- Title: The Blacklist – The Courier
- wiki: link
Reddington (James Spader) sends Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) and the FBI after “The Courier” (Robert Knepper), a notorious middle-man in Reddington’s line of work who kills an Iranian spy he was conducting a $20 million deal while trying to evade the FBI. After catching the man, the FBI uncover evidence a kidnapped CIA Analyst who The Courier buried alive and who the FBI have only 20 hours to find before the young man’s limited air supply runs out.
To find answers they are unable to get from The Courier himself, Keen talks with the man’s brother (Brian Tarantina) who only confirms what a scary and broken man The Courier truly is. With no other options the FBI decide to send Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) in as The Courier to try and get information out of the the former French spy (Barbara Schulz) who paid for his services. Sadly, that plan goes no better and when The Courier escapes custody the FBI find themselves out of options and nearly out of town.
The episode ends with several short scenes foreshadowing the series’ future after Reddinton is able to coerce the spy into giving him the intelligence he needs to find and save the analyst. From here we learn several things. First,Lizzie has reason to be concerned about her husband’s involvement in the classified file which Reddington gets delivered to her (as a repaid debt from the analyst). Secondly, we learn that Reddington has a powerful adversary whose actions may have prompted the man choosing to turn himself in and work with the FBI. The final scene, and the preview for next week’s episode show us The Blacklist (thankfully) has decided to dance around the mystery of Lizzie’s husband any longer and provide answers, possibly tragic and deeply hurtful ones, for our protagonist.
I can’t get enough of this show. It should be two hours long and shown twice weekly.
I’m shocked they’re moving so quickly with Lizzie’s husband, but I’m also glad. I like a quicker pace but don’t usually expect it on TV anymore – so many shows have mysteries that last a whole season (or longer) and I find that annoying.
I also liked the new information about Red’s “adversary” and the fact that he has a hideaway.
I like the characters and their interactions more than the storylines so far, but I think pushing through this B-story with Lizzie and her husband and then moving on will help. I liked the adversary angle as well, but I’m betting we’ll get teased for weeks (up until Sweeps?) before we get any real information about him.
Here’s a thought I had (although it’s less likely the longer the show goes on): What if the whole Blacklist is a scam by Reddington (each member of whom are people he’s put into place to make the scam look real). That would be a hell of a twist, and a real dick move too.
That’s an interesting thought.
My favorite dialog exchange in this episode:
Cooper: “I have a feeling you’re not telling us everything.”
Reddington: “Let’s be clear up front, I’m never telling you everything.”