The Blacklist delivers more teasing and anticipation in “T. Earl King VI.†Here comes another highly dysfunctional family. We first meet the Kings after one of their auctions two years earlier on Jekyll Island, aptly named I might add. After the totals are tallied the winner is crowned. The loser must then play Russian roulette with a loaded gun. Luckily for him, he got an empty chamber, that time.
Fast forward to the present and Raymond Reddington brings the next King auction to the attention of the FBI. Madeline Pratt has been abducted by them as one of the pieces to be auctioned. If you’ve stuck with The Blacklist from the beginning, Madeline Pratt was the first season’s fourteenth episode blacklist-er. Liz has zero sympathy for Madeline’s situation since she almost got them killed. Red uses the decades long crime spree of the Kings to lure her into helping Madeline.
It’s a shame that Reddington had a soft spot for Madeline since she’s much more clever than he suspected. When the FBI figures out where one of the King’s goon’s is hiding, they plan to raid the place. Red tells Liz that the FBI won’t get within a mile of it without being made and decides to go himself. He finds Madeline there with the Kings. He asks them to let her go and they do. She uses that moment of confusion to tase Dembe. Everyone then trains his or her guns on Red. Now, he understands the ploy. Madeline was working with the Kings in order to bring in Raymond Reddington, the prize score at the upcoming auction.
After Red is abducted, Liz and the FBI do everything they can to figure out where the auction is being held. Liz suggests using the known stolen artifacts and potential buyers to see who has come into the country for the auction. They find a woman, Josephine, who is there on behalf of a man who in unable to enter the country. Liz sees this as her opportunity to go undercover, since they will be expecting an American woman.
Liz checks in at the hotel using the password from Josephine. She asks for a room with the view of the capitol. She is told the number 1861. Assuming it’s a room number, Liz goes to the elevator. The attendant in the elevator collects her purse, jewelry, and phone before taking her to the garage. There, Liz realizes that 1861 was a parking space, and the car takes her to the auction. Of course, the man inside the car requires Liz to drink something from a glass that immediately knocks her out.
While the FBI is still trying to figure out where the auction is being held, Liz must maintain her cover and figure out a way to get Red out of there all without backup. Back at the FBI, Aram tells Cooper that somehow during Josephine’s transfer, she got a call out to her lawyer. That phone call travels through the grapevine to the Kings who now know that Liz is an imposter. Liz uses the mayhem this causes to help release Red and plenty of other people being held at the auction, including a young boy who turned state’s witness.
Once all is said and done, Red tells Lizzie to never do that again. It’s unclear to what exactly he is referring, but we can guess that he is upset with her for coming to rescue him. We know how much Liz hates being told what to do, and this is no exception. After getting emotional, Liz questions why Red is so unwilling to accept help, even calling him damaged. She tells him that she cares about him, and when someone helps you out you should say thank you. After what appears to be a genuine thank you from Red to Lizzie, he follows that up by again telling her to “never do that again.â€
Some of the best scenes of this episode dealt with Tom. Yes, Tom is finally back. Although, he did leave for Germany by the end of the episode, so who knows when we will be seeing him again. Tom meets with someone who can get him back in the game. This time, Tom doesn’t want to be the boyfriend. He wants something different even though the man thinks that’s just a waste of his potential. Tom ends up getting an assignment in Germany. He calls Lizzie up before she goes undercover to let her know that he is leaving. He even gives her a pointer about undercover work. He tells her that if someone asks her a question that might blow her cover, then she should just sneeze. He said that they will most likely say bless you and 10 out of 10 times, they will forget the question they asked. She responds by saying that she just thought he had allergies. I guess Tom used this a lot during their relationship. At least for Liz, it did come in handy during the auction.
