The Blacklist

Remember, my friends,

the task at hand is not an impossible one.

The Defiance is not rigged.

Mr. Palmer has before him every tool, schematic,

and safety precaution necessary for him to save his own life.

Ladies and gentleman, drink in the moment.

I want you to let the numbness of life wash away,

even if only for tonight, for this moment.

The love. The fear.

This is what it is to be alive.

This... is "The Defiance".

This is Les Fleurs du Mal.

I can't.

Please, you have to let me out of here.

I can't do this.

Are you listening to me? Make it stop!

I can't!

Aah! I did it!

I did it! I beat the game!

I beat the game!

I did...

No. Wait, no!

*THE BLACKLIST*

*THE BLACKLIST* Season 07 Episode 02

Episode Title : "Les Fleurs du Mal"

Shoot.

Let me help with that.

Oh, no, that's okay. I got it.

Nonsense. I insist.

No thanks. I got it.

Oh, do you want some coffee?

I was just going out for some.

Come on. I insist.

So happy we finally get a chance to chat.

Is Agnes at school?

Yeah, I just dropped her off, and, uh,

I was on my way home and realized I didn't have

anything for dinner, so I picked up a few things.

What do you do for work?

I'm a government employee.

What about you?

Me? I'm retired.

I moved here to be closer to my daughter.

We're estranged, but I'm hoping to get closer to her.

Agnes is in full-on princess mode.

What?

Oh! Right.

I know it's not very woke, but she's irresistible.

No, fairy tales are very important.

They help children cope

with separation anxiety and loss.

Oh, and I love a fairytale.

Just not the part where you got to get saved

by Prince Charming.

Um, that's work.

I'm so sorry. I got to go.

Have you seen my keys?

I could've sworn I just put them right here.

Oh! Here.

I must have knocked them off the table.

Uh, keep the mug. Bring it back later.

I'm really sorry about this.

Don't be. I got what I came for.

"To creep softly like a coward

"toward the treasures of your body,

"to whip your joyous flesh and bruise your pardoned breast,

"to make in your astonished flank a wide and gaping wound."

As a general rule,

I believe the sword is mightier than the pen.

But in the hands of a free-spirited,

syphilis-ridden French dandy,

I'd say the odds shift considerably.

How's my grandfather?

We saw him this morning.

He's still... Critical.

And the woman who tried to kill him?

You know Baudelaire was prosecuted

for offenses against public morality?

The woman.

His words were so provocative

that six of his poems were banned for nearly a century.

You said you had a lead.

I do. A secret society

named after Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal.

Poetry lovers?

Thrill seekers.

People who go to extreme lengths to offend public morality.

A society of decadent misanthropes.

People who have everything, so nothing is special.

And this connects to the woman who abducted you in Paris?

It does.

According to Reddington, the Les Fleurs du Mal is

our best chance of finding Steinhil.

Because whoever runs it contracted him to create an illusion.

Well, whatever he did for them can't top the illusion

he created for himself, rising from the dead.

If we can get to him, he can get us to the woman

who put Elizabeth's grandfather on life support.

All right, I combed through every database,

and there's nothing concrete on Fleurs du Mal,

only rumors about a man given a knife

and locked in a room with a tiger,

a woman who fell off the Eiffel Tower,

and something about... Piranhas.

You said Reddington had a lead.

A name. Charles Radcliffe.

According to Reddington, he attended one of the society's events.

Ressler, Aram, go see Mr. Radcliffe.

See if he can I.D. these people before they hurt someone else.

How's Agnes?

Uh... Amazing.

She's sweetly oblivious to the guards you have

sitting outside our apartment to protect her.

If you need anything, including time off...

Is that why you sent Aram instead of me?

I sent Aram because he needs more experience in the field.

You are a single mom with a hard job.

I just want you to know if you need to come in late or leave early...

I don't. But it's good to know I can.

Thank you...

For everything.

Elodie Radcliffe?

Agents Ressler and Mojtabai, FBI.

I knew you'd come sooner or later.

You did?

Les Fleurs du Mal. That's why you're here, isn't it?

Uh... How could you know that?

I thought you'd given up.

On what?

On my husband, Charles.

Well, if he's here, we'd like to have a word with him, as well.

We have a lot of questions for the both of you.

Charles can't help you.

Because those people in Les Fleurs du Mal all but killed him.

So, The Defiance, it's done?

You said this one was important.

And the Player will be provided with tools?

Yes, as discussed.

Mmm. All useless.

For the Player to survive, he needs to be willing to, uh...

Break his index finger and dislocate his thumb,

work his hand into the cam slot, and disengage the lock.

It's the only way.

So, one could survive.

Could? Yes.

Would? Incredibly unlikely.

But the narrow chance of survival

is the whole point, right?

This... This is a diving accident?

An arterial gas embolism.

That's the lie they told me

to hide whatever they really did to him.

Did you go to the police?

And say what?

I don't know what happened.

And even if I did, these are powerful people

with the resources to protect themselves.

So, how did you find these people?

Charles found them.

It was a gift, for our anniversary.

Our marriage wasn't perfect.

We were bored, drifting apart.

Charles thought this might be exciting.

To... To watch people die.

Sharing an experience,

something so rare and raw and extraordinary

that it can't be forgotten,

that it can only bring you closer.

They called it "The Defiance."

Sounds terrifying.

Which is why I didn't go.

Do you know how to make contact?

Y... You want me to talk to them?

Yes. Help us expose them.

And find out what happened to your husband.

Mmm, Charles had an e-mail address

for the man in charge, Thelonious Prackett.

That's all I know.

SPEAKING RUSSIAN...

Motya! I'm sorry to barge in unexpectedly,

but I've called repeatedly,

and there hasn't been hide nor hair of you,

so I thought I'd come and check to see if you're okay.

- Please go. - And you're okay! Thank God!

I thought maybe Ed Broadfoot and his sons

had finally tracked you down and dragged you off

to one of those gravel pits.

What do you want?

It's about the Townsend Directive.

I understand it's been reactivated,

that you and everyone else who bought in

are actively hunting for her.

Do you think I'm an idiot?

Motya, I need to take care of this myself. It's personal.

Ah.

Do you know your conversations with the Minister of Finance

single-handedly responsible for getting my operations pushed out of Kiev?

I lost millions in rail lines alone.

I lost my relationship with contractors, politicians.

My own wife left me for the competitor.