The Blacklist - The Deer Hunter (No. 93) - Review: "The Rush Of Control"

"I watch the work of my kin bold and boyful
Toying somewhere between love and abuse
Calling to join them the wretched and joyful
Shaking the wings of their terrible youths"
- "Angel of Death and The Codeine Scene" - Hozier

The Blacklist aired episode thirteen, 'The Deer Hunter', last Thursday night. Almost two weeks ago the episode titled, 'The Kenyon Family', produced the lowest ratings the series has ever seen with 7.71 million viewers. Although, not a bad number to have, we would still like to see one of our favorite show's ratings increase, not decrease, each week. We definitely don't want to see The Blacklist fail before finding out the ending to our most burning questions, such as, "Is Red Liz's father or not?", "What exactly is The Fulcrum?" and "Will Aram and Navabi finally go on a date?". I am kidding, of course, The Blacklist is not in bad shape, but we would still like to see the ratings increase each week, which it did slightly, with the latest episode, 'The Deer Hunter'.

The blacklister this past week was unique and a little different than the ones we normally see. I don't believe The Deer Hunter was even on Red's titular blacklist until he added it after speaking with Liz. I have always thought of Red's blacklist as something dynamic; it is a list that can change with the times, with blacklisters being added to and subtracted from whenever Red deems fit to do so.

My favorite part of the episode was seeing Liz receive some tough-love from Ressler and Red near the end of the episode. In the scene prior, Liz is seen hanging from the ceiling with her hands tied together. As Tracy approached, Liz performed a powerful move to wrap her legs around her neck and began to tighten her hold. This scene mirrored the one where Tom had his legs wrapped around the Harbormaster's neck a few episodes back and we all know how that ended. What prevented Liz from finishing what she started was her FBI partners storming in and snapping her back to reality. Who knows how far Liz would have gone if the FBI had been a few minutes late? Since the first episode of the series, we have seen Liz slowly turn against the person and agent she was before Red showed up in her life and an entire new reality was thrust upon her.

I believe Liz needed the tough love from the two current leading men in her life. Ressler attempting to instill into Liz the great work they do was something she needed to hear. She was about to go to Detective Wilcox and confess to something that was not her fault. I also enjoyed watching Red explain to Liz what a lot of viewers already had on their minds. It's as if Red tapped into the audience's thoughts with his statements to her at the end of the episode. Telling Liz he thinks she is afraid of not being needed anymore after she gives up The Fulcrum (or whatever that device is she found at the end of episode 10) was something we have been waiting for and I am glad Red finally said it.

A few scenes stuck out for me in The Deer Hunter. One of the highlights was watching Red and Liz bicker over whether or not the Deer Hunter is actually a man or a woman. It wasn't the substance of their argument, but the fact they both enjoy the rush of control. They both need to be right and that is the dynamic we love to see from The Blacklist. We are used to seeing Red as the one who is calm and cool and always right about everything. To see him at the end of the hour yielding to Liz and ceding they are both right was a great scene.

I will be one of the first people to tell you The Blacklist is an amazing show. Since I first began reviewing it for SpoilerTV, near the start of season one, I was captivated by the stellar performance by James Spader and the incredible story creator Jon Blokenkamp brought to our TV screens each week. However, I feel that this second season has been missing something. I still love the show and the stories each week. I just feel that it's lacking its season one charm. I have a feeling it will find The Blacklist will find its bearings in the next few episodes, which will be perfect so that it will get to the final moments of this season flying high.

Overall, I thought it was an ok episode for The Blacklist. It's one of my favorite shows on TV right now and there are a lot of good programs on at the moment. I do believe The Blacklist will get better starting with tomorrow night's hour and not just because the promos tell us Tom will be in it. We are not entirely convinced he will be, especially after the network implied in a previous promo he was to be in last week's episode. There are nine more episodes remaining this season and it won't be long now until we finally begin to see some answers to the most puzzling questions we have about the story. However, as with all story lines on The Blacklist, for every answer we get there are two more questions that pop up.

Red's Quotes

- "Elizabeth, one of the reasons I'm still alive is due to my love of reading. Whether it be words on a page that reveal the author's thoughts, emotions, imaginations, or whether it be people in conversation. You ignore what they say, and instead, read their expression, posture, their gesture. Lizzy you're lying."
Red to Liz

Music from the Episode

- "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by Mama Cass
Tracy talking to her pets

- "Happy Together" by The Turtles
When Liz and Ressler arrive at Mrs. Henning's house; Liz goes around back and is knocked unconscious by Tracy

- "Angel of Death and The Codeine Scene" - Hozier
Final Music Montage - Aleko retracts his statement; Navabi calls Aram sexy; Red & Dembe find an empty apartment; Liz watches Detective Wilcox

Thoughts and Discussion

- One thing I have always enjoyed about The Blacklist is their use of music in each episode. It was great to see them using more than one song in this episode. They do such an excellent job in this department.

- I am glad the story line with the Harbormaster is over. At least I hope it is over. Red saving Liz, again, was great to see. I love seeing him come to her rescue.

- I think Liz think's she has The Fulcrum, but will find out it is just another piece of the grand puzzle. That is just my theory and I could be wrong, but something tells me finding The Fulcrum should not be that easy and its fate left to Liz holding onto her childhood stuffed animal.

- We still don't know what these items are: The key Red got from Pepper (The Front S2E5); The silver briefcase Red retrieved from the Presidential vehicle (The Kenyon Family S2E12); The recording device Liz pulled from the stuffed bunny that she believes is The Fulcrum (Luther Braxton S2E10); The man on the other end of the line when Red calls is also a mystery I look forward to seeing unravel.

- During the final music montage Red and Dembe went to the man's location, that Aram found for them, only for them to find an empty apartment. It appeared there was a struggle because the place was a mess with furniture toppled over and even blood stains. The questions now become, "Who did that and why?" - "How will Red contact him now that his phone was left behind?" When Red called the number off the card he found the man's phone on the floor.

- Did you notice...The blood stain on the floor of the apartment looked like a hand holding up its middle finger to Red. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but I wanted to mention it.

- Who do you think told Red that Liz was going to be indicted about the Harbormaster? I suppose Ressler is the most likely candidate, but it could be someone else, perhaps. I would love to know what all of you think. Please comment below with your thoughts.

Thank you for checking out my review! Please comment below so we can discuss the episode and the series some more. Have a great week everyone! Also, don't forget we are conducting a "Live Discussion" this, and every, Thursday night during The Blacklist. If you would like to participate, just check SpoilerTV's Homepage and click on the "Live Discussion" link for The Blacklist that will be posted a few minutes before the episode begins to air.

About the Author - Geo N

Geo N is from Detroit, MI. His favorite shows include The Blacklist, Hell On Wheels, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, LOST, The Leftovers, The Strain, Sons Of Anarchy, Sleepy Hollow and countless others. When he's not watching tons of TV, he enjoys reading, playing hockey, comic books, weightlifting, and writing. Thanks for checking out my post.

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