Assignment One

Kaylah Wright
Figured World: A figured world is a large social structure that has specific rules and conventions
for appropriate behavior. Figured world is the thing that is IN the community of practice; the
objects, people, and groups in the community of practice is what makes up the figured world. An
example would be what I am doing my assignment on, The Blacklist and the rules and
conventions that go along with this figured world. The rules and conventions would be the
things that are acceptable and unacceptable, considered normal or abnormal when it comes to
this specific figured world. Below you will find a description of my figured world:
The figured world that I have decided to observe is a show called The Blacklist. I
chose this as my figured world because I am interested in how this TV show portrays the
criminals they encounter and the way the show portrays the Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI), as well as other intelligence units. Specifically I will be observing the
way the FBI interacts with the different criminals that come across. Even though the
criminal world in the show is very dramatic, I think there is something to be learned from
the criminals and the informant, Raymond Reddington, who is also a criminal himself. The
Blacklist is a perfect example of a figured world because even though they work together to
reach a common goal, they all bring a new asset to the team that can strengthen. For
example, before Elizabeth Keen came to the show, she was a profiler and since she came to
this new team, she is the only one who has experience in that category. Being a profiler can
help the team depict what the criminal may do next and figure out what their motive may
be. Other members of the team are skilled in different areas and are imperative to catching
the criminals.
The Blacklist is a TV whose plot is a notorious criminal, Raymond Reddington, who
was on the run for going AWOL in the military after he returned from the military, only to
find his wife and daughter nowhere to be found and ever since then he has been running an
underground black market and has since came across much more dangerous criminals
then himself. Reddington turned himself into the FBI the same day a new FBI agent,
Elizabeth Keen (also known as Lizzie by Reddington), will be starting her first day also. In
the beginning of the show, Reddington claims to have a list of criminals that isnt on the
FBIs radar and promises to help them catch them, but will only deliver this information
through Lizzie, of course the FBI is concerned and confused since this is the first time
Lizzie will be joining the FBI and she says that she has never encountered Reddington
before. The shows main setting is at a blacksite (hidden place for chosen FBI agents to
their place of business), though the agents do leave the blacksite to catch the criminal, the
blacksite is the main place where they conduct their business and meetings therefore it is a
place of business.
When it comes to the rules and conventions, there are some very abnormal actions
that would not be otherwise acceptable if the criminals were in the real world and in
real time. Reddington is the informant of all their cases, essentially, he believes that he is
entitled to all of his rights. With that being said, it is very normal for him to be out in the
real world and not locked up because of the crimes he committed. He is allowed to leave
the country, carry weapons, have a bodyguard, commit other crimes (such as murder), etc
and there are not any consequences for these actions and crimes that he commits. Along
with his behavior being part of the acceptable norms and behavior, the communication that
is acceptable would be Reddington only speaking with Lizzie for at least the first season,

cell phones (smart phones as well as flip phones), satellite radios, talking face to face
between other bureaus, violence and money are also two other forms of communication.
When in the world of The Blacklist, and you are an agent dealing with the cases, it is
acceptable to carry a gun around because when you pursue one of the blacklist criminals
you put your life at risk when it comes to the black market crimes.
Some unacceptable behaviors in this figured world would be involving innocent
people because the main characters of the show do not agree with casualties in their cases.
Lastly, I expect to encounter different communities of practice, one being the agents that
work continuously on the blacklist, the criminals that we encounter throughout the show,
and more temporary ones throughout the show.
Communities of Practice: Communities of a certain practice is not just members of the same
team, or a group of doctors who happen to be colleagues. In order to be considered a community
of practice, the members have to be learning from each other and teaching each other to become
a stronger community. The things and the tools that the member use together and how they share
their knowledge with each other is how they learn from one another is what distinguishes them
from just a group of friends to a community of practice. An example could easily be a Spanish
Club because not only are they sharing their passion for the Spanish language but they are also
expressing new ways to show that love and ways to teach that language to other people outside
of their community of practice. Communities of practice is also the combination of the domain,
the community, and the practice.
The blacksite: This blacksite is an exclusive network where Agents Cooper, Keen,
Navabi, Ressler, and Mojtabai work and, not including them or Reddington, only a few
other people know about it. These agents work collectively to try to solve all cases that
Reddington brings to them, these are high security profile cases that need to be taken care
of immediately and the team works tirelessly to make sure that the problem gets solved
and sometimes at all costs.
Practices of the Community: Since there is a wide range of different people within the
community, there are prone to be different ways that individuals do things when it comes to
certain tasks. When everyone has a different point of view of things, it allows for everyone to be
able to contribute their ideas and work to others. The different practices it what allows a
community of practice to globalize and contribute to other agencies and fields around the world.
They may share the same interest, but the way they contribute to it is different and there are
multiple different practices of community listed below in The Blacklist.
Undercover work: More than 85% of the show, the agents are going undercover in the
episodes in order to catch the criminals. Sometimes they go undercover in direct contact
with the criminal or they go undercover to uncover things about the criminal from known
associates; associates of Reddington as well.
Catching the criminals: This is a part of the teams everyday work and so you can
imagine that this plays more than a major role in the show. The ways that they catch the
criminals are different each time because they have to be creative because of the different
types of criminals they encounter.
Domain: The domain is the interest that the community is interested in and what the root of that
interest is. Sometimes the domain is not recognized by other people and it must be developed
within the community of practice. Whether or not it is identified and recognized by other groups
in entirely up to that community in how they wish to identify themselves.

Reddingtons blacklist: Reddingtons list of criminals is essentially why the blacklist

still exists and the reason why they are able to have such a high success rate in catching
them. This is the teams main interest and they all have a desire to catch these notorious
criminals to stop from destroying lives and sometimes even starting World Wars.
Artifacts: In a figured world, or community of practice, artifacts are physical objects, ideas, and
or emotions that play a significant role in the figured world. The Blacklist has some artifacts that
are made known to the viewers and they are things that are frequently showed throughout the
entire series. Some of the artifacts, and their significance, are listed below:
Reddingtons hat: Reddingtons hat is definitely important because he wears the same
one, or similar to the same one, every episode and he rarely takes it off. If he does take it
off, the viewers can usually tell its because he is upset and is getting ready to kill
someone. This does not mean every time he kills someone his hat is off, but rather when
he has time to think about his actions and what he wants to do, he does take it off. Since
Reddington has been on the show since the Pilot episode, he has also had the hat and it is
always on unless he takes it off physically or he is forced to take it off when he is held
captive, which happens sometimes.
Agent Keens scar from the fire- When Agent Keen was a little girl, she was in a fire
with her parents which resulted in the alleged death of her mother and father. She
obtained the scar when she was rescued from the fire by her father who later died. Agent
Keen described in the first episode, Pilot, that the scar was her brave scar and whenever
she felt like she needed help or was in trouble, she would rub it and it will make her brave
again. She was using this as a tactic to save a little girl that the team was dealing with that
episode.
Literacy Practice: Literacy practice refers to the ways of communication that are established in
the figured world. Ways of communication can be different things such as phone conversations,
texting, newspapers, media, reporters, etc. Body language can even be a way of communicating.
Literacy practices in The Blacklist are as follows:
Phone calls: There is always constant contact between agents that work at the blacksite
because they are constantly finding new information and need to be able to inform the
team when they have new information. When one of the Agents, or even Reddington
sometimes, doesnt pick of their phone, it usually means something is wrong. For
example in season 2, episode 6 (The Mombasa Cartel (No. 114)), when Agent Ressler
didnt answer his phone, the team called for back-up at the local sheriffs department so
they could go find him because they knew something was wrong.
Actors and Actresses: Actors and actresses are people and characters that play a significant role
in the show and who can bring knowledge and different techniques to the community of practice.
In The Blacklist, there are several actors and actresses that come into play and who all, someway
or another, play a very important role when it comes to catching the criminals. Below is the list
of people who imperative to the everyday operations of the show:

Elizabeth Keen: Elizabeth, also known as Lizzie to Reddington and Keen to her
colleagues, is a former FBI profiler who is transferring to the blacksite because she felt
like she needed a chance and this is what she wanted to do since she was a little girl.
Keen is not a only a main character in The Blacklist, but she is vital to the show has she
acts as the messenger between her, Reddington, and the rest of her team, since
Reddington demands to speak to her and only her. Keen also has an important and

specific artifact that is well known in the series: her scar on her right wrist from the fire
when she was a little girl.
Raymond Reddington: Reddington is a notorious criminal who has been on the FBIs
10 Top Most Wanted list, ranked at number 4, who turned himself in after hiding from the
FBI for 20 years, now we know that he turned himself in so that he can work with Keen
and be close to her. Like Keen, Reddington also has a special artifact that is significant to
him, and to is made apparent to the viewers as well: his hat and the significance will be
made. Reddington is described to others as being careless, inconsiderate, reckless and
other things. Throughout my observations, you will find some of these things to be true,
some of these things to be true at time, and some maybe not true at all, in ones opinion.
Reddington also has a personal bodyguard by the name of Dembe who Reddington trusts
the most. In the episode that I will be observing first, we will find out some information
about Dembes past. He can be seen as both a protagonist and an antagonist.
Harold Cooper: Cooper is the Director of the blacksite and oversees that all
investigations are thorough and completed to the best of the units ability. Cooper initially
interviewed Keen to try to understand why Reddington only wanted to speak with her,
but as said before, she had no idea either. Outside of being the Director, he is also a
husband but that role is not shown often. Close to the end of season 1, Agent Cooper was
choked and almost killed and thankfully recovered but he now has to use a cane because
of the injury the incident caused. We also know that he has some life threatening illness
that has not yet been learned by the viewers yet.
Donald Ressler: Ressler works very close with Keen, though they bump heads in the
beginning of the series because Ressler does not like change. He sees Keen as a little girl
new to the FBI who doesnt know what she has gotten herself into. Ressler can get very
involved in cases, especially ones that involve people that he cares about, for instance, his
ex-fianc was killed by a criminal who they were tracking down called Mako Tanida.
Also close to the end of season 1, Ressler was wounded and was prescribed to take painkillers which we see he gets addicted to, which can also be names as an artifact. His role
is just as a colleague to Cooper and Keen, and he tries to develop a relationship with
Reddington but as we know he only wants to speak with Keen.
Samar Navabi: Agent Samar Navabi is a mossad agent from Iran and her new position
with the team was due to the death of another agent working on a case. Navabi found
Reddington, so she thinks: Reddington really found her and why he did so has not
became clear. Since she is new to the team, she is finding it really hard that no one really
trusts her so she trying to earn their trust. What we do know about Agent Navabi is that
she is out for revenge for the man that was responsible for the mission of a bomb that
killed thousands of innocent people including her brother. Navabi is good at what she
does and she also has a sentimental part about her too, especially when it comes to her
team and fighting for the people that she cares about.
Aram Mojtabai: Aram Mojtabai play a different role in the team. He is the computer
analyst for the team and he is the person, besides Reddington, who can give them all the
details to someone with the touch of a keystroke. Mojtabai is very sweet and kind to
everyone and he trusts everyone. He does not have the same training as everyone else so
when tactical things go wrong, he is a little clueless as to what to do.

Observation One
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
NBCs The Blacklist (Season 2, episode 6: The Mombasa Cartel (No. 114)-43 minutes)
The Blacklist Background (Season 1): The Blacklist is a show about criminals being caught and
told on by one of the most notorious criminal in history, Raymond Reddington. In season 1, we
saw Reddington set the rules of how things were going to go if the agents that ran the blacksite*
wanted his information that he had to catch the criminals. Reddington told the other agents that
he would only consult with a brand new field and new to that division in the FBI, Elizabeth
Keen, the reason behind his reasoning for that has not yet been discovered. Reddington knows
everything about this Elizabeth Keen, as he calls her, Lizzie; he knows that she is married (and
that the marriage isnt really what she thinks), that she was in an awful fire when she was a child,
where the scar is from the fire, etc and Lizzie does not understand why or how he knows these
personal things about her. What is clear about Reddingtons obsession with Lizzie is that he cares
for her deeply and he would do anything to saver her and keep her from harms way. Also in
season 1, we discovered that Lizzies husband, Tom Keen, is an assassin hired by Reddingtons
assumed enemy, Berlin, to kill Lizzie. Lizzie was in denial until Reddington put the truth in front
of her and she had no choice but to believe the crucial truth. The season finale of season 1,
showed Lizzie shooting Tom and the viewers were to believe that she actually killed her
husband, which we find out fairly soon in season 2, that she didnt though she told Reddington
and he coworkers that she had. In midst of all this background drama, the FBI encounters some
of the most clever, notorious, infamous, criminals that the viewers has ever seen. We see them
deal with murderers, embezzlers, kidnappers,etc. and all of them have never been heard of my
the FBI or any other intelligence units and Reddington has access to all of them. (blacksite*= a
secret government place where the location is not to be disclosed to anyone so that the cases
they work on are not to be compromised)
3 minutes: In the first few minutes of this episode, it shows a scene from 29 years ago in Koidu,
Sierra Leone of a little boy feeding animals and his family doing other tasks. A few seconds later
men in trucks came with guns, one of the men asked for the other mans name and and I heard
you have a big mouth and then a second later, the men slaughtered the entire family. When the
men were done slaughtering the family, including the women and cattle, they noticed the little
boy was cowering over by the trees and decided to take him with them. They picked him up and
through him in the truck and sped off. After that, it shows present day Paris, France and we see a

man getting choked by a man who was bringing him breakfast for the day. The next scene begins
with Reddington showing Lizzie an article of the incident and claims that this work is being done
by the Mombasa Cartel because of the details of the murder.
8 minutes 30 seconds: This scene begins with a women walking into a cottage and saying
Matthew, thats the best one yet. Hes beautiful. The women was talking about the man from
the 3 minute snippet; hes taken out his eyes and replaced them with black eyes, stuffed his body
and made it look like he was just sitting and staring, keeping in mind that the body of that person
is actually a corpse. Since Reddington believes this is the work of poltures, he is setting up
Lizzie up a meeting with one of the guys who is a strong advocate for protecting animal life, his
name is Jeff Pearl. After he explains the relationship that him and Jeff Pearl have, which is not
much of a real relationship as Reddington says to Lizzie, Were not buddies, I dont have
buddies. Afterwards, he tells Lizzie what her name will be when she meets with him because he
does not want Jeff to know that Lizzie is an FBI agent. After he fills Lizzie in, he asks if she is
okay because she is acting strange.
14 minutes 53 seconds: The woman from the second observation description is talking to her
other son, the one who killed the man in the first observation, and she is telling him to go find
another friend for his brother, the one who stuffs them and replaces their eyes. As she is telling
him to go find another friend for her brother, she slaps him because he is complaining about how
he ...does all the dirty work and takes all the risks while those two sit at home. After that
incident, the mother explains to him that he should be proud of what they do because of who
their father is and how they help him and his brother. The scene ends with the two hugging, and
that sons name being revealed as Peter.
24 minutes 21 seconds: Ressler has traveled to Nebraska where he interviews Peter and his
mother. When Ressler is talking to them, he hears something in the cage on the back of Peters
truck and asks to take a look, knowing there is a person in the cage instead of an animal, Peter
responds, Just watch your fingers, he bites. As soon as Ressler moves the blanket covering the
cage, Peter bent his hand and knocked him onto the ground, knocking him out.
29 minutes 11 seconds: This is an important scene because this is when it is clear to the viewers
that the women and her sons, Matthew and Peter, are the family of Jeff Pearl, who knows that
these killings are going on and is not being truthful about his role when it comes to the poltures
and what he really believes. The women is telling him that Peter had to capture the FBI agent
(Ressler) because he knew what they were doing and he was going to arrest them. Jeff instructs
them just to get it done and leave no evidence, the last thing he said before the scene ended was,
Tell Peter to call me when its done, indicating that he knew about what they were doing and
he wasnt going to do anything to stop them, but he was encouraging them. After Jeff got off the
phone, he went to down stairs only to find Reddington standing in his living room with a gun
with a silencer on it. When the rest of Resslers team discover that he isnt answering his phone,
they realize that he may have been compromised so they went to go search for him. When they
got there, the local police department was there filling them in on the people that has Ressler,
they were telling Keen and the rest of the team that the son that has been stuffing the bodies was
kept a secret from the town. Meanwhile, Reddington is talking with Jeff to explain to him that he
knows what he has been doing and the viewers can tell that Reddington is upset as he does not
like to be lied to. Ending this scene, Lizzie found Ressler and everything that he had, including
his pain medication that he is become addicted to. They also find the Peter, who is shot by police
and the mother who kills both herself and Matthew by throwing a radio in the bathtub that shed

put Matthew in after he came home from trying to hunt Ressler but ended up getting stabbed
himself with an arrow.
38 minutes 26 seconds: Reddington is telling a story of a boy, who turned out to be Dembe,
whose family was slaughtered 29 years ago in Koidu, Sierra Leone and he was sold into sex
slavery, branded and left for dead at the age of 14 when Reddington found him. When
Reddington found him, he saw to it that he went to school and graduated at a university. Dembe
did graduate at a university with a Bachelors of Science in English Literature and can speak
several languages and get by on others. The reason for Reddington telling this story is because
the men responsible for the imprisonment of Dembe and slaughtering of his family was the
Mombasa Cartel, which Jeff is, more or less, a part of. At the end of the story Dembe says,
Raymond, dont. That was then, it serves no purpose to kill him now Reddington does say
anything for a while and then tell Jeff that Dembe is a good man and shoots Jeff in the chest,
watches him die then leaves with Dembe.
41 minutes 45 seconds: Agent Keen is seen going into what looks like a cellar, and says Ive
been thinking about what to do with you, to tell you the truth I havent made a decision yet, and
we can see who she is talking to, who she has been keeping captive: Tom Keen.

Observation #2 (Season 2, episode 7: The Scimitar (No. 22)- 43 minutes)

September 24, 2015
2 minutes 56 seconds: The first few minutes of the show started with a bang. The setting was
Dubai, United Arab Emirates and it showed Agent Navabi in a Israeli club and she was sitting
there with a drink in her hand when a gentlemen walked over and claimed that she was staring at
him and they flirted and he bought her a drink. Seconds later it showed a clip of the two making
their way, to his room kissing each other and, assumingly, going into the hotel room. Also
seconds later, the man that Agent Navabi was with, was out of the window and hed landed on a
car, falling from the hotel window above. The clip ended with Agent Keen questioning Tom
about where she could find Berlin because she wanted answers about why he put Tom into her
life and find out what else he knows.
5 minutes 32 seconds: Dembe, Reddingtons bodyguard, tells Agents Keen and Navabi to come
meet him at a music store. Navabi asks Keen if she is upset by it because Reddington asked her
to come, Navabi expressed it as ...I dont want to step on anyones toes. When they entered the
store, Reddington began telling them about a Persian man who went into a bar and minutes later
he was falling from a 12-story building, referring to the man Agent Navabi was with the night
that she went into the same bar and was with the same man. Since she is also a Mossad agent,
Navabi says that she is not allowed to talk about assignments that she does for the Mossad. The
reason Reddington has called them there is because that man that committed suicide was a top
scientist in Iran, the Iranian government had planned to retaliate by sending someone to get rid of
all of their top scientists and that they needed to act fast because he is already on American
soil, and he goes by the name The Scimitar.
9 minutes 23 seconds: This scene starts off with Lizzie getting a phone call from the man that is
watching Tom saying that people around the boat asking questions. When Lizzie got there the
man was explaining to her that they either needed to move Tom or move the boat. Lizzie
responds and says that she will deal with it then she goes in the boat where Tom is being held
and gives him the bag that she was carrying that contained warmer clothes for him. Tom is angry
and is asking if she met with the guy that he suggested she meet with. The scene is ended with
Tom yelling that she cant hold him captive forever, Lizzie slams ignores him, slams the door
and leaves.
13 minutes 19 seconds: When Agent Keen gets back to the blacksite the team tells her that
Aram found something pertaining to the case. They came across an accountant who is working
for the government, who happens to be Iranian, who was also voice recording whatever was
going on and he had it linked up to a special location. When the team got the location, they were

able to bring other special forces with them to evade the place. When they arrived, they found
information on the top scientist and they were able to get to him before the assassins did. When
Agent Keen and Ressler got the scientists, who was posing as a government worker, they
attempted to hurry and put him in the car but when they were speeding away, their window was
shot out by the people who were trying to kill and him and a flash bomb was thrown into their
car, making them crash. When they woke up they were in a hospital and the scientists was
nowhere to be found.
19 minutes 44 seconds: After Agent Keen and Ressler get into a car accident with the the
scientists, Keen wakes up to find herself in a hospital and unable to move her arm, she also sees
that Ressler is unconscious in the bed across from hers. When she realizes that she is in the
hospital, she asks to use the phone so that she could call her boss to let him know that her and
Ressler survived the crash, but Ressler wasnt looking too good. When the nurse who is taking
care of them starts to act a little off, Keen goes to look at Resslers chart and notices that the
pages are blank and that this is a fake hospital and realizes that she needs to leave Meanwhile,
Reddington is having lunch with a young girl who works at a food truck, the audience is made to
believe that it could be Reddingtons daughter, but we later find out thats not the case. She starts
talking about how she has hasnt heard from her father in 20 years and says that she doesnt want
to because he caused her so much pain. After that conversation, she starts to feel a little sick and
she soon realizes that Reddington has drugged her, he takes her and has Dembe put her in the car,
and this is the ending of the scene.
25 minutes 36 seconds: Agent Keen manages to get the nurse to tell them where they are and for
her to admit that this is a scam. When she tries to call for the doctor, Agent Keen put her in a
sleeper hole and knocked her out. Meanwhile, Agent Navabi was summoned by Reddington for a
personal matter, but also involving the case they care currently working on. Reddington claims
the man who is going after the scientists is also the same man who was responsible for the bomb
that killed thousands of innocent people, including her brother. Reddington also claims that the
man who is responsible will go to one of his contact that Reddington knows in order to get out of
the country if all should fail, and the scene end with them ending up at that guys house with a
gun to his face and threatening him.
30 minutes 25 seconds: The man who also happened to be the doctor that was taking care of
Agents Ressler and Keen, is the Scimitar and is the one who is going after the scientists. He
breaks into the hotel room where the last remaining scientist is and he tells her that she is going
to help him before he kills her. The team figures out that he is going to the hotel so they make it
to the hotel in time to find the Scimitar and the scientist, who was stuffed in a suitcase. They
almost arrest the Scimitar when a car pulls up and starts blasting guns so everyone hit the floor
which gave the Scimitar the opportunity to get a way in the getaway car. The scene end with him
going to his contact so that he can get out of the country, and of course Agent Navabi,
Reddington and Dembe are there waiting on him. He is Agent Navabis gift from Reddington
and he leaves the man who is responsible for her brothers death and her, alone.
37 minutes 24 seconds: When the team is called back out, they are called out because someone
spotted a dead body and when the team arrives they determine that the man who was shot
execution style was the Scimitar, who was last seen with Agent Navabi. We are to assume that
Navabi is the reason behind his death, but that is not made known to the local police.
40 minutes 12 seconds: The episode ends with Reddington, meeting with his arch nemesis:
Berlin. As said, the Reddington and Berlin have been at odds with each other because Berlin
believes that Reddington killed his daughter over 20 years ago. When Reddington gets out of the

car, after he is searched by Berlins men for weapons, he says to Berlin,....I did not kill your
daughter. Of course Berlin doesnt believe him, but the girl that Reddington drugged and put in
the car walked out, and it was Berlins daughter that Reddington was following and hunting
down so that he could prove that his daughter is not dead and he did NOT kill his daughter and
whoever told him that, lied for an unknown reason.

Observation #3 (Season 2, episode 8: The Decembrist (No. 12)- 43 minutes)

September 26, 2015
3 minutes 10 seconds: This episode starts off 4 months ago when Elizabeth originally shot Tom
and was ordered to kill him by Reddington. Instead of killing him, she got him medical attention
by their friend Ellie (from season 1) and then she took him to a boat where she has been
questioning him and holding him captive for 4 months illegally. Shes been asking him questions
about Berlin because she wants to know why he hired Tom to be apart of her life and hire him to
pretend to love her and to pretend to be in a loving marriage with her. The scene ends with Tom
telling Elizabeth to make sure that when she kills him, she looks him in the eyes when she does
it, knowing that she will not be able to.
5 minutes 56 seconds: This scene is between Reddington, Berlin, and Berlins daughter and
Reddington is wanting to know why he thought his daughter was dead and who told him that.
Berlin told him that it was after a bombing in the Soviet Union, and someone had told him that
his daughter was named as a traitor and sentenced to prison. When Berlin found that out, he tried
to rescue his daughter and he became imprisoned and for the months and years that he was in
prison, someone would send him bones of his daughters body, and he assumed it to be
Reddington. His daughter says that someone helped her get away by saying that they could keep
her safe from her father. She never knew his name but his associates and the people around him,
called him The Decembrist and now Reddington wants to find him.
6 minutes 4 seconds: An older officer who got a complaint about a boat, went to go check it out
and it just so happens to be the boat where Agent Keen is keeping Tom held captive. When she
sees the man, she says that she is ...looking for fugitives that escaped from Cumberland the
night before. The audience knows that she lied because she does not want anyone to know that
she has Tom captive because he is assumed dead by everyone. Lizzie gives him a card and says
that if he sees or hears anything. to give her a call. At the end of the scene Reddington finally
tells Lizzie that he is working with Berlin to find the man who set him up.
9 minutes 53 seconds: The man who was investigating the boat incident heard something on the
boat and when he looked to go see what it was, he found Tom.
13 minutes 23 seconds: Agent Keen gets a phone call from the person that watched Tom when
she is working and he says that they have a situation. When she arrives on the boat, she sees
the man that she told earlier that she as searching from people whod escaped from Cumberland
and she saw that hed met Tom. Everyone began debating weather or not they should kill him
because he knew too much. While they were arguing, Tom lifted himself up with his handcuffs,
put them on top of a pipe and lifted himself up, and put his legs around the mans neck, choking
him to death which led to his death, The whole time Liz was trying to get him to stop but Tom

would not listen, he said he was doing it for her because if she didnt then she would get put in
jail for kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and a list of other things. Meanwhile, Reddington
and Berlin teamed together and flew to Moscow, Russia to find The Decembrist. When they
think they found him, they cornered him the an elevator by killing his men from above, leaving
nothing but him in the elevator then Reddington and Berlin went in and started asking him
questions, While they are questioning him, they find out that he is not The Decembrist but in fact
someone by the name of Alan Fitch, the Assistant Director of National Intelligence. After they
find out that information, Berlin shoots and kills him in the elevator.
24 minutes 56 seconds: When the teams find out the Assistant Director of National Intelligence
has been kidnapped, it is their job to find him, but they do not know that he is The Decembrist.
Reddington comes to the blacksite and tells Lizzie that he needs to talk to her. When they go into
her office to talk, he tells her that he knows she didnt kill Tom and that he is alive and he knows
that she is keeping him captive somewhere. After Reddington tells Lizzie how disappointed that
he is in her for not telling him about Tom, he instructs her that she needs to find out from Tom
where Berlin kept all of his safe houses because Alan may be at one of them. Elizabeth goes back
to see Tom and Tom says that in order for him to tell her where Berlin is keeping Alan, she must
let him go, hesitantly, Liz agrees to do so. When she lets him go, he goes to a pay phone and
speaks to Berlin and the afterwards he is given an address that he then gives to Ressler and Liz.
Ressler does not trust Tom and does not like him for what he put Liz through and says Hey
buddy, when this is over, Im coming for you. Tom replies and says Good luck. The scene end
with Tom walking away from Liz and Ressler and them and other agents finding Alan with a
bomb of some sort around his neck and not able to get it off.
31 minutes 14 seconds: This scene starts off with Berlin and his daughter having lunch and
talking. Belin is trying to make her feel as comfortable as possible, he even asks for his guard to
leave so that they can be alone. After a couple minutes, Reddington walks in with Dembe and
Reddington gives Berlins daughter and envelope with ...passports, tickets, and eternal
gratitude, after that exchange, she leaves. This was just a trick so that Reddington could sit down
with Berlin and ask him how to undo the bomb that is tied to Alans neck. Though Alan may be
The Decembrist, he is also Reddingtons friend. The scene ends with Reddington holding a gun
to Berlins head.
35 minutes 45 seconds: Leaving without an answer from Berlin about how to stop the bomb,
Reddington goes to talk to Alan and he brings up something called the fulcrum. Alan is giving
Reddington instructions about who to contact and he says that there is a safe in St. Petersburg
and he needs to go there. Before Alan can tell Reddington what apartment number to go to, the
bomb goes off and it makes Alan explode.
38 minutes 56 seconds: After Alan died, Reddington went to find Berlin, when he finds Berlin
they drink a whole bottle of Vodka together and after the bottle is finished, he shoots Berlin 4
times and kills him for Alan and other unsaid reasons.
41 minutes 27 seconds: This episode ends with Reddington meeting up with Tom at a little
restaurant and gives him an envelope with everything that he needs to get out of the country
(money, passports, etc). He also tells Tom that he is never to see her again, referring to Lizzie.
When Tom is walking out, he says to Reddington You know for what its worth I spent four
months on that ship chained up, and I never told her about us. Not one word.

Interview: The Blacklist

Assume these questions are strictly about the second season of The Blacklist and the person
conducting the interview does not watch the show so therefore isnt familiar with it.
1. Tell me what you think about you think about Lizzies secret that shes keeping from
everyone.
I think she is still in love with Tom and she is holding him because she thinks he
has all the answers.
2. Why do you think, out of all people, that Lizzie decided to keep Tom a secret from
Reddington? Do you agree with Reddington that she kept him a secret because she
is still in love with him?
I do believe that she is still in love with Tom but I dont think she told Reddington
because she knew that he did hire Tom at one point so she didnt really trust him enough to tell
him that she hadnt killed Tom.
3. Explain to me what your theory is about Reddington, if you have one, and why do
you think he is so invested in Lizzie.
Ooooo this is a good one, my theory from day one is that I always thought
Reddington is her birth father but for some reason does not want her to know that.
4. Tell me how Lizzie could have handled the situation with Tom better.
I dont think she could have. He is a trained assassin so she did what she thought
and probably would should have been done.
5. If you were Lizzie, what would your reaction be if you found out your husband
wasnt really who he said he was?
I would feel betrayed, hurt, and pissed. To be honest, I dont think I would have
handled it as well as Lizzie did.
Interviewed with: Ashleigh Nicole, fan of the show