Mr. Solomon

"Mr. Solomon"

Season 3, Episode 17

Episode Information

Air date

April 7, 2016

Directed by

Eagle Egilsson

Written by

Brian Studler

Guest Stars

Tawny Cypress as Nez Rowan
Edi Gathegi as Matias Solomon
Margarita Levieva as Gina Zanetakos
Lance Henriksen as Major

Episode Chronology

Previous	Next
“The Caretaker”	“Mr. Solomon: Conclusion”

Mr. Solomon” is the seventeenth episode of Season 3 of The Blacklist and the sixty first episode overall.

Synopsis[]

A FBI motorcade transporting a prisoner, the US Marshal taunts the prisoner in the back of the van, he says Ms. Hitchins doesn’t like loose ends and he isn’t going to Leavenworth. The van pulls over and the marshalls all file out, they plan to shoot and kill the prisoner (Solomon), but before they get a chance, a sniper shoots and kills all of the officers and Solomon escapes.

At their apartment Elizabeth and Tom are arguing over their wedding plans, and Elizabeth is looking very pregnant these days. Elizabeth wants to get married today, Tom thinks they should wait a few weeks and make sure that everything is planned properly. Liz doesn’t want to wait any longer though, she whines that if she gets any bigger Tom is going to have to wheel her down the aisle.

Elizabeth pays Red a visit later and learns that Solomon escaped from custody. Red says that the Kabal is not behind it, they have no idea who was. It gets even worse, Solomon has reached out and is sniffing around and looking for some nuclear warfare. Red tells Elizabeth she is going to have to delay her wedding, they need to stop Solomon before he gets his hands on any nukes. Elizabeth tells Red that she is not delaying her wedding, but she will let the task force know what is going on.

At the FBI office, Harold briefs Ressler and his team on Elizabeth’s news, then she tells them that she is getting married that afternoon. She tells the team that they need to work the case, she will understand if they can’t make it to the wedding and she won’t be upset. Elizabeth wants Harold to get ordaine online and officiate the wedding for her.

Tom is out running around and putting the final touches on their wedding preparations, he found a chapel and is off to get flowers. Little does he know that his ex-girlfriend is tailing him, and she looks like she is on the verge of a meltdown.

The US Navy is in the process of transporting some super sensitive nuclear weapons, and according to Red’s sources, Solomon and his new team are going to hit the shipment and steal the nukes. While Harold is trying to get some traction with the navy. While Harold is reaching out to his contacts, he learns that a research center in Baltimore was robbed earlier that day, and a task force stole equipment that they will need to shield themselves from radiation when they steal the nukes.

Ressler and Samar rush to the lab in Baltimore and look at the security footage. Sure enough one of the men that stole the radiation equipment is Solomon. And, he has a mysterious woman with her. Ressler sends a photo of the woman to Aram to try and get an ID. It turns out she is ex-Navy and worked on the nuclear defense team, she goes by the name of Harper Waters.

Ressler and Navabi rush to a motel in Baltimore where Harper was checked in, as they are making their way down the hallway with the SWAT team, someone in the hotel room opens fire on them. Chaos breaks loose and Harper tries to make a run for it. Navabi manages to capture her in the parking lot.

Back at headquarters, Harper is driving a hard bargain. She wants to cut a deal, she wants full immunity and no jail time, and she promises to tell them everything they need to know about Solomon’s attack.

At Tom and Elizabeth’s apartment, he has a visitor, his girlfriend Gina and the Major (his handler). The Major is furious that Tom turned his back on them and fell in love with Elizabeth, after she was supposed to be his target. The Major plans to shoot and kill Tom execution style. He makes Tom get on his hands and knees, seconds before he pulls the trigger, Gina shoots and kills the Major and saves his life. She kisses Tom and tells him that he is her ”greatest disappointment” and then she storms out, leaving the Major lying dead on his kitchen floor.

Harper tells Ressler that Solomon and his team are going to wait until the navy convoy is about to pass over a bridge and blow it up. Once traffic stops, Solomon and his men are going to hit the convoy hard, with enough fire power to take down the whole state. Ressler rushes to get strapped up for battle, he tells Navabi that he has enough back-up, he tells her to go to Elizabeth’s wedding.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth is getting dressed for her wedding. Red pays her a visit and begs her not to go through it. He warns Elizabeth that Tom is not the guy that she thinks he is, he is “fundamentally dishonest.” While Red and Liz are bickering over whether or not Tom Keen is a horrible person, he is disposing of the Major’s body. Elizabeth kicks Red out and tells him that she doesn’t want him at the wedding. After Red leaves, Harold arrives and comforts Liz and gives her a talk about trusting Tom and taking a leap of faith.

Red is riding around in his car with Dembe and he has an epiphany, he thinks that it was too easy, Harper Waters is setting them up. It’s kind of suspicious that Solomon and all of the other men got away at the motel, but Harper surrendered.

Tom shows up at the chapel before the wedding, he comes clean to Liz and tells her all about Gina and Major at their apartment. He explains that the Major is dead and he got rid of the body. He would understand if Liz doesn’t want to marry him, but she doesn’t mind all of his baggage, she has quite a bit of baggage on her own.

Ressler and his men rush to the bridge where a van is rigged to explode, according to Harper, but when they arrive the van is completely empty and there is no bomb there. Red and Dembe do some detective work of their own, Red learns that Harper was just a sacrifice, this is all a rouse to make sure none of the FBI agents were going to be at Elizabeth’s wedding. Solomon created this entire diversion and pretended to be after the nuclear weapon so that he could take out Elizabeth at her and Tom’s wedding.

Elizabeth and Tom gather at the altar, with Harold there to officiate. Red calls Ressler and tells him to meet them at the church, meanwhile Red arrives outside of the church with Dembe and a few men and bags full of guns. They guard all of the doors at the church so that no one can get inside. Red rushes in to the church and interrupts the wedding and tells Elizabeth that Solomon is coming for her, somone contracted him to kidnap her.

While Red is inside the church, Solomon and is cars full of men arrive. Everyone takes cover behind the church pews, they can hear gun shots outside. Harold receives phone call from Solomon, he tells Red to send Elizabeth out. Solomon says he was instructed by his new boss to bring in Elizabeth. Solomon prepares to send his men inside. He tells them to take Liz alive, but they can kill anyone else. Meanwhile inside, Elizabeth wants to go outside, she thinks that Solomon was hired by her mother, and she wants to meet her. Red argues that her mother is dead, she didn’t send for her.

Solomon has nearly 30 armed men outside of the church, he has them open fire and bullets start flying through the windows. Everyone inside lays low on the ground, and Red tries to pass out guns. Meanwhile, the organ player was shot and Aram is trying to keep her alive. Solomon’s men start running through the doors and Ressler arrives and helps Red shoot them. Tom and pregnant Elizabeth make a run for it. Ressler covers them while they get in the “Just Married” car and drive off into the sunset.

Press Release[]

After Red learns that a tactical nuclear weapon is being targeted by thieves, it's a race against the clock as the task force struggles to stop them -- and prevent an imminent nuclear disaster. Meanwhile, Tom and Liz make a decision that will change their relationship forever.

Number on The Blacklist[]

32

Unanswered Questions[]

What does the audience know about the real identities of the characters? We keep learning/hearing that “X” is not the public image they present.
Were the writers referencing “Kill Bill” with the wedding firefight?
Raymond Reddington
1. Why did Red ask about the car not starting?
  1. A: He wanted to check everything regarding the case because it seemed odd.
Matias Solomon
1. Why did Solomon leave the witnesses alive at the Hunt Valley Nuclear Research Facility? Did he need the witnesses or was a massacre unnecessary?
  1. A: He wanted the witnesses to tell the FBI about his decoy plan.
2. Who employed Solomon? Is it an enemy of the Cabal?
  1. A: They are likely an enemy of the Cabal. They rescued and freed Solomon and killed a number of their agents.
  2. A: During the firefight Keen asked Reddington who would go to these lengths to abduct her, then answered her own question: her mother. But 3 times in this episode Keen asked “if not my mother, who?”, which in true Blacklist fashion means it is not her mother that is trying to get to her. It is her father.
  3. Q: Why employ Solomon? He was going to be executed for multiple failures. Revenge/vengeance driven operatives are not reliable.
Solomon’s team
1. Who is targeting Keen?
2. Who informed Solomon’s employer of the hotel/motel raid?
3. Who informed Solomon’s employer of the real nuclear warhead convoy route?
4. What will happen to Nez Rowan? She did not know that she was being used as a decoy.
  1. A: She did seem to know she was a decoy, as she was smug when the FBI found out the van was unarmed. Red discovered that she let herself get caught.
5. Why did Solomon’s team not wear body armor? They fell after 1 - 2 bullets.
  1. A: They probably were, but due to artistic licencing they had to die. Realistically, they would have killed everyone in the church and taken Liz and the show would be over.
Cabal
1. How many agents does the Cabal have? The entire United States Marshals Service convoy was under their control.
2. Why had Solomon become a liability? They could have arranged for him to escape to another nation-state.
  1. A: Solomon has failed to kill or capture any of his targets, Red, Liz, Karakurt, on multiple occasions. The taskforce has been able to arrest him twice.
3. Was the marshal that was killed a liability also? Randomly killing agents will/would undermine loyalty and morale at a time when the Cabal needs to regroup.
  1. A: No. He was only supposed to be shot in the leg. When he refused, he was shot in the head.
Donald Ressler
1. Why did Ressler say “no immunity deal” to Nez Rowan?
  1. A: He did not want to give her immunity.
Samar Navabi
1. Why did Samar send an distress call after Red said Ressler was en-route?
  1. A: She could warn that the attack has already started or could call for support.
Harold Cooper
1. Why did Cooper say that a phone call denial would have been courteous?
  1. A: Cooper would not have had to waste time to travel to the Pentagon to be rejected.
Dembe Zuma
1. What happened in Kinshasa? Baz and Dembe Zuma stated that it failed.
  1. A: It was a mission in Kinshasa. They did not say that the mission failed, they implied it did not turn out the way they wanted it to.
Major
1. What is the Saint Regis program?
2. What will be the aftermath of the Major’s death? How will his clients react?
3. Does Gina Zanetakos love Tom Keen?
Isotope transfer cask
1. What happened to the isotope transfer cask that was stolen?
2. Why did Solomon need a isotope transfer cask? The nuclear warhead should have its own radiation shielding.
Why did the FBI SWAT member tell Ressler that unlimited hazard pay would not be enough for him to work in the bomb squad? As a SWAT member he is trained for high-risk assaults.
1. A: He views SWAT as the safer option.

Slanders on the FBI[]

Why did Ressler arrive with no back-up? Red told Ressler about Keen at the decoy site where there were dozens of other agents.
Why did the Hunt Valley Nuclear Research Facility have weak security?
Why did Liz and Tom take the Buick? The other cars present were superior for an escape vehicle.
1. A: It was the easiest to get out of the Church with and/or was the only vehicle they had access to that didn't require hardwiring.