Sir Crispin Crandall

"Sir Crispin Crandall"
Season 3, Episode 6
Episode Information
Air date	November 5, 2015
Directed by	Ami Canaan Mann
Written by	Dave Thomas
Guest Stars	Harris Yulin as Crispin Crandall Fischer Stevens as Marvin Gerard Edi Gathegi as Matias Solomon David Strathairn as Peter Kotsiopulos Peter Vack as Asher Sutton Conor Leslie as Gwen Hollander Andrew Divoff as Karakurt
Episode Chronology
Previous	“[[Arioch Cain ]]”
Next	“[[Zal Bin Hasaan ]]”

"Sir Crispin Crandall" is the sixth episode of Season 3 of The Blacklist and the fiftieth episode overall. It aired on November 5, 2015 on NBC.

Press Release

Red and Liz catch wind that Andras Halmi, a trusted advisor of The Director has gone missing. In pursuit of finding Halmi, Red and Liz narrowly escape a violent confrontation. Meanwhile, Tom ends up in a brutal “Fight Club” to find the one man he thinks will be able to exonerate Liz.

Number on The Blacklist

• 86

Unanswered Questions

1. Landing information
   1. How did Red determine the true landing information?
   2. How did Kotsiopulos transmit the false landing information?
      1. Q: Ressler stated that the Director mislead them and Red was walking into a trap.
      2. Q: Kotsiopulos had the ability to hack the computer systems.
      3. Q: Red and Keen could have been closer to the airport than Solomon.
      4. A: According to Peter Kotsiopulos, it was Red that transmitted the false landing information.
      5. A: Red told Liz that he was taking the case away from the FBI. He was going to solve Crandall's FBI problem. Ressler only thought it was the Director. He also realized that Red knew the true landing location. The FBI was using NSA information to track the plane, and Red knows 1 NSA agent. If it was a trap set up by the Director, he should have transmitted the false landing information and had Solomon waiting for Red an Liz to show up. Instead, Solomon and his men showed up after Red and Liz. The Director had no reason to lie to Solomon about who transmitted the false information.
2. Raymond Reddington
   1. Red’s plan relied on a razor thin margin of success for the timing.
   2. Is Red attempting to take over the Cabal? If Peter Kotsiopulos falls from power, then Red can exploit the ensuring chaos between the Cabal leaders.
      1. A: Probably not. In "The Freelancer" Red talked about his dislike for people who had both a public image and a criminal side when Floriana Campo was poisoned. Most of the Cabal members are public figures with criminal sides.
      2. Q: If the Cabal is destroyed, then Red can use the chaos to recruit Cabal members who fear arrest.
   3. What did Red do with the money he stole from Kotsiopulous?
   4. Why did creating the restaurant for Lisa Thomopoulos convince Max to ignore Red’s plan?
      1. A: He wanted his daughter to be happy.
3. Elizabeth Keen
   1. Why did Keen believe that Crandall was dead?
      1. A: Possibly a celebrity death hoax she heard.
4. Crispin Crandall
   1. Why did the writers use the cliché of the genius millionaire/billionaire preparing for a doomsday scenario?
   2. What was Crandall’s plan? When did he expect doomsday to happen?
      1. A: He planned to freeze the most brilliant minds in cryopreservation, himself included, to rebuild the earth after the doomsday had passed. He believed that doomsday is coming in 2017.
      2. Q: Crandall never mentioned his plans in detail. He gave vague references to the future.
   3. How did the Airbus A380 get supplies while airborne? Not everything can be delivered by aerial transfer. Aram Mojtabai said that the A380 had “landed 30 times” in the “past 3 years”. That equals 1 landing every 36.5 days.
      1. A: Stocking up on supplies every time they landed. It's a very large plane, so a lot can be stored on it.
   4. Why did Crandall remain constantly airborne? The storyline was used in “Alias” because of the need to guard Server 47. What did Crandall fear?
      1. A: Probably because he felt superior to most people.
      2. A: He mentioned that he wanted to break free from Earth's bonds and touch the face of God. Constantly flying around was the closest he could get.
   5. Why did Crandall agree to see Red?
      1. A: Red refueled Crandall's plane, but voided the payment. Crandall wanted to know why and Red said he changed the payment to Halmi's body.
      2. A: He really didn't agree to see Red. Red showed up on his plane without Crandall's permission.
   6. Why did Andras Halmi die after his cryogenics chamber was opened?
      1. A: Freezing people is more hope than science.
   7. Will Crandall’s other victims survive? He was an expert in cryogenics.
      1. A: Probably not, as science has not proven that cryogenics work.
   8. Why was brain surgery needed before the freezing process?
      1. A: Crandall was interested in the brain. He probably wanted to make sure the brain was safe while the bodies were frozen.
   9. Who placed Crandall in the cryogenics chamber?
      1. A: His associates after Red shot him.
      2. Q: His employees were seized by Solomon when he stormed the plane.
      3. A: They had time after Solomon left and before the FBI arrived.
   10. Crandall used to mention that the body won't be needed, why? When Crandall died, he was to be prepared for cutting down. The surgery needed to freeze someone was out of place too.
   11. Was Crandall ever knighted? There is no mention of it in the dialogue and yet he is specifically addressed as “Sir” Crispin Crandall.
       1. A: Red said “Sir Crispin”, therefore he was a knight.
       2. A: Although if his actions had come out and he had not died, the knighthood would have likely been revoked. As such, the knighthood dies with its holder.
   12. If Crandall was dead when Red shot him, why was he frozen?
       1. Crandell's project was based around cryonics, which to its adherents means that if the body is frozen quickly enough after death future medical advances will allow for the individual to be revived.
       2. Q: Isn't cryonics for living people to be healed or resuscitated, not for dead people?
       3. A: Freezing living people under current laws is murder, so the person must be dead before the process can begin.
       4. A: It could have been meant as a kind of ironic punishment since Crandall himself had cryogenically frozen so many people. Red mocked Crandall's theory on death.
5. Peter Kotsiopulos
   1. Kotsiopulos’s situation is resembling Le Chiffre’s in “Casino Royale”. His failures are forcing him to take higher risks to survive.
   2. Matias Solomon and Kotsiopulos seem to be somewhat balanced concerning power bases. Solomon was reminded that members of the Cabal in Bonn will oppose him.
      1. A: Solomon was actually threatened with insubordination, since he wouldn't follow the Director's orders to find Halmi. However, the threat was somewhat hollow as Halmi was not a member of the Cabal.
      2. A: There has been no proof that Solomon is trying to take over the Cabal.
   3. Will Laurel Hitchin remove Kotsiopulos? Kotsiopulos can counter that the task force has kept in contact with Red and Keen.
      1. A: She has no reason to as of right now.
   4. How much did Kotsiopulos embezzle?
   5. Why did Kotsiopulos have all the money in a single vault? Red uses multiple backups.
   6. Who did Kotsiopulos embezzle from?
      1. A: The Cabal.
   7. Why did Kotsiopulos embezzle? The Cabal will hunt him regardless of the time it requires.
      1. A: It was part of his fail-safe plan to escape should the Cabal try to assassinate him. Unfortunately Red caught on to Kotsiopulous's plan and took the money.
      2. Q: The Cabal would have hunted Kotsiopulous regardless of the cost. Kotsiopulous knew too much about the Cabal.
      3. A: It was a backup plan in case Red brings down the Cabal.
   8. How was Kotsiopulos supposed to open the Banque Canadienne du Nord safety deposit box without Andras Halmi?
      1. A: He wasn't. He needed Halmi's thumbs.
   9. What was in the safety deposit box?
      1. A: Money that Kotsiopulous embezzled from the US government.
      2. A: Halmi's thumbs when the Director opened it.
   10. What would Kotsiopulos have done to the daughter if Michael Karpos had not cooperated?
6. Donald Ressler
   1. Ressler‘s use of Reven Wright‘s name is shaky since Reven‘s position is shaky.
   2. How did Ressler ground the refueling tanker?
      1. A: He probably contacted the FAA.
   3. How did Ressler get a no-knock warrant? They have resulted in the use of excessive force during raids.
7. Marvin Gerard
   1. In addition to aiding Red, will Gerard continue aiding his other clients? Red can use those black market connections to his advantage.
8. Tom Keen
   1. Why did Tom use the “fight prediction” cliché?
9. Why did the bank not have stronger security? Red’s entrance through the ceiling did not activate the alarms. The ceiling lacked any form of armor.
   1. A: Due to the timely construction, the bank probably turned off the motion detectors. Otherwise, the alarms would continue to go off until construction was completed.
   2. A: The construction team could have cut into the safe's armor previously, and then built a wall around it so the building inspector wouldn't see the hole. With Max's refusal to take a bribe, he would have reported them to the police.
10. Why did Volkens say that it took a “hard heart” to make a knife kill?
    1. A: Because you have to look into the eyes of the person you are killing.
    2. Q: That does not apply to attacking from behind.
11. What will happen to Lisa Thomopoulos and Max?
    1. A: Probably nothing. They will move on with their lives.

Trivia

• Goof: There is an editing error. After Tom killed Asher and was laying next to his body, Tom's hands were relatively clean. However when Tom sat up and looked at his hands, they were covered in blood.
• Goof: When the screen turns towards Crandall Cryonics Center, the image on the screen shows an international airport rather than a complex.
• The Spruce Goose was a plane built entirely of wood designed by reclusive billionaire and avaition enthusiast Howard Hughes

Cast

Main star

• James Spader as Raymond Reddington

Gallery

External Links

• NBC.com
• NBC.com