Blacklist Season 4 episode 4 cast

When Agent Ressler asks Agent Samar Navabi why shes put in for a transfer from the Post Office in Thursdays episode of The Blacklist, she tells him its not just because she now knows Liz is a whiny traitor who took advantage of them by faking her own death after they helped her family over and over again. No, she says its bigger than that: Its this place. You never know where you stand with anyone whether theyll be there for you when you need them.

Indeed, the footing is unsteady around The Blacklist these days. The opening episodes of this fourth season, tonights hour included, have felt like weve been building and building toward a plot precipice, but where well land once its finally time to make the jump is just as much of a mystery now as it was at the end of season 3. Kirk could be the kind of guy who, yknow, murders a baby for her stem cells, or he could not. Said baby could be his biological granddaughter or she could not. Mr. Kaplans caretaker could be keeping her until he could nurse her back to health, or he could be fattening her up, Hansel and Gretel style. And Lizzie could be naïve for trusting Kirk when he says hes just trying to protect her or she could be naïve for trusting Red when he says hes just trying to protect her.

I can see why Samar wants out. But not me. Oh no, Im digging in deep chaining my ankle to the metaphorical bed Kaplan-style [too soon?] and sticking this one out until we get some answers. Because thats what The Blacklist is asking us to do: invest in the build-up with classic procedural episodes like tonights for what will hopefully be an insanely gratifying pay day [I promise, no more Shark Tank references] a little further down the road. And thats how Red and Lizzie find themselves on the hunt for

GAIA, NO. 81

The episode opens on a handsome-outdoorsy looking fella sketching around in a repurposed school bus in the middle of the woods its all very Into the Wild. That is until he pulls a wad of cotton about six inches long covered in blood out of his nose. But well have to figure out whats up with that later for now this guy is crashing a local going away party and poisoning a very non-threatening middle-aged mechanic in the bathroom. Never drink a drink you didnt watch the bartender pour, folks [that means you too, middle-aged mechanic].

And all this, as Red tells Liz, has something to do with finding Agnes. You remember Agnes the newborn baby whos been separated from her mother for, like, weeks. Yeah, well shes still with Kirk, but he hits her up with that paternal-hotline-bling video chat and says hes set up a feed where she can watch her daughter anytime. Yknow, like one of those Shiba Inu puppy cams but for her daughter who he is keeping from her. Liz tells Kirk that she knows he only tracked her down because he needs her or Agnes to cure his genetic disease. But Kirk swears, Yes, the blood is what I need but its not what I want. What I want is for us to be together, and that cant happen until Reddington is out of your life. Hmm, kinda seems like you want the blood too though, pal.

But Lizzie thinks she knows how to handle Kirk. Tom wants to trace the video feed, but she says that he has to trust her on this and not trace it: What does Kirk want more than anything in the world? For me to trust him, to care for him. And because its what he desires the most, its the easiest way to deceive him. And Im all for Lizzie being independent and coming up with her own plans, but maybe this is why Red usually handles this stuff because what proof does she have that her trust is his number one priority? Is it that he kidnapped her child or that he never told her why he did it in the first place? I guess its just some of that not knowing where you stand that Samar says is going around.

And speaking of probably-unnecessary secrets, Red says he has a lead on finding Agnes, but Lizzie doesnt need to know what that connection is, only where they can find it. And it all starts with ol bloody nose from the cold open: Hes a stealth eco-terrorist known only as Gaia [earth mother in Greek], whos devoted to protecting the earth from the greatest threat to its existence as we know it: us. Apparently, this guy makes his intentional acts of eco-terrorism seem like accidents so that the publics attention is on the danger that exists within toxic economical practices instead of the criminal who exposed them. Or as Samar puts it once the news is delivered to the Post Office, He kills innocent people to make the point that innocent people are in danger.

NEXT: What the frack is up with this guy?

So, yeah, this guy isnt all there, and that becomes abundantly clear when we see him fatally roofie yet another seemingly harmless man at a gas station. Well, harmless, except for the fact that hes a field inspector for a fracking company, a company that uses a practice that Gaia points out messes up the water table. As it turns out, Gaia killed this guy so that he could take his place inspecting the gas line at Borron Energy Services, and the Post Office is assuming its to do a little accidental damage with fracked gas. But after Samar and Ressler chase Gaia through the facility and he manages to escape, they discover he didnt have any sort of explosives or equipment with him. No, it seems he was doing some research because his plan is a little bigger: See, he was finding the pipelines most vulnerable spot in order to create an explosion with a blast radius that would reach hundreds of nearby homes and schools, a hospital, and Stone Park nuclear power plant. To that we say: YIKES.

And along that same sentiment, Kirk is getting one of his oft-featured blood transfusions. But this time, it features the doctor telling him his body has begun rejecting the transfusions, plus a random woman with a full set-o-bangs that weve never seen before telling Kirk, The girl is your only option. Kirk doesnt seem like hes ready for that step and the doctor tells them for what doesnt seem like the first time that extracting stem cells from such a young child could be fatal. To that Ms. McBangs says, We are out of time and we are out of resources. The only way to save your life is if we put the childs in jeopardy, and couples it with a creepy hand stroke. UH, excuse you.

So its a good thing that Tom is currently coordinating with a man that Ill assume he knows from Xaviers School for Sociopathic Youths to trace Kirks Agnes video feed. Or it would be a good thing if he hadnt told Liz explicitly that he would trust her on this one and not trace the feed because Liz knew if they did, Kirk would find out and cut off the feed. And, you guys, Im going to give you one guess what your favorite Spy Husband did thats right, he traced the feed, showed up at a house that contained no Spy Babies but many Spy Cameras, and got Lizs only link to Agnes shut off immediately, all while Lizzie cooed a haunting version of Rock-a-bye Baby. Kirk jumps onscreen long enough to show Liz what her husbands done and say, Im sorry Masha, as he cuts the feed and Liz weeps for him to bring Agnes back.

The only chance of getting Agnes right now is to blindly follow Red in his mission to track down Gaia, whose name is actually Owen Ayers as found out by way of who else Glen from the DMV. Though this time hes not at the DMV, hes taking part in his favorite extracurricular: bowling. You know who else likes bowling? DEMBE! He tells Glen his release point is off to which Glen says, Yeah, but Im a charming conversationalist, so the ladies dont mind. Dembe tells him to just keep his elbows in, and in return, Glen speaks a little conversational Mandarin with one of his associates and figures out where Ayers lives