religious expert tries going into a few details of her in which he can remember.

Navabi is talking to Egan to find out more information about the man. Navabi thinks that the woman may have somehow tempted the man which may be why he tried to attack her with the fire. Egan thinks that is just crazy.

Cooper is at the FBI headquarters talking to Navabi and Ressler about the whole thing. Mojtabai thinks that the computer facial recognition software may have found a match with the woman that had been on the tape waiting on her soon-to-be husband. Mojtabai mentions that the name of the woman may be Claire Homan, a graphic designer in Arlington.

At Homan`s house her phone rings and sure enough the priest is there. He covers her mouth and holds a gun to her head as she is gasping for air. Mojitaba starts setting up the jars on a string as she is saran wrapped to a chair. The priest kisses her mouth and then slaps her face as she acts in disgust.

The agents try to quickly make their way to the scene knowing that the no answer of the phone may be bad. The woman is sobbing scared. Ressler and Navabi arrive as do the cops. The man runs.

Cops, Navabi and Ressler trap Tommy as he pours liquid over himself, confessing he sinned and lights himself on fire. The blaze picks up on the man as he falls to the ground dead.

Navabi, Keen and Ito are there with Reddington and Ito`s mom. Reddington and Keen are searching the place with guns, as is Dembe, looking for anything suspicious. In the room, Reddington and Keen see a board with the words written, “we know the truth.”

Ressler is speaking on behalf of Fagen, trying to get Fagen released. Ressler does a speech and sure enough, Fagen is released as Reddington wanted.  Reddington tells Fagen that he owes Reddington for getting him his freedom and will only lite a match as Reddington callds for. Reddington takes off.

Keen asks for Reddingtons help to find Tom`s killer. Keen tells Redington before the end of things Keen is going to find Reddingtons truth as Tom was searching for before he died. The episode comes to a close in a dramatic end.