The Blacklist - S1E5
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Ford F-150 versus Jeep Cherokee!
The strength of The Blacklist is size of the budget. Every week, the show continues to up the ante on its action scenes.
There is a new unknown international badass ghost that is known as the Courier. The Courier specializes in moving things, often across international borders, for his clients. His service is expensive, and if the buyer or seller does anything untoward, he executes them both. And, he happens to be on Reddington's (James Spader) blacklist.
The Courier's latest contract is between a buyer and a seller of national secrets. When the Courier meets with the buyer, an Iranian spy, he discovers that he is being watched by government agents, so he shoots the Iranian spy and tries to get away and avoid capture.
The Courier has the unique ability to not feel physical pain. And he shows his deficiency by taking a knife wound to the chest, sewing himself up, then inserting a micro-USB card in his chest wound after Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) and Meera Malik (Parminder Nagra) chase him down in a borrowed Ford F-150 and crash into his Jeep Cherokee. Great car chase and crash scene! This show spares few expenses in great action scenes.
The Courier will not talk once he is taken into custody and questioned, so the FBI and Reddington have to figure out who he is working for on this job. They find out that a young NSA agent has been taken captive, and will die within 22 hours if they don't find him.
Elizabeth tells Reddington that he's not telling them everything.
Reddington throws down the best quote of the series thus far. "Let me put your mind at ease, I'm never telling you everything."
Cooper (Harry Lennix) and Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) discuss how they will get the Courier to talk about where he stashed the NSA agent. Ressler reminds Cooper that they are dealing with a psychopath.
Cooper responds, "Luckily, we happen to have our own psychopath."
They figure out that the seller is an ex-French spy lady, and Ressler goes uncover to meet her, where he pretends that he is the Courier. The ex-French spy lady confesses to Ressler, then figures out that he is not the Courier, because the Courier would have killed her. Ressler again shows signs of intelligent life and gets away from the ex-French spy lady, who is arrested. She is not talking, and Reddington convinces the FBI to let her go, since they are unable to charge her.
The Courier is being moved to another location, but he happens to have all sorts of hardware implanted in his skin. He goes through his internal tool box until he finds a knife to free him from his restraints, then he escapes. The FBI chase him down, but his wounds prove to be fatal, and he dies without telling them the location of the NSA agent.
Reddington and Keen figure out where the NSA agent is being held (thanks to Reddington's carnal knowledge of the ex-French spy lady), and arrive to save him before he runs out of air. Actually, they find him just as he is about to suffocate, and Reddington talks some nonsense about summers in Rangoon and luge lessons before they revive him. While the FBI isn't paying attention, Reddington gets a free pass at NSA computers from the agent for saving his life, which he uses to get the file about Angel Station.
Keen goes home to her husband, who she has now discovered to be a possible double agent for powers unknown. And he shows her the box of passports, money, and the gun. Fade to black.
That is the kind of episode I would like to see become commonplace on The Blacklist. I was intrigued throughout, the car chase/crash was awesome, and the writers brought their 'A' game. I can't wait to see where the show goes now that Tom has potentially been exposed. And how Reddington will factor into Tom's situation.
Random Thoughts:
- Ressler must be taking smart pills.
- Keen and Ressler took another flirtatious step this episode.
- Grey (Charles Baker) was in this episode! More Skinny Pete, please!
What did you think?
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