Trama

The task force tracks a provocative female Blacklister (guest star Ana de la Reguera), a frame-up artist who targets the wealthy elite. Tom (Ryan Eggold) pleads for Liz's (Megan Boone) help. Red (James Spader) pressures Liz for the Fulcrum, claiming it's now a matter of life and death.—Clover Bliss

Bed in hotel room, a delighted middle-aged guy and a long-red-haired woman on top of him. They kiss passionately. She transfers something from her mouth to his, saying it will help him relax. We see a tattoo of wings on her back. In the next scene the guy sits terrified and breathing laboriously in a bathtub. The woman, wearing black lingerie, holds a syringe she just injected him with. She says he has no idea who she is. She opens his laptop and transfers some funds away from him. She kisses him on the forehead and his head submerges into the water.

The woman is sitting at a mirror. She takes off the wig, and removes blue contact lenses. Another wig is shown in the room. She showers.

An apartment. Another woman, a brunette is lying on a bed, stroking a cat and reading. Angel Back walks in. she has long black hair now and brown eyes. The other woman asks her how her conference in Chicago was. They kiss. Angel asks Brunette how her day was, she complains about someone named Carlton who is a creep and keeps leering at her. Angel says he's her boss and she will have to report him. Brunette is just glad Angel is back. She has a surprise for her: an empty drawer angel could keep her things in when she's over. Angel drops her jacket into it, saying "Su casa es mi casa." They make out.

Washington DC. In a dark room, Tom is standing close to Liz, facing her. He says he is in danger and asks her for his passports. Liz says she appreciates he turned himself in for her, but she can't. He yells: "Please!" He says turning himself in saved him. He's been running since he was 14 and now when the judge let him go, he thought maybe there was a world where he doesn't have to run. But the Germans and his handler want him dead and he needs the passports. Liz complains that he kept them under the floor in their home and she is trying to forget that. He insists. She asks why she would go and steal them from evidence. Tom says if she wants him gone, once she does it he will. Liz tells him to leave.

She opens the door to Red and Dembe with guns drawn. She draws her gun, too. Red tells Tom to get out. Tom says he was out but Red brought him back in. They lower their guns and Red repeats: "Get out." They let him go away.

Red walks in, removes his hat. He is angry. Liz explains she came home and Tom was there. Red says Tom is back in her life. Liz denies it. Red says he understands how it is to be drawn to something unhealthy and dark, but wants her to remember what her life with Tom was really like and imagine what it could be without him. Liz shakes her head with tears gathering in her eyes and says she doesn't have to imagine. Red looks her in the eye with a serious expression and says: "Good." He sits down and says he has a case.

Washington DC. Post Office. Liz briefs the team about some people whose schemes cost people their lives' savings. They are now dead or in prison. According to Reddington they're innocent, framed by a woman who hates the 1%. She takes their money, reputations, freedom, sometimes lives. Her latest victim is Declan Salinger - the man from the hotel. He was a biotech venture capitalist. As Liz is saying this, we see the police taking his body out of the tub. It looks like an overdose, there was a needle on the floor. The police also discovered that money was transferred out of his laptop. Cooper sends Navabi to Salinger's wife and Ressler and Liz to the man in prison.

Prison. Liz and Ressler talk to the man - he's in prison for a Ponzi scheme. He claims he was framed by a woman: Claudia Sanchez. He says they were sleeping together and she had access to everything. He says she was an undocumented seasonal worker at his ranch and the affair lasted 6 months, then she disappeared and soon after he was arrested.

As he's saying this, the scene changes to Angel sitting at a mirror. Bruntette's picture is stuck to it. She is wearing sexy pajamas, apparently now posing as Brunette. She looks at some insurance policy signed by "Abby Issa" and notes down the name.

The man in prison explains how she framed him along with planting evidence with his fingerprints.

Angel is showing someone Abby's driver's license - in the picture we see it is Brunette.

The man continues that she was also very clever with moving the stolen money.

We see Angel through surveillance camera in a store. She is buying a small gun.

The man goes on: he hired the best lawyers but they saw the evidence and told him to plead guilty. He did. He says most of the money belonged to his clients and 278 people lost their savings because of her. Ressler says they want to see the evidence the lawyers gathered.

DC view. An underground parking lot. Red and Dembe meet a man Red calls Roger. Roger informs Red that the Director will hold a vote tomorrow. He says he's been lobbying for Red. Roger tells him how the votes stand and that Jasper will likely decide on the outcome. If he votes against Red, it will tip the vote. Red says Jasper will need to be persuaded. Roger tells Red if he has the Fulcrum, he should now prove it as his life depends on it. Red tells Roger to set the meeting with Jasper. Post Office. Navabi says Salinger's wife had him followed but has nothing on the woman, just some partial prints and inconclusive pics. Ressler says there's nothing on her in the evidence from the prison man. Aram puts all her photos together and they now have a face.

Angel is sitting in a comfy chair with a laptop. She's sending sexy pics to a man named Mason Carlton. He is turned on. We see him in his office. She tells him to open his drawer, there's an envelope with keys directing him to go to Drake motel ASAP. The envelope also contains a black rubber mask covering the whole head except for the mouth.

Post Office. Aram scanned the partial prints of the woman and obtained a thumbprint. It belongs to Vanessa Anne Cruz, 36. They have a picture. Her last known address is her mother's place in New Jersey. Cooper tells the squad to go there.

Carlton is sitting on a bed in the motel with the mask on. He hears a woman walk in and says: "Abby?" She pours a drink and hands it to him. He gulps it down. She bags the glass. She tells him to undress, handcuffs him to the bed. She bags his tie. She lights a candle and pours hot wax on his chest. She bites his chest and gathers the blood with a cloth. Then she leaves with a big bag. The man struggles free of the handcuffs and removes the mask, a guy from the lobby is standing over him and says she left a key for him.

Ressler and Liz knock on a door, an elderly, coughing woman comes to the door. She has an oxygen tube under her nose. They tell her they're special agents trying to locate her daughter. She says her daughter is dead.

They sit with the woman in a living room and look at pictures. She says Vanessa married a broker who worked in a big firm but turned out to be a real crook and when he was caught, he jumped off a bridge. Vanessa thought they set him up, loved him till the end. The mom says later Vanessa's clothes were found at a beach. No body was found but she knows she's dead. The mom says Vanessa was a good person and took care of her, even now the mom has money from her insurance policy. She hands them a letter accompanying the policy.

Post Office. Turns out the insurance company is fake - it issued only one policy, to Cruz's mother. Navabi explains criminals set up "shelf" companies and keep them for years until they come in handy. Aram discovers more Vanessa's shelf companies - her victims were accused for funneling money through them. Since criminals can buy such companies, Liz has an idea to look for the person who sold the companies to Cruz.

Liz calls Red to put her in touch with someone who sells shelf companies. Red says he needs the Fulcrum. Liz goes on about Vanessa Cruz. Red insists on the Fulcrum, saying it's now a matter of life and death. Liz says she knows it's a blackmail file and she is a fed so she can't give it to him to blackmail people some of whom are in the government. Red says these people launched a missile to kill them and keep the secret. Liz thinks it's about Tom - Red says it's about himself trying to survive. He will put her in touch in exchange for the Fulcrum.

Tom is walking, hood on, in a crowded street. He bumps into a man, stealing his wallet. His phone rings. It's Liz who needs his help. They meet in a motel and Liz explains about the case. She says Tom must know people who sell shelf companies. Tom asks about Reddington, Liz cuts him off saying if he helps her, she'll get him the passports. Liz tells him all 3 companies used by Cruz are named after Minnessota lakes and Tom was paid by Berlin through a corporation named after one. They agree to go see his contact.

A fancy hall with mahogany walls and gold chandeliers. Roger says to Jasper he wants to talk about Raymond Reddington. He wants to talk him into voting for Red. Jasper says he leans towards the Director and asks why he should change his opinion. Reddington walks in. Jasper is angry at Roger, Rogers says: "Just hear him out." Red tells Jasper if the Director succeeds, Jasper will be nothing more than his servant. Red says the Director will be assassinated after the vote, compares him to Julius Ceasar. Red says he is the Rubicon and Jasper needs to pick his side of history. Choose if he remains a servant or a leader. Jasper smiles, Red reaches out his hand and they shake hands.

Tom and Liz get out of a blue sports car and walk into an old-looking house. Inside is a black woman in a wheelchair and tens of phones on the walls and desks, some of which are ringing. Tom walks in and she knows him - as Billy. He asks a favor - says Lizzie lost money because she was hustled by one of her clients. She reluctantly gives them an address.

Liz immediately calls Ressler with the address.

FBI is breaking into an apartment - guys with helmets and machine guns and Ressler. Nobody's there but there's the mirror, wigs, clothes. As well as files and cabinets. There's even a fridge containing blood samples and saliva. She has all kinds of data concerning people she framed and plans to frame. Ressler sees the name of one of the victims - Drew Roberts, and realized he worked at the firm that employed Cruz's husband.

Liz and Tom are driving and they are both tense. Tom says he's no worse than her buddy Reddington and Liz answers Reddington is not her buddy and Tom IS worse. Tom says Reddington is dangerous and he is playing her. Liz says he has a moral code and doesn't lie to her. Tom says whatever. He tells her he's going to buy a boat, go to Micronesia, start a charter business for divers in a lagoon with sunk ships. Liz says he can't even swim. Tom says he can learn.

Brunette=Abby and Angel=Cruz meet in a café. Abby says she talked to a lawyer about Carlton and will report him to HR. Cruz says let's celebrate - book a room in a hotel and watch movies all night. Abby says she loves her. Cruz looks troubled - or serious - but then says she loves her too.

Tom and Liz arrive at her home. Still in the car, Liz hands him the passports. He thanks her and she gets out of the car. Tom gets out too and stops her, asking if she thinks it's possible for someone like him to start over and become something else. Liz mocks him saying it's what he does for a living. Tom says she knows what he means. Liz nods. She asks: "Can you be honest? You have to be honest." He looks away. Liz says their whole marriage couldn't have all been pretend. She says she didn't see it because so much of it was real. Tom smiles and nods. She says he is her greatest failure as a profiler and he says she was his biggest success. He says she made him feel for a moment like he had a life and like someone cared. He says this is him being honest. Liz asks where he got the passports. He says Berlin, she sees he's lying and starts going away. He stops her saying "Wait. I can't." Liz says it's not how it works. He says it's gonna be a nice boat. She kisses him. He asks, "What was that?". She says "That was goodbye" and walks away.

Roger is walking into some kind of warehouse and being searched at the entrance. The Director appears, saying it won't be necessary because Roger belongs to the good guys. They hug and the Director asks about his family. They enter another room and Jasper is there. Roger asks where is everybody. They say the vote is already over. The Director berates Roger. He says they made him and he betrayed them. The Director says Roger will now go get on a plane and never come back. Two thugs take him away.

Post Office. Ressler says Cruz is not about money but revenge. Hernando Cruz committed suicide after he was framed and Cruz's victims are the people who framed him. And other greedy 1%ers. They wonder if there's anybody left of the ones who framed Hernando.

Liz and Ressler go back to the man in prison. He worked at corporate finance and was to investigate Hernando when he killed himself. They tell him the woman who framed him was Hernando's wife. They ask him if Hernando really jumped. He tells them about the hoax he and the others pulled off and that Cruz was the only one who stood in their way. He says there's another guy who was in on the hoax: Mason Carlton, Cruz's boss.

Carlton is sitting in his office after dark. He gets a text from "Abby" to go to Wolverton hotel. It's Cruz at the other side.

Aram tries calling Carlton but can't reach him. He finds inappropriate texts between Carlton and his assistant Abby Issa. They discover he reserved a hotel room at the Wolverton.

Carlton slowly walks into the room and closes the door. There's a woman there, standing with her back to him. She turns around - it's Cruz with a gun. In the next scene we see her injecting him with something. She talks about Hernando Cruz and how they framed and killed them. While he sits paralyzed, she plants evidence of him and Abby having an affair. She wants to make it look like Abby blackmailed him so he shot her. She feels sorry for Abby because she is innocent and unsuspecting.

Abby walks in. She is surprised. Cruz has tears in her eyes. A phone rings. It's the hotel security saying the FBI want to speak to Carlton. Cruz just hangs up. She says, "I'm sorry, Abby" and aims the gun at her. Liz and Ressler bust into the room. Carlton is lying on the bed and a woman in a coat is standing over him. It's Abby. She says: "She said she made a mistake." Ressler and Liz storm out of the room yelling to lock down the hotel and call an ambulance. Cruz is already out. She takes off her wig and throws it in the trash. Ressler and Liz run out the same door. Liz finds the wig but Cruz got away.

DC view. Liz walks into Cooper's office saying he wanted to see her. He tells her Mason Carlton will be charged with the murder of Hernando Cruz. Liz says they lost her and Cooper says they will find her and innocent people she framed will be set free. Liz notices Cooper has been walking without his cane and says it makes her happy. Cooper wonders what Reddington's angle is.

We see Cruz in a fancy hat sitting at a bar and drinking wine. Mr Kaplan comes up to her and says her employer is an admirer of hers and that he knows the FBI is after her. She is offered help and asks who the employer is.

There's a knock on Tom's door. He opens it. Liz walks in saying she got his message. She asks what this place is and what is he still doing there. Tom says, "Reddington." He says he's been thinking about what she said about telling the truth and tells her the passports came from Reddington.

Jasper is talking on the phone, saying: "It's me. It's done." Reddington is on the other side. He says he's listening. Jasper says the vote went his way. Red asks about Roger, Jasper says he wants to meet. Red says he would have, but he can't. Roger was to contact him after the vote and didn't, which means he's dead. Red tells Jasper to run because he's coming for him and will cut out his forked tongue and deliver it to the Director. Red tells Dembe it's time to go away. Dembe says Liz wants to meet regarding the Fulcrum.

They meet in a street. Liz says she spend the last 42 hours dealing with a terrible liar. Red guesses it's Tom and shakes his head. Liz cuts him off saying she doesn't want advice. She says Tom told her something she needs Red to confirm. Red knows the question and says yes, he hired Tom Keen to enter her life. He asks if he can explain. She says no. She hands him the Fulcrum. Red tries to explain anyway but she cuts him off, saying she doesn't care and she just wants it to stop. She gets into her car. Red is left standing there and suddenly there's a shot and Red goes down. He's bleeding from his mouth. Dembe and Liz rush to him, fire back at the shooter. Red is lying in the street unconscious and bleeding.