If You Could Read My Mind…
Cold Open
Liz is on the plane with Kirk, and he is steady justifying his actions to her. He receives a phone call from the hitman-kidnapper, aka Mato (No. 66), who tells him he has Agnes. Liz makes a play for the gun, killing the pilot and ultimately bringing the plane straight down towards the big blue ocean.
Act I
Tom shows up to the car crash aftermath. He tells Red he had Aram track the radio of the blue car. Mr. Kaplan identifies the dark man who likes western wear as Mato because she saw his face. Red questions her intentions when she says she doesn’t know how to find him. They head to Amarillo to visit Little Nikos.
The plane with Liz and Kirk is rapidly taking on water in the ocean. Aram runs towards Cooper’s office because Red is on a sat phone from the plane that is not taking on water. They discuss Agnes and Liz and who will tackle which task. We get a little more info about Mato; we see him on a boat, presumably leaving Cuba for the U.S. Cooper chastises Navabi and tells her to set aside her personal feelings.
Mr. Kaplan tells Tom that what is happening is her fault, but Tom tells her she has nothing to apologize for. He says he doesn’t regret trying to get away from Red, to which Red replies “Regret requires age or wisdom.” Red tells them that it would be best to do what he says when they get to Amarillo.
Kirk is tied to the plane with a seatbelt while Liz sends out a mayday request over the radio. He still insists on calling her Masha and declares that she can’t let him die. She replies, “Watch me.”
ActII
Back in D.C., Agent Navabi is talking to the Coast Guard when Ressler returns. She welcomes him back and makes introductions. When Captain Daly asks who is on the plane, Ressler says “a friend” at the same time Navabi says “a fugitive.” Sounds complicated indeed, Captain Daly. In Amarillo, Mr. Kaplan implores Red to take it easy on Little Nikos because he is a good man, and he agrees to let her speak to him first. Unfortunately, Little Nikos is getting surgery on his stomach, and they go off to interrupt it.
Kirk tries to persuade Liz to trust him, but she tells him that he’s not going anywhere. She sets off a flare while Kirk breaks free and snags the gun. He tells her if she wants to hold Agnes again, they need to trust each other, and gives her back the gun. Meanwhile, the task force is made aware that Liz’s plane has most likely crashed, and they are searching for it. Aram says he doesn’t know if he has the strength to lose her again. Agent Navabi replies that none of them do.
Mr. Kaplan tries to persuade Nikos to give up Mato, but she isn’t successful, and so Red intervenes. He says he admires him for being protective of those who are protective of him, but unfortunately, Tom doesn’t. He’s the person protecting the sociopath who stole his baby. Liz saves Kirk from falling off the plane into the ocean, Titanic style. She is certain they will be found.
Act III
Tom puts a picture of Agnes in front of Nikos and tells him to remember that she is the reason he is doing this.
Nikos still refuses to give up Mato, and we are treated to his screams of pain as Mr. Kaplan and Red have a little chat. She tells him she betrayed him for the same reason she betrayed Nikos, to keep Elizabeth safe. She says “Say that you understand or don’t say anything all.”
Her pleas fall on deaf ears. Tom’s efforts result in a phone number and password. Mr. Kaplan goes to check on Nikos. She tells him she is so sorry, but he turns away from her.
Kirk asks why Liz saved him and she said because he knows where to find Agnes, and also maybe because he might be telling the truth. She attempts to speak spanish to the captain of the boat that rescued them and asks for the radio and a gun. He tells her but she doesn’t understand. We hear a gunshot and the captain of the rescue boat is thanked for his trouble by Kirk who clarifies where the gun could be found. No good deed…
Act IV
Ressler gives Harold an update while Aram hovers in the background. Cooper invites him in, and they discuss the radio transmission that the Coast Guard intercepted. Ressler says the signal was interrupted and that the last thing they heard was Liz’s voice asking about a gun.
Mato is performing a native ritual blessing over Agnes when two Russians appear to take Agnes. Mato is paid and Romina takes Agnes. Mato tells her to put the girl into Kirk’s hands only. He receives the text message code from “Nikos.”
Like any good megalomaniacal narcissistic sociopath, Kirk is quick to blame Liz for having to shoot the good samaritan. She calls him a narcissist and says he must have suffered some sick traumatic dark event to believe the sick traumatic dark things he’s done to her and everyone she cares about could ever result in her loving him. Kirk is stoic.
Mr. Kaplan and Tom have a chat about what he had to do to get the information they needed. She tells him that Red knows what he has to do, but he wants her to make it easier on him. She says that she’s not here to make anyone feel better. She foolishly gets out of the car without checking her surroundings and makes direct eye contact with Mato. He takes off running with Tom and Dembe in hot pursuit. But it’s Mr. Kaplan who takes him out with the car. Tom catches up and proceeds to use his fists instead of his words again. Red shows up and says, “Let’s get out of the heat,” and thanks Kate.
Act V
Red interrogates Mato, and as any good interrogator does, uses his words and Mato’s weakness to winkle out the truth. Tom, Dembe, and Mr. Kaplan wait in the other room until a gunshot tells them that Red has achieved his goal. They are going to the Summer Palace. And we cut to Liz and Kirk arriving at the Summer Palace and he tells her that it is hers. “Like a Russian fairy tale,” she says. He finally calls her Elizabeth.
Red calls Cooper and tells him that Kirk is taking Liz to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia where he has a cottage. He says he would go but he’s deep in the heart of Amarillo, Texas. Cooper says he will divert Ressler and Navabi, who have been off interviewing the good samaritan.
Liz is left to explore the Summer Palace and talk to Katja, the Palace Keeper. She tells Liz that it was too painful for Kirk to go there until now. She finds her old bedroom and Kirk says “Welcome home, Masha.”
Act VI
Kirk tells her that Reddington lied to her and that the answers she’s looking for are here. He then leaves her to check on Agnes’s arrival. Liz has flashbacks to when she was a little girl and spent time here. She remembers talking to her mother and burying a “time machine” that she digs up and finds her old buried treasure, including a bracelet that belonged to her mother. Kirk looks on.
A helicopter is heard in the distance and the FBI task force descends on the Summer Palace. Ressler hugs Liz.
They go to her home while Red looks on. Red drives away. Liz and Tom are reunited. He says he’s gonna find her.
My favorite Gordon Lightfoot song plays in the background as Red, Mr. Kaplan, and Dembe drive to an idyllic spot of land. Red tells Dembe to wait with the car. Red describes the spot to Kate and how he acquired it. He tells her he can’t trust her, ever. For one brief moment, we think Red might not kill Kate. Then he pulls out his gun and shoots her. As he walks away, Gordon sings on, and the camera pans around to Kate’s hand…that clutches at the grass…
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