James Spader is back! The Blacklist debuted its third season with “The Troll Farmer.†If you can remember back to May, we left off with our beloved duo, Raymond Reddington and Elizabeth Keen, running for their lives. Liz has been called out as a Russian spy like her mother and is the perfect patsy for the murder of 14 CIA personnel. Now don’t forget, Liz isn’t completely innocent in all of this. While, she may be innocent of being a Russian spy, she did murder Attorney General Tom Connolly. Sadly, no one knows that he was connected to the notoriously evil group, The Cabal. Thankfully, since Red is used to being on the run, he has a few connections in the city.
Reddington has a brilliant plan to get them out of the FBI’s hands. First, using the disguise as DC cops, (Brilliant!) Red takes them to an old friend who hides them in a bunker in his bar. The friend was dumb enough to include his sister in the mix who blabs the secret to the FBI. Thankfully, Red is clever enough to have a backup plan. They leave the bunker with only seconds to spare, before Ressler and the SWAT team charge into the bunker.
Now, the plan to lie low until DC ran out of funds for their city wide search has been destroyed, and Liz and Red must get out of the city as soon as possible. They turn to the Troll Farmer. But first, they need to change their clothes, and Liz decides to change her hair. They break into a wealthy man’s apartment, and Liz leaves with new blonde locks. Red is flummoxed by the transformation, now that Liz resembles her mother. And of course this is the moment where we get classic Raymond Reddington. The maid interrupts them, and Red just charms her by complimenting her hair before locking her in the bathroom. How can anyone really hate the guy?
Back at the FBI, Aram is having a difficult time trying to catch Liz and Red. He is very reluctant to assist in the efforts of following their escape vehicle, but he helps anyway. On the other hand, Ressler is more determined than ever to bring them to justice. He is so focused that it is actually scaring Samar. She’s not sure that she can trust him since she suspects that at one point he helped Liz go. Ressler later reveals to Harold Cooper that he did in fact give Liz a fighting chance; they have that in common since Cooper was the one who told Liz to run after murdering Tom Connolly.
The Troll Farmer finally gets to make his appearance. The Troll Farmer uses social media to create fake events to trigger very real results. For instance, he would create what appears to be an outbreak of Ebola, so the stock of a company will rise who is working on a cure. In this case, he will create a diversion of sorts. He and his fairly large group of workers, use social media accounts to flood the internet with tips on Red and Liz. This will send the FBI on a wild goose chase, so that Red and Liz can safely leave DC.
Meanwhile, we meet a young woman and her infant daughter. She is in the kitchen when she hears a strange man’s voice on the baby monitor. When she runs to her daughter’s nursery, a man is holding her baby. He tells her that he only wants her father. He kidnaps the baby and leaves the woman sobbing on the floor.
This man, Mr. Solomon, meets with the Director of the Cabal, and for a few moments you almost want to like him. He’s so charming and yet so rude to the Director that for a brief second you might root for this guy, if only because of how evil The Director is. Then we find out his real target, Denbe. It turns out that Denbe is the baby’s grandfather. Denbe to the rescue! Denbe finds Mr. Solomon and goes in guns blazing. His granddaughter is returned to her mother, but Mr. Solomon reveals that she now has a deadly nerve toxin in her body. Without Mr. Solomon’s antidote, Denbe’s granddaughter will be dead in weeks. Denbe gives himself over to Mr. Solomon, presumably in return for information on Red.
Well the Troll Farmer’s plan didn’t go off without a hitch. Ressler and team figured out that the plan was only a diversion. They even noted that the social media was pointing to locations in the south; thus, they must look to the north checkpoint. Red just barely gets through the checkpoint, but Liz isn’t so lucky. She must now go somewhere where she can be safe. Red tells her that she has the potential to be clever like her mother. In that moment, she decides to go to the Russian Embassy. She barely gets over the wall before Ressler and Samar track her down. She is being restrained by guards while she asks for Diplomatic Immunity.
So to sum things up, this premiere was everything that we wanted. Red released The Fulcrum to the media, and all hell broke loose. Now that Liz is seeking asylum with Russia, what will happen next? And can we please see Tom Keen again? Am I the only one who missed him this episode? Will Ressler ever listen to Liz’s side of things? It’s only a matter of time before we get to see the whole story unfold, and hopefully the Cabal unfolds with it.
