- Red (James Spader) demands a deal from Cooper (Harry Lennix) before he'll agree to stop an anti-capitalist terrorist network's next deadly attack, while her dad's failing health reveals secrets in Liz's (Megan Boone) past.
- "The Blacklist" - "General Ludd" - Nov. 11, 2013
A man and his son are out playing football in a park when parts of a plane come hurtling out of the sky and kill them.
It turns out it was a cargo plane blown up by an anarchic, anti-capitalism terror group known as "Ludd" They are sorta kinda "Luddites" but with bombs. Each time "the movement" attacks a huge corporation that corporation takes a huge financial hit. And they've been attacking since 1997. They are educated and organized.
Their leader -- who always wears a mask and has eluded capture-- is planning another attack and Keen, Ressler, the FBI and Red are on the case. (General Ludd is number 109 on the Blacklist.) Red claims to know how to find the founder Nathaniel Wolf.
But first Red barters access to the FBI VICAP system. (Violent Crimes Apprehension Program.)
They trace the bomb on the plane to a worker in a fertilizer plant and soon deduce that worker is "Ludd"/Wolf and he has had plastic surgery to change his appearance and has a longstanding grudge against the airlines because of the death of his father and the ruin of his family.
Red and Liz head to the best plastic surgeon in the world and work him to give up Ludd's new name/identity Bradley Holland. He tries to beg off saying he never gives up his clients. Liz then says she's an FBI agent and he immediately spills. They con him by saying that she isn't an FBI agent, never showed any ID or anything and that he just spilled and now can't trust him.
The new name is the name of a pilot of a cargo airline. They realize that Wolf is now going to try and destroy a plane at Reagan airport. They rush to the airport to stop him. In the VIP lounge Wolf-- who has gotten a first class seat on a flight on standby since he is a pilot-- encounters an arrogant fat cat. He asks the stewardess to throw his bag-- which has a bomb on it-- on the plane while he attends to some business. She says she'll put it in first class.
The FBI gang arrives just as the plane explodes. Everyone on the ground is okay but not so much on the plane. Liz and Ressler take off after Wolf who is headed to New York City and wants to mount an attack on Wall St and the corrupt corporate giants.
They track him down in New York where he has pulled off a heist on an armored car, which he blows up and causes $500 million dollars to float in the air to the amazement/disgust/glee of the protesting Ludds in the streets. He melts into the frenzied crowd and gets away. It turns out it was a distraction. What Wolf really wanted was a safe in the truck that had a software upgrade for U.S. currency.They think he didn't access it, but Red knows better.
He heads to the airstrip he knows Wolf we'll be using and poses as the private plane he's arranged for "safe passage" out of the country. But Red confronts him about the USB drive with the software because he knows Wolf replaced the blueprint in the safe, and that Wolf will ruin the economy by having the U.S. itself flood the world with counterfeit currency. Red says he believes Wolf believes in his cause but he himself does like capitalism and so he's robbing Wolf instead of capturing him and says to have a safe flight. He then sends the plane's tail number to the FBI and Ressler and Liz nab him.
Back at HQ, Red sits down at the Vicap System and looks up the name Lucy Brooks.
Unfortunately, at the same time this is happening, Liz's father Sam is dying at a hospital in Nebraska. He tries to downplay his condition but he's only been given six weeks to live. Liz, of course, can't go to see him. But someone who can go see him, is Red. He visits him and they share memories and laughs. Red rhapsodizes about her as wild, volatile, soft, and hard and stronger than she knows. He thanks Sam for taking Liz in as his how and giving her a great life. Sam says Liz should know the secret. Red says they need to keep the secret. He then suffocates Sam to death with his pillow.
Tom has shown up to be with Sam but arrived too late. Red, a stranger to him, sits down with him at the hospital outdoor café and they trade stories about the people they've "lost." Tom says he doesn't know what he's going to say to his wife since she will be devastated since her dad adopted her at 4 and raised her as a single parent. Red says he's sure she'll be fine and that he'll always be there with her in the shadows, keeping her safe, and watching over her. He gets kind of creepy about it and says "she will be fine." Tom says he hopes he's right. Red says he knows he is and leaves. It's weird.
Liz learns of her father's death by phone. She is devastated. She and Tom attend the funeral.
Later Liz confronts Red about nabbing the USB drive, which she knows he will use for a counterfeit operation. He doesn't answer her and instead gives his condolences for her father. He says the best way to keep him alive is to talk about him and asks her to tell him some stories. They sit on a nearby swingset and do just that.
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