The Blacklist returned last night with, “Mr. Raleigh Sinclair III” and they hit the ground running. Towards the end of the episode, Liz brought Detective Singleton into the Task Force’s headquarters to prove that her relationship with Reddington wasn’t something suspicious, but fully authorized by the FBI. I was convinced that this was a catastrophically bad move on Liz’s part, because it seemed like Detective Singleton was in on Ian Garvey’s plans without a doubt, but now I’m not so sure. From the way that Ian Garvey talked about him, and Singleton’s willingness to work with Liz, he may actually be working for Ian Garvey as a police officer without having any idea who is boss actually is or what he’s doing.
Hopefully Singleton’s new knowledge of the Task Force doesn’t hurt the team in any major way, as the information will eventually get back to Garvey, whether Singleton intends it to or not.
A not so great part of “Mr. Raleigh Sinclair III” was Liz’s encounter with an FBI therapist in charge of recommending her reinstatement. First of all, the therapist was extremely unprofessional, acting like Liz couldn’t return to the FBI because of Red being her father. What right does this woman have to judge Liz based on who her father is? The FBI evaluation should be about Liz’s capabilities, not those she is related to. Second, the therapist asked Red to come to a session in order to help Liz get reinstated, and right off the bat she tells Red that “he disgusts” her and is a “glorified serial killer.” What was she hoping to accomplish by saying this to Red, and what right does she have to talk to him like that? All in all it was a strange and unnecessary addition to the episode. I just hope Liz’s reinstatement comes quickly so we can get the whole Task Force back together.
One scene that I really enjoyed involved Ressler and Samar (as usual) I think their dynamic as partners is one of the most underappreciated in the show, and it’s always a treat when they get some good screen time together. In this case, they were stopping a man who had signed up to be part of a doppelganger program arranged by this week’s blacklister, so he could kill his girlfriend and get away with it. Luckily, Ressler and Samar stopped him just in time. Samar chased him while Ressler helped the injured girlfriend, and then once Samar was having a hard time getting him cornered, Ressler came by and knocked the gun out of the man’s hand by hitting him with their FBI car. They work so well together as partners, and seeing them in action is usually the best part of any episode.
Next week, it looks like Liz and Ian Garvey are about to collide, hopefully delivering a satisfying ending to Liz’s search for revenge for Tom’s death. Also, from the synopsis it looks like Aram will be heading out into the field with the rest of the Task Force, and it will be great to see him in action again. He’s had the least amount of screen time recently, and it will be nice to see him outside the Task Force headquarters for the first time in a long time.
Check out the synopsis and trailer for next week’s episode “Pattie Sue Edwards” below.
Synopsis:
As Liz continues tracking Tom’s killers, Red tries to solve a tax issue in his money laundering. Meanwhile, Aram goes out to the field when the Task Force investigates a viral outbreak.
The Blacklist airs Wednesday at 8/7c on NBC.