When Red gets betrayed by someone close to him he reacts violently, and unfortunately Smokey Putnam was on the receiving end of his wrath. Smokey, played by Michael Aronov, has been one of the best recurring side characters on The Blacklist. Always good for a bit of comic relief, he’s provided a much needed light spot in the show. Sadly, Smokey won’t be providing that comic relief anymore after he took a shortcut to the ground from Red’s private jet. Smokey will be dearly missed, but his death at least will have a big impact.
As we saw at the end of “Lady Luck” Dembe was not happy with Red’s decision to make an example of Smokey. He hardly ever disagrees with Red, but this time he said definitively “that was the wrong example”.
Red has questions. Dembe has answers. #TheBlacklist pic.twitter.com/S4XiNSTJAV
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) April 13, 2019
Dembe is kind of the moral compass of the show. He usually pulls Red back from the edge when he’s starting to take something too far. If Dembe says something is wrong thing to do, he’s usually right. However, Dembe is actually kind of to blame for Smokey’s death.
Red killed Smokey to make an example out of him to flush the person who betrayed him out of hiding. Red thinks that whoever betrayed him will step forward to prevent more people from being killed. Dembe knows that it was Liz, so by staying silent and protecting Liz, he caused Smokey to be killed. If Dembe doesn’t come clean soon, a lot more people are going to end up dead.
What I want to see is Liz actually take responsibility for something she’s done for once in her life. Liz constantly blames other people for her problems, dragging her friends into her messes and continuing to act like she’s the victim who deserves sympathy. The truth is that Liz decided she was willing to let Red die for her own personal gain, but she’s not brave enough to own up to what she did. Liz is maybe the only person who might get a pass from Red for what she’s done. What Liz needs to do is throw her self on Red’s mercy before he kills anyone else because of her.
I don’t necessarily want to see Red kill Liz, but I do want him to finally get his revenge. The most lame way they could end this story is for Red to let her betrayal slide because he cares about her. My favorite line from ‘Lady Luck’ came when Red was talking to Smokey:
“Everyone’s fate is negotiable, except for the person who betrayed me, their fate is sealed.” If this doesn’t apply to Liz, then what’s the point? I also will never understand how Liz had the nerve to betray Red in the first place. Red is terrifying enough when he’s punishing someone for a minor offense against him, but now he’s on a whole new level. Watching James Spader in this episode I was legitimately scared just sitting here on my couch.
The way Red looked at Smokey right before he handed him his death sentence was chilling. His eyes just looked dead, like there was nothing behind them, almost like he wasn’t human.
Goodbye, Smokey. We barely knew ye. #TheBlacklist pic.twitter.com/g8CQtqPmcR
— The Blacklist (@NBCBlacklist) April 13, 2019
I guess I’ll give Liz some credit, it’s pretty impressive that she betrayed someone she knows is extremely dangerous, who has no qualms about cold blooded murder, and definitely treats betrayal as the worst thing someone could do to him. There’s no telling what will happen next, but Liz is going to be forced to come clean soon if she wants to prevent more lives being lost in Red’s violent quest for revenge.
In the next episode, Red and the Task Force will be taking on a new group of villains called “The Third Estate”. They seem to be a crime syndicate that has ties to people in the highest levels of the U.S. government including the president. Hopefully this will finally lead to the Task Force taking down Anna McMahon, who’s been a thorn in their side ever since she tried to make sure that Red received his death sentence.
The Third Estate looks to be a formidable group of criminals for the Task Force to fight, and if the trailer is any indication we’re in for a treat on Friday. We’re also going to see Ressler go behind Liz’s back to find out what happened to Katarina Rostova as he searches for Red’s real identity. Ressler has been chasing Raymond Reddington for years and he’s not going to let this go until he has answers.
Check out the trailer and synopsis for Friday’s episode, “The Third Estate” below:
Red and the task force spring into action to stop an anti-capitalist terrorist group from kidnapping and torturing the children of the one percent. Ressler goes behind Liz’s back to find out what happened to her mother, Katarina Rostova.
The Blacklist airs Fridays at 9/8c on NBC.
