The Blacklist Review: 2×11 “Ruslan Denisov”

Just when we were starting to lower our expectations of The Blacklist just a touch, it blew us out of the water with a stellar episode once again.

The Blacklist — When an undercover CIA operative (Arian Moayed) in Uzbekistan is kidnapped by Ruslan Denisov (Guest star Faran Tahir, Blacklister No. 67), an abduction mogul who usually sets his sights on corporate kidnappings for ransom, a dangerous chain of events is set in motion. Tipped by Red (James Spader) of the event, Agents Liz Keen (Megan Boone) and Donald Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) are sent to investigate. Before they can establish what happened, the two are kidnapped by Denisov as well, who wants to use his CIA captive to negotiate justice for the horrors visited on his people by a leaking pipeline from a corrupt corporation, Anneca. To the surprise of Liz and Ressler, Denisov has brought in none other than Red himself to negotiate on behalf of the hostage takers. At home, Aram (Amir Arison) cannot crack the secret of the Fulcrum entrusted to him by Liz, leaving both wondering what it is and what it does.

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As negotiations begin, CIA informants slip information from the FBI Task Force to local Uzbekistan police, who in turn, raid the compound but find no hostages. Enraged, Denisov appears ready to start a war, if not for the cool and collected Red. Digging into the truth, Red and Denisov find that the Anneca, and Ex-Minister Leonid Zhabin (Olek Krupa), buried far worse atrocities in the past and have the graves of hundreds of bodies to prove it. Armed with this information, they force Anneca’s hand to vacate the country, and in so doing open the door to another oil conglomerate to take its place, lining Red’s pockets and branding Denisov a hero of his people. Meanwhile, at home, things better left buried are also resurfacing for Liz as Detective Martin Wilcox (Michael Kostroff) squeezes Samuel Aleko (Dante Nero) for information about the death of harbor master Lieutenant Eugene Ames (Franklin Ojeda Smith). With Aleko willing to cut a deal with police to talk about Liz’s involvement in Ames’s murder, the future is likely to get murky for Liz. Things get even stickier when Aleko’s deal leads Wilcox straight to where the body is buried. In what may have been one of the most cerebral and entertaining episodes to date, we learn a few clues and are faced with new threats, so lets dive in and negotiate the toxic waters of this latest episode of The Blacklist!

Checkmate. Red is one step ahead of everyone, but the complement of Denisov as an equal partner in crime, added one of the many fantastic layers to this episode.

Ruslan Denisov represents perhaps the most complex, elegant and metaphorically appropriate episode of The Blacklist in some time. This is the Red we love to root for, question the motives of and gleefully don’t know whether to trust or not. Guest star Faran Tahir as Denisov himself, represents the caliber of Blacklisters that make this show, when it’s at its best, one of the finest on television. And this episode was perhaps one of the best this season—if not overall.

Denisov is ruthless in his methods toward his enemies and yet compassionate for his people. Tahir has long been one of our favorite actors. We hope that in time, performances like this one that require a wealth of complexity, will put him in the limelight more often. We’d love to root for him as a protagonist. In this case, the roles get flipped and he becomes just that—an ultimate hero for his people, but not without some drama along the way via Red. After all, only Red can evoke the power of a chess game from 1972 to stop a murder and set in motion the series of moves that he saw coming long before everyone else. Remind us not to play chess with Red.

“You’re only seeing the next move. People have been pillaging your country’s resources since time began. Someone has to offer a better alternative. That someone could be you. Ruslan, there is an endgame here that you don’t yet see.” ~ Red

The brutality of Denisov, when the devotion to his cause called for it, is certainly without question. A man dedicated enough to his countrymen to kidnap corporate executives for ransom and then execute them should payment not come through, isn’t one to be trifled with at all. Tahir played the part beautifully with the conviction and depth that we’ve seen him bring to high-profile roles in the past. He’s not a simple villain. He’s a complex man beseeched into action by a county rife with corruption and pain. Tahir brought all those layers to this character in the limited screen time he had. Not a small task, and certainly not one to be forgotten.

As the story unfolds and we see a certain kinship between Denisov and Red emerge, we are once again reminded of the lofty standards this show has set. Blacklisters have a bar set incredibly high. Not just in being a quality match to Spader himself, but by all those that have come before them. Tahir quite emphatically—delivered. Not only in the intense action sequences or brutal moments, but in his subtle understanding that unfolded as the episode progressed and in the quiet compassion he shows for his fellow countrymen. Tahir should be ecstatic. His character will be remembered as one of the more charismatic Blacklisters we’ve seen and unlike most, he lived to fight another day. We’d welcome him back to this show in a minute. Tahir was simply that good.

Red is a man who sees beneath the surface. Negotiation, and Red’s milonga view of it, became an incredible moment of artful clarity.

At this point, we could simply dedicate one section of each review of The Blacklist to rave upon how well Spader brings this character to life, but he had considerable help in this episode. In many ways, this entire story was the tale of three dances woven seamlessly together. The tango that Red narrates, the refusal to “dance” by Liz and the awkward shuffling of feet between opposing sides of a much larger conflict all converged in one beautiful scene that was an exquisite example of television at it’s finest.

With the table set that all sides are ready to negotiate the equitable release of the captured CIA agent, Red guides us, and Liz, through the subtle steps of negotiation through the eyes of the Russian tango milonga. As the beautiful couple glides along the dance floor in front of them, and the players of the larger game engage in silent, brutal combat, Spader once again shows us why he’s one of the most compelling characters on TV today.

“Everything you need to know about negotiation is there in the tango milonga. At the outset, they are opponents.Each has something the other wants. They size one another up, assessing risk, setting boundaries, challenging each other to breach them. A sensuous battle- violence and sex balanced on the blade of a knife. Nothing given that is not earned- nothing taken that is not given. This is the pure essence of negotiation. Not a poker game, but a milonga. A tango. A seduction.” ~ Red

This entire sequence, from the beautiful milonga, narrated by Spader’s enchanting analogy, to the violent attack on Denisov’s men by local police at the behest of the CIA, was beautifully crafted. The music and rhythm of both the dance hall and Spader’s voice drew us in to a perfectly crafted contrast between the sensual dance taking place before them, and the brutal one taking place elsewhere. Perhaps most compelling was Liz’s refusal to engage in anything other than work with Red now that she is certain he’s after nothing but the Fulcrum. That emotional sparing between Liz and Red added the final complex layer to this poignant sequence, and when it all came together, the moment was riveting.

Writers Jonathan Shapiro and Lukas Reiter undoubtedly deserve credit for the construction of such a beautiful idea, but the truth is that Director Andrew McCarthy, Musician Dave Porter, Director of Photography Michael Caracciolo and Editor David Post are all among the many that made this sequence the art it ultimately became. Nothing in this moment would have worked as well, without beautiful cinematography, elegant music, timely editing and a foundational story idea being brought to life. Spader said the words that made us all sit a little closer to the television, but we know that an entire team made this sequence one worth remembering.

Some things can never be buried long enough or deep enough for the consequences to not rear their ugly head.

If the milonga scene represented the beautiful and artful center of this episode, the episode’s larger subtext was the icing on the cake. As things unfold in Uzbekistan and the truth of Anneca’s first pipeline, not mention the horrid effects of its second pipeline, come to light, Liz’s own past is unraveling in much the same way at home. While Red is busy maneuvering for checkmate against Anneca executive Dean Walker with new evidence from Leonid Zhabin on the cover up and burial of hundreds of dead bodies in 1988, Liz’s sins are being uncovered at home where Detective Martin Wilcox has brokered a deal with Samuel Aleko to unearth the body of harbor master Lieutenant Eugene Ames, who was killed by Tom.

Liz, it would seem, is in grave trouble and the writing to weave all these elements together so intelligently was The Blacklist at its finest. The analogy is impeccably clear. 25 plus years wasn’t long enough for the dead to stay buried in Uzbekistan and once the deft hand of Red got involved things fell apart for Anneca, and into place for Denisov and the country’s new pipeline supplier, Savillion. Billions will be made and Denisov will emerge from prison a hero. Red it would seem, has been a step ahead of everyone.

“You still don’t see it, do you?” ~ Red

“The endgame.” ~ Denisov

“You could run this country, Ruslan. What you’ve done is that important. You brought a multinational corporation to its knees, saved countless lives. You’ll make this country billions. You may go to prison for a bit. But you will emerge a hero.” ~ Red

But Liz, having not played this game nearly as long as Red, clearly has lessons to learn. Her loose ends will undoubtedly spiral this show into new and dangerous territory in the near future. The raw truth may be that Red is her only hope of salvation. Will she turn to him in her hour of most desperate need? She has in the past and only time, and the writers, know for certain if she will now. One thing is for certain, this episode weaved multiple threads, surprises and parallels exquisitely well. And as Liz’s dilemma unfolds, we’ll be watching each week to see how she’s going to crawl her way out of the hole that Tom has put her in—a fitting twist considering his predicament the first 8 episode of this season.

“We got a deal, right? No jail time if I testify? You’re not gonna believe what I have to say.” ~ Aleko

“Tell me about Elizabeth Keen.” ~ Detective Wilcox

FINAL VERDICT: Things are heating up on The Blacklist. Season 2 has been a bit up and down, but the last four episodes have been increasingly better and better. We foresee messy things ahead and that likely means we’re going to be highly entertained.

This episode represented The Blacklist at its best. Stellar writing, fantastic plot twists and incredible performances were all punctuated by a complex, and at first not understood, Blacklister in Ruslan Denisov. This episode is very much why we love to watch this show. Executive Producers Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath have set the bar high with the first three episodes after the hiatus. As good as Luther Braxton (Ron Perlman) was in a double episode, this stand alone entry was actually better crafted. Everything came together in what can only be best described as a thoroughly enjoyable hour of television.

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Writers Jonathan Shapiro and Lukas Reiter deserve tremendous credit for a highly cerebral script that played out much like the dance and chess match the plot twists were compared to as the episode progressed. The most enjoyable element of the script itself was not in all its small moments of goodness, of which there were many, but in the ensemble of all those moments coming together so fluidly and effortlessly that even the more complex elements were astoundingly digestible and made complete sense. The characters throughout, and their motivations, were completely understandable once everything unfolded. When the episode wrapped we were left with a satisfaction, not unlike that of a well done murder mystery, where all the seemingly jagged pieces eventually fell neatly into place.

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Director Andrew McCarthy, Musician Dave Porter, Director of Photography Michael Caracciolo and Editor David Post all collaborated with what was undoubtedly a stellar effort by all involved to bring together an episode that was one of the best this season. Liz’s plight will continue long after we leave Uzbekistan and we’ll be eagerly awaiting next week’s episode to see how that trouble continues to play out. Red is our draw for this show, there’s no doubt about that. But with so many intriguing elements layered in by the Fulcrum, Liz’s trouble at home, the mystery of Tom and the questions about Harold’s health, The Blacklist has raised our expectations once again and we’ll be watching and hoping all these threads converge as elegantly as the pieces of this episode did this week. There is only one way however, to find out—to tune in to next Thursday’s episode of The Blacklist!

Questions, Comments, Concerns and My Reaction on Twitter…

• Damn. That bitch [Kat Goodson] is cold.Luther, you’ve got a world of hurt coming.We have a situation. Uh oh. So does Liz it seems.
• “The CIA will do whatever it can to keep this quiet.” ~ Red. Me thinks, that makes things uber complicated.
• No sheets, Vaseline everywhere. I havn’t missed an art expo since. #ThingsRedSays
• I’ll tell you, #TheBlacklist has booked an amazing list of guest stars. @farantahir123 as Ruslan Denisov is a fantastic get for this show!
• Kidnapping a CIA operative to get attention for corporate toxic sludge cover up? Ruslan Should Have Called #ErinBrockovich
• My name is Raymond Reddington. Awkward. Interesting, but awkward. Priceless look @MeganBoone
• “From what I hear, he’s right at the center of this.” ~ Cooper. Sure as hell is. lol
• Let’s go on a field trip. Shall we? lol Red kills me. #ThingsRedSays
• “No sides. Only players.” ~ Red. I don’t believe that for a minute.
• One dance happens. One dance doesn’t. One sheds blood. That was exquisite television.
• And when does the negotiation between Red & Liz begin to make the “investigation” at home go away?
• I hope that made you feel better. Apparently not.
• Rook takes bishop. Only Red can stop a murder by a story with Bobby Fischer.
• The US government says this isn’t torture. What do you think? Looks rough to me.
• Holy torture Red! Yeah, I went there. #CouldntResist
• Liz, I hate to break it to you, but Tom didn’t kill him to “protect” you. I believe he did it to “implicate” you.
• I may need to have a “chat” with this Kushan. I never want to be on the other end of one of Red’s “chats”
• The smoking gun! Ohh. That sounded dramatic! #ThingsRedSays
• Your engineers did a better job the second time around. At least it took 20 years for this one to leak.
• Drink up. And Liz smiles.
• It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard nothing but terrible things.
• “Well, not standing.” ~ Red. Ruslan Denisov has been a return to #TheBlacklist we love. I hope we see @farantahir123 again.
• Outstanding episode of #TheBlacklist @JonBokenkamp @johneisendrath @LukeReiter & #JonathanShapiro. That’s the Red we LOVE.