Recap of 'The Blacklist' Season 2 Episode 19: Leonard Caul
Last time "The Blacklist" gifted us with its presence, Red was shot full of bullets and left to die on the streets of Washington D.C., which –– by the way –– is clearly the least safe city ever. Obviously, Red isn't dead (don't be crazy), but he does spend most of this episode unconscious and totally fedora-less –– giving Elizabeth Keen a chance to find his attempted-killer and finally discover what The Fulcrum is. In other words: this is a great episode full of huge reveals!
Reddington Gets The Star Treatment From Liz's Ex-Boyfriends (That's Boyfriends, Plural)
Red can't be whisked to the nearest ER (might have something to do with the fact that he's a wanted criminal), but he has a contingency plan in effect for near death situations –– which brings us to Mr. Kaplan. This well-dressed crime scene cleaner springs into action with a crew of doctors, who team up to save Red's life in a makeshift hospital. Unfortunately, Red's attempted assassins break into the room and end up killing his surgeon (sigh, typical), so Liz calls in backup: her ex-boyfriend. And her other ex-boyfriend. Yep, first Liz moves Red to the building Tom happens to be squatting in (apparently all the other squalid lairs were occupied), and then she asks her other ex, Nik, to operate on Red. Not at all awkward!
Oh, and incase you're wondering who put the hit on Red, that would be The Director, a high up government official who Red's been feuding with all season.
FINALLY: Elizabeth Finds Out What The Fulcrum Is
Despite her daddy issues, Liz is in a panic about Red –– and at his behest she tries to find a man named Leonard Caul. Instead he finds her –– at Raymond's apartment! Dembe sends Liz to Red's digs in order to get The Fulcrum interface (while there, she peeps a photo of herself as a baby with her mother), and Caul shows up for a surprise chat. Turns out this is the man who actually designed The Fulcrum, and he happily shows Liz what it's all about.
So...what is The Fulcrum? A list of names that The Director and his cronies have killed. No wonder Red was using it as leverage against this corrupt power player!
Elizabeth Learns The Truth About Tom, Takes Down The Director, Basically Has An Awesome Day
Remember when Tom and Elizabeth kissed? So do we, because it was iconic. Of course, the moment was somewhat ruined thanks to Liz discovering Tom was planted in her life by Reddington, but this week everything works out. Kind of.
At first, Tom threatens to wash his hands of both Red and Liz, but when Red's faux hospital gets attacked by The Director's cronies, he picks up a gun and protects his former enemy. Meanwhile, Liz hatches a cunning plan to visit The Director and threaten to publish The Fulcum's contents unless he calls off he hit on Red. In other words, she totally wins! Although considering that we find out The Attorney General is working for The Director, there are probably plenty more battles to be fought.
So, what's the status on Red and Liz's relationship? In the final minutes of the episode, Red tries to explain that he hired Tom to protect her as a friend. This means that Tom fell in love with Liz on his own volition (awww, these two!) –– and now she wants his help digging into Red's past!
And now for some burning questions (we have so many, but in the interest of saving time here are the top four):
1. Is The Director going to come after Liz now that she's officially on Team Reddington?
2. Will The Attorney General bribe Cooper by stopping his cancer treatments?
3. What's the deal with Liz's mom? We know literally nothing about her!
4. Tom says he'll help Liz find out more about Reddington –– are we finally going to learn about his past?