Yes I thoroughly agree with all you said concerning it being wrong to frame someone for a murder because they have violent criminal histories and so on. I didn't make myself clear above. I kind of left out saying that. I meant to indicate that if a family member of mine had been murdered by someone who got away with it, possibly due to some procedural errors which disallowed evidence being used in their trial, i.e. if someone I knew was guilty of killing a family member, and I later found out they had been wrongly convicted of a subsequent murder and put to death, I wouldn't lose much sleep over it. But I am absolutely opposed to people being framed for crimes because the authorities believe them to be bad sorts of people and so on. That's part of what I fear about the corruption in our system. Even if the police and prosecutors take violent, dangerous individuals off the streets that way, it destroys the integrity of the system, and it is a slippery slope. Once you wink wink and set up a 'bad guy', your ethics and integrity are destroyed, and it then becomes an easy thing to rationalize cheating the system again. Perhaps the first time they cheat, it is done to convict someone they know for a certainty to be guilty of the crime they are charged with, but they cannot get a conviction because some of the evidence was improperly obtained and cannot be used in court, so they collude to plant evidence and put the guy in prison. In that case the guilty person is convicted, BUT the integrity of the system was damaged (which is actually a crime in itself). The guilty party gets convicted. But now a precedent has been set, the prosecutor has rationalized breaking the law to get a conviction. Maybe the next time he can rationalize hiding exculpatory evidence in order to convict a known repeat rapist/murderer, i.e. framing him for a crime he didn't commit in order to remove him from society. Eventually he has deadened his conscience to the point that he can routinely rationalize cheating the system in order to improve his conviction rate. It is a slippery slope.

It is a nightmare to think of an innocent man being convicted of a capital crime, and being forced to have his hopes for justice raised and then dashed, time after time, as he anticipates his own execution by an unjust system. That is the strongest case against the death penalty. It is not much better for him to spend his entire life in prison for a crime he did not commit. It really is the stuff of nightmares.

And this is to say nothing about the kind of corruption we have just witnessed in the Epstein case. The deep state is corrupted by their extreme wealth and almost limitless power. They have an extra-judicial system whereby they commit crimes with impunity. The petty criminals are jailed, but as crime becomes organized, it corrupts those in power. And eventually the worst criminals are the ones who own our governments and can operate independently of them.

I hear you also about the dangers we all face in this increasingly lawless world. Even though crime rates are low where I live, it doesn't mean I should be lax with my security arrangements. It is no consolation to my family if I am the exception to the rule, the cautionary tale.

Liz found out after she betrayed Red and after he got out of prison and escaped death. Fake Red was actually a KGB operative just like Katarina Rostova, Lizzie's mom. She and he were very close, from childhood onward. It wasn't clear to me but I think he may have been deeply in love with her, but had never acted on it. Something like that. She extracted a promise from him to always look after Lizzie (Masha) before her death. So why did he fake being Reddington?

The real Red was Lizzie's biological father. The night of the fire real Red and Katarina were fighting over that blackmail file they called the Fulcrum, and Lizzie picked up the gun and shot him, killing him. But nobody knew he had died except those in the house that night. So Katarina's KGB friend helped her evade authorities and intel agencies. He came up with the plan to take advantage of the work Katarina had done making Red appear to be a traitor. The KGB had put about 30 million dollars in some bank account under Raymond Reddington's name so it would appear he had been paid off by them. Their plan was to turn him by threatening to 'expose' him as a traitor unless he became one.

So in order to get at those funds, Katarina's KGB friend also went on the run from the KGB. He underwent several operations to change his looks to appear more like Reddington. He told the bank he'd had surgery because he was on the run, explaining why he didn't look just like Reddington, whom they had seen pictures of, but had never met. (It was one of those criminal banks which ask no questions, and welcome funds no matter who deposits them or where they come from.) This was to allow him and Katarina to keep several steps ahead of the intel agencies looking for them. After fake Red found Katarina's clothes on the beach indicating her suicide he kept his promise to look after Masha, Lizzie.

In the last season finale, Red found out Katarina had only faked her death (unless that was a ruse and the person he found was some KGB operative in a sting to catch fake Red) and was residing in Paris. He flew there and found her on the street one night and called out to her. He told her she wasn't safe just before she jabbed a syringe into him, drugging him and putting him into a van which pulled along side them at that moment. That is the cliffhanger we were left with.

So...still some big questions to answer.

Gee Whiz !! This takes some following!! I had an idea that current Red was protecting Liz from the knowledge that she had killed her own father - I assume that was the big secret he was keeping from her. But - sorry to be a bit dense - I can understand if the original Red was an American agent and it was Katarina's mission to seduce him and turn him - manufacturing evidence to make him appear a traitor if he didn't comply - what I don't get is that the fire and the death of the original Red was a perfect opportunity for them to disappear quietly with Lizzie. - instead they chose to go after the money - but by doing that the KGB now believe that the original Red is alive and in possession of their cash - so naturally they are going to go after him. (I hope he is careful with door handles and doesn't go dumpster diving - maybe you have heard of the great Russian novichok poisoning scandal that took place in Britain some months ago) The major thing I don't understand is Lizzie. She must have been about 6/7 years old to be able to pick up a gun and fire it - so original Red and Katarina must have been together for all of those years - does that make sense to you? So our Red - Katarina - and Katarina's father were all Russian agents - I don't find that very sympathetic - especially as our Red claimed he was a criminal but not a traitor? He was a traitor to Russia - I don't like that aspect of it. I have just looked up its entry in Wikipedia - either they are nuts or I am !!

Fake Red didn't deny selling out his country, not that I recall. I don't recall him denying being a traitor specifically. He has made some comments at times which seem to finely parse what he sees as loyalty; he has frequently made it clear that he doesn't see the country's interests and his own as coinciding except by coincidence or accident. People have asked him how he could sell out his country before. I wish I could recall his replies now. I don't think he ever denied doing so.

We know that the real Red wasn't a traitor, at least not the way the KGB made him out to be. He and Katarina apparently fell in love, and that may have clouded their views of their missions. According to the plot as I understand it, for several years Katarina was raising Masha and leading Alexsander what's his name to believe that she was his child. Some points are not clear to me. Red must have known she was pregnant, unless their respective missions had them apart for some period of time. But whether he knew or not, at some point a few key things happened. The KGB realized that she had fallen in love with Red or had otherwise been compromised and betrayed them, and she found out they were coming for her. And, Reddington became convinced that Masha was his child and wanted to raise her in America.

Also, Katarina and/or Red discovered the Cabal and got the Fulcrum file. Red wanted it saying it was the only thing keeping him alive. But Masha shot him the night of the fire.

Katarina helped KGB friend become fake Red. But she dumped Masha with that criminal friend of fake Red.

The way they told the story was that Katarina knew that both countries would be looking for her and that Masha would be in danger if she were with her. That was what she told Mr. Kaplan. If you have the intelligence services of the two superpowers (at that time) looking for you, it won't be easy to disappear quietly, especially not without a lot of money. The Russians wouldn't be as interested in Reddington if he was no longer a Navy intelligence officer; after a short time much of what he knew would be outdated. So once he got the money and began building a criminal empire his worth as an asset to the KGB went way down. But as you pointed out, he had their money and they would want that back. According to the plot however, Fake Red was quite skilled at evading them, and he established his own form of intelligence network through his criminal contacts and enterprises.

Katarina was also pretty smart and she faked her death. I always thought she had faked her death and I couldn't understand how fake Red could buy the suicide story so easily. Maybe he thought that she wouldn't fake her death without telling him, since they were so close. But she wasn't leaving that to chance. Anyway, the only evidence of her death was her pile of clothes found at the beach, no body ever washed up. I thought that was the shakiest suicide story ever. I sort of got tired of waiting for her to appear, year after year. But it looks like in the last season's finale she finally did.

Yes, the revelation that fake Red is politically very red, i.e. a rouge Soviet intelligence agent turned international criminal, lessened my admiration of him. Of course, they gave him good qualities, undying loyalty and devotion to those he loves, selflessness, and a ruthless commitment to his task. But he is also flawed, very focused on his own interest in building his criminal empire and wealth, always managing a way to profit from what appear at first to be altruistic motives.

Lizzie is American through and through however. But she is a nut job.

I suppose (although they haven't said as much) that when our Red built his criminal empire he may well have paid the Russians back. I take it that the Russians still believe that he is the original Red - and as he is no longer in the Navy and they have no further use for him they probably will be happy leave him alone in return for the cash. Our Red said in the courtroom that he was happy to be tried for his criminal activities but not as a traitor. I suppose (reaching) that he meant he had abandoned his own country years ago and now regards himself as American so he wasn't a traitor to America. Katarina - what a piece of work she is!! She lives with original Red - has a child by him - obviously has an affair with Alexander Selkirk at the same time she is sleeping with original Red - plots all the while to blackmail the father of her child - helps our Red through multiple plastic surgeries in order to lay their hands on the money - (thus being a traitor to her own country) and then fakes her suicide and leaves our Red to deal with the fall-out !! Not to mention dumping her child on some poor beggar that our Red ultimately kills. Strictly speaking there was no need for our Red to tell that guy anything about Liz - just the fact that her real father had died and her mother had gone missing. So that was just a plot device to show us how ruthless in protecting Liz our Red could be. I agree with you about the suicide story. Our Red - knowing just how cold and ruthless Katarina is would never have bought that suicide clothes on the beach no body scenario. I found that whole episode like a dream sequence - I am still not sure if it was or not. It was like one of those surreal Swedish films of the sixties where people stand and stare and make strange remarks that mean nothing. I also can't remember how Mr Kaplan became so close to Liz - it's a long involved series and some things fade from memory. (A lot in my case!!)

Mr. Kaplan had a conversation with Katarina about her bond with the children under her care, and her absolute devotion to protecting them from harm. And that devotion was extrapolated to Katarina as the mother of Masha. It wasn't really explained past those things Kate said about her devotion to the child. She made it sound like it was some unusually strong instinct to protect, and some incredibly strong bond she formed with children. That is the best explanation I found for her closeness to Liz.

I must have missed that bit in the courtroom where Red said he didn't go along with the traitor charge. Perhaps he was thinking that he had never betrayed the United States because as a Russian he could not betray America, only the USSR. It was also true for the real Red, who wasn't a traitor. Technically, all those charges stemmed from the fake payments and other planted evidence meant to pressure real Red to turn. So neither of them were guilty of betraying the US.

Yes, Katarina was something else indeed. Alexander was her cover life. Fake Red told Alexander that she may have loved him, but it was her cover, and that he was her assignment. In real life I bet they usually do what was shown in The Americans, they put two agents together. But there are exceptions I suppose.

I heard that the show was originally written as a single season show but that it became a big hit right away so they decided to stretch it out longer. When they do something like that it puts the writers in a tough place because the original plan for the show gets changed mid stream and they have to improvise on the fly. They have to create 'filler' material sometimes, maybe on short notice as they try to buy time to game plan the longer strategy. But then they run into continuity problems as they have to keep up with all the stuff they have said or indicated in the filler stuff. So they have to try to make it all congruent, all fit together without contradictions. I suppose this could explain why they keep Lizzie repeating that stupid cycle of hers. It creates tension, and it is what we already know about Lizzie. Except it gets really old and stops being believable.

Anyway, I wonder how much longer they will write this story. I have heard that it is a hard show to make. James Spader made some comment about that once anyway. I get the feeling that some of them are tired of it. We already saw Samar Navabi make her exit. That made me wonder: did she get an offer on a good role elsewhere? Were the writers trying to flesh out her role and Aram's role before the end of the story? This is all speculation of course. The series finale will mostly focus on Reddington and Lizzie and their story I would think.

I can imagine the problems they would have if the show was written as a single season - it explains some things. I see Navabi has left without giving any explanation - that is unnecessary and somewhat silly - why characters hide conditions that could result in the death of themselves or their team - mates is a mystery to me. I think this show is hard to make for James Spader because he is the show - without him it doesn't exist - I am not much interested in scenes in which he does not appear. It is hard for him because his dialogue is complex and constant it must be hard to remember - remember his vision is very poor as well - he can barely see three feet in front of himself. It must be difficult to read scripts and follow marks etc. The rest of the cast (except Liz) pretty much just make up the numbers - but like most supporting actors they probably consider themselves to be worthy of more screen time. I looked up the Navabi actress on IMDB and she hasn't done much since - nothing of any starring quality unlike the Tom character who is heading a hospital series. I wondered if Liz and Ressler might get together - but I think it is more likely that Reddington and she will work for a while for that evil woman who is in league with the president - bring them both down and then disappear to a country that has no extradition treaty with America where she and Red will run his empire together with Agnes - (has Liz forgotten about her?) !!

The story on Navabi was that she suffered a sort of progressive brain injury resulting from having hypoxia that time she was in the van which went into the river. She almost died and Aram kept doing CPR on her. She wanted to keep that a secret from everyone. She was on loan to them from Mossad.

A friend told me he couldn't go to a nursing home. He never really explicitly said things, he just had a way of getting his message across without really having said anything. I am sure he was in some sort of intelligence organization, or had been when he was able bodied years before. The idea is they don't want people who have classified knowledge becoming senile and blabbing on about stuff without realizing it. They have to make sure that cannot happen. My friend told me it's not usually an issue. Most people don't live out their lives to that age in that line of work. It is dangerous work and everyone knows it going in. It appeals to a certain kind of person.

Navabi had to tell Aram about her condition since he realized something was wrong, and they were in love and together after he saved her life. Navabi resigned from Mossad and had to take a polygraph as part of the exit interview. She failed when she lied about her health. Aram messed up and let Eli from Mossad know about Navabi's condition. And Mossad sent a hit team to kill Navabi. Red snatched Eli and told Mossad to call off the hit on Navabi or he would kill Eli. I can't recall the details now, maybe they said they couldn't get in touch with them where they were or they didn't carry cell phones or whatever. Anyway, for some reason Red believed that Navabi was being killed so he killed Eli. But Navabi survived the attempt on her life. Red arranged for her to disappear somewhere, one of his emergency hide away places. Aram tried to force Red to tell him where she was. Aram was prepared to give up everything and go live with Navabi and care for her until she died. But he would have screwed that up just as he screwed up telling Eli after Navabi told him not to tell anyone. And he would have wanted to call home at some point. So he finally came to terms with Navabi having to leave and have no contact.

I did not know that about James Spader. Yes, that must make things more difficult by far. I imagine he 'freestyles' or improvises his dialogue easily when he needs to. Don't actors often do that anyway? My sister said she read something during the first season about Spader getting a bit frustrated because, the article said, Megan Boone was inexperienced and kept messing up her lines resulting in excessive retakes. Somehow that is not hard for me to picture. She doesn't seem all that bright. Spader is the heavyweight in this show. He's no Richard Burton but he has the most experience and name recognition. He makes the show. Without him, there would be no show. My sister loves Ryan Eggold who played Tom and hated it when he left the show. I watched a couple episodes of his new show but it didn't appeal to me. But I am sure that he has a lot of fans who like him no matter what role he plays and I think his show is doing well. For most of the other actors I'm sure they will get supporting roles or temp roles in other shows. Hopefully they've been wise and have saved away their paychecks from this show. Acting doesn't provide steady income. I would bank most of my money if I got into a hit show.

I must have missed a good few episodes I have no idea why because I have it on a series link - but then Virgin is not the most reliable of companies. Annoying though. I think what happened is that after the end of the last series the series link didn't automatically pick up on it as it should and by the time I noticed it was back and renewed the series link I had missed quite a lot of it. I can't use catch-up because for some reason sub-titles are not available on it - which seems to me like discrimination against the hard of hearing - we have to pay for it too. I had no idea about virtually everything you said about Navabi. I can imagine Megan Boone fluffing takes - I don't consider her a very good actress - she has two expressions - sad and not so sad. I am not a fan of Richard Burton - he was good in some films but most of the time he seems to me to be just a frustrated Shakespearean actor who is slumming it and lets you know it. He really shouldn't have been an actor - he really wanted to be the new Dylan Thomas - including his alcoholism - the troubled Welsh poet. Another proud to be Welshman who lived in Switzerland and called his house Paye de Galle (Wales). To me that is the height of hypocrisy. I like Anthony Hopkins - but once again he is an alcoholic who wanted to be a hell-raiser and he doesn't live in Wales either. I don't mind if you don't want to live here - just don't pretend that you love the place. Catherine Zeta Jones is the same - she lived about five miles away from me - and she has a Welsh accent which she uses when she is in Wales and an English accent that she uses when she isn't. I was quite shocked when James Spader said that Michael Douglas had developed throat cancer through oral sex. He had that quite recently - and he has been married to Zeta Jones for eighteen years. I am not surprised they separated for a while. Personally I would never have returned to him but there's nowt as queer as folk as they say. (well they do over here any way !! queer as in strange) I don't think that any of the supporting actors will get lead roles in other shows - they aren't charismatic enough. I too would save all my pennies if I was lucky enough to be in a hit show. Acting is notorious for being unreliable.

Maybe Catherine found out he got his cancer from too much oral sex on women (the story I heard) and she knew he had not done that with her. That would be something if the doctor told you your spouse was cheating. I had never heard of getting cancer from that. It makes me wonder if that explanation was some kind of publicity stunt. Hollywood isn't known as Hollyweird for nothing. There is an old adage about medicine which says too much of any drug is poisonous. I guess the principle applies everywhere.

I knew Burton was a drunk. In those days I think it wasn't quite as big a deal to be a drunk as it is today, provided you showed up for work and knew your lines. My mom thought he was a good actor. I only saw him in a few things. He was good in something with Elizabeth Tayor where they fought like cats and dogs the whole way through. Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf was it I think. My mom thought I should watch that, sort of a classic I guess. Actually I got a bit worn out listening to them fight constantly like that. What couple could fight that loud and long? One of them would get fed up and leave. I think I would. I know I would.
I only saw him in maybe one or two other things. I remember he was a drunk in those also. He probably stuck to roles where it didn't make much difference if he was drunk.

I am slogging my way through something called Green Frontier. It is in Spanish but has subtitles. It's set in the Amazonian jungle and involves a couple of tribes there, and some civilized cops who go back and forth from the city to the jungle. The jungle has some mystic power that certain of the tribe members can tap into. I am almost done with it. It's a bit confusing at times. Not only does it jump from one time to another in the story, but a couple of the characters have been imbued with very long life and almost permanent youth. I need to finish it now so I can tell if it makes any sense at the end.

I noticed "Green Frontier" on Netflix but didn't really fancy it !! I am ploughing my way through a Turkish revenge thriller called "Ezel". (also on Netflix) It's actually not all that bad. Easy enough to follow even though the flashbacks aren't my favourite device. I think Michael Douglas actually said that was the reason - maybe his reasoning is that it would make an aged Lothario look as if he is still a virile man rather than something as banal as smoking or drinking too much. It makes his wife look foolish though. James Spader would not have dared say it unless the scriptwriters were damned sure of their ground. Richard Burton would have been a better actor if he had contained the inner rage he so obviously had - he was always at barely controlled boiling point. He was apparently very good in theatre productions of Shakespeare plays that require his level of intensity. I can't understand why rich and successful people end up as dope addicts and drunks - maybe it's because there is no place else to go. I have never taken an illegal drug in my life and I was going around with a band when I was young and they didn't either. The music was our drug - with an occasional cigarette. I hardly ever drank alcohol when I was young - I simply didn't like the taste of it - I still don't - I don't smoke either. I notice they have reported the first vaping death in Illinois - there is a glut of them there apparently linked to vaping marijuana. I finally watched "Wind River" I had seen it a while ago but forgotten most of it - it was good - I enjoyed it. It seemed to be a protest against the lack of a database for missing Native American Indian women. I don't see why the Native American communities can't set one up for themselves - in these days of computers they could share it with every Native American community across the States. Oh well - back to "Ezel" !!.

@strangebedfellows said:

I can't understand why rich and successful people end up as dope addicts and drunks - maybe it's because there is no place else to go.

That would be a good thesis for some sociology Ph.D. student perhaps, though it might be difficult to get the subjects to allow you to interview them. Rich people with substance abuse problems might not want to talk to anyone about their issues. I guess you would have to break them into groups. The trust fund spoiled kids would be one category, the insecure actors who hit the big time and suck their money up their noses in white powder would be another, and so on. Probably they would have the same issues as the poor drug addicts, just more money to buy drugs.

I may check Ezel after this. I have some others to catch up on also. Tomorrow I am going to visit with a sister; she wants to visit a Buddhist temple located near a friend she's staying with. I've never been to one. She hasn't either. Might be interesting, for a while anyway.

I can't remember the last time I was in a church of any kind - probably around the seventies !! It may be advisable for you to read up on what they expect you to do and not do - some holy places don't like you to wear shoes and hats etc. I would be interested in your observations once you have visited.

Funny thing, Wendy called and they said they were open on Sunday for visitation, and that they allowed you to bring your pets. We went and found the gate locked on Sunday, and a sign which said no pets allowed! Only service dogs, like for the blind. So we didn't see the Buddhist place. Instead we walked the dogs around part of Lake Wylie, in S. Carolina.

I got back today. Tomorrow I will dog sit for my sister again while she has an appointment. She will drive back down to Florida tomorrow I think. It has been a whirlwind stay this time for her, lots of family drama. Too much to go into, but you know how things can be in families sometimes. My oldest sister has always been jealous of the visiting sister who was a model when she was young. Some things never change.

I am catching up on Yellowstone. I hope you get a chance to see it over there some day. Perhaps when the show is finished one of your carriers will pick it up.

Oh that's a shame!! Maybe you will get a chance to visit properly with the foreknowledge you now have. Never mind - at least you got to walk around what was no doubt a beautiful lake. I know only too well how things can go in families - my early life was a constant source of trauma with my brother. It's not that he did anything truly wrong - he just expected to be the star of the show all the time and my father didn't think he was but my mother did !! You can imagine the fall -out. Both of our parents are dead now. He is still the same - he phones me every day because no one else will speak to him - one of his daughters has cut ties entirely and the other barely manages a civil word. He still believes it is all their fault and that he is blameless. As you say - some things never change !! I am still watching "Ezel" it is actually quite good - and - you will never believe this - there are 72 episodes in Season 1 - but although there is a Season 2 they are not showing it on Netflix and it is not likely now as this series is 10 years old. I don't know what religion they follow in Turkey but I would bet it is a very strict one. It's strange because the young women wear very revealing dresses but only the married women kiss on the lips. I have not seen the single woman kiss anyone on the lips yet - it is always almost but then changes to cheek. There is only one sex scene between an unmarried couple and that is suggested and is not remotely explicit. The sex scenes between husband and wife are the same and are very thin on the ground. There is no hint of a same sex relationship let alone a scene so I am wondering if perhaps homosexuality is a forbidden practice in Turkey. I think you would enjoy it because there is something going on all the time. There are a lot of flashbacks because they tell us what happened to the four of them in the intervening years before Ezel's appearance. There is a lot of voice over - but I don't know how to describe it - it's like a mixture of proverb - art of war - and - philosophy. But it sort of adds to the story. What breed of dogs do you have? My family have had about seven dogs in all but for the last twenty years we kind of migrated to cats. They are easier to look after when you can't walk too far - and the one we have now is a house-cat because we are right next to two busy roads. She is lying beside me even as we speak !! Quick update - had to know - I just looked it up - Islam is the main religion in Turkey. Thought so.

Still not sure why it was closed on Sunday contrary to the prior notice. Meditation emergency? It might be nice to visit one of those places some day just to say I've seen one. I imagine they are peaceful places.

We walked two labs and a long haired Dachshund along the lake shore. My sister owns the Dachshund. She has always owned small dogs. The two labs belong to a friend of hers. Wendy and I are animal lovers and the dogs like to come with us.

I plan to start Ezel soon. It looks interesting. I just got in from having dinner with my sister and a different friend of ours, a nurse. She and her late husband owned a clinic and a small compounding pharmacy; I used to work for them. Wendy drives back down to Florida tomorrow. I am really tired tonight.