The Blacklist 1.07 Review: The Good of the Many Outweigh the Good of the Few

For all those that have yet to watch yesterday night’s episode of The Blacklist, entitled Frederick Barnes (No. 47), this is where I will suggest you go do that before reading ahead. As always, this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

While this episode did not stand out amongst all the other ones this series has premiered, it did fit well along the lines of progression with the last episode. This episode definitely gave me the confidence in the writers to work the ups and downs of these characters perfectly interwoven into the story of these blacklist criminals week in and week out. That proof came with how the last episode ended, and fit just right carrying into this week’s episode.

My first thought with the way this episode opened was, ‘Hey! That’s Wilson!’, which automatically meant I knew who would be the focus criminal of this week’s episode after not having watching the previews because you don’t just throw Robert Sean Leonard into a series to play a victim. Moving forward with the episode, I thought the opening was brilliant with fitting in Keen and her husband’s fresh start after she thought he was a murderer – which I’m still convinced he is. I loved how she wanted to make a fresh go of the dining room, after all that had happened there, and that their relationship – for this episode at least – seemed to be back in a good place.

This was a nice, easy kind of episode (for this series at least) that was still quite brilliantly written. The way Keen hesitated to take down the perpetrator near the beginning of the episode because she didn’t want one man to die, and then for her to take him down later in the episode before the man could possibly cure his son of the disease. While it didn’t completely mesh well from point A to point B, I did like this use of storytelling, that Keen is right for the tactical unit. But I do believe that look Donald gave her after she said the boy was just one loss for the greater good of the many was sad that he was seeing her being shaped into this harder person, although I could be reading too much into things.

Elsewhere, Red and Keen’s relationship were on the rocks this week, and that friction between them was quite clear. He wanted to fix things, she didn’t trust him, so they didn’t quite work together as much as they have in weeks past. Keen worked more with Donald, which is a relationship I would love to see eventually flourish, while Red made off on his own to go help things out. But in the end, Keen gave some slack to their tug-a-war by saying their relationship is that of partners on this team, nothing more than that, which we all know won’t last, but we’ll let it stand for now.

Other things to note about this episode, both good and bad, one being Keen’s wig. Sometimes it looks terrible, other times not so bad, but for the most part I think it’s the top of it with the heaviness on top with the bangs and such that make it look not good. What’s the need for it when extensions would add length and probably look more natural? Also, I have to comment on how much I love Aram. He’s such a great secondary character, and I just loved seeing him run after Donald with the computer. Another thing, I loved that scene with Red in the house, looking at the markings on the wall, and remembering his daughter as a child. That just pulled on my heartstrings, and I’m sorry if that wasn’t Keen, it’s ridiculous for him to have a fixation on her otherwise. Finally, I have to conclude once again that this series is exceptionally filmed, but the music this week wasn’t quite as great as previous weeks.

Overall, I’m still very happy with this series. It’s not a basic procedural, and that makes it fresh for the television audience. I don’t think Red will be able to keep his contacts out of the loop forever that he is helping the FBI, but for now it could keep working. I absolutely look forward to this series every week and am getting anxious for the weeks that will inevitably be skipped for this series to go on breaks.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“You’re a winter, not an autumn, stop wearing olive.” – Red tells Keen over the phone.

“Autocrats, terrorists, me.” – Red says of Barnes’ M.O. of selling to the highest bidder.

Yay! I’m all caught up. Now to go watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Originals, New Girl, Trophy Wife, and Supernatural. I’m probably going to watch a couple, review them, then watch a few more, so stay tuned.