The Blacklist Review: 2×03 - “Dr. James Covington”

From small beginnings, come big endings. Have the seeds of the much larger plot in The Blacklist now been sewn?

A war is coming. Red (James Spader) has warned us of this more than once. Episode 2×03 of The Blacklist begins what appears to be the small maneuvering of pieces in a much larger game and we start to see the vast international scope of this war and it’s stakes. A tale of two stories, Dr. James Covington (Ron Cephas Jones), Blacklister No. 89, is the thin thread that connects what at first seems to be two unrelated plots that unfold. But with Red, nothing is done by chance and everything has purpose. The question, as always, is what is his ultimate end? Don’t we all want to know.

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Red brings to Liz (Megan Boone) a victim of a malicious heart extraction, Paul Wyatt (John Nielsen) who was stealing life savings and pensions. Red, with the unique charm and panache we love, scoffs that the police have it wrong, Mr. Wyatt’s heart was not a financial vendetta, but instead the work of Dr. Covington. It would seem the good doctor is removing organs from the perfectly healthy in order to illegally transplant them into the most vile of the criminal underworld. We’re guessing his Hippocratic Oath was seen as just a suggestion.

Simultaneously, Red learns that Berlin is scheming to coerce members of The Syndicate, a group of Red’s associates working to gain private control of a vital Indonesian port. As Berlin’s noose tightens around Red and the team close in on Dr. Covington, betrayal, shocking twists and moments of atmospheric genius that have become the trademark of The Blacklist unfold. Is Red’s world crumbling around him? Will his men turn on him in favor of Berlin? Who is Dr. Covington and how is he connected? And the biggest burning question from last week—where is Naomi (Mary-Louise Parker)? With more questions than we know what to do with, there’s only one way to find out. And that’s to dive in to what we “think” we know in this week’s episode while keeping in mind that things on The Blacklist are rarely what they seem to be.

What he giveth, he also taketh away.

The twisted nature of The Blacklist writing room never ceases to amaze us. We’ve decided that we’ll do our best never to cross writers Lucas Reiter and J.R. Orci after this week. As Jon Bokenkamp is the mastermind, he’s been on our “avoid making angry” list for some time already. The writing team is deviously gifted and once again The Blacklist delivers another frightening criminal invention. When Liz and Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) investigate Dr. Covington, they learn the truly horrific nature of his business from Mrs. Wyatt (Eva Kaminsky). The organs, extracted from the recently deceased, aren’t being sold, they are rented.

“My husband’s heart wasn’t harvested, it was repossessed.” ~ Mrs. Wyatt

When the Waytt’s could no longer pay, Dr. Covington set an example by reclaiming the “product” he’d provided. We had a distinct Repo Men moment as this thought settled in and took hold. After reaching a dead end, Liz asks Red to “borrow” Mr. Kaplan (Susan Blommaert) for a particularly gruesome grave robbing exercise to skip court orders and protocols and exhume victims to track down Dr. Covington faster. Liz is slipping into Red’s world of compromise and rule breaking pretty easily these days and we’re certain that’s going to come to light at some point, perhaps with painful consequences.

Dr. Covington, as vicious as he is rumored to be, appears only briefly. With so much time devoted to Red’s business interests and the team’s pursuit of the doctor, we only see glimpses of Ron Cephas Jones. He does stand out for us in one compelling scene as he pleas to save the child he’s operating upon when Liz and Ressler finally do track Covington down. The good doctor, it would seem, has been using the funds from the criminal underworld to circumvent what he perceives as a flawed organ donation system for children in dire need.

In a rare moment, a ‘Lister appears to have turned to nefarious ways toward a greater good. But instead of being explored as a character more deeply, as is so often the case on The Blacklist, Dr. Covington seems relegated as side story that may ultimately make him one of the less memorable Blacklisters to date.

Red’s associates and enemies should learn what we already know—nothing is as it seems.

It had been known for some time that Paul Ruebens would make a dramatic appearance this season on the Blacklist and his entrance didn’t disappoint. In a much creepier and more sinister tone than we expected, that he pulled off well, Mr. Vargas tempts Red’s associates with an offer from Berlin they would be foolish to refuse. It would appear Pee Wee has completely shed his bow tie and bike for very real threats and a slightly bunched turtleneck. Ruebens certainly made a fantastic entry and as the plot unfolded he held his own in a dramatic moment with Spader, as Red stared down Vargas’ silenced, chrome pistol.

It was the dramatic twist of duplicity that shocked us and highlighted two sides of a quality performance by Reubens. It turns out, Mr. Vargas worked for Red all along and in the aftermath of exposing Niko Demakis’ (Joseph Siravo) betrayal and then death at the hands of Red, we all got a lough out loud moment. Vargas can’t stand the sight of blood.

“Honestly, how many times have we discussed this? You know I don’t like being around the bloody stuff. I need to be allowed to leave the room before the blood. You know I don’t have a strong constitution.” ~ Mr. Vargas

We didn’t see this twist coming at all. But it was a brilliant switch from sinister to comically vulnerable that made us laugh as this stern character that had stood toe-to-toe with Red only seconds before was now about to faint in a rush of panic. Spader’s brilliant and accepting (if not placating) “kid gloves” reaction as he tries to step in front and shield the view of the now bleeding Niko, was priceless. Red must be so much fun to write. With such dramatic swings between comic relief and deadly serious dialogue delivered so perfectly by Spader, sometimes all in the same scene, Red is a TV treasure.

Undoubtedly Reubens’ role will be the most remembered of this episode. He sucked us in nicely in his ruse of working for Berlin. And then he shocked us with his comically weak constitution as his things played out. We loved the performance and the writing of these scenes were so well done. But did anyone else just feel desperate to fix his bunched up turtle neck? Just us? We were kind of hoping everyone noticed that.

We’d like more of Mr. Kaplan and spectacular effects please.

We only get to see moments of Mr. Kaplan in this show, but we’re dying for the deeper story behind her long and sorted connection to Red. Executive producers Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath teased us on Twitter with a question asking everyone’s opinion of how these two met. We don’t know, but we’re dying to find out. Seriously, if Mr. Kaplan were to get a series of webisodes to tell her tale, NBC would be forced to beef up their bandwidth—the Internet might break. We love Mr. Kaplan and Susan Blommaert has created one of the more memorable characters on this show with just a few scenes.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t give a big shout out to the Visual Effects team of Greg Anderson, Lindsay Seguin and FuseFX for this week’s episode. They do a spectacular job every week, but really outdid themselves in this time. Between ghoulish cadavers (both fresh and not) and the gruesome motorcycle accident, the VFX team deserves props for some realistic moments that made us cringe. We’re certainly glad the kids were in bed by the time this aired. The effects were top notch and the realism unsettling—and that’s a compliment.

Spader stood out as he always does. We watch this show as much for what Red might say next as we do for all the mysteries surrounding every character. In a moment that will undoubtedly be earmarked by it’s chilling feel, we were drawn in to Red’s summer job tale that led to his valuable life lesson.

“Value loyalty above all else.” ~ Red

In short, don’t cross Red. He doesn’t take it lightly and Spader’s delivery makes us believe it. The subtle shift from his light regaling to the serious is where Spader really shines in every episode. He’s perfecting the nuances of Red and we feel fortunate to get to watch as he does it. In the final scene, Spader’s talent is in full force as the moment we’ve all waited for since last week finally arrives. He visits Naomi who promptly smacks him, drawing blood. It’s about all we get to see of this moment, but it was an emotional feast. Spader’s pained expression as he enters the room and transformation into surprised indignation after an unscripted slap (Twitter nugget from John Eisendrath!) shows his dramatic range. He’s a master at his craft. We can’t wait to see that conversation next week!

The FINAL VERDICT: The Blacklist continues to deliver week in and week out. Mysteries and plots are deepening with tension bubbling just under the surface.

In short, another strong episode keeps us watching. We got to see a deeper connection to Red’s world and the duplicity of Mr. Vargas was a distinct surprise twist we thoroughly enjoyed. Liz, on the other hand, for as much as she appears in the episode felt a bit transparent. We miss seeing the emotional development Megan Boone delivered so well in every episode of season 1. If this season has a flaw or two, one of them is that we haven’t really “felt” her pain. This may be intentional for the moment. Even Cooper (Harry Lennix) acknowledged that Liz hasn’t grieved over all that’s happened to her, but we’re itching for that emotional connection we loved from Liz. Thus far in season 2, we don’t have it and we miss it.

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This episode didn’t afford many quiet moments and the ones we did get moved things along with strong dialogue. The pacing and movement throughout felt right. There didn’t seem to be highs and lows and veteran director Karen Gaviola kept us moving forward throughout the episode. Everyone else did in fact take a back seat to Red and his rooting out of traitors in his midst. We certainly enjoy every moment of Red, but even he is better when he stands out over other outstanding performances and plot lines. Our Task Force team and Dr. Covington, in the attempts to show them, felt very much second to the overshadowing of Red and Mr. Vargas.

In the end, we did learn one thing. Red is clearly using the FBI. Dr. Convington’s tie to Red rooting out the traitors in his midst was subtle and easily missed. Red even called it as the tables were turned on Niko. He buried the lead. The Deputy Minister of Transportation that opposed The Syndicate from controlling the Indonesian port was gravely ill. He was set for a heart transplant, but things fell through for that resulting in his death. Not a coincidence we think that Dr. Covington is now in custody.

Once the Minister was gone, the deal to control the port could proceed. The real questions for us are how this port story plays into the larger war with Berlin and how will Liz and others react when they learn that they are being used? Liz may be right not to trust Samar Navabi (Mozhan Marnò), who we didn’t get to see near enough of in this episode. What is Navabi’s role? Why was she inserted into the task force so easily? And what mystery character is Hal Ozsan playing? We didn’t trust him when Liz frisked him the first time, but that rifle certainly was a big tip that like everything else, he’s not what he seems. We got our weekly fix of The Blacklist, but it’s never enough. It’s safe to say that we’ll be thinking continuously about where all this is headed and we can’t wait until next Monday to learn more!

Questions, Comments, Concerns and My Reaction On Twitter…

• Woah. Your tall. Is that what you were “gonna” say Aram? Amir Arison #TheBlacklist
• The heart that was “taken” from his chest wasn’t his to begin with? FTW?? #TheBlacklist
• Rented organs? Wait, I kinda saw this movie didn’t I? Repo Men? lol #TheBlacklist
• Aram, your crush shows through when you babble. We love ya! Amir Arison #TheBlacklist
• This show only gives us little dabbles of Mr. Kaplan, but I want an entire episode to see the history of her and Red. #TheBlacklist
• Does that even look like real hair? #ThingsRedSays
• Holy hell! That was painful to watch!! The Visual Effects team went all out there! Sheesh! #TheBlacklist
• Has the little man been falling down on the job?? WITH the pinkie! OMG LOL #ThingsRedSays #TheBlacklist
• “But look on the bright side, you’ll die with a marvelous erection.” - Red #TheBlacklist #ThingsRedSays
• If Berlin wanted Reddington dead, he’d be dead already. I’ve thought that same thing. Berlin wants him to suffer. #TheBlacklist
• Value loyalty above all else. Don’t cross Red. #TheBlacklist
• #PaulRuebens is a brilliant add to this show I think. #TheBlacklist
• I knew the second I saw Hal Ozsan I didn’t trust him. #TheBlacklist