The Blacklist is back, and Mr. Solomon is finally an official blacklister. Liz and Tom plan to get married with only a month before their baby is born. Meanwhile, Raymond Reddington is not happy about the nuptials and tries to keep them apart. It’s an action packed episode that promises to lead us into next week’s not to be missed episode, if you believe the previews.
Mr. Solomon is being transported to Leavenworth, but wouldn’t you know, it looks like he won’t make it. They stop the transport with the intention of killing Mr. Solomon. The Kabal is done with him and doesn’t want any loose ends. Another player shows up and kills the Kabal members. This new player recruits Mr. Solomon and puts him on a singular mission: kidnap Elizabeth Keen at any cost.
Of course, his mission isn’t so easy to see at first. Mr. Solomon makes all the moves to make it appear that he wants to steal a nuclear weapon from the US military. When Harold Cooper attempts to take this information to the General in charge of the nuclear weapon, he scoffs at the idea of his nuke being stolen. He insists that this is a military mission, and the FBI task force is not wanted.
Meanwhile, Liz wants to get married to Tom right now. He is confused because he knows that they don’t have anything planned. But, she’s ready. They decide to just go for it and start to plan the last minute ceremony. Liz asks for Cooper to get ordained, so he can perform the ceremony. He’s clearly very touched by her request. Aram is easily my favorite character in this episode. He’s so excited about Liz and Tom’s wedding, but now he doesn’t have as much time to prepare. The only one who is less than pleased about their rushed wedding is Red. He tries to reason with Liz, saying that Tom can’t change from his criminal past. Liz believes that he can, but she was wrong once before. Red hits below the belt when he says, “You really want your child to pay the price of that mistake for the rest of his or her life?†And that’s the last straw for Liz who asks for Red to leave and not come back.
It turns out that Red was only half right. Tom’s old life catches up to him when Gina shows up in their apartment. She’s joined by Tom’s old boss, the Major. Tom tries to reason with them and makes it clear that he’s out of that life. Gina and the Major both agree that Tom is their biggest disappoint, and he’s an anomaly in the Major’s program. The Major doesn’t seem to care about Tom’s pleas for his life and asks for him to get on his knees. Just as he’s about to execute Tom, Gina interferes and kills the Major. Being the wonderful person that she is, she leaves the cleanup to Tom. The part that Red was wrong about was Tom being dishonest. He goes to the church to tell Liz everything, clearly worried that she’s going to call off the wedding. She reassures him that she has no judgment on his baggage when she has so much of her own.
After going on a wild goose chase for Mr. Solomon and the nuclear weapon, it’s clear that this case was just a decoy. Reddington figures it out first and the rest of the task force isn’t far behind. The new player sent Mr. Solomon after Liz and will take out anyone who gets in his way. He heads straight for the church. Liz and Tom never get a chance to complete their ceremony before Mr. Solomon threatens everyone inside. He asks for Liz to come out on her own, and no one else would have to get hurt. It’s clear that the new employer wants Liz alive.
Red and Tom both agree that they can’t give up Liz, so they start a fire fight with Mr. Solomon’s men. Liz wonders if the new player is her mother, since they don’t want to harm her. It seems that ever since Liz was outed as Masha Rostove, she’s had a target on her back. Red keeps assuring Liz that her mother is dead, but Liz won’t believe him anymore, not that I blame her. Their plan works well enough and Liz and Tom escape in the getaway car that Aram provided for their wedding.
