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faorism · 3 years

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needing the au to drop wherein i can commit to writing a historical au,, because since i first watched the db cooper job my mind went straight to OT3! OT3! OT3! (unlike with the van gogh job, since i aint playing with that fucking lieutenant)

one day maybe one dayyyyy i will sit down and i will write the ot3 into that episode's story. so, it'll be the backgrounds for the characters in the flashback (so, stephanie ritter, steve reynolds, and reggie wilkins), but with the necessary personality adjustments (parker, eliot, and hardison respectively). basically, vintage ot3 with some hot as hell aesthetics and secrets and avoiding as much as possible producing copraganda.

so. my thoughts. what i see happening. and this got super long so im throwing this under a cut. and for ease i will call them by their modern day canon names except when making a point.

first, general thoughts about the characters.

and so: steve to eliot. nothing much here on the surface. eliot still volunteers, too much an indoctrinated white man to have been forcibly drafted. so its still one man gone to war. one man come back. eliot would had been noticed early in training for his ability to pick shit up, and they teased at maybe sending him to a special unit. maybe they do, or maybe they don't because they just need to funnel fuckers to the jungle. the vietnam invasion was a terrorist imperialist venture and there's no romanticizing from me about anything done being at all valorous or special or brother-in-arms'y. and eliot commits war crimes under the american stars and stripes instead of just to keep moreau's champaign running. but also maybe moreau is eliot's superior. he certainly would have been rewarded for this ruthlessness. (eliot of course strove to impress moreau because there aint an eliot spencer who wasn't that man's dog at some point, i!!!! dont make the rules). eliot's friend died and eliot's gone off to carry out his wishes and moreau lets him because he Knows eliot is gonna come back. whether its to come back to the same squad, or follow him into deeper spy shit for the military, or to fuck off and go private. then eliot meets parker.

now. stephanie to parker. beth plays normal so well im mad at her, but there's something edgy and strategic about stephanie that i think parker can grab onto. i feel that maybe she was kind of a thief still, but there's more realism to this world so archie wasnt a super secret spy with lasers to practice with, but just a guy with sticky fingers whos a little bored and wants a protege. parker is good really good at what she does, and not having to deal with lasers makes me easy. but she's into scams that are less grifts and more Catch Me If You Can slight of hands. she's always looking for easy money (she was into lifting cars at one point! literally she follows where the crime is). she's doing something in an airport and someone tries to recruit her as a flight attendant because she's got the Look. and yall, flight attendants? that shit was like being a model and an astronaut and a time traveler back then. and according to a teacher i had, who once worked as in the f.a. union, those ladies back in the day were rad and queer and free spirited and runnnnning shit. i think, yes, it's a Job which i think we might resist placing parker into. but! of the jobs, at the time, i really see her rocking it during the time period. (also come on, the opportunities to swindle distracted people of their shit would be endless. they would just think they dropped their stuff in the airport! not that it was stolen.)

finally, reggie to alec. i think hardison will be the hardest to translate. even tho i admittedly listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, i dont know much about fbi life and also definitely don't know about it historically. part of me desperately wants to put him somewhere else even if it does have to stay within the fbi. i might cheat and make him like a Q(uartermaster) to 007/00s like in james bond, and he's like UGH this is horrible god i hate working for the fbi but they will give me funding so...... anyway, here's this totally cool [radio term]. that said, if hardison is stuck in the fbi, why he ends up there is that he is a fucking savant when it comes to research and the man can put together a presentation like no one else. that white man gets all the credit for profiling but it was hardison who goddamn was the google of the microfilm days. reggie felt super square but that might be because he had to deal with mcsweeties db cooper shit day in and day out for years. hardison is more himself. and definitely still a nerd. alec would be into dime fantasy novels and comics and ham radios and oh god he also would be into star trek like the original star trek as it came out and he would be into the zines yes! yessss. omg. also he plays a mean arcade cabinet. but he's mostly well adjusted but lonely. his colleagues dont appreciate him because fbi esp during that time were fucking wilding out and racist as hell aaaaaand im sorry im srry im trying so hard to have fbi hardison make sense but also! acab. ANYWAY.

second, the relationship

i think it would be fun to play with what it means to have parker/eliot start off first and bring in hardison afterwards. (if white collar is your thing, it would be like this canon divergent ot3 fic wherein peter burke is the last to join in.) i feel they would be Super Intense esp since they are carrying this big ass secret. kind of broken and dysfunctional and there's the passion and the commitment, but i think there's also a tenderness that's super hard for them to achieve? and i think there's a way that hardison plays such an important part in who they are and how they are. like, sure i think parker/eliot would have joy but they won't have levity. they would have compassion but they won't have gentleness.

eliot meets hardison after being recruited by nate. i think they get close because while nate and eliot have an interesting and compelling mentorship/friendship, nate is still eliots superior; sometimes its nice to complain about your boss, as hardison will say to eliot to try to make friends. i think hardison and eliot would become legit friends and not just work buddies because they are just not cut out of the same cloth as the rest of their colleagues. they grab beers after work. after hard days, hardison cajoles eliot into going to the arcade. they are friends. real real truly deep best friends, in a way hardison didn't think he could have with a fed and eliot didnt think he would have after his friend died. but also? they are like "buds" who are buds who are desperately tryna to cross any lines because there's a.... tension? an UST between them they dont know what to do with.

parker meets eliot by way of a "lets have my friend for dinner, he's a blast." and immediately immediately hardison is like... wow this woman is beautiful but like, really attracted to her personality. and parker things hardison is kinda dorky but cute dorkie? anyway, they have a puppy love situation growing. and it keeps growing until bam. eliot and parker are like. are we into alec???? fuck we are aren't we.

i think stephanie and steve would never tell reggie (even if somehow they were to be a thing). but parker and eliot? hell yeah they tell hardison. eventually. after a while. sooner than maybe they should. the tension if they should say something is one of the things that build up as UST between them for so long; parker and eliot know they are carrying this huge thing. two huge things. eliot being db cooper and also their massive crush on him.

if i could control myself to stick to a pwp, it would be another christmas. maybe the christmas nine (more?) years down the road. the damn snow grounded hardison's flight back to his nana's, and parker and eliot hear this and invite him over. the egg nog gets flowing and parker eventually is like,, fuck this. and comes onto hardison. and hardison would be like wow wow what but... idk, free love and swinging were In The Thoughts And Minds Of The People. he still checks in with eliot who is like. her body, man; i aint gonna tell her what to do. and for a sec hardison is like, man is this a cuck situation? i guess i can be for it but also...... aint mad if i aint alone. and eliot is so grateful and idk. i just want them all to be happy and having fun and no one to be left out. and yeah i am kinda brushing over a lot of the racial politics which, in a more developed fic rather than a pwp, would definitely need to be brought in; but idk that needs to just be in the bedrock of whatever plot is going into this.

it takes a lot of maneuvering of their lives but they make it work and eventually hardison is a keeper of eliot's secret too.

(apart from the historical aspect, another reason i probably won't actually write this is because i know myself. i would want to do worldbuilding. i would follow eliot and alec to their jobs, but i wouldnt want to write outright copaganda. the grit/realism i would be comfortable with would take a level of research i dont think i can commit to. but if someone wants to take this up or if you figure out a way around this issue, pls do i wont be mad)

#eliot spencer #parker leverage #alec hardison #leverage #thiefsome #okay i srsly am not this active but this week got me wanting to talk and talk about these three beauties #the db cooper job

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wetookanoath · 5 years

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Unsolved re-watch | True Crime Season 1 | The Strange Disappearance of D.B. Cooper.

I believe this may be my all time favorite TC episode, lmao. We are finishing the first season with this, so after the edits for the episode, I will answer replies and asks, post a ‘whole season’ photoset and go for that sweet, sweet Supernatural season 1. Thank you for following the re-watch so far!

May not like the filter they put on this episode, but they look really cute. I really like Ryan’s clean shaven cheeks and Shane’s hair looks hella soft. Besides, they are just. so. damn. adorable. and funny in this episode! I’m in love.

“You haven’t hear of it the way I’m about to tell you”, jdnvdnfiednefr.

DB Cooper is a bitch, a cool one, but a bitch. In a way, I think it makes it more legandary that this case is Unsolved. And really, will they ever solve it? I feel like this should stay as it is. Now, do you guys think he survived? I lowkey think he did.

Seeing them drink and laugh the way they do in this episode, you can see how close they already were before the show and how making this together was getting them closer. It’s really fun to watch the show with the context of what both have said on recent days, knowing their friendship has gotten stronger and that they love doing this. It’s nice.

NO FUNNY STUFF. Come on, this is badass, Shane is right. He is an ass and may as well have died for being so extra, but jfnksndkndifnrr such a cool idiot.

I hate/love how Shane looks with the fake glasses because it’s way too funny, but the man looks nice with sunglasses all the damn time anyway.

“Ah-ha! It’s me! The Zodiac killer, I’ll tell you a story-- What? Oh? Oh...” Why is Shane like this, lmao.

D. B. does sound cooler than just Dan Cooper, but I do wonder where the B came from? Anyway, the first time my brother and I saw this, he said “Maybe D. B. stands for Da Bomb. Da Bomb Cooper.” and he is, in fact, a genius.

McCoy does looks like the sketch, what the hell was the FBI thinking? Anyway, these suspects are like the funniest bitches and all could be, but also all could be not.

“I have a secret to tell you... I’m the phantom of the skyyyy...” “I’m a man of myth.” So this dude literally went like, “oh yeah, sounds possible but I don’t believe her” for no fucking reason? I’m calling sexism.

What is UP with this people confessing shit on their death bed? JDNKDNFIDNIFR Kenneth is the worst one, tho. Imagine being with your brother when he is dying and the bitch just says “I got something to tell you, but I can’t say it” ????????????? BITCH

“You cool FBI”, this part with the boys talking shit then saying NOPE WE ARE NOT about the FBI and then Ryan saying like, “No, I don’t want to get in trouble, specially now with... no.” WHAT, RYAN? W H A T?

The way these two put how could DB Cooper had died when jumping off the plane is so Final Destination, I swear to God these two need to stop watching bad horror movies.

These dudes sound like the Lone Gunman in The X-Files and ain’t that just fucking funny?

This is one of those cases that are legend now, and should remind Unsolved, to be honest.

#buzzfeed unsolved #ryan bergara #shane madej #bfu #true crime #db cooper ep #tcs1 #nini rewatches unsolved #your local nerd talking.txt #text #mine #text*#tcs1*

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katiebugwrites24 · 6 years

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Can I just say something about how much of an amazing example of a minor/reoccuring character FBI Agend Todd McSweeten is? They handled him masterfully. We see him grow, and change, we get to know him, but he’s not even in that many episodes! He’s starts out simple with his puppy dog crush on Hagan (and, honestly, his crush on her rivals Hardison’s crush on Parker for how adorable and sweet it is, I will forever feel bad for him). He’s a new agent, bumbling around, getting promotions because the team lets their cases fall into his lap (The Wedding Job, The Bank Shot Job, The Fairy Godparents Job), but he doesn’t quite feel that he deserves them (The Morning After Job). He’s just trying to help people and maybe get Hagan’s attention along the way. He writes her a haiku!! (The Boiler Room Job) That’s amazing. Do you know what I would do if a dude wrote me a haiku and then sent it to me by way of a guy named Bob? I’d cherish the heck out of that thing.

And then, to top everything off, there’s The DB Cooper Job. Man. Not only is his dad also an FBI agent, but he was the lead agent on the DB Cooper case? We get to see a different side of McSweeten, we get to see him deal with his dad’s death, and the fact that he died before he fulfilled his dream of catching Cooper. We got to see Todd McSweeten decide not to arrest his dad’s best friend when he found out that he was Cooper, and we got to see McSweeten as a kid. This is an amazing way to handle minor/reoccuring characters. We see McSweeten change over the course of the series, and what we don’t see we can fill in for ourselves. By the end he’s less naive, but retains some of his idealism, plus he’s relatable, just a guy trying to do his job, make his way in the world, feeling like a bumbling idiot sometimes. I just love Todd McSweeten.

#Leverage #Agent Todd McSweeten #McSweeten #He's the best

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tessabltheorist · 4 years

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Meandering in Red's mind, or "Red, in his own words." Part 4: His worldview

Red actually has said a lot about himself, through six and a half seasons.

He’s a capitalist not a communist: I happen to believe in capitalism. I like money. I like the lifestyle it affords me. I like the things that happen when you give it away.

Loves treasure hunts, puzzles and mysteries

Borakove, I hate sarcasm, and I love puzzles.

It's all just pieces of a much larger puzzle, and until all the pieces are laying in front of you, it won't go together.

Haskell's quite a puzzle man. Spends his days combing through thousands of pages of redacted government documents, comparing them to defense-authorization reports, executive orders. He's found a way to read between the lines. I wouldn't have the patience.

Steinhil's smart. He knew I'd be overconfident after figuring out the hospital wasn't real. that I'd think I'd solved the puzzle when I'd only gotten one piece. He knew I wouldn't see his fingerprints all over the escape.

Relax. Have a drink. Help me finish this infuriating puzzle.

I haven't felt this giddy since Herbie Hunnicutt and I pooled our box tops and sent away for the decoder ring and periscope. Why is that? What is this feeling? ... Everyone loves hidden treasures Yamashits Gold, the Oak Island Money Pit. Hell, even DB Cooper, which was more of a mystery and less of a treasure hunt, really... Mystery? You know why? Robert Louis Stevenson. Edgar Allan Poe."The Gold Bug." Oh, what a story. It has everything a delirious search for treasure, the descent into madness, along with ciphers and bugs, a skull nailed to a tree. What a yarn.

I've imagined robbing the Mint of the money they make, but never of a fortune they don't even know they have. But this is a treasure hunt.

Waste of time? We've been decrypting legends. Chasing pirates. Hunting hidden treasure.

But the answer to complex things is always the easiest one: When confronting complex equations, the simplest solution is most often the correct one.

There is a very good scene to study the way he obscures his motivations to people does not know well. It comes in 1.04 when Lorca hired The Stewmaker to kill Liz painfully:

he can bluff with the best: the FBI backs off. No surveillance, no wires, or you can find what’s left of Agent Keen yourselves. We know he was likely dying inside, but he acted quite cool.

usually he gets what he wants by using as much truth as he can, and by providing an alternative motivation for his real ones, but when found out he just spins it:

LORCA: You have a problem with me disposing of this bitch? Agent Keen will soon disappear. That is the price for taking everything I have.

RED: See, that’s the problem right there. You let your emotions get the best of you, which is how people wind up in jail, Hector. Stupid people. I need the name and location of the man holding Elizabeth Keen.

LORCA: Are you sure it is not you who’s acting on emotion? It sounds personal.

RED: You got me. It is personal. I want your man. So let me spell it out for you. You get away. Agent Ressler here saves Agent Keen. He looks good. And everyone feels better about themselves. I need a name. Now.

It was personal because he was desperate to save Liz, but he DID want the Stewmaker, because he needed to know the story of the photo. That is how he knew the girl was alive. The truth sells it, and Ressler provided the perfect motivation. But it is his bluff with Lorca that clinches it: Then good luck to you, Mr. Lorca.

He finds cops are linear, following protocols, and that makes them useful.

The best example of how he uses the FBI comes in 2.17, when Red admits clearly to Liz: This was always about Roger Hobbs. I used the FBI to create a problem for Roger. I needed the man to be in my debt, and now he is.

The FBI works for me now.

God, are you FBI.

You’re thinking like a cop. Cops are so objective. They’re obligated to protocols. Make it personal

You’re so linear. The FBI and the police– the way they teach you to think never ceases to amaze me.

You FBI are such blunt instruments

You g-men are top shelf. Let me guess. Ressler slipped on a banana peel?

Perhaps this is an opportunity to let our new friends at the FBI carry the water.

A small, select group of agents are in my employ.

That van. It was there when we arrived, and it’s still there. That is the FBI. With all the scans and wands and this elevator you’ve built that goes down to middle earth, and you don’t even bother to sweep the street around your building?

and we are reminded of in this scene in season 7:

RED: I'm here as something of a guardian angel, Bhavish. It's come to my attention that you're the target of an FBI investigation. See the rather furtive ginger behind you? He's FBI. Or if he isn't, he certainly looks like he's FBI. Same with the woman by the fence over there.

RATNA: And why are you telling me all this?

RED: Because there's something I want you to tell me, just as soon as I get you the hell out of here. See the gentleman behind me, by the black Mercedes? He's your escape plan. ...

PARK: You tipped Ratna off to an FBI investigation you initiated!

RED: Yes, to put him in my debt by setting him free.

Being in Red's debt is not a good place to be:

DR. SHAW: You're Raymond Reddington. RED: And you're in my debt, which can be a complicated place to be.

FRANKIE: Where are we going? And why do I have to go with you? RED: Because you remain in my debt.

RED TO COOPER: Tom Connolly's been leaking information to the Cabal about everything that goes on in this place ever since he walked through that door and offered to save your life. You want to wipe that debt clean? Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut.

RED TO THE MAJOR: That shouldn't be hard, Bill. You betrayed me. You sold me an asset and then allowed him to turn when Berlin offered you twice as much. You're in debt to me. Recognize this rather fortuitous opportunity for you to begin to make things even.

And I told you I'm not willing to take no for an answer. Set the meeting, and I'll consider your debt from Caracas as paid in full.

RED TO COOPER: I'm here to call in your chit.

RED TO ROBERT DIAZ: Don't underestimate yourself, Robert. One way or another, I'm confident Kirk will come. I'll have his head, and you'll end up in the Oval Office, where you can pay off your debt to me with a full pardon.... Not me. Elizabeth Keen.

COOPER ABOUT MOSADEK: I've seen Mosadek's intel file. He helped the agency kill or capture several high-value targets. Besides, you didn't let him go. You put him in Reddington's debt a place I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

But he does not presume on his people being indebted to him, he knows is economics, and he knows the difference between that and friendship and love: Most of my associates are under the impression that once I've granted them a favor, they're indebted to me for life. But it's a false assumption. They're indebted to me because I make them a lot of money. They're loyal to me because I've earned it. It's good business. But at the end of the day, it's just business.

Hates shapeshifters who pretend to be good: She preyed on the weak and the innocent while dressed in the wings of a savior. I detested everything about her.

Believes in two sided relationships

Oh, what do you want? RED: I meant what I said before about our relationship being symbiotic. I help you, you help me. We help each other.

Yes, the agreement is for me to bring cases to you. It doesn't work the other way around. I'm not your consultant. I have no interest in cases that I have no interest in. Personally, I think my proposal was incredibly fair. You have got to give to get, Harold. You're asking me to go beyond the terms of our agreement. If you want me to help you with this case, I will, but I need something extra to sweeten the deal.

How about a trade? You tell me and I’ll tell you. Tell me about the scar on your palm

If I tell you, you have to give me something in return.

And what do I get in return?

How about a trade?

We're in a symbiotic relationship.

I was planning on forcing the issue. Now I can give to get. You do what I want, I'll make sure you get your son back.

You see, Yaabari, you didn't actually find me. I found you. And while your prepubescent ruffians may not know it, they brought me here to strike a deal that could benefit all of us.

Agent Keen, in this world, there are no sides, only players.

Red always keeps things to himself: Let me put your mind at ease. I’m never telling you everything.

Knows he is not perfect . You’ve killed two people. RED: I’m not perfect, but acknowledges the value of fear: I’ve always found fear to be my most valuable sense

He does have a bit of craziness:

TROLL FARMER: You’re crazy, old man. RED: You have no idea.

THE DIRECTOR: You’re insane. RED: I wouldn’t know.

Loves animals:

I simply cannot fathom the journey, the moral detours necessary to change a man who cherished all creatures great and small into one who profits from their slaughter.

I’m not a monster. You really think I’d harm a dog?

Robert, if you're lying, I will shatter your serenity by burning your home, drowning your cat, and cutting off your big toes. VESCO: You wouldn't dare drown my cat. RED: Maybe not. But I will take the toes.

Has a distrust of the CIA

You look like the CIA…. attractive but treacherous.

The CIA did what the CIA does. I expected as much, which is why Agent Burke and the other hostages were moved from that compound. The question is why on earth you would share the compound's location with the very people I advised you not to trust.

From what I hear, the good Father Nabiyev is an agent of the CIA. That's a crime, Agent Keen. Going back to the Cold War, the CIA has a long and controversial history of using religious figures as spies in violation of executive orders, internal CIA policy, and promises made by every president since Ford... You have more than just a blacklister to worry about this time. The CIA will do whatever it takes to keep this quiet.

Started despising cops like Ressler but had come to somewhat admire them

I certainly don’t want your intelligence, Agent Ressler. I’m quite happy with my own.

Then you’ll just have to find another criminal to talk to Elizabeth Keen and make fun of Agent Ressler.

Donald, never let it be said that I valued a Zegna Venticinque tie over a human life, even yours.

Donald! Donald! Feeling any wittier yet? Any strange cravings for beluga caviar or Marcel Proust?

I shouldn’t have to remind you I did not offer my services so that I could help you round up your run-of-the-mill drug lord or what have you. You all seem to be doing a perfectly mediocre job of that on your own. I’m after the big game, Lizzy, the ones that matter.

It's not a trade or a bribe or an offer of payment in kind to entice you to look away. I admire your probity too much for that.

Ressler is a law-enforcement robot. The FBI winds him up.

You know, Donald, before I turned myself in to the FBI, I held people like you in extremely low regard... But I've found your determination to do the right thing, your genuine commitment to the thin blue line that separates order and innocence from the likes of me to be quite admirable.

Sins should be buried like the dead. Not that they may be forgotten, but that we may remember them and find our way forward nonetheless. I hope this will help you do just that. Besides, after today, I'd have no reason to think you'd respond to threats, and blackmail is such a nasty business, particularly among friends, don't you think?

He is a believer in thinking rather than reacting or using force

We're not gonna be able to fight our way out of this, Lizzy. We're gonna have to think our way out.

that’s the problem right there. You let your emotions get the best of you, which is how people wind up in jail, Hector. Stupid people.

Why take time to think when it’s so much easier to shoot?

There you go again, Anslo, using a pistol in place of a brain.

For once in your life, stop and think.

His favorite advice is to take a breath

I need you to tell me what Zamani said. In the house what did he say, what did you see? No. What did you see? Take a breath, Lizzy.

Lizzy, listen to me. Take a breath. You can do this.

Take a breath, agent Ressler. You think I'm gonna fly all the way to Montreal for the cheese cart?

Ruslan... Take a breath. I told you to move the hostages. You did. Your assets are intact.

Slow down, Smokey. Take a breath.

Harold, sit. Take a breath. Smoke a cigar. Read some "Calvin and Hobbes." Whatever you do to relax, do it before you have an aneurysm

Okay, take a breath. Let's celebrate ... Earlier today, you two were both on your way to trial, to prison, and now, thanks to us, you're both free. Free to greet opportunity knocking at your door.

Red prefers not to trust technology but human intelligence, and is a techno-moron by his own admittance:

I don’t have e-mail or a phone or an address. I prefer to handle my business face-to-face.

I don’t even have a phone. I insist on delivering all of my messages in person.

Phones are so impersonal. Why don’t we meet for show and tell in 30 minutes

Your country has become a nation of eavesdroppers– frequency domains, triangulation, satellites, crypto-whatever. You’ve forgotten that what matters most is human intelligence– alliances, relationships, seductio

Don’t you miss the good old days with the pay phones and the brush passes?

It is an absolute mystery to me how these gadgets work the Dick Tracey phones, these blueteeth connections. Quite frankly, I miss the rotary phone. Except for that zero. Watching that zero crawl back.

Her name's Laurence Dechambou. She's ex-French intelligence. She now makes a handsome living selling secrets, mostly of a technological nature. I really don't understand any of it.

It's a three-day rental Dembe found through some online site. Something b-n-b? Are you familiar with such a thing?

RED: Who turned down Harvard a year ago, and a job at Face whatever.... Look, I'm a technological moron. I just don't get it, which is why I surround myself with people who do.

He believes that things must be done well or not at all

We’ll meet Wujing. You’ll decode the message and transmit it to your team…. both you and the Chinese will know the name of the agent for which the message was intended, and the race begins. We try to save him. The Chinese try to kill him….. The Chinese may not know what the message is, but they certainly know what it isn’t. We do it for real, or we don’t do it at all.

Keeping up appearances. I’m a criminal. The minute I stop being one, I become quite useless to you

Has a thing for ironies

Life is full of lovely little ironies.

What becomes of you and General Ludd once you board that plane is none of my concern though it is worth noting that a true luddite would burn the plane rather than fly in it. But whatever. Your irony.

I normally carried Hydra-Shok hollow points. I was trying out a new series of center-fire wadcutters that week. It’s probably the only thing that saved your life, really. Me switching ammo. Think about that little irony now every time you randomly find your reflection or are reminded of that unfortunate thing I’ve done to your face.

Oh, well, as much as I admire the police for their wonderful sense of irony, I’m afraid they’ve got this one wrong.

You dig up a plague, hatch a plan to spread it around the world, but before you do, you synthesize a cure. For yourself and your Eve. Ironic, isn’t it. If you were half as dedicated to your cause as Yevgeny was, there would be no vaccine, I wouldn’t be here, and you and Pepper would be free to romp like bunnies until the convulsing and hemorrhaging started.

You’re pathological. You realize that, right? Ernie’s shrimp platter?! You can’t be serious! Do you even see the irony in that?

I know who you are, Nasim. What a beautiful name. It means “breeze” in Farsi. But you weren’t born Nasim. You were born Nasir– “the victorious.” How ironic. But a boy. A perfectly healthy boy.

RED: I assume that you assume the fire was the work of an arsonist. IRS: We did. But we found no evidence of it. All we do know is that the fire started inside the smoke alarm. RED: Hah! How ironic.

If you do that, Harold, they'll take the task force away from you. It'll be the end of what you've built.... Mm. Well, we're not finished just yet, are we? You must admit, though, it's ironic. Us jetting over there to protect your secret, and you refusing to protect mine.

When he is nervous he blabs

So, you went with the gray?

I died once in Marrakech. Two and a half minutes. You wouldn’t believe what I saw on the other side.

When Liz was in a air duct in 2.09:

You all right? ... Are you sure? ... Have you ever heard of Bruno Ashmanskis? The most skilled cat burglar I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Bruno mostly did jobs on commission, but he always wanted to do something for himself, something special, so he got it into his head that he was gonna break into the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to steal an imperial vase from the Qing Dynasty worth millions-- the single biggest trophy of his career.... I never heard from him again. I'd always assumed he'd succeeded, that he was sipping some umbrella-clad cocktail on a beach in Tahiti, until five years later during a remodel of the Fitzwilliam, they removed a wall. There was poor Bruno-- what was left of him, anyway-- stuck inside a heating duct, still clutching that vase. I prefer to think of old Bruno on that beach in Tahiti.

He always answers truthfully when people ask him what does he want or needs, and some of his answers are hilarious:

What do you want? RED: So many things. But right now, I want some information.

What do you need? RED: A bottle of beer and a pork sandwich.

What do you want? RED: Well, another spin of the bottle in Melanie Reichman's basement, but I'll settle for you.

What do you want, Red? RED: A quiet place next to a lovely stream where I can watch things float by someday. But I do have a certain sway with the appropriate German authorities. I can get your shipment released from customs.

What do you want? RED: Ooh, that's a long list. But at the moment, I'll settle for Henry Prescott.

RED: I doubt the Kremlin will be nearly as jejune as I am. RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR: What do you want? RED: That's the spirit, Connie. Service with a smile.

FARZIN: Who are you? How did you get back here? What do you want? - RED: Oh, my. Three questions in not even as many seconds. Which should we answer first?

He an anarchist

Red to the hacker: You’re an anarchist. Did you know Charlie Chaplin was an anarchist? I’ve cultivated a healthy hatred for governments and rules and all the incumbent fetters.

ESTEBAN: You’re an anarchist. RED: Probably. Maybe more of an opportunist.

who recognizes no government as his own:

In what little time I devote to the judgment your government has made about my character and how I treat my fellow man, I can’t help but think about how many of their own citizens they’ve treated like lab rats in the name of science.

Your government is being robbed.

People think it matters who occupies that house. It doesn’t. Multinational corporations and criminals run the world.

A good man could make a real difference as President. A good man might even inspire one’s patriotic instincts, but a good man would never allow himself to be put under obligation to anyone willing to write a big check.

I’m sure you recognize many of the faces behind me. They are among the most powerful men and women on the planet. They are also part of a global conspiracy, a shadow organization that spans across every continent and has for the last three decades, consisting of leaders in world government and the private sector. Some call this group “The Cabal.” The world you live in is the world they want you to think you live in. They start wars, create chaos. And when it suits them, they resolve it.

So, the federal government has armed a cyber terrorist with the digital equivalent of a nuclear warhead. Another fabulous example of your tax dollars at work and yet another reason why I don’t pay taxes.

Has a similar problem with religion.

Honestly, is it just me, or is the human race, armed with religion, poisoned by prejudice, and absolutely frantic with hatred and fear, galloping pell-mell back to the dark ages?

You know what my problem with religion is? Man. Like anything that has a potential to be beautiful, man will turn it into something ugly.

Sees the world as a complicated place, with shifting alliances:

Allies today, enemies tomorrow. The world is a complex place, further complicated by man’s fickle nature

Now, you see, you make it sound like treason. So black and white. It’s not. It’s green. The fact is, American secrets are for sale by an assortment of reputable vendors, myself included. If I don’t do this, someone else will.

Depending on who he is talking to, he changes his perspective, even though it is obvious he loves Moby Dick:

TO THE FBI: I’m Ahab. And if you want the whales on my list, you have to play by my rules.

TO A CRIMINAL: I'm not a big fish, William. I'm Moby Dick.

He is comfortable with chaos, but tries to make his own luck:

For the time being, we'll have to be comfortable with chaos.

I can accept it. Things happen.... I try to leave nothing to fate, but I'm perfectly comfortable with chaos. That's why I trust that whatever happens is probably meant to be.

Our friendship was born of suffering and desperation trust and compassion. It grew in crisis and chaos, matured in curiosity and scholarship.

I’ve always believed luck to be a function of intent– in this case, mine. When these dark clouds were gathering, I took measures to keep Agent Keen safe to ride out the storm.

Of course it would have to be you, because lady luck just adores me that much.

You're right. Luck rarely has anything to do with it.

Sometimes, bad luck is the best luck you'll ever have.

This wasn't an accident. My luck didn't just run out. Someone tipped them. Someone close.

People make their own luck, some more than others. I make a prodigious amount.

See the entire series:

Part 1: The darkness

Part 2: Ascent from darkness

Part 3: Why is he like fried butter?

Part 4: His worldview

Part 5: His stories

Part 6: Red loves the arts

Part 7: Miscellaneous

#The Blacklist #meandering in Red's mind #red in his own words

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aminoasinine · 7 years

Text

On Agent Cooper and the true terror of Twin Peaks

The character of Dale Bartholomew Cooper is almost certainly modeled on DB Cooper. But why?

I was watching an Unsolved Mysteries episode about DB Cooper when it struck me that agent Cooper almost seemed to be an intentional reference to the mythical skyjacker. DB Cooper was last seen wearing a black business suit, with slicked back black hair, the character’s most iconic look from the show. He also lept from his plane somewhere over Washington state, where Twin Peaks takes place. And of course, the initials match up perfectly. But why give homage to one of the most famous criminals of all time with an FBI agent of all people, let alone one that’s meant to be such a good person? In considering this, I came to some realizations about what may be the entire purpose of Cooper’s character.

(keep in mind I haven’t watched the new series yet, so if any of this is addressed/debunked there I wouldn’t know. also i’ve been on the road for upwards of 20 hours at this point so I’m not sure how coherent this is)

He is presented as almost a caricature of virtue - he’s kind, understanding, altruistic, pure of heart, never does anyone wrong and always keeps smiling through the struggles of the case. And yet at times we feel unease. Cooper has done nothing to engender any sense of distrust in us, yet there are the associations with a master criminal, there is a misplaced lingering of the camera, things that cause him to come off as creepy or even outright terrifying to some viewers. But never anything concrete. He shows us nothing but a kind and honorable man, even when we are voyeurs to his unsupervised behavior. And yet we are still given reason to doubt.

Why does he slip so easily into the black lodge, in dreams, when a man as evil as Windom Earle had to force his way in though the physical entrance? Why is the major, by all accounts a man just as pure of heart as Cooper shows himself to be, taken to the white lodge, when Cooper is not, never once? Why does he seem to be based so heavily on a legendary criminal? There’s just enough there for us to doubt his persona, but never enough to really justify that doubt. We sense the mask, but we never see what could possibly be behind it.

At the end of the show, of course, our nagging suspicions are finally realized. Whatever Cooper meets in the black lodge, whatever part of his personality comprises his shadow self, overpowers him, and he is lost to Bob. But we don’t see the struggle. We don’t really know what evil part of him could possibly be strong enough to overcome the virtuous man we’ve seen. And we come to realize that this unknown brings us the same sense of fear that the woods do.

Through its juxtaposition of soap opera drama and supernatural murders, Twin Peaks shows us that fear of the unknown is not limited to dark forests and evil spirits - it’s found in ordinary people, too. It’s the realization that you can never truly know a person. It’s realizing that you will only ever know someone by the mask they wear, and what lies under that mask, you will never see. We never knew what Cooper met in the black lodge that could possibly overpower the mask of the virtuous man. Despite all our observation, all our voyeurism - we never knew Cooper at all.

#this analysis brought to you by lyeekha's irrational(?) fear of cooper and a 1000+ mile road trip #twin peaks #dale cooper #agent cooper #david lynch #twin peaks spoilers #also tell me if the formatting is fucked i'm on mobile

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theblacklistscripts · 4 years

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5.11 Abraham Stern #100

I haven't felt this giddy since Herbie Hunnicutt and I pooled our box tops and sent away for the decoder ring and periscope.

Why is that? What is this feeling? You love treasures, Raymond.

And you don't? Of course, you do.

Everyone loves hidden treasures Yamashits Gold, the Oak Island Money Pit.

Hell, even DB Cooper, which was more of a mystery and less of a treasure hunt, really.

That's what you love the mystery.

Mystery? You know why? Robert Louis Stevenson.

Yes! Edgar Allan Poe.

"The Gold Bug.

" Oh, what a story.

It has everything a delirious search for treasure, the descent into madness, along with ciphers and bugs, a skull nailed to a tree.

What a yarn.

If he actually has the locations of the other coins, this could be a massive discovery.

[TIRES SCREECH] Thank you, gentlemen.

You may go.

We got what I came for.

[GROANS] [INHALES SHARPLY] [BREATHES SHAKILY] [INHALES SHARPLY] [SIGHS] [POUNDING ON DOOR] OFFICER #1: Robert Navarro, MPD.

We need you to open the door, please.

OFFICER #2: Let's go, Bobby, open up.

We're here with the super.

We're coming in, you hear? Guy's constantly got people coming and going.

Music all night.

Sir, if could you step outside.

I ain't waiting outside.

I know the rules.

What'd he do? Drugs? It's drugs, right? Apartment's clear.

You find something wrong, you gotta tell me.

- That's how it works.

- Central to 8637, what's your status? 8637 to Central.

Domestic disturbance on Fernwick.

- Mark it unfounded.

- Copy, 8637.

We have a 10-33 in your sector.

Requesting backup.

All right.

We're good, right? I don't want no problems with the cops.

You were robbed? You?

I'm glad my misfortune amuses you.

It's just the, uh irony caught me by surprise.

Okay.

So The very rare 1943 Lincoln penny that I liberated from Grayson Blaise was stolen.

The thief knew where to find me.

He knew I had it.

Now he has it.

And I need a little help to get it back.

You fooled us once into helping you acquire that penny.

I think we'll pass on helping you reacquire it.

The man we're looking for this man is on a quest.

Fantastic news.

The loan committee approved an extension.

This is a new payment schedule should keep you from defaulting and allow you to repair your truck.

I hear there was an accident.

He has killed in service of it, and unless we stop him, he will kill again.

Care to hear more?

RED: In recent years, Federal Reserve Notes issued in the 1930s have turned up in Manila and Singapore.

"The United States of America will pay to the bearer on demand $100,000.

" How many of these notes are floating around? None, according to your government.

It denies issuing any such notes and insists the few that have turned up are counterfeit.

I thought this was about your penny.

It is because without the pennies, we will never find the notes or the man who's killing to get them.

This is never easy but your P&L statements are not promising.

I'm afraid we have no choice but to foreclose.

Please.

I'll do anything.

"Pennies" wasn't there only one? No, there are four.

Bronze minted in 1943.

Before stealing it, you were willing to spend $3 million of our money to buy one of the pennies at auction.

Collectors value them because they believe they were minted in error bronze one-offs when every other penny was made of copper.

But what collectors don't know, what makes them truly valuable, is not that they were a mistake, but that there is a code put there by the man who minted them a map to a vast fortune.

The lost Federal Reserve Notes that Treasury claims it never made.

Finding the long-lost notes is a quest for the financial holy grail.

Hundreds of millions of dollars, redeemable upon request.

And the man who attacked you knew this? - Aram, if you would.

- Three security guards murdered at the Sharjah Museum in Dubai, an Italian art collector dies when his home is consumed by a fire set by an unknown arsonist, and just last night, an antiques dealer murdered in Georgetown.

After informing our Blacklister that I'd arranged to meet with him.

That's how he got the where and the when, and he used that intel to ambush me.

COOPER: Three incidents, presumably only three pennies That leaves him one short.

You were once an insurance investigator.

Funny I have a personal situation involving a rare coin.

Perhaps we could help each other.

Any indication he knows where this last penny is? No, and if he gets it, he gets the code and the treasure, which means we need to locate that penny before he does.

Our only interest is in stopping this guy.

The treasure's not our concern.

Oh, don't be such a spoilsport.

This could be such fun! Where's your sense of adventure? I think it sounds like fun.

Thank you, Aram.

That's the spirit.

Harold, you could learn a thing or two from your subordinates.

Mr.

Church, these are the men I was telling you about from the insurance company.

Frank Dobbs.

Fairbanks & Hienz.

We underwrite rare collectibles.

And, uh, this is our num uh, numis numistatic [BRITISH ACCENT] Numismatic expert, Ben Farber.

I was here last when you mounted the Eliasberg Collection.

Yes, well, uh Patrick Church, Collections Manager.

I understand this is a matter of some urgency.

It's about the Lincoln penny you have on display.

Is there somewhere we could speak privately? Like I said, we got the call, super let us take a look around, no sign of any problems.

And it was clean? Just like this? OFFICER #2: Just like this.

It's too clean.

[CELLPHONE DIALING] [RINGING] Wyman, hey.

Singleton.

That's right.

Don't worry about that.

The warrant's in the works as we speak.

I need a team here now.

I want you to tear this place apart.

ARAM: Okay.

Check this out.

I think I may have located the fourth penny.

All right, after the coins were minted, they disappeared for about 30 years.

No record of them anywhere.

But then, in 1975, they started to appear at auctions.

The missing penny was last sold in 1984, and, according to the bill of sale, the man who bought it passed away two years ago.

But did he have it when he died? Yes, and it was included in an extensive art collection that he left to the University of Pennsylvania.

- So, they have the coin? - Yes and no.

I spoke to the head of donations at the university, and she says the coin is on loan at the Gabor Museum.

Ressler and Navabi, get to the museum.

Find out what they know.

How did you become aware of this? A German auction house sold a cast fake of a litra from Sicily.

We have reason to believe that forger duplicated the 1943 coin you have on loan.

If so, you may be able to help us solve a case that would eclipse the Ready electrotypes sold by the British Museum.

Can that even be possible? These people well, they're very skilled.

But the estate provided us with authentication.

If what you're saying is true, should we be filing a fraud claim? Let's take this one step at a time.

Is the coin here? Might I be able to see it? Of course.

Uh, Amber.

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING] I want prints run on everything, from the floorboards to the light bulbs.

If this place was cleaned, I wanna know how.

What chemicals? What kind of rags were used? Check every surface from the floorboards to the light bulbs because someone was here and I wanna know who.

Agent Keen.

Please, uh Please tell me you're back.

Obviously, you're here, so you're back, but are you back or just here? I've missed you, too.

Mr.

Reddington has us working on this - insane treasure hunt - That sounds amazing.

No, do you remember that penny that he got in that elaborate scheme I'm actually just here to get something out of the files.

Maybe you don't hear me talking strange [GARBAGE DISPOSAL WHIRRING] Hey, what's that? Well, it's up and down and out of sight Do you got what it takes? Well, I think you might Wanna live, wanna live a life like mine Well, I been doin' it, baby, all the time To do so you gotta roll with the punches Jump from the sweetest to the toughest of tough love Maybe you don't hear me talking strange - You need to come back.

- [GASPS] I'm [CHUCKLING] so sorry.

- That's my fault.

I didn't - I got it.

I, uh Okay.

You know, it'd be a distraction.

Distraction? From looking for Tom's killers.

I don't really see hunting Blacklisters lightening my emotional load.

Mr.

Reddington's penny There are four of them.

Now, the Blacklister has three out of the four of them, and Agents Ressler and Navabi are en route to the Gabor Museum to find the fourth one.

I hear it's going well with Agent Navabi.

Talk about a distraction.

[CHUCKLES] I'm here.

- Not back.

- [CELLPHONE VIBRATES] Detective Singleton.

What do I owe the pleasure? - Robert Navarro.

- What about him? Last we spoke, I was under the distinct impression that you were looking for him.

And I got the impression you didn't want me to.

So you didn't, even though you believe that he works for the man that killed your husband? I don't believe.

I know.

There was a report of a domestic disturbance at Navarro's place.

By the time we got there, his apartment was cleaned, Navarro was gone.

You think I murdered the one person who could ID my husband's killer? Did you?

I'm the last person in the world who would want Navarro dead.

Now if there is nothing more There isn't.

Not until we receive results back from the lab.

Results? From the bloody rag we found in Navarro's apartment.

Whoever did kill him left it behind.

CHURCH: What do you think? I wouldn't want to say.

You don't think it's a fake? I'd want Chandler at the INA to look at this, run some tests.

So, it's a fake.

Amber, have security take the piece to the safe.

Ruben, you need to notify the board and pull the chain of ownership.

Excuse us for a moment.

Gentlemen.

[SIRENS WAILING] - What's going on? - Relax.

PHILLIPS: What do you mean relax? You know why they're here.

Excuse me.

Agents Ressler and Navabi, FBI.

What's going on? Well, it seems we have a situation - about a piece in our collection.

- The Lincoln penny? - Yes, how did you - Who told you about this? We were notified by our insurance company, their investigator.

His numismatic expert is in my office.

I'm gonna need you to pull the security feeds.

The expert can you take us to him? [ALARM RINGING] Please make your way safely to the exits - as quickly as possible.

- Your offices.

Uh, top of those stairs, uh, make a left.

Please make your way safely to the exits as quickly as possible.

[RINGING CONTINUES] Please make your way safely to the exits as quickly as possible.

Please make your way safely to the exits [

You don't have the penny? - COOPER: Nor the Blacklister.

- But it was there? MPD booked the penny into evidence.

They won't let us check it out without a court order.

MPD was there before you? They received a tip that the coin - was going to be stolen.

- A tip from whom? Anonymous.

MPD pulled a print off the coin book.

With luck, it will help us get an ID on the thief.

The thief is your concern, Harold.

Retrieving that penny is mine.

The FBI is not going to help you break into a police evidence vault.

No, I wouldn't think so, Harold.

Let's go to Elizabeth's.

[CLICKS] [CELLPHONE VIBRATES] RED: I've been looking for you.

LIZ: Aram told me the penny from Lake Como is actually a treasure map.

Do I have that right? Are you on some insane treasure hunt? Apparently, I'm not the only one.

He also thought a hunt would be a good distraction for me.

I said "No," but to tell you the truth, I could use a bit of a distraction right about now.

He said you were looking for me.

I hope it's to help.

I've cautioned you that in your pursuit of Tom's killer, you need to restrain your darker impulses.

Which I've done, mostly more or less.

The help I need violates the spirit of that advice.

I wouldn't even ask for it if it wasn't critical.

The answer is "Yes.

" You haven't even heard the question.

You're my father.

You need my help.

It's not like you're gonna ask me to get rid of a body or anything.

As a result of an anonymous tip, the MPD has the penny.

I could use your help to get it back.

Well, if it's evidence from a crime scene, they keep it downtown in the evidence vault.

Which Harold has shown no inclination to access on my behalf.

They also keep evidence from class 3 felonies rape, robbery, and homicide.

- Tom's evidence.

- Yes.

Now, I don't have my badge anymore, so maybe the best way to get your penny out is for me to put evidence from that case in.

Do you have any? No, but I can make some.

[KNOCK ON DOOR] Any word from the lab? You excited or worried? Appreciative of what you're doing.

The rag wasn't booked into evidence until after the morning pickup.

Lab won't get it until tomorrow.

I know you think I'm standing in your way.

I'm not trying to.

I hope this helps you see that.

I, uh, finally got the courage to go through Tom's things, and I found this in his jacket pocket.

It's locked, and I don't have the passcode, but maybe one of your techs can pull the records, and it might give you a lead.

- Anything yet? - No.

Remind me again what it is that we think we're doing here.

The phone acts as a passive packet sniffer.

It's a trick Tom taught me.

Packet sniffer? Ugh.

The FBI uses them.

I'm sure your tech people know all about them.

It can intercept and log traffic that passes over a digital network.

It is an absolute mystery to me how these gadgets work the Dick Tracey phones, these blueteeth connections.

Quite frankly, I miss the rotary phone.

Except for that zero.

Watching that zero crawl back.

Oh, my God.

It was painful.

- We have the code.

- Great.

Now all we have to do is figure out how to get inside.

The lab got an ID from the print on the coin book.

Abraham Stern.

Stern, Abraham J He's a loan officer at the Republic Commerce Bank in Manhattan.

I don't understand.

I did everything you asked.

Yes, and you did marvelously.

If you're upside down on your loan, Stern tries to work out a new payment schedule.

But sadly, now the police are involved.

The linen truck that hit Mr.

Reddington's car that company is a client of Stern's bank, and the insurance investigator that paid a visit to the Gabor Museum, he's also a client risking foreclosure.

So, he threatens bankruptcy unless you help him commit crimes? Ressler, Navabi, get to the bank, find him, and bring him in.

I won't say anything.

I'm terribly sorry.

I couldn't possibly take that chance.

Hey, thanks again for doing this.

Okay, let's just be clear about one thing.

This is no favor.

This is a J-O-B.

The check, as they say, better be in the mail.

Yes, I told you twice already.

Why are you stalling? I don't like pills.

You'll be fine.

You got your ID on you, right? Okay, I will meet you at the hospital.

Tell you the truth, I'm sort of looking forward to getting out of the house.

I need some time away from Mom.

That hospital's gonna be like a five-star resort three squares and a remote, juice with a bendy straw.

Between you, me, and the vending machine, I've also had a fantasy about a nurse handling my - Oh.

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Something's wrong! He came up to me at the vending machine.

He said he was short of breath.

Is he gonna be okay? He's having a heart attack.

Call an ambulance.

You have any aspirin? Isn't he supposed to take aspirin? [STAMMERS] Maybe in my purse! [KEYPAD BEEPING] [KEYPAD CHIRPS] [GROANS] You're gonna be all right.

I found the aspirin.

Does he need it? Is he gonna be okay? COOPER: You stole the penny.

We discussed this.

Your interest is in Stern.

My interest is in this treasure.

Which you can't get to without the pennies in his possession, which means you're looking for him, too.

Harold, always a pleasure.

We raided the bank he works at and his home.

Stern's in the wind, but he'll come out for that penny.

Yes, I believe he will.

You cut a deal.

No, but I hope to.

Okay.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Mr. Reddington. Once the Professor decodes the cipher, what guarantee do I have you won't double-cross me?

You seem quite capable of guaranteeing your own safety.

Nevertheless, I need some kind of assurance.

Fine. Sentiment. This is your inheritance. I wouldn't dream of taking more than 50%.

You have one penny. I have three. 75%/25%.

Sentiment only goes so far.

So, how do you know about my father?

Do we have a deal or not?

Other than secreting away a fortune and hiding its whereabouts in the pennies he minted, I know curiously little about your father. Usually the person who creates a legend becomes legendary. Why not him?

My father was a little man with big dreams. He worked for the Treasury Department in Denver, started out as an apprentice. His goal was to become a master engraver. But then Then the Federal Reserve Notes went missing. He had access, so he was a suspect, but was never charged. They punished him anyway. Demoted him to the maintenance staff, gave him a little office in the boiler room. He worked weekends, holidays, sometimes he slept on a cot down there. Then, in '43, the Mint made security upgrades.

The same year he put the cipher on the coins.

Within the year, he was let go. My father spent the rest of his life living in the shadow of a crime nobody could prove he committed. He died a broken man. Penniless.

A lowly maintenance worker, and yet, what he did is legendary.

What he allegedly did.

Sometimes I wonder if that's all there is a legend.

If the pennies hold the secret to your inheritance, why didn't your father give them to you?

He did, in his will.

But at the time, I was a snot-nosed 16-year-old, and to me, he was a failure who'd been accused of a crime he had nothing to show for. So I spent them on candy - four fireballs.

Whoops.

The next month, his executor gave me a letter my father had left for me.

That's when I learned that the pennies were the key to a great treasure.

And you spent the past 40 years looking for it.

I've lied, I've cheated.

I've killed in pursuit of it.

I believe my father was a criminal, and I assume he left me the pennies so I wouldn't become one.

And yet, here you are.

The apple never falls very far. Does it?

PROFESSOR: Coins are a topographical map depicting a specific set of geoinformatics.

Look at this.

Lincoln's face isn't a face at all, but a topographical representation of a mountain range.

Your father was a talented man.

The front range of the Rocky Mountains.

Pike's Peak through Squaw Mountain.

And these cross-hatchings they're not random imperfections, but intentionally placed etchings.

One set is meaningless, but when you begin to layer the images, the map begins to depict a grid system.

Denver.

Circa 1943.

And look at this.

The motto of the United States. "E pluribus unum" Out of many, one.

The letters on each coin have imperfections, but when you layer them The boiler room, where he used to work.

He did steal the money.

He just couldn't get it out.

So he hid it right under their noses.

I've imagined robbing the Mint of the money they make, but never of a fortune they don't even know they have. But this is a treasure hunt.

And if that's where "X" marks the spot What do you know about the Denver Mint?

STERN: The Mint was built in 1897.

The boiler room's in the basement.

It hasn't been used since renovations were done in '43, abandoning the old boiler room.

PROFESSOR: Construction documents show it was sealed off during the renovations no doors, no windows.

A new vault blocks the only entrance.

What about the air-duct system? The ducts could give us access if we were pencil thin and weighed under 50 pounds.

We're not getting in through the ducting.

Production supplies, trash, and food deliveries pass through daily, - but all require IDs.

- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING] We'd need a hell of a story to get through the gate.

We'd still have to contend with the surveillance.

Which is extensive cameras on the production floor, cameras in the halls.

What about the vault? The only way into the boiler room is through that vault.

Which is made of steel and concrete.

So, this is the holding vault? Yes, when banks hand over their mutilated bills, they're brought here to have their authenticity validated before being shredded and sent to waste energy facilities for disposal.

PROFESSOR: 16-inch thick concrete.

Concrete that can only be accessed - from inside the vault, which means - No water supply.

We'd have to dry-cut with diamond blades.

The place is a fortress.

Even if you could get past the walls and cameras and guards, which you can't, you'd still have to get into the safe, and the only thing they let in there is cash.

Not just any cash.

Random, untraceable the kind you find in a money-laundering operation.

Hey. I need a tally of our current cash reserves.

HAWKINS: Are you frickin' nuts? That's everything we have.

Will it work? Needs paint, the right decals, but yeah, we can make it work.

We'll need uniforms.

My old client at the bank says IDs are in the works.

Y-eaz-ou c-eaz-an't tr-eaz-ust h-eaz-im.

Eaz I eaz-a-gr-eaz-ee.

D-eaz-o-ing th-eaz-is?

In case it's not obvious I'm standing right here.

My associate thinks you might betray me. What do you think?

I think you're the reason I'm finally going to realize my lifelong dream.

I would never betray you.

On my father's grave.

See, on the grave of his father.

Don't do this.

Heddie, please, just get the cash.

You're not on the list.

We just drove straight from the Reserve Bank.

Not on the list.

Run the badge.

We're on the list.

He thinks we're here to rob the place.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

Hey, you got us. We're here to rob you. That's why we're bringing 8 million bucks into the Mint.

Please, can we move it along? We got another run up to Golden.

I'd love to beat the traffic.

- [BEEPS] - There it is.

Yeah.

I'm afraid your associate was right.

So much for your father's grave.

Your gun belt, please. I'm sorry, Raymond. I've come to like you. I really have. But this is my birthright, not yours. So, if it's not too much trouble, please, get in the truck.

Any problems? - Badge worked like a charm.

- Let's go.

[SAINT MOTEL'S "MY TYPE" PLAYS]

I knew we couldn't trust that guy.

Right as always, Heddie.

Everything in place?

Everything but my lady bits.

I don't know how these cops do it.

Let's go to work.

Oooh, oo-oo-ooh, ooh ooh Take a look around the room Love comes wearing disguises Don't move! How to go about and choose? Zip them up and clear the room.

Everybody up and face the wall.

Line up.

Move! I'm a man who's got Hands behind your back.

very specific taste Y-Y-You're just my type - Oh, you got a pulse - Morning, boys.

And you are breathing Y-Y-You're just my type Ooh,

I think it's time that we get leaving

Get the bags.

You should've seen the look on the boys' faces at the shop when I told them I was gonna run two of these jacked into the V8 of this bad boy.

I'm sure it'll work.

Oh, it's gonna suck.

What is that? What's happening? Ugh! I don't know, Red.

It'll work.

Turn it up.

Ooh, I think it's time that we get leaving

We're in business.

Don't fight it, just keep breathing [INDISTINCT SHOUTING] I can't help myself but stare

Hello, Harold. Excuse the rush. I'm on a clock. But I wanted to let you know, I discovered what our friend Abraham Stern is up to.

Oh, and what is that?

He's robbing the Denver Mint.

Find out what's going on! Turn it off! Go!

I'm sorry.

He's doing what?

That was my reaction. The gall! I told him he'd never get away with it, but he seemed quite determined.

What's that noise? Where are you?

There's a hell of a racket here. Harold! Can you hear me?

Are you telling me that Stern's father's treasure - is in the Mint? –

He's certainly convinced so. But the more I think about it, I'm not so sure there's any treasure at all. I mean, treasure? Really? Who knows. Either way, I'm afraid I can't chat. I've got my hands full with a bit of a plumbing problem. Good luck with Stern. I have faith in you, Harold. You always get your man.

Reddington says Stern's robbing the Denver Mint.

The Mint?

And something tells me Reddington's not far behind.

Notify the Denver field office and get there.

Find out what the hell's going on.

I think we got company.

Morgan, how long?

I have no idea. But I think we're gonna need more vans.

We're out of time.

Shut it down.

Are you kidding me?

[WELSH ARMS' "LEGENDARY" PLAYS] Take a look around me Taking pages from a magazine Been looking for the answer Ever since we were 17 You know, the truth can be a weapon To fight this world of ill intentions A new answer to the same question How many times will you learn the same lesson? 'Cause we're gonna be legends Gonna get their attention What we're doing here ain't just scary

Congratulations, Harold. You got your man.

And you got your treasure. I don't know how, but I know you did.

And the pennies?

Returned to their rightful owners. All except the one that you lifted from Grayson Blaise.

Name your price, Harold.

It's too high for you.

Try me.

The truth.

Abraham Stern's father committed the crime of the 20th century. I just committed the crime of the 21st. Except it isn't a crime. Hundreds of millions in Federal Reserve Notes payable on demand, which the Treasury says don't exist.

The Mint said nothing was stolen.

And so the treasure myth lives on.

I appreciate you telling me that truth but it isn't the one I was looking for. The evidence locker.

What about it?

What you took, aside from the penny.

I didn't take anything else.

Evidence was logged in material to the disappearance of Robert Navarro a person of interest in the death of Tom Keen. You didn't take it?

No, I did not.

This one says, "Dear Glen, Glad you're okay and recovering well.

Thank you for all you do. R.R."

Secret admirer. One of many.

"P. S To whom it may concern, Glen is a licentious cur. " What? I don't know what licentious means [SIGHS] but I'm pretty sure he meant it as a compliment.

Is everything okay? Dembe said it was urgent.

You're to be congratulated. I may be old, but I'm not an old fool, and you completely hoodwinked me and Harold. He thinks I stole a bloody rag from evidence.

Right. About that

You were the anonymous tip.

You told the MPD that the penny was about to be stolen.

You knew if they stopped the robbery in progress, they'd book the penny into evidence.

And you didn't call me to help me steal the penny or to distract you from your obsession with Tom's killer.

You called me to help me help you retrieve a rag covered in your blood evidence that might have convicted you of murdering Robert Navarro.

I did not intend to kill him.

I intended to get him to identify Tom's killer.

He got the upper hand.

There was a fight.

Where's the body? Cooper says it's a missing-persons case, but if they find that corpse That's not gonna happen.

I'd like to make sure of that.

I already have.

And in the process, I discovered Navarro had a glass eye.

Look at that.

Wait till you see this.

Some kind of next-gen technology.

I'm sorry I tricked you.

I had no idea what else to do, but now I do, and I need your help to do it.

Will you help me? Of course I'll help you.

What? Ohh.

Your penny! Wait.

Does this mean you found your treasure or no?

I've had my eye on a castle in Trieste. I'm flying over there in an hour to make a ridiculously large offer on it. Care to join me?[

Oh, Bernard! You look incomplete.

[CHUCKLES] [LAUGHS] I just can't believe that's it.

Found in a trunk gathering dust in Surrey.

Hidden treasure, indeed.

Authentication papers are inside.

Ah.

- As promised.

- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

You're gonna use your penny to buy that? A bargain at twice the price.

[WHISPERS] That penny's worth $3 million.

And this is Winston Churchill's hat.

The Homburg he wore during The Blitz.

Under its brim, he beat back Hitler with style and grace and unwavering confidence.

I'm an eager, if unworthy, heir.

What do you think? Be brutal.

It's kind of amazing.

I'll take amazing.

#The Blacklist #scripts #abraham stern

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marjaystuff · 5 years

Text

Elise Cooper’s interview of David Bruns and J.R. Olson

Rules of Engagement by David Bruns and J. R. Olson brings to the forefront the real threat of cyber warfare in this military thriller. Both authors use their past experiences as naval officers to bring a wealth of accuracy and realism to the story, which only serves to heighten its authenticity. Bruns is a former submarine officer who left the business world behind to write sci-fi novels. Olson spent more than 20 years in the Navy, retiring as a commander, and now teaches college courses in Intelligence/Counter-Terrorism.

This tale of clear and present danger forewarns how cyberwarfare is the next battleground that can play out on the world stage. Although some military thrillers can sometimes be bogged down in the details, this one has just the right balance between information given, plot development, and action.

As in real life, Russia is in the midst of the trouble making. A criminal enterprise known as Bratva is losing money on its arms dealing business, so its leadership hires a North Korean go between to create havoc. Rafiq Roshed, one of the world’s most wanted cyber terrorists, now residing in North Korea, is enlisted to pit China, Japan, and America. the nations with the three most powerful navies, on a collision course for World War III. He inserts a computer virus into a country's command system to gain control and has it begin to learn how to carry on its own warfare. First penetrating the Chinese, he has their war machine launch a series of attacks on the U.S. Pacific forces. As China and Japan are losing control of their military, the U.S. is also in danger of doing the same. Casualties are mounting, and an apocalypse is looming large. The only way to stop this disaster from creating further trouble is to stop it at its source.

This plot driven military thriller does not have a single hero, but realistically shows how a team working together can complete the mission. Midshipmen Michael Goodwin, Janet Everett, and Andrea Ramirez are asked to find and eliminate the source before it is too late. Working collectively, they must connect the dots to find and destroy the deadly virus and its handler, Roshed.

Readers are left with an unsettling feeling after reading this story. It heightens a frightening wake-up call. Fans of military thrillers will delve into the intrigue and heart pounding action of this novel. It has plenty of clever twists, strategic moves, and high stakes.

Elise Cooper: Why did you both decide to team up?

J. R. Olson: As Naval Academy graduates, we attend Alumni Association events. In 2011 we were invited to speak to the Naval Academy parents. One of them said, ‘you two should get together to write a book.’ We did just that five years ago.

EC: What inspired you?

David Bruns: In July 1984, just after the Hunt For Red October had come out, I had a chance to meet Tom Clancy before he became super famous. In reading his book my world was changed. Being a midshipmen in the US Naval Academy I decided to become a submarine sailor. I spent six years as a commissioned officer in the nuclear-powered submarine force chasing the Russians in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. I thought how the Clancy book affected me, the movie “Top Gun” affected many who went on to become Navy pilots, and what Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff did for astronauts. We are hoping this book might do the same for the next generation of Cyber Warriors. Maybe inspire the next generation to join the service and serve their country.

EC: Cyber warfare does not seem to be on the public’s radar?

DB: We wanted to write a book identifying and developing a story around the threats of the 21st Century. We are hoping to take a threat not talked about publicly and dial it up to an ’11.’

JRO: We were driven to write about cyber security. The Naval Academy actually has a new facility called Hopper Hall that houses the cyber security program. The midshipmen majoring in it will be able to study it from a national security perspective. The heroes of our story are the team of three midshipmen.

EC: This is the third book of the series?

DB: The first two books were self-published. For book three, and going forward, we decided to get an agent and publisher.

JRO: The first book, Weapons of Mass Deception, is about nuclear proliferation with non-state actors. The second book, Jihadi Apprentice, delves into home grown radicalization. This book highlights how a cyber threat can be used as a tool by a rogue actor working inside a nation state.

EC: There are many ways of using cyber as a weapon?

JRO: There are a lot of systems connected all over the world. With this plot we played off of SCADA: Supervisory control and data acquisition is a system of software and hardware elements that allows industrial organizations to have a centralized control. A great example was the Stuxnet Worm. It penetrated inside the Iranian centrifuges and locked on the central panel. Everyone observing thought it was functioning normally, but what was actually happening is that the centrifuges were coming apart. Similarly, the electrical power grids are also system of systems that can be vulnerable to a cyber-attack.

DB: Other examples are the hacking of the Democratic Committee through spear phishing where someone clicked on a link they should not have. There is also Target and Sony where a hacker was able to gain access to many people’s information.

EC: Does cyber warfare have any fingerprint?

DB: This is an issue because no one can tell who it is right away. A code has to be taken apart. It takes awhile to be absolutely certain. It is an issue of attribution. How do we tell what constitutes a cyber-attack that should lead to war?

EC: Besides an entertaining story what was your goal in writing this story?

DB: There is a certain level of expectation from the reader that they will get a plausible explanation. We wanted to make it realistic and interesting without bogging it down in the details. I have the benefit of a son who is a computer science major so I can run by him bits of information. We did not want to write a Skynet book like Terminator that takes over the world. The threat we wrote about is man-made.

JRO: The ability for computers to make decisions is far greater than any human being. In the future, this whole cyber arena may be computers fighting other computers. Although we made up “Happy Panda” and “Trident” we wanted to make sure that we created realistic systems with plausible vehicles.

EC: Can you give a heads up about your next book?

DB: The threat will be from biological agents used as weapons. The three Midshipmen are back, but now will be junior officers. One of our characters from the previous books, FBI Special Agent Elizabeth (Liz) Soroush may have an important role.

THANK YOU!!

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