The Blacklist Final Verdict for Season 2: Strong performances, deeper mysteries, and the brilliance of James Spader as Red, make this show not only entertaining, but TV we just don’t want to miss. 

The Show: The Blacklist

The Network: NBC

The Genre: Drama

The Challenge: Give a show four episodes with which to draw you in, impress you, challenge you, make you feel something deeply. Four episodes for the chance to find out if you care what happens to the characters you’re watching enough to become invested in the story. If after all that, it does none of those things for you? Then no biggie. You gave it a good shot and you can move on. But if you love it, you’ll be glad you stuck around.

The Premise: Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader) returns in the much-anticipated second season of The Blacklist. After working with the FBI to uncover some of the world’s most dangerous criminals, Red’s past caught up with everyone as a truly vicious foe, Berlin (Peter Stormare), emerged hell-bent on vengeance and destroying Red’s world. The aftermath of Berlin’s havoc leaves the Task Force without it’s leader, Assistant Director Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix) and turns Agent Elizabeth “Liz” Keen (Megan Boone) bitter, after learning her husband Tom (Ryan Eggold) was a plant by Berlin. After Tom’s betrayal and his shooting at the hands of Liz, her life has changed dramatically as she works to connect the dots between herself, Berlin and Red.

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When Red convinces both Liz and Cooper to return to the work they started in order to put an end to Berlin and as many Blacklisters as they can, Agents Donald Ressler (Diego Klatenhoff), Aram Mojtabai (Amir Arison) and newcomer, Samar Navabi (Mozhan Marnò) get back to work. As the second season begins, it becomes painfully clear that Berlin’s war against Red is escalating and everyone is at risk. The first four episodes of The Blacklist season two take dramatic twists, turns and includes one incredible showdown between Berlin and Red.

#1: The mysteries and duplicities of this show do NOT cease.

If there was any thought we’d have clear answers to all our questions in the first episode back after Season 1 concluded, it was a naïve one. The Producers Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath have done an astounding job of packing in a lot of groundwork into the first few episodes but many of the answers are yet to come.

The revelation that Red’s former wife Naomi (Mary-Louise Parker), and possibly his daughter have been in witness protection and are feverishly being sought after and threatened by Berlin was a twist few could have seen coming. To learn some of the secrets why Berlin is so bound and determined to destroy Red’s world only tease that there are deeper and darker secrets still yet to be revealed. As Naomi recounted to Liz how no one really knows how difficult it was to have Red completely upset their life, we in the audience were shaking our heads right along with Liz inside her mind. We’ve all seen the havoc Red brings to everyone he touches.

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One thing seemed to pop out loud and clear. Almost everyone in this show has a duplicity to them. And Lord Baltimore was the perfect first Blacklister to start Season 2 and remind us of that fact. Every character is wrestling with things they can both see in themselves and things they can’t. Time will tell whose demons can be conquered and whose will consume them.

#2: Strong guest performances highlighted by the Hand vs The Hook just can’t be missed.

If there was any doubt that season two of The Blacklist could continue it’s strong performance those were quickly cast aside. This second episode of the season was as strong as any we’ve seen with applaud-worthy performances and writing throughout. When things were hectic, great writing kept us focused on the moving plot. A stellar guest star, lineup in the first four episodes that included, Mary-Louise Parker, Peter Stormare, Krysten Ritter, Paul Ruebens, Ron Cephas Jones, David Costabile along with fan favorites, Susan Blommaert and Hisham Tawfiq complemented the weekly cast beautifully. The addition of Samar Navabi (Mozhan Marnò) has also added a nice interesting wrinkle to the show. We’re still unsure if we can trust her or not, but her character is intriguing enough we want to find out.

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But let’s face it, Red makes this show. James Spader’s charisma and charm make Red one of the most likable villains in recent memory. His ability to turn conversations from seemingly meaningless banter to blood curdling and deadly is just as much fun to watch as anything he does. Mix in the moody and equally magnetic Peter Stormare as Berlin and you’ve got one of the most epic showdowns in bad vs worse in recent TV memory. The first scene where these two face off is one for the ages. Wit, banter, chills and twists make watching these two fire verbal salvos something we could watch over and over.

#3: We’ve wanted to see more of Red’s world. We got our wish. 

Susan Blommaert as Mr. Kaplan and Hisham Tawfiq as Dembe have been visible pieces to Red’s world for some time. As season two progressed, we got to see a deeper connection to Red’s world and the duplicity of Mr. Vargas (Paul Ruebens) was a distinct surprise twist we thoroughly enjoyed. Red has an elaborate network of associates and those in his employ across the globe and it would appear his money and business interests have made him a powerful and influential figure in how things get done in the seedier side of the world.

For at least episodes 3 and 4, everyone else did in fact take a back seat to Red and his rooting out of traitors in his midst. Our Task Force team and Dr. Covington (Ron Cephas Jones), in the attempts to show them, felt very much second to the overshadowing of Red and his efforts to cleans his “house.” The next Blacklister, Dr. Linus Creel (David Costabile), did jump back to center stage a bit, but still played second fiddle to Red and his more direct efforts to thwart Berlin. We certainly enjoy every moment of Red, but even he is better when he stands out over other outstanding performances and plot lines. We’ve no doubt that a small dip as the show adjusts to a slightly different formula for season two will rebound as some of the bigger stories and plots again come back into focus. If anything suffered the most from a bigger focus on Red, it was the detective work of the Task Force. With less time to “solve” each case, things started to come together a little too quickly and easily for our taste each week.

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Mr. Vargas has become the scene stealer whenever he appears. We’re dying to see Mr. Vargas and Mr. Kaplan in the same frame together. Those two could nearly carry a spin-off series by themselves, especially if Mr. Vargas is forced to help with Mr. Kaplan’s bloody clean up. That’s comedy gold waiting to happen. Add in some dashes of Red and that would be just too much fun.

#4: James Spader makes Red so much fun to watch. 

Red never does things at random. There’s always some ulterior purpose behind his actions. Even his monologues and parables that seem at first to have no relevance draw us in and ultimately we’re slapped in the face with the point he’s trying to make or caught off guard when he uses his stories to distract us. The writing team must have so much fun dreaming up the next off the wall thing Red will say or mapping out which parable he’ll tell next. His one-liners are becoming legendary. It seems every week there’s several lines or more that are absolute zingers.

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There is a much larger, more complex and detailed history to The Blacklist and to Red himself of which we have only seen glances. We know that’s intentional. If all the goods are given away at the beginning, it’s not near as much fun learning them along the way. Spader’s brilliance is in the telling of that tale. He gives us subtle clues and the writing team provides him with the bits and pieces we eat up each week in an effort to put the pieces of Red’s past together.

FINAL VERDICT: 

Is Season Two of The Blacklist worth your time to watch? Absolutely. If drama, mystery and a seedy world of criminal masterminds is your thing, this show has it all. If they’re not you thing, The Blacklist may very well make you a fan. All in all, we’re left with tons of questions and mysteries this early in the season. We don’t know why Berlin is so hell-bent on destroying Red, though we do know he’s gone to great lengths to do so. We know very little still about Naomi and what she knows about Red and Liz. And perhaps the biggest mystery of them all—what’s behind the door Liz is contemplating? We have a few guesses, but can’t wait to find out.

The Blacklist has its flaws in season two, but not many. The ones there are mainly centered around how quickly the detective work fell into place so easily when nearly everyone outside of Liz and Red was pushed to the background. We’d like to see more of the main characters brought back to the forefront, but we have a sneaky suspicion that will happen in time. Despite those few flaws, the show is still highly enjoyable. Strong performances by the rest of the cast in spots along with outstanding guest appearances have made this a show a good one. Watching Red simply be Red, makes this show one we just don’t want to miss.