The Blacklist delivered another surprising episode in “Mr. Gregory Devry.†From the preview scenes for this episode, we learn that a man claiming to be the true Raymond Reddington has been caught by the FBI. Who is this guy, and why is he claiming to be Red? Is it possible that he truly is the real Raymond Reddington?
Our beloved criminal mastermind Raymond Reddington jumped right back into being an FBI informant. He wasted no time giving Liz a new case. She wasn’t sure that she was ready to jump back in, but she relented and listened to what Red was saying. Red knew about a meeting that was set up by “a big fish,†which would bring the head of multiple crime syndicates to one collective table. Red called it the Shell Island Retreat.
Red’s information leads them to the man who called the meeting, a Mr. Raymond Reddington. Now the FBI has the faux Red, or Fred as someone so comically says, in custody. Faux Red claims that a high level executive from the FBI will be kidnapped to confirm that Raymond Reddington has been the informant that is putting all of his “friends†behind bars. Ressler and team are just too late to stop Janet MacNamara from being kidnapped. Faux Red gives the location of the Shell Island Retreat and agrees to go in wearing a wire to help the FBI take down the rest of the criminals, in exchange for his freedom of course.
The real Raymond Reddington ends up going to the meeting to discourage these nasty rumors that he is the FBI informant. Naturally they have trouble believing him with everything that they’ve heard. Red says that he can prove that he is not the informant, but he can tell them who is. When Faux Red shows up at the meeting, Red proves to them that he is wired and working with the FBI. The real Red kills Faux Red and helps the criminals escape.
When all is said and done, Red admits that he set everything up from the start. The man claiming to be Raymond Reddington was named Gregory Devry, and he was a master con man. I guess at this point I shouldn’t be surprised at the lengths of Raymond Reddington’s schemes, but somehow this episode still caught me off guard. I truly thought that someone was after Red and that he was caught unaware. But, I really should know better. Gregory Devry had a terminal illness, so Red used him and put him out of his misery. It was a truly ingenious and somewhat despicable plan. Red knew the FBI would never go along with the plan which included letting all of the criminals go, so he played it just right.
Of course, Liz figured it all out. I can’t tell if she was impressed or not. She knows that there weren’t any innocent people who were hurt, but Red still let the rest of the criminals at the Shell Island Retreat go free. It does seem that nothing will surprise Liz anymore. She is officially desensitized to Raymond Reddington.
Meanwhile, Red is pretty upset with how cozy Tom and Liz are getting these days after her release. We finally got to see their reunion, and it sure was steamy. Tom even takes the time to propose to Liz and put a washer on her finger. He promises that he will get her a better ring, but he wants to marry Liz again. For once, Liz is the one who’s pulling away. She’s not ready to think about the future right now and only wants to live in the moment.
Anytime Liz mentioned Tom, Red was visibly uncomfortable. Liz told Red that Tom suggested that they run away together, but Red tries to show her that the Cabal won’t quit. He’s been tracking the Cabal as well as their allies and competitors. Now that it is common knowledge that Liz is the daughter of an infamous Russian spy, Liz could be in danger. Red even slipped up making it sound as if her mother were still alive. I guess only time will tell on that one.
