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For the character of the same name, see Karl Hoffman.

The Good Samaritan” is the eleventh episode of Season 1 of The Blacklist and the eleventh episode overall. It first aired on January 13, 2014 on NBC.

Synopsis[]

Karl Hoffman gives Karen Brodine a drugged drink at a children's play area. When she wakes, she is tied to a medical style table and Karl proceeds to inflict various specific injuries on her. Later she is dumped in her own vehicle and Karl calls 9-1-1 as he walks away.

Tom Keen tells Liz that he has a job interview in Lincoln, Nebraska; that day. They decide to talk about their ongoing relationship when he arrives back that evening.

When Liz learns of the attack on Karen she asks Harold Cooper to assign her to the case, since she had pursued the attacker during her time in New York. She also believes, that because this case is important to her, that Red may contact her with assistance. Cooper conditionally approves, depending on the results of her debriefing about the attack on the Post Office.

Liz, Donald Ressler, Aram Mojtabai, and Meera Malik are questioned about the raid, with the questioning being observed by Cooper and Diane Fowler. Malik states that verbal interrogation is ineffective, wondering why they do not use enhanced interrogation techniques instead.

Liz and Ressler go to meet with Karen's husband and son, where her body is identified.

Raymond Reddington views Luli Zeng's body and has a flashback of her death. He tells Newton Phillips to ensure that he can disperse the ashes, stating that he “wants it done properly”.

Red then tracks down and interrogates the associate of the apple eating man who was watching the Keen house, the paramedic who removed the chip from his neck, and the doctor who drugged him prior to Alan Fitch questioning him and monitored his vitals. After interrogating them, he kills them and disposes of them in public areas.

Red calls Liz at home and suggests that she looks at the victims and their families, since he does not know about serial killers, but does know about torture.

Back at the Post Office Liz checks the records and realizes that all of the injuries inflicted on Karen Brodine had been suffered by her son. She tells Ressler and Meera her theory about the killer, and that she has heard from Red. When Meera asks if she has told Cooper, Liz says she has not. Ressler decides that they need to interview Karen's son. Cooper pulls Meera aside and tells her that she has been cleared by the investigative team. Meera tells Cooper that Liz has been in contact with Red.

After having dealt with those who assaulted his person, Red now goes after the sponsor of the raid on the Post Office. Based off of how the accomplices he'd interrogated were paid -- small 5 and 10 dollar bills rather than "clean" larger bills -- he deduces a nightclub owner called Fyodor had paid them. After confronting him in a restaurant and eliminating his security, he interrogates and kills Fyodor after learning that the money was wired from a financier in the New York branch of Gestalten Landesbank: Henry Krueger.

Ressler and Liz question Michael, Karen's son and he tells them that his injuries were caused by his mother.

Red confronts Henry in front of his home, and demands his wire/transfer records for Anslo Garrick's operation. Henry asks for time, and Red tells him he will be talking to him the next day.

Meera shows Cooper a money trail report that names Louis Coogan as the mole. The picture, however, is of Aram. When the FBI SWAT team storm Aram's residence they find it deserted.

Aram is brought hooded into a room, where the hood is removed and Red is sitting opposite him. Red tells Aram to steal 5,000,000 dollars from an account and place it in one of his accounts. Red tells him to make the theft untraceable and that if he has not completed the task by the time Red has stripped, cleaned, and reassembled his gun he will shoot him. Aram completes the task, then explains the Red how it was done, Red tells him that he is innocent, when Aram asks what Red means, Red explains that a payment for the raid on The Post Office was made to a Louis Coogan, an alias for Aram. Red says that Aram is too intelligent to have accepted payment in such an easily traceable form, so he will find someone else and kill them.

Karl attends a support group for abusers and their victims and talks to George, the abusive husband of Melissa, a woman he treated earlier in his job as a nurse in an emergency room.

Red returns to see Henry, and this time shoots him in the leg, and threatens to have him killed in Papua New Guinea, unless he tells him who really was paid for the attack on the Post Office, Henry tells Red the name Newton Phillips, and Red leaves Henry's home.

Karl has captured George and strapped him to his medical table, where he forces his mother (who abused him as a child) to watch as he starts to torture George.

Liz briefs the team on her findings about the Good Samaritan, how all the victims had the same injuries as members of their families and that the only link is that Karl Hoffman was the attending nurse.

Liz and Ressler check Karl's latest place of work where they discover that Melissa is the only person treated by Karl recently who was being abused. When they question Melissa they learn that her husband George is attending a support group. They question the group facilitator and learn that Karl and George left together.

Liz and Ressler go to Karl's childhood home where Liz discovers Karl about to give George a concussion. She orders him to stop and when he goes to attack his mother she shoots him dead.

Liz visits George in hospital and with Melissa listening tells him that if he touches Melissa again, she will finish what Karl started.

Aram returns to the Post Office with the proof of his innocence supplied by Red.

Red spreads Luli's ashes into a lake, then turns to Newton Phillips and asks why he betrayed him. Newton Phillips says that they threatened his family, and asks Red to look after his family. He also asks Red to make it look like an accident. Red suffocates Newton Phillips using a plastic bag.

Fowler meets with Fitch and refuses to give him the name of the mole responsible for the attack on The Post Office, merely saying that the mole has been neutralized.

At her home, Liz thinks Tom has come home and tells him, she is not ready to have another fight with him about moving to Nebraska. To her surprise, the visitor is Red and he tells her that there is still a mole in the FBI, as the leak in his organization did not have the required level of knowledge to plan the raid. He says he has brought her the next name on The Blacklist.

Press Release[]

WHO IS THE MOLE? - The entire FBI team is under investigation as internal affairs tries to find the mole. Elsewhere, Red is missing and conducts his own investigation into who betrayed him. Meanwhile, a serial killer from Liz’s past, “The Good Samaritan” strikes again. Liz is allowed to join the hunt for the killer as Cooper knows Red will likely reach out to help knowing how much this unsolved case means to Liz.

Number on The Blacklist[]

  • 106

Unanswered Questions[]

  1. Who was The Blacklist person? Elizabeth Keen's case was not connected to Raymond Reddington's list.
    1. A: Karl Hoffman was the Blacklister, Red's list is known only to Red, and a serial killer whose name was unknown to the FBI is suitable for inclusion.
    2. Q: The previous targets were people who posed severe risks to international security and had international connections. A serial killer seems unlikely since he posed no threat to Red's operations and no one was hiring him for contract killings.
    3. A: Red only said that The Blacklist contained people that the FBI did not know about.
    4. Q: The FBI did know about Hoffman, he had committed several murders before temporarily stopping.
  2. How will the internal investigation affect the task force? There will be a negative effect on morale.
  3. Why is Meera Malik so focused on enhanced interrogation techniques? As a CIA agent she should know that interrogation techniques vary by the person being interrogated. Furthermore, real life evidence indicates and/or proves that verbal interrogation is more effective that relying on the infliction of pain.
  4. Was the 5,000,000 dollars Aram transferred a real theft or was he moving around Red's already stolen money?
  5. Why frame Aram Mojtabai?
  6. Who framed Aram Mojtabai?
  7. Why did Newton Phillips not ask Red for help when threatened? Did he view the Cabal as too powerful?
    1. A: Newton Phillips viewed the Cabal as very powerful and was afraid of asking for Red's help when he and his family was threatened.
  8. Will Raymond Reddington replace Luli Zeng and Newton Phillips with the other people on his approved list? (“Pilot”, “The Freelancer”)
  9. Is Alan Fitch a congressman? He said he was testifying before a United States Congress Senate sub-committee.
    1. A: The official site states that Fitch works for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
  10. Is Diane Fowler in danger of losing her position? Her refusal to name the mole will lead to political pressure to cooperate.
    1. A: See “The Cyprus Agency”, Fowler's reason for not naming the mole was intentional, to try and gain leverage over Alan Fitch.
  11. How many other moles does Fitch have? He would not rely on a single agent for all his information.
    1. A: Meera Malik has been revealed as the mole in “The Alchemist”.
    2. A: In “The Cyprus Agency” it was revealed that Meera had been acting on the orders of Diane Fowler.
  12. How did Red find the other members of Garrick's team, such as the paramedic and drug expert? Certainly Fitch would have either killed them or transferred them to cover his tracks.
    1. Red would have been following the money, and as he knew both the paramedic and doctor by sight his resources would have allowed him to find them.
  13. Did Red kill the other team members, the paramedic and drug expert, for revenge or to cover his tracks? Or was it to send a message to Fitch?
    1. A: It was not only to cover his own tracks, but also to send a message to Fitch that Red can retaliate.
  14. Why did Red leave Henry alive? He and his wife can identify Red.
    1. A: Henry was the only person involved in the attack on the Post Office who could be useful to Red in the future. He will not identify Red and instruct his wife not to do so, out of fear.
    2. A: Red is already on the FBI's most wanted list, being identified for the attack on Henry and his wife will make little or no difference to the effort to catch him. (Any Occupy Wall Street (OWS) people would probably help Red for attacking a banker who deals with the black market).
  15. Will the FBI track the deaths of the team members to Red? If they do, will Harold Cooper demand information on Fitch?
    1. A: Unlikely, the murders will probably be investigated as muggings by the local police. There would be no reason to involve the FBI. If the FBI was involved it would be managed by the local office, not a specialist unit like The Post Office task force.
  16. How was Dembe Zuma contacted?
    1. A: Through Kathryn Nemec.
  17. Why did Karl Hoffman temporarily stop his murders?
    1. A: He was an agency nurse, and may not have always been assigned to Emergency Rooms, and so not come into contact with the victms of domestic abuse.
  18. How serious was Liz when she told George that she would take the vengence that Hoffman wanted? A bluff will be useless and action will damage her career.
    1. A: All Liz would need to do, is to have him charged with domestic abuse, and ensure that if convicted he serves his time in a Supermax prison.
    2. Q: When she threatened George she admitted that Melissa's testimony would be required for a conviction.
    3. A: With care, if another attack occurs, circumstantial evidence could be enough to convict.

Slanders on the FBI[]

  1. The FBI suspected Elizabeth Keen of being the mole, having cleared Meera Malik and Harold Cooper, but did not know Raymond Reddington had called her.
    1. A: Red knows how to evade FBI systems and protocol.
  2. Aram Mojtabai was kidnapped while under FBI surveillance.
  3. The FBI did not know Aram had been kidnapped until they raided his home.
  4. Red managed to have Luli Zeng's body removed from the Post Office without the knowledge of the FBI and the DoJ.
    1. A: He could have called some of the people on his contacts list to help remove Luli's body.

Trivia[]

  • The song “Line of Fire” played at the end was a reference to series finale promo of “Breaking Bad”. Charles Baker who played Newton Phillips also played “Skinny Pete” on “Breaking Bad”.
  • While Red is interrogating the crew that took him hostage, the song “When the Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash is heard.

Cast[]

Main star[]

Guest star[]

Co-star[]

  • Stacey Sargeant as Female EMT
  • Nolan Lyons as Michael Brodine
  • Pat Squire as Louise Hoffman
  • Jonathan Tindle as The Technician
  • Lindsey Gates as Janice Kreuger
  • Lars Gerhard as Bowler
  • Alexis Suarez as Armed Guard
  • Zina Wilde as Nurse
  • Shawn T. Andrew as ND SWAT Agent
  • Jennifer Kim as ND Agent
  • James Michael Reilly as Suit #1

Gallery[]

Videos[]

External Links[]


Season 1 Episodes
 · Pilot  · The Freelancer  · Wujing  · The Stewmaker  · The Courier  · Gina Zanetakos  · Frederick Barnes  · General Ludd  · Anslo Garrick  · Anslo Garrick: Conclusion  · The Good Samaritan  · The Alchemist  · The Cyprus Agency  · Madeline Pratt  · The Judge  · Mako Tanida  · Ivan  · Milton Bobbit  · The Pavlovich Brothers  · The Kingmaker  · Berlin  · Berlin: Conclusion  ·
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