🔴 Script 8:15 The Russian Knot

 

Brief (Where we’re at):

Red’s lover Anne is dead, having hit her head on a table as she tried to stop Liz from shooting Red. When Liz shoved her away, Anne’s head crashed into a glass-topped table, shattering the glass and leaving blood on the wooden frame. Red ran to her side and crouched over her as her eyes dimmed, a large pool of blood spreading from her head. Dembe had warned Red that getting involved with Anne would only hurt her, but Red had ignored him.

Liz had found out about Red’s frequent trips to Cottonwood Fall, Kansas, by recruiting Dembe’s daughter, Isabella, to plant a listening device on Dembe’s parka. Then she showed up in the town and rammed Anne’s car in a parking lot, using their exchange of insurance information to snap a photo of Anne’s driver’s license to get her address, which she shared with Neville Townsend who was once her mother’s enemy, but is now Liz’s partner-in-crime. Liz has come close to convincing Townsend that Red, not her mother, is the real N-13, the mysterious Russian operative in possession of the Sikorsky Archive. Some contents of the Archive had been disclosed, which exposed the fact the Vory (the Russian mafia) were shipping contraband through ports controlled by Townsend. The Vory killed Townsend’s family, but Townsend pinned the ultimate blame on N-13.

So Townsend was more than happy to join Liz in Cottonwood Falls to corner Red at Anne’s. But Red noticed a suspicious van outside of Anne’s house. He sent Anne into town and then investigated, confronting the man, named Arkham, who confessed that “everyone” was there for the operation; then Red slit his throat. The van took off as soon as Red appeared. Liz was driving. The van was fully equipped with video monitoring equipment accessing a camera planted by Liz when she dropped off a “so-sorry-I-crashed-your-car” cake for Anne the day before.

Throughout the episode, Liz has two voices in her head delivering essentially the same message: to beat Red, she must be utterly ruthless. One voice is from an Apparition of the dead Mr Kaplan, who says she had failed Liz by not playing by Red’s rules. (Mr Kaplan’s appearance as a ‘guide’ suggests Liz is losing it.) The other voice is Townsend, who says there can be “no space” between what you want to do and what you will do to get it. Liz fails this test: 1) She vomits after her Cyranoid kills Mary Bremmer. 2) She screams at Townsend about the innocents killed in the assault on the police station. And 3) she cannot bring herself to watch to the end as Townsend has Dr Perillo torture Red. At this point, Townsend gives up on her, but she brags she can get to Red on her own.

Then Liz fails the test a fourth time: which is when she shows up at Anne’s house soon after Red has left, showing her gun and demanding to know where he is. Anne says she doesn’t know, but at that momen Red comes in the door. He had intended to leave, but did a sudden U-turn snd headed back. So Liz first threatens Anne and then Red with the gun. After Anne’s fall. as Red tends to her, he is vulnerable. Even with the phantasmagoric Mr Kaplan hounding Liz to shoot Red, Liz won’t. Or can’t. So she fails a fourth time to be “as ruthless as [Red] is.” For now, at least.

 
For S8 Episode 8:15 The Russian Knot 🎯 EW recap ¤ 🌅 Photo Gallery ¤ 🎹 Music Videos ¤ 📒 Script link: https://wp.me/pDKwi-bki [ “you are here” ]

 

༺✦ ♤ ✦༻

 
[ New York City ] [ Horns honking ]
[ Neville Townsend’s aide/nurse, Blake Brown, leads Liz down a hall in Townsend’s mansion ]
Blake Brown: Please hurry, Ms. Keen. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.
Liz: Is this how it works around here? [ Snaps her fingers ] He snaps his fingers and everyone just trembles?
Blake: If they have any sense.
[ They arrive at the conference room. Blake Brown turns to leave ]
Liz: Aren’t you coming?
Blake: Mm.
[ Footsteps depart ]
[ Liz opens the door. A disturbing scene greets her. Four of Townsend’s men are on their knees with plastic bags over their heads, writhing and struggling to breathe ]
Neville Townsend: [ Dramatically ] Ah. Thank God you’re here. The boys and I were chatting about failed expectations. I’ll catch you up. First I said– “Kansas was an awful bloodbath, and, sure, that was fun, but you let Reddington get away.” Then they said, “So sorry. We promise to do better next time. Please, Neville, what about my wife and kids?” To which I said, “Wife and kids? What about my wife? What about my kids?”
[ Townsend then stabs one of the men in the side ] [ Knife 🔪 plunges ] [ The man falls to the ground ]
[ Man grunts ]
Liz: You’re insane!
[ Liz tries the leave, but two men grab her and throw her down on her knees ]
[ Liz grunts ]
Townsend: Why? Because I stabbed a man who was suffocating? I suppose that was rather crazy of me. Almost as crazy as partnering with an FBI agent.
Liz: No – No!
[ Another man falls to the floor, out of air ]
Townsend: You find him at his girlfriend’s.
[ Another man passes out ]
[ Townsend signals to one of his men, who throws a plastic bag over Liz’s head ]
Townsend: You have him at gunpoint, but somehow he gets away. Why is that? Why don’t I have everything you promised me, Agent Keen?
[ Townsend pulls the bag off of Liz’s head ]
Liz: [ Gasps, coughs ] I have a lead. On Reddington. I can prove he’s N-13 and that he’s in communication with the Russians. [ Coughs ]
Townsend: Do you, now? I suppose there’s only one way to find out. Go. Pursue. Live the dream. But, Elizabeth–
Liz: [ Gasps for air ]
[ Townsend grabs Liz’s face by the chin ]
Townsend: Don’t disappoint me again.
[ Townsend pushes Liz to the floor ] [ All four of the men have passed out ]

 
[ At the park in New York City where Red met Anne, Red sits on a bench in the shadow of trees with intertwining branches ] [ Birds chirping ]
[ Red remembers happy and tragic scenes with Anne: dancing with her; her struggle with Liz in which, trying to protect Red from Liz’s gun, she fought with her and fell, cracking her head against a coffee table ]

[ Flashback: ]
[ Red dials 911. He crouches over Anne, her face in his hands ]
Red: [ Echoing ] Anne? Stay with me.

⋘⋙
[ Dembe walks over. He sits on the bench alongside Red ] [ Birds chirping ]
Dembe: Belsky reached out. He said it’s urgent.
Red: Anne had a daughter. Has a daughter.
Dembe: You must put that behind you. Belsky has information that concerns Townsend and Elizabeth.
Red: [ Absently ] Then I suppose we’ll act on it.
Dembe: Raymond, there’s something else. Paula called.
[ Paula’s son,Glen “Jelly Bean” Carter, is now deceased, having died of West Nile virus ]
Red: Glen’s mother, Paula?
Dembe: Yes. She wanted you to call or come by the house. And then she said something about “new irons in the fire.” Hot ones, she said.
Red: [ Laughs ] Oh, my God. Sounds like she’s dating.
Dembe: [ Chuckles ] That’s what I said. And she laughed and said [ imitating her ], “No, nothing like that. This is business. Serious business.” And then she said, “Alright, then, Dembe. I’ll see you and Raymond at the house.”
Dembe: What happened to Bill and Steven?
[ “Bill and Steven” were the aliases by which Glen Carter’s mother had long known Red and Dembe ]
Dembe: She knows, Raymond.
Red: Oh, my.

 
[ Red and Dembe visit Professor Belsky. Belsky is preparing a lecture about Histiaeus (Wikipedia), an Ancient Greek tyrant from the Sixth Century BCE ]
Red: Histiaeus. What’s to be learned from him, other than tyranny and duplicity?
Professor Belsky: There you have it. The history of mankind – Tyranny and duplicity.
Red: [ Chuckles ] You’ve come a long way from the Eighth Directorate, comrade– Uh, Professor Belsky.
[ The Eighth Chief Directate was the division of the KGB that “monitored/managed national, foreign, and overseas communications, cryptologic equipment, and research and development” ]
Red: Although I see your affinity for authoritarians hasn’t changed.
Professor Belsky: Histiaeus wanted to organize a revolt but feared discovery by the Persians, so he shaved the hair of his favorite slave and had the treasonous message tattooed on his head. When the hair grew back, he sent him off to spread the word, which became the first recorded act of steganography in warfare. Of course, my KGB ciphers are no more relevant today than tattooing a head, so you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this.
[ Professor Belsky hands Red a piece of paper on a clipboard ]

 
[ In the kitchen of his restaurant, Red shares with Cooper what Professor Belsky gave him. It’s a photo of a billboard: ]

Madam Zorba

TAROT CARD ● ZODIAC ● PALM READING ● MULTI-DIMENDIONAL READING
Call today for better future 202-022-1967 $5.99/min.
Love is a knot that even
Death cannot untie.

 
Cooper: I don’t understand. Are you getting leads from a psychic now?
Red: To predict the future? I don’t know, Harold. At $5.99 a minute, Madame Zorba might be a bargain at twice the price. If there was a Madam Zorba. But there isn’t.
Cooper: You’re showing me a fake ad?
Red: It’s not an ad. It’s a message. A code that I believe Townsend and Elizabeth may be using to communicate with an associate.
Cooper: “Love is a knot that even death cannot untie.” It sounds more like a Hallmark card than a code.
Red: Having failed to kill me, I suspect Elizabeth and Townsend may be planning to move against those around me – In my world and possibly in yours.
Cooper: Her fight is with you, not us.
Red: Yes, but you’re with me, and she’s with Townsend, who takes great pride in displaying his utter disregard for human life. “Love is a knot” isn’t an aphorism. It’s a clue to decrypting the code. As you well know, during the Cold War, nobody mastered the art of clandestine communication better than the Soviets, their pièce de résistance being a cipher machine capable of encrypting or decrypting text into 10 different languages. The Russkiy Uzel – 🔘 [See Note] The Russian Knot. The Kremlin destroyed most of them just prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, so Lord knows how Townsend got his hands on one, but clearly he did, and if we want to decrypt that message, we need to get one, too.
Cooper: Somehow I don’t think this is something we can order on Amazon.
Red: The only other machine I know of is on display in a museum in Minsk. Beautiful city. Amazing opera house. I’d forgotten how beautiful until yesterday.
Cooper: You were just in Minsk?
Red: Yes. In order to make a generous donation to said museum from a private collection.

[ Flashback: ]
[ Minsk, Belarus ]
Red: [ To Museum Director ] Nana was born in Minsk. I can think of no better way to honor her passing than with this gift.

Cooper: You gave the museum a Cézanne?
Red: A stolen one, which, like all good and greedy bureaucrats, they’re trying to decide whether to report. Imagine their embarrassment when the FBI finds it in their possession.
Cooper: You donated the painting. Now you want us to go and get it back.
Red: Yes. Along with the Russian Knot.
Cooper: And why would they give us that?
Red: Last I checked, your country had sanctions in place against both the president of Belarus and his son. They’re not giving you anything.
Cooper: You want us to steal it.
Red: Of course. What the hell do you think we’ve been talking about?

 
[ In the war room of the Post Office, Aram brings up images of the internal mechanics of the Russian Knot encryptor ]
Aram: Okay, this cipher machine is actually pretty fascinating. You use the little keyboard to type up your message, which it then jumbles into a random series of letters. Then, on the receiving end, you need another machine to turn the gobbledygook back into regular text.
Ressler: Okay, but this thing’s like 50 years old. I mean, can’t you crack the billboard code without it?
Aram: Well, it’s not exactly Orphan Annie’s decoder ring. The complexity of the Knot’s algorithm compounds every letter after it is entered, netting us a trillion, trillion, trillion–
[ Key clacks,🔅beeping🔅] –different possibilities.
Park: I know we’d like to find out what Keen and Townsend are up to, but are we really talking about robbing the Belarusian War Museum?
Aram: I, uh– I feel like we’ve done worse.
Cooper: Reddington made it clear there’s no diplomatic angle here. Townsend has illicit relationships with the Council of Ministers. If we reach out for help, he’ll be tipped.
Ressler: Yeah, but to what? We don’t even know what Keen’s planning.
⋘⋙
[ Liz is planning an operation with Max Ruddiger, a munitions expert who formerly worked for Red but was tortured by Townsend and is now working for him. They are in a concrete-walled building ]
Liz: Okay, Ruddiger, what do ya got?
Max Ruddiger: [ Chuckles ] This bores through rock using ultrasonic vibrations.
[ Gadget 🌀 whirring 🌀]
Max: Ha ha! Hell of a lot quieter, too.
Liz: It’s not very deep.
Esi Jackson: Don’t we need to get through two feet of concrete?
[ Esi Jackson, a private investigator, has flipped allegiances several times, but is now assisting Liz ]
Max: Only needs to be deep enough for the SCDA to do its thing and to keep me out of the boss’s heavy bag. Of course, what you gain in noise reduction, you lose in predictability. It takes time to heat up and expand, for the pressure to build, until finally – Boom!
Liz: Talk to me about access.
⋘⋙
[ The Post Office ]
Cooper: Once we’re in, we need a way to smuggle the cipher device out.
Aram: The lab’s mocking up a fake to leave in its place as we speak.
Agent Alina Park: We’ll need to loop the security feeds to make the swap.
Ressler: Okay, but how do we gain entry into their security passage?
⋘⋙
Esi: Silva Terzian. Immigrated from Armenia. Gets a tea at the same café every morning before she goes to work.
Liz: She’s our in.
[ 💨Boom💨 ]
Max: Ho-ho! [ Chuckles ]
Liz: Pack it up. It’s time to go.
⋘⋙
Aram: Wait. Like, now? Why so soon?
Cooper: The breach happens Friday night. That’s when the museum is hosting its fundraiser. Staff won’t like the FBI presence, won’t want to cause a scene in front of the donors, which means they’re more likely to fall for our diversion.
⋘⋙
[ Silva Terzian picks up her morning tea from a counter ]
Woman behind counter: Enjoy.
Silva Terzian; Thanks.
[ Liz runs into Silva, knocking her purse on the floor. Contents go scattering ] [ Clattering ]
Liz: Oh! I am so sorry!
Silva: No, it’s okay.
Liz: Let me help you with that.
Silva: Don’t– Don’t worry about it.
[ Liz scoops up Silva’s stuff, deftly running her museum ID through a card reader ]
Liz: Oh, hey! You forgot your wallet.
Silva: Thank you.
⋘⋙
Cooper: Anyone unclear? Any questions?
Park: I think the big question is, what’s Liz really up to?
Cooper: If we’re successful in bringing this device home from Minsk, we have a good shot at finding out.

 
[ The War Museum in Minsk, Belarus ]
[ Cooper, Ressler, Aram and Park walk through the museum wearing their jackets emblazoned “FBI.” People grow quiet and stare as they pass ]
One Security Guard to another: [ Speaking Russian ] Something wrong?
⋘⋙
[ Outside the museum, Liz, Max and Esi find a card reader. Liz uses Silva Terzian’s ID to open the door ]
[ Beep🔅]
Liz: [ On comms ] Let me know if we have a problem.
[ Esi is in a van in the parking lot, directing the group’s movement using GPS ]
Esi: At the terminus, go left. Then straight ahead 200 feet. Once you’re on site, you need to be 12 feet, 2 inches off the center of the north wall.
⋘⋙
Museum Director: Your credentials appear to be in order, but I’m afraid you’re in the wrong country.
Cooper: I go wherever he takes me.
[ Cooper shows the Museum Director a photo of Red ]
Cooper: Notorious fugitive Raymond Reddington. I’m told you accepted a stolen painting from him.
[ Some attendees overhear and exchange glances ]
Museum Director: He called himself Lloyd Wilke.
Cooper: I could alert INTERPOL. I’m sure they’d love to swarm your museum and arrest you as an accomplice after the fact. But that might kill the mood of this lovely evening.
Museum Director: Yes. That would be terrible.
Cooper: Or you could have your people show my team your security feeds while I look at that Cézanne.
⋘⋙
[ Liz’s crew goes through another door ] [🔅Beeping🔅] [ They set up a ladder and Max begins working on the ceiling ] [ 🌀Whirring🌀 ]
Esi: Four minutes.
Liz: Alright. You get started. I got the sensors.
[ 🌀Whirring 🌀 ]
⋘⋙
[ Aram walks alongside a Belarusian Security Officer ]
Aram: Beautiful city, by the way. It’s true what they say. Minsk isn’t just concrete. There is some really beautiful concrete.
Ressler: Hey, Aram. It’s Cooper. Something about a legal attaché. We’ll catch up in a second. Aram: Alright.
[ Ressler and Park turn around ]
⋘⋙
[ Aram and the Security Officer arrive at the security office ]
Security Officer: [ In Russian : ] We need to pull up the logs from Tuesday afternoon.
Guard: What for? Who’s this?
Security Officer: American cowboy. Real big gun.
[ Guards chuckle ]
Aram: Not trying to cowboy anyone, guys. Just want to take a quick peek at the footage.
[ Keyboard clacking ]
[ Aram briefly steps behind a server deck and inserts an external drive ]
⋘⋙
[ Max continues working with the ultrasonic drill on the ceiling [ 🌀Whirring🌀 ]
⋘⋙
[ Keyboard clacking ]
Aram [ Speaking Russian ]: [ Chuckling ] Excuse me. Where is the rest room? Small bladder. Friends call me ~ “Peanut.” ]
Security Officer: On the left.
[ Aram leaves ]
Security Officer: [ In Russian : ] Fool.

 
[ Liz flips a switch ] [ Beep🔅]
Liz: [ On comms ] Sensors are down.
[ Thud ] [ Footsteps ] [ Liz looks out of the room. Someone wearing an FBI jacket walks down the hall ]
Liz: They’re here.
Esi: Who’s here?
Liz: The Task Force.
Max: What the hell are they doing here?
Liz: What do you think? Reddington must have sent them to get the device before we can. We have to hurry.
⋘⋙
[ Door closes ]
Ressler: Hey, Aram, we’re in place.
Aram: Okay, just give me a minute to record enough footage to loop the feeds.
⋘⋙
[ Max is drilling holes in a circular pattern drawn on the ceiling ] [ 🌀Whirring🌀 ]
⋘⋙
[ Aram pulls his head out of a utility cabinet in the bathroom and opens his laptop ]
⋘⋙
[ In the security office, the Security Officer and Guard are watching the surveillance feeds ]
Guard: [ In Russian ] That’s him? In the hat?
Security Officer: Yes. That’s him. ⋘⋙ Where’s Peanut?
⋘⋙
Aram: Okay. The cameras are bypassed. You’re good to go.
[ Ressler and Park head out ]
⋘⋙
Liz: Hurry, hurry.
Max Ruddiger: Okay. Any minute now.
[ Liz’s cellphone vibrates ]
Max: Don’t answer that. It’s about to blow.
[ Cellphone opens ]
Liz: What– Hello?
Neville Townsend: I just had a dream about you.
Liz: I’m sorry, Neville. Now’s not a good time.
Townsend: No, don’t interrupt or I’ll forget. I was at a wedding, about to greet the bride and groom, but everyone was crying. And suddenly I realized – This isn’t a wedding. It’s a funeral.
⋘⋙
[ Ressler and Park have repositioned themselves near the Russian Knot is on display under a clear case ]
Ressler: Aram, we’re ready to open the case. Are the sensors down?
Aram: Uh, guys? This is weird, but the sensors are already off.
⋘⋙
Townsend: I hate funerals. I’m absolutely squeamish about open caskets. I was terrified. And that’s when I felt someone squeeze my hand. And it was you. You were holding my hand. And I wasn’t afraid anymore. Oh, and guess who was in the casket.
Liz: I don’t know.
Townsend: Reddington. And he looked hideous, all sunken and yellow.
Liz: I’m sorry, Neville. I really have to–
Townsend: I know I was harsh before, but this dream is a good sign. I am rooting for you, Elizabeth.
Liz: I gotta go. [ Beep🔅] He said he had a dream about me.
Max: He is creepy.
⋘⋙
[ The room where Ressler and Park are about to open the case with the Russian Knot begins to shake ]
[ Rumbling ] [ ⚡️Glass clinking⚡️ ]
Ressler: What the hell’s going on?
[ 💥💨💥Boom💥💨💥 ] [ The circle of floor on which the Russian knot rests collapses ]
[ Ressler walks over and looks down and sees Liz. Liz looks up and sees Ressler ]
[ Liz’s crew puts the device into a duffle bag ]
Liz: Okay. Run!
[ They run ]

 
[ Liz and Max run. Suddenly, Max stops ]
Max: Ahh!
Liz: What are you doing?
Max: The badge. I left it in the furnace room.
Liz: Forget the badge!
Max: We can’t get through the security gate without it.
Liz: We’ll go on foot!
Max: I’ll be back. I’ll meet you in the van.
Liz: Ugh.

 
Park: [ Running ] It’s her. She’s in the building. Keen’s got the cipher!
Ressler: Aram, tell me you have eyes.
Aram: Got her. Basement, near the east stairwell. Agent Park is right around the corner.
⋘⋙
[ Liz and Park collide ] [ Liz drops the duffle as they prepare to duke it out ]
⋘⋙
Aram: Oh, no.
[ Aram grabs his laptop and leaves the bathroom ]
⋘⋙
[ Liz and Park fight ] [⚡️👊🏼⚡️ Grunting ⚡️👊⚡️ ]
⋘⋙
[ Cooper is with the Museum Director, admiring the Cézanne ]
Cooper: It really is a lovely piece.
[ Classical music playing ]

 
[ Up-tempo music playing ] [ Liz and Park continue fighting until Max appears and clobbers Park with the ultrasonic drill ] [ ⚡️Thud⚡️ ]
Park: Ahh! [ Grunting ]
( Park ✨goes down✨ ]
Liz: [ Gasping ]
Max: I always wanted a hero moment. I got the badge. Let’s go! Grab the Knot!
Liz: Yeah, I got it. I’m right behind you.

 
[ Ressler turns a corner ] [ Gun cocks ✵ ] [ Liz points her gun at Ressler ]
Ressler: Where’s Park? What – are you gonna shoot me? For this?
Liz: You don’t understand. I’m dead without the device that’s in that bag.
Ressler: Shoot me, then. Show me there’s nothing left of the old Elizabeth Keen.
Liz: The cipher. I have to have it.
Ressler: Why? You mean for Townsend so we can’t read his messages?
Liz: Townsend? He doesn’t know I’m– Why would you say that?
Esi: [ On phone ] Liz, where are you? Liz, we need to go right now.
[ Liz leaves without the duffle ]
[ Ressler finds Park ] [ Aram shows up ]
Ressler: Park! Hey.
[ He helps her sit up ]
Aram: Is she okay?
[ Park sits up ]
Park: Yeah. I’m okay.
Aram: Where’s Liz? Where’d she go?
⋘⋙
[ Liz runs out of the building and gets into the van ] [⚡️Tires squeal⚡️ ] [ The van leaves ]

 
Museum Director: You’re not taking the painting?
Cooper: My concern is finding Reddington. Agents from our Art Theft unit will be in touch, and they’ll want to discuss the details.
[ Cooper sees Ressler ]
Cooper: Excuse me.
[ Excited murmuring ] [ A crowd gathers around the hole in the floor ]
Ressler: We got a problem.
Cooper: What kind of problem?
Ressler: A Liz Keen problem.

 
[ Red and Dembe sit at Paula Carter‘s dining room table. Paul is the mother of Glen Carter, Red’s long+time tracker, now deceased. Her nickname for him was “Jelly Bean.” Like the actor who played him, Clark Middleton, Glen died unexpectedly of West Nile virus. Glen’s funeral was described in 8:6 The Wellstone Agency ]
Paula Carter: My pumpkin cheesecake thumbprints are sort of legendary. They were Glen’s favorite.
Dembe: Thank you, Paula.
Red: Yes. Thank you, Paula.
Paula: You’re welcome, Steve, Bill.
Red: Paula, is there anything you’d like to tell us?
Paula: I used canned pumpkin.
Red: Ahh. ⋘⋙ You know who I am.
Paula: I do. I am so sorry. I know it’s a big secret.
Red: How did you find out, Paula?
Paula: I found this under Jelly’s bed.
[ Paula hands Red a thick document, about 300 pages long. Red looks at the title: “My Man Ray” ]
Paula: I say “manuscript,” but it’s really more of a memoir.
Red: Glen was writing a book?
Psula: About your time together, the hijinks and shenanigans. Oh, don’t worry. I don’t think he sent it to any publishers yet.
Red: I can’t believe this.
Dembe: I can.
Paula: Me too! It makes a whole lot more sense than Jelly being Huey Lewis’ muse!
Red: Paula, why are you telling me all of this now?
Paula: That’s the thing. I’ve been retired from Ma Bell for some time now, and I’ve been keeping to my budget, but after Jelly died, without his income, um, things have gotten sort of–
tight. Now, I-I’m not asking for a handout. I went back to work at the phone company part-time, but if you could maybe lend me–
Red: How much do you need?
[ Red thumbs through a wad of $100 bills ]
Paula: $172. And I’ll pay it back with interest. Or I could work it off, pressing that suit or maybe cooking you two a nice cream can dinner. 🔘 [See Note]
[ Red offers her several thousand dollars ]
Red: Well, that does sound nice, but, Paula, this is a gift – One I offer you in exchange for your continued discretion.
Paula: No gifts. I have to insist on paying you back.
Red: Then let’s just say I’m purchasing Glen’s manuscript.
[ He offers Paula the entire stack of bills ]
Paula: Well, that would mean a lot to him.
Red: You say you’ve gone back to work at the phone company?
Paula: Yeah, the cellular one, the big one. 18 hours a week now. Why do you ask?
[ Red smiles and raises his eyebrows ]

 
[ Cooper and the task force are in the museum’s furnace room examining the hole in the ceiling
Museum Director: What on earth?
Cooper: Reddington must have donated the painting so he could case the museum.
Museum Director: What do you think he was after?
Park: The Russian Knot. That machine is one-of-a-kind.
Cooper: Lucky we stopped him.
Museum Director: Yes. Thank God for the FBI.
Cooper: Your local police are gonna want to secure the area. We should clear everyone out.
[ Aram walks by with a duffle bag ]
Cooper: Tell me that was the fake.
Ressler: Hm. Thank God for the FBI.

 
[ The task force has returned to the Post Office ] [ Cooper updates Red, who is at Paula’s ]
Cooper: We got the device, and the Art Theft unit got the Cézanne.
Red: Excellent. Please tell me you made it to the opera.
Cooper: We didn’t. Keen made sure of that.
Red: Oh, of course. She was there.
Cooper: That’s what I can’t square – Is the “of course” of it all. You told me that she and Townsend were using one of these devices to encrypt their communiqués, that you’d intercepted those communiqués but couldn’t decrypt them unless we went to Minsk and got the other device.
Red: Something Elizabeth would never have wanted you to do.
Cooper: What I can’t square is how she knew we were doing it.
Ressler: Or why, when I mentioned Townsend’s name, Keen acted like he had no idea she was there.
Red: Well, I can’t speak to any of that, but all that matters is that you have the device and I have the ability to show you how to use it to read the text on that billboard, which I’ll do as soon as I finish with a pressing appointment.
Cooper: More pressing than stopping Townsend and finding Elizabeth?
Red: For the moment. [ Beep🔅]
⋘⋙
[ Paula comes in, holding an envelope ]
Red: Paula, tell me something good.
Paula: Well, you know Ernie in billing has had his eye on me since his missus passed, so I took him up on an offer to have dinner at Perkins. I sort of sweet-talked him. Anyway, I told him I did one of those spit tests, found out I had a half-sister, and was just desperate to get an address.
[ Paula hands Red the envelope ]
Paula: Emma Foster. Date of birth, address, phone number.
Red: And he just went and got it for you?
Paula: I always told Jelly you get more bees with honey.
Red: You are the bee’s knees, Paula. [ Chuckles ]
[ Red finds another slip of paper in the envelope ]
Red: Oh, and what’s this?
Paula: A receipt from Perkins. If it’s not too much, I’d like to get reimbursed for the chicken dinner. Ernie wanted to go Dutch.
Red: Ugh. Ernie.

 
[ Ressler’s office ] [ Cellphone rings✨]
Ressler: Ressler.
Liz: Reddington’s lying to you.
Ressler: You want to tell me about it? How about you turn yourself in?
Liz: He told you I wanted the device to keep him from reading messages between me and Townsend.
Ressler: Yeah, a theory you proved by trying to prevent us from getting it.
Liz: I wasn’t there to keep you from reading my messages. I was there to get it so that I could read his.
Ressler: Wait. The billboard’s his?
Liz: Billboard? I don’t know anything about a billboard. What I know is Reddington uses the Knot to decrypt messages in classified ads in The Washington Post.
Ressler: If he’s decrypting messages using a Russian Knot, then why send us to Minsk to get another one?
Liz: So that I couldn’t read what he and his handler are saying to each other. That’s who he’s talking to. If I can prove he’s talking to the Russians–
Ressler: You can prove he’s N-13.
Liz: I am not the enemy. He is. Please. Let me prove it to you.

 
[ The war room of the Post Office ]
Cooper: Keen wants to meet.
Agent Park: What she wants is to destroy the device so we can’t know what she and Townsend are planning.
Ressler: No, I think she wants to use the device to prove that Reddington’s communicating with his Russian handler.
Aram: I feel like we should at least hear her out.
Park: You think we should give her a big hug.
Aram: She probably needs one. Look, the Russian Knot is a relic of the Cold War that creates an analog code. Newspaper classifieds barely exist anymore. This sounds a lot more like Mr. Reddington than it does Agent Keen or Neville Townsend.
Cooper: I appreciate your reluctance, Agent Park, but if there’s a chance this could finally prove that Reddington’s a Russian agent, I think we need to hear what Agent Keen has to say.
Ressler: She’s gonna want to know that I have your word on this, that we’re not gonna double-cross her.
Cooper: You have it. Now call her back.

 
[ Ressler steps away from the group ]
[ Phone clicks, speed-dialing ]
Ressler: Cooper signed off. Tell me how this is gonna work.
Liz: Grab a pen. And listen carefully.
⋘⋙
[ Cooper also places a call ]
Cooper: This is Assistant Director Harold Cooper, authorization code 39587. I need to requisition a team for surveillance and apprehension.

 
[ Red knocks on a door ]
Emma Foster: Who is it?
Red: Emma Foster?
Emma: Who’s asking?
Red: My name is Farwell Smith. Your mother’s attorney.
Emma: You worked with my mom?
[ Emma opens the door but leaves the chain guard engaged ]
Red: I helped her with some of her estate planning.
Emma: She never mentioned you.
Red: Most of my clients don’t mention me to their children. Wills and trusts can be awkward. It’s all part of the job, in order to deliver a little bit of good news at an otherwise mournful time.
Emma: M-Mournful?
Red: I’m– I’m sorry. I thought you knew. Anne passed away. I am so sorry for your loss.
[ Emma closes the door, unlocks the chain guard and lets Red in ]

 
[ A park ] [ Ressler calls Liz for instructions ]
Ressler: Hey, Keen. I’m here.
Liz: There’s a man selling pretzels at the 72nd street crossover above the fountain. Buy one.
⋘⋙
Cooper: He’s headed into the park. Keen knows our vehicles will have to pull back. Beta team, stand down.
Park: Delta, can you go on foot?
⋘⋙
[ Near the pretzel stand, Esi is waiting ]
Esi: Drop your cell in the trash.
[ Ressler complies ]
Esi: Down the steps, by the fountain.
⋘⋙
Cooper: I don’t have a visual. Somebody get me eyes.
Park: Beta, clear emergency access.
⋘⋙
[ Ressler finds Liz seated on a concrete bench which circles the fountain ]
Ressler: So you have bodyguards now.
Liz: Is that it?
Ressler: You have Reddington’s ad?
[ Ressler takes the Russian Knot out of his duffel ] [ [ Zipping ]
Liz: Did Reddington tell you how he knew I’d be in Minsk?
Ressler: I think he thinks I told you. Guess that’s the romantic in him.
[ Whirring ⚙️]
Liz: Okay. Enter the number first.
Ressler: That belong to your mother? Please tell me that you at least tried calling that.
Liz: It’s not a phone number. It’s a key meant to orient the machine’s settings. And, yes, this book belonged to my mother, along with a storage locker filled with half-solved clues about Reddington and a series of encrypted messages.
Ressler: There’s more than one?
Liz: And if we can decrypt this one, we can decrypt all of them.
Ressler: Okay. Now what?
Liz: The circled letters, in order.
⋘⋙
[ The Delta Team is waiting in a van ]
Delta team leader: I have eyes. Should we move in?
Cooper: Yes, but keep your distance until units are in place. We don’t know what kind of protection she has, and I want to keep this clean.
⋘⋙
Liz: –C.M.A. That’s it.
[ The machine computes ⚙️] [ Clicking ]
Ressler: You okay? Keen, what is it?
Liz: I don’t know how Reddington knew I was coming. I don’t know how he knows half the things he does. But I do know that I’m right about this. I just wish you’d believe me.
Ressler: I do believe you.
Liz: [ Scoffs ] I wish you didn’t need proof.
[ The machine computes ⚙️] [ Clicking ] [ Clicking stops ]
[ The machine prints out a paper strip ]
Ressler: That’s the message? Numbers?
Liz: I don’t understand.
Ressler: Maybe we did it wrong. I mean, maybe we need to try again.
[ Liz notices men dressed in similar gray-green garb beginning to close in on her. Suddenly, she runs ]
Ressler: Damn it. [ Calls out ] Keen, hey! This isn’t me! Hey!
[ Ressler runs after Liz ]
⋘⋙
[ Running, Liz makes a phone call ]
Liz: [ On phone ] Send them in. Now!
⋘⋙
Cooper: [ On phone to Delta Team ] We’re made. Go. Now! Move in.
⋘⋙
Ressler: [ Calling after her ] Keen, wait! They lied to me! Keen. Hey. Stop. Stop. Keen, they lied to me. I had no idea. I swear.
[ Ressler catches up to a woman with dark wavy brown hair wearing a salmon-colored parka and dark blue baseball cap. But it’s not Liz. It’s a look-alike ]
[ Within a few minutes, the plaza is filled with dozens of look-alikes ]
Ressler: [ Looking around ] Oh, my God.
[ The real Liz ditches her parka, grabs an empty baby stroller and escapes ]
Park: She’s somewhere under the terrace.
Cooper: All units, move in. I repeat, move in now.

 
[ Red is visiting Emma Foster, the college-aged daughter of Anne Foster, the bird-watching woman from Kansas with whom Red had formed an intimate relationship. She died when she tried to stop Liz from shooting Red. Liz pushed Anne away and her head hit a table. Red has introduced himself to Emma as Farwell Smith, Anne’s attorney and estate manager ]
Emma: This can’t be right.
Red (as Farwell Smith): Your mother had a considerable estate.
Emma: We talked about it as recently as a year ago. I was gonna get like $3,000, not $3 million.
Red: Perhaps she wanted it to be a pleasant surprise.
Emma: Did you know she was in love with a wanted fugitive?
Red:She told you that?
Emma: She called last week, about him and how these people had come to where she lived to kill him. I tried asking her what was going on, but all she wanted was for me to protect myself, that the people who were after him might come after her or me. I thought it was crazy talk. But she insisted I drop everything and – go into hiding. So I came here and waited. She told me she was hoping to stay with a friend in a cabin on a lake, and she’d call me when everything settled down. That was the last time I ever spoke to her.
Red: I don’t know what to say.
Emma: Did you know her well?
Red: I did.
Emma: Then you can understand why I want to remember her love and kindness, not her connection to a criminal. I can’t do that if any of this money comes from him. Can you promise me that it doesn’t?
Red: I can’t promise you that. But I can promise you that your mother wanted you to have everything that she could possibly give you. That would include this. Think about it. You could always donate it to charity, set up a scholarship. Put on a play. At the very least, pay all your bills, buy something for yourself, and then, if you want, you can give the rest of it away. Just think about it.
Emma: How did she die?
Red: It was an accident.
Emma: Caused by the fugitive?
Red: No. But he– He was responsible.
Emma: Tell me, a man like that – Do you think he’ll ever get what’s coming to him?
Red: ⋘⋙ I do.

 
Esi: You’re crazy. You do know that.
Liz: I like to think of it as determined.
Esi: Yeah, determined to get yourself killed. And for what?
Liz: We couldn’t crack the code.
Esi: You had the messages and the machine to decrypt it, and what did you get? A whole lot of nothing.
Liz: I must be missing a step – An input my mom didn’t know about.
Esi: Say there is, and we figured it out. You think the FBI’s letting you near that machine again?
Ressler gave you a shot. He’s not giving you another one.
Liz: [ Sighs ] How did Reddington know we’d be in Minsk? We didn’t tell anybody. We found the folder of classified ads. We reviewed my mom’s notes on encryption. We were told we needed the Russian Knot to decrypt it, and we went to Minsk to try and get it, but where’s the opening for Reddington in that?
Liz: and Esi in unison: Belsky.

 
[ Liz and Esi show up at Professor Belsky’s office ]
Liz: We trusted you!
Professor Belsky: And I value that trust, but I value my life more.
Liz: Which is why you told Reddington.
Professor Belsky: I was told to report any inquiry about a code that requires the Russian Knot to decrypt. He was quite clear on how important that was to him, and I know what that means.
Esi: So the minute we showed you the ads, you showed him.

[ Flashback: ]
Professor Belsky: She heard I was an expert on the Russian Knot. She knew the ads were a code and was hoping I could decrypt them.
Red: “Mid-30s. Brown hair. Blue eyes”?

Professor Belsky: Well, I didn’t tell him it was you, but he seemed to know that already.
Liz: You told me I needed a Russian Knot to decrypt the message. Well, I got one, and I still can’t read it!
Professor Belsky: There are keys. You need them to read the code.
Liz: I had them. The phone number. [ Scoffs ]
Professor Belsky: Well, maybe there are more, or the ones you had were wrong.
Liz: Well, give me the right ones, then!
Professor Belsky: I don’t know them!
Liz: Well, then find me a person who does!
Professor Belsky: The only person who has the keys is the one who encrypted the message.
Liz: Reddington.
Esi: Great.

 
[ The kitchen of Red’s restaurant; Cooper has stopped by ]
Dembe: Is there anything on Elizabeth?
Cooper: Not a word.
Red: Dembe has the faith that comes from belief. All I have are questions. Why, how, what for, was it worth it?
Cooper: The answer’s no. Whatever the outcome, it most certainly was not.
Red: Well, at least you have it.
Cooper: I do. Along with the hope that I’m not being played.
Red: Alright. First, type in the telephone number. I assume the Cézanne has been returned to its rightful place at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford?
Cooper: It has.
Red: Now the first letter of each word in order. I gave up the commission on the sale of a $20-million painting and enraged the consigliére who entrusted me with the task. Do you really think I’d do all that just to play you, Harold?
[ The machine computes ⚙️ ] [ Clicking ] [ Clicking stops ] [ The machine spews out a strip of papers with numbers on it]
Cooper: A bunch of numbers?
Red: Yes, until you substitute each number for the corresponding letter of the alphabet – 1 becomes A, 2 becomes B, and so forth. Do you have a pen? Ah, good. Alright, let’s hurry. I’m morbidly curious to find out what painful end Elizabeth has in store for me.

 
[ Cooper is back at the war room of the Post Office ]
Cooper: The code was the address for some abandoned warehouse, a date, and a time.
Park: Instructions for a hit.
Aram: But the device was spitting out random numbers. What– What were we missing?
Cooper: One more step. Each number in the sequence represents a corresponding letter of the alphabet.
Park: So the billboard was a message.
Cooper: Which means Reddington told us the truth, and Keen didn’t.
[ Ressler’s cellphone rings✨]
Cooper: [ To Ressler ] I understand why you’re upset. I wasn’t honest with you. For what it’s worth, I wish I’d been wrong to doubt your judgment about Keen.
Ressler: You were wrong.
Aram: How can you say that? She said this was about keeping her from Mr. Reddington’s intel when we now know it was about keeping him from reading hers.
Ressler: Look. I know that’s what it looks like.
Cooper: It looks that way because it is that way. You need to accept that.
Ressler: [ Scoffs ] Why? So you stop following me?
[ Ressler walks away ]

 
[ Paula Carter shows up in Red’s kitchen with Dembe ]
Paula: Raymond!
Red: Hello, Paula! Thank you for coming. How was the drive? Did Dembe talk your ear off? [ Chuckles ]
Paula: It was just great. Sometimes I like to lean my head on the window next to me so I can feel all of the little bumps on the road, and my vision starts to flutter and I just space out, like I’m in a dream.
Red: That sounds nice. You know what also sounds nice? – Employment.
Paula: Did you get a new job?
Red: I did not. I’m offering one. [ Chuckles ]
Paula: What kind of job?
Red: A service provider.
Paula: Are you asking me to find people for you? Like Jelly Bean did?
Red: Why don’t we sit, have a cup of tea, share some tawdry tales, have a laugh or two, and then we’ll drive you home. You can put your head up against the glass and go to your happy place, and I can tell you what it is I have in mind.

 
[ Ressler’s cellphone rings✨] [ Beep🔅]
Ressler: Ressler.
Liz: Hey.
Ressler: Thank God you’re alright, Keen.
Liz: I don’t even know why I’m returning this call.
Ressler: Look. I’m sorry. They used me to lure you out.
Liz: Yeah, well, a lot of good that did.
Ressler: You’re right. But at least now I know what those numbers mean.
Liz: Because Cooper handed the device over to Reddington.
Ressler: He did.
Liz: So they decoded his fake message. They think I’m a liar.
Ressler: No, but I don’t, and I’ll prove it. I know the step that you’re missing. Look. Each number stands for a letter – 1 is A, 2 is B, 3 is C.
Liz: They’re using alphanumeric substitution.
Ressler: Exactly.
Liz: Hang on. Okay. 17 is Q. 16 is O. No. 16 is P. 18 is R. 1 is A. 14. N. 16? P. 2 is B. Wait a minute. That doesn’t make any sense.
Ressler: What does it say, Keen?
Liz: QPRANPB. It’s not a word.
Ressler: Maybe it’s backwards or the letters of each word are jumbled. I mean, Reddington told us this is how it works. It has to say something.
Liz: Oh, my God. That’s it. The Cyrillic alphabet. We translated the numbers into English because that’s what Reddington did, but his message was a fake meant to throw us off.
⋘⋙
[ Images flash by of Red’s Friend in the East sending and receiving messages, including one, apparently the most recently decrypted, that says in Russian 🔘 [See Note]: ]
 

“DECOY WORKED. SITUATION AVERTED”