[One Thing Remains]

1x07 | Frederick Barnes
E P I S O D E DISCUSSION T H R E A D







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episode synopsis

After a chemical attack on a subway, Liz and the FBI search for the man responsible. Liz reluctantly calls on Red for his help after she finds her search for the next person on The Blacklist, brilliant scientist Frederick Barnes, heading to a dead end. Meanwhile, Liz wants nothing to do with Red after he implicated Tom.

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[One Thing Remains]

the Red/Lizzie banter was hilarious in this ep. I understand why Lizzie wants to hate Red because he made her doubt Tom, but I am so glad that i the end she did not want him to leave. Red tried being nice at first and then he got feisty

Aram being in the field, even if only for a minute, was amazing!

Ressler being a big tattle tale was annoying. He says he respects Liz, but the rest of what he says after that statement clearly shows he does not. He was kind of acting like a jealous child and you can tell that at this point he resents Liz and her position because he feels she’s completely unqualified and she didn’t earn it. It was just handed to her.

Ok confession time - I did not like Ressler until ep 1x09. Before then I just kinda thought his character was kinda a big meany. I am so glad that writers allowed him to grow as a character because I love Ressler now. But rewatching these earlier eps are reminding me of why I didn’t like him at first

Red blowing up his old house was crazy!! I hope it helped him feel better and deal with all his pain. He spent a lot of money just to destroy it. I really hope that one day he does find out exactly what happened to his family.

[Nekoshoujo]

gooey-gooey cutesy Tom/Liz in this episode. Even though it's a lie it's still cute to me.

This is kinda a rare episode where you almost want to root for the blacklister. Barnes is just not all dark and twisty and side. He's more like a desperate mess. In that way he was probably most like the typical cop-show type villain. A guy doing evil things for what might be the right reason. And a lot of that has to do with Robert just being this amazing actor who just has that everyman vibe to him. The blacklist version of the friendly neighbor gone rouge.

Ressler being a big tattle tale was annoying. He says he respects Liz, but the rest of what he says after that statement clearly shows he does not. He was kind of acting like a jealous child and you can tell that at this point he resents Liz and her position because he feels she’s completely unqualified and she didn’t earn it. It was just handed to her.

I think I had some initial resentment towards him also because that kind of attitude within the situation had tones of misogyny to me. I'm not saying it was written that way, it's just been the experience of a lot of women in Liz's field to get that kind of backlash unwarrantably. Is it because of her connection to Red? Yes obviously. But does it feel like it's also because she's just some woman that hasn't been through the ringer yet? Yeah...


So overall a very different feel for this episode. Even the relationship with Red and Liz was different. She seemed more against him now than in the pilot even. And to think how this Tom storyline plays out...

[One Thing Remains]

Yes Liz was definitely more hostile towards Red during this ep. Watching it the first time it made since, but during the rewatch it just made feel bad for Liz because she's just not willing to open her eyes and see the truth about Tom.

[L i N d $ @ y]

• Why is Aram calling Donald Agent Ressler? I don't even remember him calling him that way in the latter eps.
• LOL on Red calling through the FBI line.
• This Liz & Red confrontation about Tom, it's very different how I feel watching it right now.
• Alright, so this is just a little trivia but this woman they're questioning about Barnes, she's also on Homeland and Diego used to be in that show so this is a little weird for me (they have no scenes on that show though).
• Haha, Dembe is adapting to the country saying "Bueno?" when Luli called him.
• I forgot about that house Red bought!
• Regarding Ressler & Keen and him reporting what she did to Cooper: Ressler was obviously jealous of Liz, how she is, why Red only wants to speak to her, etc. And that mistake was his cue to report her. It's his whole I'm 5 years vs. she's 5 weeks scenario he's dealing with.
• Oh so all of this was to find a cure for Barnes' son.
• Father-daughter theory again in play: "Someone who's willing to burn the world down to protect the one person they care about. That's a man I understand." - was he referring to that fire?
• I'm trying to get clues from Tom's story about how they got that lamp but I should probably not. It was just a story.
• OMG, he spent so much for his old house only to blow it up. It was also surreal to see that flashback of Red looking out to his daughter playing in the garden.

One question did pop up in my head while watching this ep: if these Blacklisters have their specialty or mode of operation with how they work, then what was Red's? All we know is he's FBI's most wanted...for what? I thought this ep was just okay. The whole virus SL didn't really interest me at all.

[One Thing Remains]

Originally Posted by L i N d $ @ y (View Post) One question did pop up in my head while watching this ep: if these Blacklisters have their specialty or mode of operation with how they work, then what was Red's? All we know is he's FBI's most wanted...for what? I thought this ep was just okay. The whole virus SL didn't really interest me at all.

That's a really good question! I never thought about that, but you're right we don't really know what kind of criminal Red is. I always got the impression that he was a trafficker of goods and he has in hands in all the pots from information to paintings to fake money. But they have never officially said what his crimes are.

[sunshinedan]

One thing bothers me about Ressler is he dashed into the courtroom alone with mask and oxydant. ,you're merely an agent, not a professional to handle this. Shouldn't he wait till paramedic or related department to deal with it ?It's bold to get in a space full of poison gas,you can endanger youself.I know he wanted to save people in time,but why did he let the firefighters wait outside?It seems like he wanted to be a typical hero that save the world. Liz was chasing Barnes at the same time,didn't he call backup to catch a felon?
This plot is very illogical.

[L i N d $ @ y]

Originally Posted by keroppi (View Post) That's a really good question! I never thought about that, but you're right we don't really know what kind of criminal Red is. I always got the impression that he was a trafficker of goods and he has in hands in all the pots from information to paintings to fake money. But they have never officially said what his crimes are.

So far he deals with drugs, fake money laundering, illegal shipments...etc. So he basically does everything bad but what is his modus operandi?

Originally Posted by sunshinedan (View Post) One thing bothers me about Ressler is he dashed into the courtroom alone with mask and oxydant. ,you're merely an agent, not a professional to handle this. Shouldn't he wait till paramedic or related department to deal with it ?It's bold to get in a space full of poison gas,you can endanger youself.I know he wanted to save people in time,but why did he let the firefighters wait outside?It seems like he wanted to be a typical hero that save the world. Liz was chasing Barnes at the same time,didn't he call backup to catch a felon? This plot is very illogical.

He did drive that exploding car in a prior episode which was also out of bounds for an agent like him, better leave that to bomb experts.

[sunshinedan]

Ressler reported Liz and said she's unqualified.But in my POV,he's partial responsible of Barnes getting away.Since they know the location of a felon,they should call backup.Ressler did things which were beyond his duty.He should catch Barnes with Liz,maybe Barnes wouldn't be off the hook.
The portrayal of Ressler is not endearing in the first part of season one.I went around the fandom to read reviews ,most fans think he is an angry ginger.

[One Thing Remains]

I have idea what his modus operandi is Maybe we will find out soon


Ressler seems to be very brave and willing to put his life on the line to save others. It's one of the things I like most about his character He can be very selfless when other people's lives are at stake.

I think a lot of people have changed their opinion of Ressler though. I know I have a lot. I used to not care for him much in the beginning, but now I really like him. The writer's have really allowed him to grow this season and he is definitely not the same character that he was in the early parts of the season.

[L i N d $ @ y]

Yeah I think it happened after Anslo too, he was in a life & death situation and nearly died. He was surprised Red was saving him. But we'll get to that one soon.

But yes in this ep, he was a bit annoying going off on Liz like that. And Liz had to end up saying he was right in the end and Liz shouldn't even have to realize that. Yes there are FBI protocols and such but I don't think it was right for him to report her to Cooper when he could easily just talk to her about it.

[TeamWilson]

WILSONNNNN!

Sorry, first thing that comes to mind when I think of this episode. I will have to do a proper posting on it after I rewatch the episode this week.

I will say though, I was sad when Frederick was killed because that squashed any hope I had of him ever returning to The Blacklist, lol.

[L i N d $ @ y]

Haha, yeah we won't get to see RSL on the show anymore but it was really nice to see him as a baddie here.

[Ceta_Cea]

For me the most intriquing part of this episode, is the part where Red is in the house and is taking part of the wall (or whatever this was) away to look behind it. Why did he do that, what was he expecting to see?

[Nekoshoujo]

Originally Posted by L i N d $ @ y (View Post) [LIST][*]Why is Aram calling Donald Agent Ressler? I don't even remember him calling him that way in the latter eps.

They're not equals yet. He's the new guy he has to grovel a little.

Regarding Ressler & Keen and him reporting what she did to Cooper: Ressler was obviously jealous of Liz, how she is, why Red only wants to speak to her, etc. And that mistake was his cue to report her. It's his whole I'm 5 years vs. she's 5 weeks scenario he's dealing with.

Oh yeah! He's jealous and that makes him mad. Plus it's bruised his ego a little.

[*]Father-daughter theory again in play: "Someone who's willing to burn the world down to protect the one person they care about. That's a man I understand." - was he referring to that fire?

And therefore himself? Or his past self? I think that theory works even if he's not her father.

One question did pop up in my head while watching this ep: if these Blacklisters have their specialty or mode of operation with how they work, then what was Red's? All we know is he's FBI's most wanted...for what? I thought this ep was just okay. The whole virus SL didn't really interest me at all.

I assume Red is wanted on a lot of charges. Murder to start. Fraud. Trafficking. Plenty of other charges too. Usually the higher up you are on the FBI's list the more crimes you'll be charged with.

One thing bothers me about Ressler is he dashed into the courtroom alone with mask and oxydant. ,you're merely an agent, not a professional to handle this. Shouldn't he wait till paramedic or related department to deal with it ?It's bold to get in a space full of poison gas,you can endanger youself.I know he wanted to save people in time,but why did he let the firefighters wait outside?It seems like he wanted to be a typical hero that save the world.

This episode played a lot with the idea of Ressler no longer knowing what his role is. Liz is now the agent closest to Red. He's not very high up on the task force. Red doesn't care about him. Liz has proven to be smart and capable all on her own. He wanted to be the hero again. He had to be just to prove to himself he was still that person. I think the last episode marked the start of this theme for Ressler until Audrey gets killed and he realizes being the hero comes at a price.