The Blacklist Review: 2×07 “The Scimitar”

Tensions rise in the penultimate episode before the Fall Finale. The Blacklist is getting personal as secrets, lies and an elaborate ruse test everyone’s resolve.

The Blacklist — When an Iranian nuclear scientist is assassinated by Agent Navabi (Mozhan Marnò) in a secret joint Mossad and CIA operation, a revenge plot is set in motion to kill an equally valued American nuclear scientist. Meanwhile Agent Keen (Megan Boone) continues to press the imprisoned Tom (Ryan Eggold) for information that will lead her, and ultimately Red, to Berlin (Peter Stormare). Red (James Spader) summons both agents Keen and Navabi together to inform them that a notorious and dangerously cunning hitman “The Scimitar” (Blacklister No. 22, Waleed F. Zuaiter) has been sent to exact revenge for the fallen Iranian scientist and the clock is ticking. He’s already on U.S. soil.

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As the team’s investigation deepens, Liz and Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) find themselves at the mercy of The Scimitar who has contrived an elaborate plan to gain the valuable intelligence he needs to expose his targets. Dazed and confused, Liz and Ressler fight to remain alive. Only Red and Navabi, who are each mindful of very personal agendas at stake, may be able to save them before time runs out. We’d expect nothing less than a heart-pounding, tense and emotionally charged hour from the penultimate episode before the winter hiatus and The Blacklist didn’t let us down. Ruses, vendettas and one enormous bombshell marked another stellar episode that would bring Berlin and Red face to face once again with almost everything at stake. It’s time to dig in, answer questions and find out who is real and who is not in this week’s episode!

Information is currency and Red is getting richer by the minute.

We don’t know where the production team comes up with all their secret nooks and quaint locations for many of Red’s rendezvous on this show, but props to that entire group for a job well done again this week. Keen and Navabi meet Red in a small, eclectic record shop. It’s a fitting place for the scene that follows. As Red playfully lays out the details about Navabi’s involvement in the scientist’s murder and the hiring of The Scimitar to exact revenge, the dialogue is almost lyrical and a cinematic dance of lighting and tone ensues as we jump between views of the three. Having already called out Navabi’s role, Red explains he has no intent of passing judgement.

“George Orwell wrote, ‘Those who abjure violence can do so only because others are committing violence on their behalf.’ What a visionary. But good Lord his books are a downer.” ~ Red

It’s moments like these that this show simply pulls us in and we get lost in the moment. That’s the magic that Spader brings to Red like no one else could have ever done. He’s molded a kind of music to Red’s very existence. Almost every word, whether violent or playful, is poetic in its delivery. He is a bit of a Pied Piper and we follow whatever he says, to wherever it goes.

Armed with the knowledge that a threat is imminent against one of the three top U.S. nuclear scientists, the task force jumps into play. Concerned for her partner, Liz confronts Ressler about his addiction before things really get rolling. She’s kept his secret, but knowing that at some point her life will be in his hands, she stays after him to quit. Insisting he can beat it on his own, Ressler tells her if he can’t, he’ll be the one to tell Cooper (Harry Lennix). We’re not sure how long the plot line will go for Ressler’s addiction, but if he truly is improving and growing we’re glad to see it, as he’s too solid a character to stay down for long. The show is simply a better mix of personalities when he’s present and sure.

Between moments at the office tracking down The Scimitar, Liz finds time to also continue her interrogation of Tom. She’s taking a hard line with him and he’s either playing her or it’s starting to wear him down. He finally relinquishes the name of an arms dealer for Berlin, Sevan Volkov (Alban Merdani), and Liz in turn pushes Volkov for a meeting with Berlin. When he first refuses, Liz puts the screws to him by reminding him that she can make it very public and clear he’s compromised if he doesn’t arrange a meeting.

“You have two options, either you lead me to Berlin, or I lead Berlin to you.” ~ Liz

When she hands this information to Red, he’s immediately suspicious and zeros in on the fact that if it were obtained legitimately she’d have shared it with the Bureau and not him. When pressed, she doesn’t relent, but admits that after killing Meera (Parminder Nagra), nearly killing Cooper and putting Tom in her life, she has no problem with a lethal outcome. He even baits her and tells her if he didn’t know better, he’d say Tom was her source. She denies it, but we’re almost certain Red doesn’t buy it.

As much as we’ve loved seeing Red be more actively involved, this week and last have been remarkable improvements over the previous two because Red is back to doing what he does best, getting others to do his work for him. His role as puppeteer is one we enjoy because we’ve come to love the idea that all the things we’ve seen on this show are an orchestration by him toward some grand end. Every criminal he’s scratching off has a tie to that end, making this show much more The Redlist than The Blacklist. Everything simply works better when Red is pulling the strings.

One abduction, two abductions, three abductions more…

When a break in the case leads Ressler and Liz to a construction site possibly used by The Scimitar, they discover his men have extensive surveillance information on one agent in particular, Johathan Reese (Brian Haley) with the DSS. Realizing that DSS is the agency assigned to protect the scientists in question and the surveillance data indicates The Scimitar’s men have pinpointed he is most vulnerable at a shuttle stop after work, Liz and Ressler race to intercept Reese before he can be captured.

Reaching Reese first, shots are fired and in the ensuing chase a flash grenade is detonated in the truck with Liz, Ressler and Reese. After a violent tumbling wreck, Reese is taken captive and Liz wakes in the hospital with an injured and sleeping Ressler in a nearby bed. A doctor assures her that Ressler is being taken care of and gives her  a phone to call Cooper, who is relieved to hear she and Ressler will be okay. They make plans to move the last remaining scientist, a professor Amalia Collins (Nurit Monacelli) at Duke University, before a speech she intends to give, but time is short.

As Cooper and the team coordinate with Evan Mullen (Jordan Lage) of the DOD, things start to unravel quickly.

“Harold, I checked. There is no DOD employee named John Reese. Not in DSS, not in any sector.” ~ Mullen

Aram (Amir Arison) adds that despite having talked to her, neither Keen, nor Ressler are at Bethesda as they were led to believe. Cooper is left stunned and wondering where his agents are and how serious the situation might be. As Keen, lying in her bed, begins to realize that she’s being played, it becomes clear that The Scimitar has gone to extraordinary lengths to get them to tell him the information they needed to find Amalia Collins.

We’ve been critical in the last few weeks over how quickly clues and hints have led the Task Force from one lead to the next so neatly and so quickly. We enjoyed that setup here as the same process we’ve come to rely on being infallible turned out to be a complex con by The Scimitar. All the neat clues led them right into his hands to give him the information he couldn’t get in any other way. As Liz struggles to free herself and a sedated Ressler from the fake hospital, Navabi plays the one card she knows could reach them the quickest. She calls Red who has just secretly kidnapped Zoe (Scottie Thompson). It seems everyone in this show needs an abduction under their belt.

Things get dangerous, deadly and difficult when it’s personal.

Red and Navabi compare notes, and a source Ali Hassan (Ramsey Faragallah), with whom Red has a tenuous relationship, becomes the key to uncovering the whereabouts of The Scimitar, and in turn, saving Ressler and Keen. Navabi tells Red that Hassan is linked to a number of Iranian operations in the U.S. and has been the focus of a major Mossad initiative for some time. Red warns her she’s treading on thin ice.

“Mossad has no tolerance for any agenda except Mossad’s. You’ll be sanctioned for this indiscretion.” ~ Red

“So be it. I can’t work with this Task Force unless my partners are my highest priority. So this has become quite personal.” ~ Navabi.

Red listens and lays out the real reason she was brought this case. It’s much more personal than she realizes. One of The Scimitar’s little-known aliases is Walid Abu Sitta, the man who killed her brother. Having motivated Navabi to go all in, the two and Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) pay Hassan a visit. After being convinced at gunpoint, he points them to the warehouse that Ressler and Keen are desperately trying to escape. Again, the location scouting team outdid themselves with an absolutely gorgeous waterside mansion as Hassan’s home in the states. We were impressed with every inch we saw and it’s a shame that Hassan didn’t get to enjoy it longer.

As Red and Navabi rescue Keen and Ressler, Cooper focuses his attention on protecting Professor Collins, but his efforts are too little and too late. Finding the agents assigned to her on the floor of her hotel room, Cooper locks down the hotel to stop The Scimitar from escaping with her. His plan all along has not been to kill her, but to abduct her to further Iran’s nuclear program instead. When Liz and Ressler arrive on the scene Liz stops a man escaping with his luggage. In the shootout, he escapes, but he leaves his luggage behind. Inside is Amalia Collins.

Frustrated, The Scimitar returns to Hassan’s mansion to make arrangements to escape, but finds Red waiting for him instead. Red arranges to have Navabi meet him at Hassan’s mansion as well. As she enters, she sees The Scimitar bound and gagged.

“How did you know?” ~ Navabi

“Most criminals return to the same trough time and time again. Indolence, I suppose. Personally, I make it a habit to avoid habits.” ~ Red

The final sequences of the episode are intensely personal to each they involve and as Mark Lanegan’s atmospheric and moody “Bleeding Muddy Water” plays in the background each scene ramps up the emotional stakes.

As a disturbed Navabi eyes the bound man in front of her, Red suggests that she can do with what she wants. He’s a gift to her. She can call it in and hand him to the authorities, but no one else knows he’s there. It’s up to her what she does, but as he leaves, in typical Red fashion, he teases her not to do anything he wouldn’t do. In the brief exchange that follows, she tells The Scimitar her brother was one of many he killed orchestrating a suicide bombing and she now intends to kill him. He insists she knows nothing if she thinks her brother was an innocent bystander the day he died. As the scene closes, it’s clear Navabi is emotional and tense. When his body is later found washed ashore with an execution style gunshot to the head, we’re left to assume she followed through with her word.

Liz pays a visit to Tom and tells him that Volkov has arranged to meet Berlin. Tom let’s her know, in no uncertain terms, that he knows his value to her is ended once Red kills Berlin. Playing on her emotions, he reminds her that turning him in will mean her job and killing him will mean she’ll have to live with it the rest of her life. Tom is clearly using the last few emotional chips he has to nudge Liz into letting him go. As she stands to leave, he goes all in.

“I knew the second you brought me down here, you had no intention of letting me live. So here’s the deal. Liz, you’re gonna do whatever the hell you’re gonna do. You always have. Just do me a favor. Look me in the eyes when you do it.” ~ Tom

As the Lanegan’s track fades, one last meeting takes place. Red steps out of his car, surrounded by Berlin’s men and explains to Berlin that the meeting with Volkov was a setup. Volkov sold out to Agent Keen. Fortunately, Keen brought it to him instead of the Bureau. As Red explains that the entire affair is nothing but a tragic misunderstanding he intends to correct. Red insists he didn’t kill Berlin’s daughter. Berlin, as we would expect, rambles about words, words and lies. He clearly doesn’t believe a thing Red is saying and is singularly focused on doing to Zoe what was done to his daughter. As Dembe brings Zoe out of the car, Red explains what this has all been about.

“Is this the daughter you’re referring to? Because she’s not my daughter. She’s yours.” ~ Red

As the end credits roll and we start to process all the events in this episode, we come to realize that despite a couple of episodes that weren’t completely up to standard, this show is capable of great moments when it works within its own set of rules or cleverly breaks them to its benefit. While this last meeting of Red and Berlin did not have the power as the first, we’re left with mysteries on many fronts. Who is telling the truth? Who can we believe? We’re uncertain, but that’s The Blacklist doing what it does absolutely best—satisfying us with enough answers to lure us into the need to know many more.

FINAL VERDICT: The Blacklist is definitely picking up steam headed into the Fall Finale. A formidable and cunning Blacklister headlines another strong, well written episode of twists, turns and all the things we love most about Red.

The last few weeks saw a dip and then a rise in this show’s quality. This episode clearly continues the upswing with powerful performances and the enchanting presence that is Red Reddington. For all the works that Spader has achieved through the years, this one may end up being the most remembered. His exacting, rhythmic cadences as he regales us with wisdom or meaningless asides draw us in and keep us in his spell. He has charmed us, just as he has the Task Force. We don’t know his motives any more than they do, but just like them, we’ll be there when it all plays out.

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The dialogue, banter and intricately woven scenes owe a lot of thanks to veteran Blacklist writers J.R. Orci and Lukas Reiter who obviously put an enormous amount of effort into making this episode build from beginning to end. The emotional mini-peaks throughout kept rising as we watched each storyline play out. Spader always brings a sense of style to whatever lines Red speaks, but this week was a notch above. The deception of The Scimitar was carefully played such that it was very much a surprise to any who didn’t know what role Waleed F. Zuaiter played in this episode. We were thrilled to see the very thing we’d harped on in recent week get used against the team. The ease with which things fell together, this time became their undoing. That was clever writing and deserves props. It will be interesting to see if the Task Force moves with a bit more caution from here.

The atmospheric style of this episode was the culmination of a lot of things by a lot of people. We mentioned before that when an episode doesn’t work, we know it takes a village to create them and no one person is to blame. The same is true when they do work. Many people across the cast and crew deserve the credit. That could be said of this episode, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that Director Karen Gaviola brought an energy to her second directorial effort and second collaboration with writers Orci and Reiter this season. Unlike Dr. James Covington, this episode presented a much wider canvas in this universe with which to work and we enjoyed getting to see it come together. Nods must also be given to Director of Photography Michael Caracciolo and Editor Chris Brookshire for their work on this weeks episode. The scene early in the record shop and the collection of sequences at the end were fantastic on both fronts.

We don’t know where the writing team is taking The Blacklist this season, but the surprise that showed on Berlin’s face might mean that Red finally has something his nemesis is willing to listen to in Zoe. Ressler’s addiction arc may be on the way down. If it is, we’ll be glad to see it. We think Liz is going to need him in the coming episodes. Tom still can’t be trusted and if he were to somehow get loose, he’ll most assuredly have revenge on his mind. We’ve been surprised to see Navabi show such devotion and loyalty to this group. Maybe that’s a trait that Red has a knack of finding in people he brings in to his inner circle, but we’ve enjoyed finally getting to know her a bit better.

The mix of the right amount of Red to really give him his moments to shine seemed to fall into place in the last two weeks. We want to see Red take matters into his own hands, but there’s a balance. His role in the background doesn’t at all diminish his presence on the show, but at the same time gives all the other characters room to grow. Those were things we missed in recent weeks, but we’ve slowly been finding again. When it’s all said and done, we’re left with very few clues as to what might happen next week in the final episode before the Fall hiatus. One thing we know for certain. We’ll be damned if we’re going to miss it!

Questions, Comments, Concerns and My Reaction on Twitter…

• “Uh, we need to talk.” ~ Liz to Ressler. Yeah, what’s a little addiction between friends.
• I think Liz has learned her lessons from Red well. She’s gotten cold and focused on the task at hand.
• “You have only two options. Either you lead me to Berlin or I lead Berlin to you.” Damn Liz!
• I think Red was almost a proud papa there! My little Lizzy is growing up right before my eyes! All devious & such.
• Oh sh*t. Flashbang in the truck is bad juju.
• Who thinks that’s NOT a doctor? The Scimitar is a crafty bastard.
• What are you up to with Zoe there Red? Wish all things were as simple as anchovies.
• Zoenappng. Red hates being left out. Everyone on this show needs a hostage.
• Well that was a wicked trick to make you think you broke your arm.
• As much as the scenery is nice, I sure hope Liz finds some pants in her escape.
• “This has become quite personal.” ~ Samar. Oh boy has it! Red is a strange bird. What is his play here? Samar favors?
• Only two guards outside the door? That’s not enough.
• Oh sweet, he left his luggage behind, but her in the suitcase is not what I call packing light.
• “All this running around. I’m so glad when the people I’m looking for .. come to me.” ~ Red
• “I make it a habit to avoid habits.” ~ Red. #ThingsRedSays
• Don’t tempt her to kill you Tom. She’s not the Liz you thought you knew.
• “She’s not my daughter, she’s yours.” ~ Red to Berlin.
• Well that’s not the ending we thought we’d get .. but I’ll admit it’s one scenario I considered.