Things get dicey in this week’s episode of “The Blacklist.” Dicier than usual, that is. The first scene, we see Red carving into someone, but then we get a flashback 13 hours earlier in Munich, Germany. That guy gets around. He’s partying and drinking brewskies with some comrades, when Ressler comes in and they leave together.
READ: All “The Blacklist” Recaps & News
Liz is grieving her father and looking at a box of stuff containing some old Polaroid photos and a charred stuffed rabbit that makes her cry as she flashes back to a fire where, apparently, all her toys burned. It’s unclear whether this is a clear memory or something she’s blanked out.
At headquarters, Ressler brings Red in, and there’s a discussion about him being targeted for assassination. Red says Anslo Garrick (Ritchie Coster – he played Renzo in “Luck,” if you’re one of the three people who watched that show) manipulated the team to bring Red in so he could then extract him. Then Red proceeds to tell them any and everything about this guy, who has ties everywhere around the globe.
READ: 10 Things About Raymond “Red” Reddington
“This building is about to be breached,” says Red. Of course, he’s right. He’s always right. But do they ever listen? No.
Then, there’s a whole bunch of shooting. I must say, there’s a lot of shooting in this show, but at least they give us a “violence” warning at the beginning of the episode.
Ressler is down, with a bullet wound in his leg, and Red takes over – unlocking his cuffs, grabbing a weapon, taking out a few bad guys in the process, and dragging Ressler to the bullet-proof box. I’m guessing Red has a medical degree or something, so I’m sure Ressler will survive.
We learn that Red is the reason Anslo’s face is all twisted and scarred. And Anslo has been thinking about this moment for many years. The moment when he can pay Red back for all the grief he’s endured.
Meanwhile, Liz is inside the building, but still out of site. She’s green, though. She has to talk herself into whatever is about to happen. And she does a good job of it, because she has no problem killing people who don’t comply with her request to lower their weapons.
And, apparently, she’s the only hope for Red and Ressler, as the others have been taken hostage. And they call themselves veteran agents. Hah – just let the newbie save the day.
Yup. Red is doing a blood transfusion. In the box. Taking blood from himself and giving it to Ressler. “Drip, drip, drip,” chides Anslo just outside the box.
There’s quite the touching conversation between Red and Ressler, and Red is quite the elegant orator. I could sort of listen to him all day, talk about that meal in Paris or sailing across the ocean. At first, I think he’s just distracting Ressler from his impending doom. But then, Red gets lost in his own reasons for wanting to stay alive. I get lost with him.
More medical stuff. Red tells Ressler he has to cauterize his wound. “This is gonna hurt,” he says, in the understatement of the year. Then Anslo starts shooting people point-blank, as Red pleads with Cooper to open the box. He may be ruthless at times, but he’s got a heart. He says something in another language to the next guy to go – a friend, who says he’ll see him in the next life.
Fade to black! Will Cooper let Red out of the box? Will Anslo get his wish? Will Ressler survive? All will – hopefully – be revealed in part two next Monday! That’ll be the fall finale, and then I’m guessing it’ll pick back up after the new year.
Red Quotables:
“This is gonna be hugely unpleasant and very painful.” – Red to Ressler
“If you’ve surmised nothing about me by now, know his. I’m gonna be around for the sequel.” – Red to Ressler, after a soliloquy about the bullet-filled ending of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”
“Years ago, I saved a man’s life under a beautiful old cedar tree in Lebanon. A month later, he tried to kill me in a hotel in Damascus. I understood. Allegiances shift. A month later, I broke his neck with a shower caddy.”
“We become who we are. You can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can by its first few chapters. And most certainly by its last.”
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