The Blacklist aired its Midseason Finale on Monday Night, concluding a few story lines and beginning many others. There were a few shocking reveals, twists, and turns and overall a great episode to watch before the show goes on almost a three month hiatus until February. The hour played out like a movie with intense moments, gruesome explosions and by the end you could tell there would be a sequel with plot points that will be played out through the remainder of Season Two.
The episode begins with flashbacks from 4 months ago, and the events ending the Season One Finale, leading up to present day. Liz saved Tom's life by having her friend, Ellie, stitch him up only to have him chained and locked on a boat that we have seen since the beginning of this season. We catch a glimpse of several different days since, and learn how Liz came about some of the information she gave Red along the way, such as Berlin hiding his money with Monarch Douglas Bank in Warsaw.
Berlin was subsequently imprisoned after the bombing and was sent pieces of what he thought was his daughter. Liz, in another moment of role reversals, is the one to give Red the info he needs by telling him it was Kiryl Morozov who was responsible in the Kursk bombing. Red and Berlin work together to take him out, but not before getting the name of the real Decembrist, Alan Fitch.
Berlin acts in haste and Red realizes at this point that he is on his way to kill Fitch. Red reaches Fitch first, but is unable to convince him of his dire situation. It is in this scene, however, that some questions we have had since season one are revealed. Red explains the origins of the photo of the girl he took from the Stewmaker's book when he comes to the conclusion that Fitch was responsible. It is this girl's bones that were sent to Berlin in prison to trick him into thinking it was his daughter. The story that Red tells is my favorite scene in the episode as James Spader does such an excellent job, as usual, in conveying his character's emotion at the time.
Next, we learn that Liz released Tom in exchange for intel on Fitch's whereabouts. They find Fitch only to learn that he has a bomb strapped around his neck and the Task Force brings him in to the box at the Post Office, formerly used to hold Red. Red uses Zoe to locate her father, Berlin, in order to find out how to deactivate the bomb using a code. Zoe asks Berlin to lunch, which Red interrupts to no avail because Berlin cannot save Fitch's life. Alone in the box and the inevitable outcome for him looming, Fitch requests to see Red and gives him seemingly important intel on the shape of things to come (I listed them below in the Thoughts and Discussion section).
Episode nine is months away and it appears that with losing some of the recent major players The Blacklist will reboot and start a new story arc. It will be interesting to see how Tom will factor into everything and where the new information we gathered from Fitch will take our beloved characters. I can't wait for the season to continue and we see a new story arc take shape. It is going to be a long winter.
Red's Quotes
"When you love someone you have no control. That's what love is. Being powerless."
- Red to Liz near the end of the episode
Music from the Episode
- "Great Sky" - Other Lives
Liz tells Red she couldn't kill Tom - Red pays off Tom before telling him to never see Liz again.
Thoughts and Discussion
- I was able to ask Jon Bokenkamp a question during a recent Q&A on Facebook and he revealed Liz & Tom's dog from season 1, Hudson, passed away. That is why we see a different dog this season. Very sad.
- I am still a little upset that Liz, in all that time she had Tom in captivity, did not ask once about her father that Tom told her was still alive back in the Season One Finale.
- On Tom and Red working together - I would be happy to read anyone's comments and theories regarding this. I think that Tom did not work for Red at the time they met outside the hospital in Season One when Red went to visit Sam. The way they acted and spoke to each other just makes me think this way. I could be wrong, but it makes sense that Tom began working for Red after the events of the Season One Finale. Please comment below with your theories.
- What was in the envelope that Red gave Tom at the end of the episode? Was it a new life? Money? Was it the key that Red got from Pepper at the end of the episode, "The Front"?
- Where is that key that Red took from Pepper at the end of the episode, "The Front"? (I know, I am obsessed with that key)
- The Decembrist revolt took place in Imperial Russia on December 26th, 1825. Russian army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in a protest against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne after his elder brother Constantine removed himself from the line of succession. Because these events occurred in December, the rebels were called the Decembrists. Any participant in the conspiracy and insurrection of Nicholas I on his accession in December of 1825 is called a Decembrist. Fitch is The Decembrist because he conspired to take out Red by making Berlin think Red killed his daughter and also responsible for the Kursk bombing.
- Fitch, while in the box, mentioned some very interesting things to Red that I am sure will play a very important role in the future of the series:
---Who are Mitchum, Hobbs and Jasper?
---What is the Fulcrum?
---What is in Fitch's safe? The combination is 8-30-44. It is in St. Petersburg (A location with ties to the Decembrist Revolt; it is where the uprising took place) in the wall, on the second floor...
---And, most importantly, what will happen in 2017?!? Did the creators just reveal that something of significance will happen in three years on the series?
Thank you for checking out my Review! Please comment below so we can discuss the episode and the first arc of this season further! Have a great weekend everyone!
