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Karakurt” is the twenty first episode of Season 2 of The Blacklist and the forty third episode overall. It aired on May 7, 2015 on NBC.

Synopsis[]

The episode opens with an old man giving out flyers before a young man bumps into him.

The young man reads one of the flyers that he picks up. It reads "Kill the Patriot Act". He says it's never gonna happen and says that the best they can hope for; the old man says fix Section 215.

The young man signs on the man's sheet and walks away while the man looks at his watch and the young man. The young man drops his items and starts to shake, his eyes start to bleed as he convulsed on the ground and dies.

The old man calls someone and says they have achieved customization and asks for phase 2 to be initiated.

Liz meets with Tom Keen at a cafe. He says he is sorry but he's not asking for her forgiveness. He tells her to leave on the boat with him. He surprises her with a breakfast order. Reddington calls but Tom tells her not to pick up. He tells her "Try calling me Jacob".

Brimley is trying to convince Reddington that the boy they're trying to get information from, knows nothing at all. He's an aide at the Russian consulate and a loyal errand boy for the Cabal.

Red tells Liz, Karakurt is on American soil. However she demands he listens to her instead as she will find out who her parents were.

Karakurt bombs the Office of Russian and European Analysis (OREA), a CIA intelligence analysis center in Washington D.C., with a bomb hidden in a truck, killing the 14 agents working there. The attack provokes a response from senator Clifford Hawkins, who warns that the act will not go unpunished. With Reddington's help, the FBI find the apartment where Karakurt is hiding. However, Thomas Connolly forces Cooper to send a team to Union Station. There, Liz spots a hooded figure resembling Karakurt in a surveillance photo and follows him and is assaulted by him.

When the FBI spots Karakurt at a memorial service for the OREA victims, Liz arrests him. However, Liz, thus infected with the rotavirus created by Leo Andropov, is blamed for Senator Hawkins rotavirus-related death.

Press Release[]

Following Red's intel, the FBI find themselves one-step behind the most dangerous Russian assassin, Karakurt, an enemy on U.S. soil. To avoid catastrophe, Liz and Ressler meet with Russian Counter-Intelligence who offer insight not only on Karakurt, but also on the identity of Liz’s mother. Cooper finds himself in a compromising position.

Number on The Blacklist[]

  • 55

Unanswered Questions[]

  1. Cabal
    1. Why does the Cabal want to restart the Cold War? The incidents in Europe, such as the Crimea and the Ukraine, prove a Cold War can easily start a hot war.
      1. A: Most likely war profiteering and military contracts. The last Cold War had proxy wars, however they were still part of the Cold War.
    2. The assassination is similar to the storyline in “In the Pale Moonlight”. Senator Merken Vreenak is a key political figure who can influence a large political following.
    3. Why did the Director decide on a biological weapon after using a car bomb?
      1. A: The biological weapon was hinted to be planned a long time ago, they mentioned that this type of advanced virus takes time to develop. The car bomb was more of a way to trigger widespread horror, CIA agents being killed, as well as to conceal Karakurt's identity.
    4. What evidence was released to blame Russia for the car bomb?
  2. Raymond Reddington
    1. Why did Red not deduce that Senator Clifford Hawkins was the target? He told Keen that if Hawkins advocated military action, then the “warmongers” would follow him.
    2. Where did Dr. Lauren Kimberly learn Russian?
      1. A: It is likely that she is Russian by birth.
      2. Q: Lauren Kimberly is an American name.
    3. Why did Red want to recruit Anton Velov?
    4. What reason did Red have to ask Cooper to follow Thomas Connolly's orders? Did he suspect that the Director recruited him into the Cabal so he can use his friendship with Cooper as leverage?
      1. A: He suspected it was the work of the Director and only gave Cooper a little information about the Cabal. Seeing this as an opportunity to find more about the Director's plans, Red also encourages Cooper to continue following Connolly's orders without question and pay attention to any information that he gives him.
      2. A: Red confronted Cooper and Cooper admitted that Connolly had joined the Cabal. Red told Cooper to follow Connolly's orders and act as a double agent for Red.
  3. Elizabeth Keen
    1. When was Keen infected?
      1. A: As the virus is transmittable by touch, she was likely infected by the man that ambushed her in Union Station.
      2. A: Liz was infected by Leo Andropov at Union Station through inhalation of the rotavirus. It’s shown when she reviews the surveillance footage.
    2. The KGB storyline is similar to “Salt” and “Alias”.
    3. Why was Keen targeted for the set-up? Anton Velov and the CIA agents stated that Katarina Rostova was a myth. Why would the FBI and/or Justice Department believe that Keen was a traitor based on her connection to a mythical KGB agent?
      1. A: Keen became an enemy of the Cabal because she saved Red's life by showing the Director the Fulcrum. In retaliation, the Cabal used Karakurt to ambush Keen at Union Station and infect her with the virus so she be set up for Senator Hawkins' death. Red warned her to leave the Post Office before Connolly finds her and she is accused of being a Russian spy.
    4. Why did the CIA agent state that Katarina Rostova (Character) was a myth and then compare her to Mata Hari? Mata Hari was a real person whose espionage career was exaggerated to justify her execution.
      1. A: Katarina Rostova was one of the many aliases that Elizabeth's birth mother had used. No one except the agent's superiors and Red knew about her, minus the fact she was a KGB agent.
    5. Who ambushed Keen at Union Station?
      1. A: Possibly a disguised Karakurt who had transfer the virus via touch to Keen. This was intended by the Cabal for her to unknowingly infect Senator Hawkins and have her blamed for his death as a Russian spy.
      2. A: “Tom Connolly” tells us that Leo Andropov infected Keen.
    6. How did Keen survive the explosion without serious injuries?
      1. A: She was too far away from the explosion.
    7. Why was Keen's setup plausible? She could have easily been setup by “Russian terrorists” just like any other FBI agent and it is widely known that she was an orphan and had no contact with her family before at all, as well as the fact that Katarina Rostova was a “myth”.
  4. Karakurt
    1. How did Karakurt expect to escape? Did he plan on being arrested and later released?
      1. A: He planned on being released as Keen would have been found guilty instead.
    2. How was Karakurt sure that he would interact with the senator's son in such a large campus?
      1. A: The Cabal profiled the son and knew he was a political activist. They decided to blame Keen because of the her mother's KGB career.
  5. Harold Cooper
    1. Cooper's situation, and possibly the task force, is similiar to the character of Michael Westen in “Burn Notice”. The Organization, which has infilitrated the government, threatens and blackmails the primary characters. The primary means of control is threatening family members and using existing friendships to their advantage. There are similiarities to “Breaker Morant”, before the execution, the characters quote Matthew 10:36: “And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.”
    2. Why was Cooper reluctant to follow Connolly's orders to send the Task Force to Union Station? Did he suspect that it was going to be ambush?
      1. A: Connolly was acting for the Cabal and Cooper was opposed to aiding the assassination. Connolly threatened to arrest Charlene under the Espionage Act of 1917.
      2. A: Cooper already had a lead to the whereabouts of Karakurt, in the apartments, making the order to send the task force to Union Station a potentially false, misleading, and dangerous order, wasting time as well as the opportunity to catch Karakurt, which is why he was reluctant.
  6. Senator Clifford Hawkins
    1. How did the hospital stabilize Hawkins? The virus was designed to kill in minutes and the hospital did not have the antidote.
    2. Even if Hawkins survives, the failed assassination can be just as effective. Hawkins can be convinced to blame Russia for the attempt.
  7. Why did Marshall Masik give Keen the flash drive? Did he believe that Matt Kilpatrick would not work with the FBI?
  8. Why did Dr. Leo Andropov test the rotavirus himself?
  9. How did Samar Navabi and Aram Mojtabai locate the truck?

Slanders on the FBI[]

  1. Why is the FBI being inconsistent when to use a SWAT team?
  2. The CIA Office of Russian and European Analysis (OREA) substation.
    1. Why did the CIA not show interest in the truck?
    2. Why did the explosion kill the entire Office of Russian and European Analysis (OREA) unit?

Cast[]

Main star[]

Guest star[]

Co-star[]

  • Massiel Mordan as Woman
  • Mia Caress as Reporter
  • Jane Dashow as Waitress
  • Robert Frank Neill as Murphy
  • Adam Bradley as Assistant
  • Thea McCartan as Anesthesiologist
  • Carey Maclaren as Connor Jennings, Student
  • Deshawn Harold Mitchell as Lieutenant
  • Erika Robel as Hawkins' Aide
  • Pete Macnamara as Officer

Gallery[]

External Links[]


Season 2 Episodes
 · Lord Baltimore  · Monarch Douglas Bank  · Dr. James Covington  · Dr. Linus Creel  · The Front  · The Mombasa Cartel  · The Scimitar  · The Decembrist  · Luther Braxton  · Luther Braxton: Conclusion  · Ruslan Denisov  · The Kenyon Family  · The Deer Hunter  · T. Earl King VI  · The Major  · Tom Keen  · The Longevity Initiative  · Vanessa Cruz  · Leonard Caul  · Quon Zhang  · Karakurt  · Tom Connolly  ·
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