James Spader is up to his old tricks in The Blacklist. He’s still always one step ahead of the enemy even when there’s a bounty put out on him by Berlin. For those who didn’t tune in last season, we learned that there is a terrible criminal out there who goes by the name Berlin. Naturally, he is after Raymond Reddington and the entire FBI task force working with Red. Even though Red is a master criminal himself, he is working with the FBI to bring down the worlds most ruthless criminals. Throughout the entire first season, Red has only been willing to work with one FBI agent, Elizabeth Keen.
When we catch up with Keen, played by Megan Boone, she is living out of her trunk and constantly moving from one hotel room to the next. The first season showed us that her perfect husband was a complete lie. Tom Keen was a fraud hired to spy on Elizabeth and gain intel on her relationship with Red. Now, Elizabeth has become much more hardened after learning that her life with her husband had been a lie. Unlike in season one, she seems to have no more qualms about working with Red. The first season showed all signs pointing to Reddington being Elizabeth’s father; although, our suspicions have never been confirmed. Even when Elizabeth asked outright if she was Raymond’s daughter, he told her no. I am still hoping that there is a different logical conclusion that the Blacklist creators can spring on us because Elizabeth and Red being father and daughter seems so obvious. I challenge the writers for the Blacklist to give us something that we don’t see coming (granted it still makes sense). For now, we will just have to wait and see.
The big surprise with this episode is the introduction of Mrs. Reddington. Red’s ex-wife has been under witness protection, but even that won’t stop Lord Baltimore, a hit man hired by Berlin. I should say hit woman as Lord Baltimore is played by phenomenal guest star, Krysten Ritter. Ritter is a great addition to this episode, and she is extremely convincing in this role. While we’ve most likely seen the last of Ritter, we will continue to see Mrs. Reddington aka Naomi Highland played by Mary Louise-Parker. In the hands of Berlin, who knows what will happen.
The Verdict:
The Blacklist had a strong return with a gripping episode. The coming weeks will continue to give us criminal after criminal on the Blacklist as well as continuing the overarching threat that is Berlin. Whether you’ve been watching from the start or want to join up now, the Blacklist is one procedural not to miss.
+ Guest star Krysten Ritter
+ Introduction of Mrs. Reddington
+ No more bad wig for Megan Boone
– Lord Baltimore storyline was slightly rushed