The Blacklist Review: 2×18 “Vanessa Cruz”

Things are heating up on The Blacklist. As the season winds down, the stakes are going up and everyone may pay a price before all is said and done.

The Blacklist — Red (James Spader) sets the Task Force after an incredibly gifted and gorgeous crime framing artist Vanessa Cruz (Blacklister No. 117, guest star Ana de la Reguera) who seems to have an appetite for vengeance against the wealthy elite. As the team puts together the amazing fragments of clues needed to track down Cruz, Liz (Megan Boone) wrestles with a plea for help from Tom (Ryan Eggold) to disappear forever. Meanwhile, Red confronts his own dilemma as he attempts a power play to remain out of the Consortium’s crosshairs by proving he has the Fulcrum and eliminating The Director (David Strathairn).

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Red offers to trade Liz information for the Fulcrum, but Liz isn’t buying. Instead, she turns to Tom for help. In turn she gives Tom the means to disappear, but not before he confesses she is the one success he’s ever had. Without the Fulcrum, Red’s plan goes awry while Cruz slips through the team’s fingers. In the aftermath, Tom finally comes clean and admits his connection to Red. When confronted, Red confirms the truth, but gunshots ring out in the street changing everything. Will Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq), Liz and Red survive a sniper attack? Has a level of honesty between Tom and Liz repaired any part of the trust between them? So many questions and so much to discuss. Things are getting dicey and lives are at risk in this week’s episode of The Blacklist!

Never fall for the mark Vanessa. That works out badly every time.

Vanessa Cruz was certainly one of the most sultry and provocative Blacklisters this show has put in play. Her methods of revenge by framing her victims, thus marring their reputations along with occasionally taking their lives, was also one of the more inventive Blacklister talents. But what made Vanessa Cruz most compelling was the sensual and emotional delivery by Ana de la Reguera.

As Blacklister’s go, Cruz popped eyebrows and jaws as she slipped from one sexually enticing moment to the next. But even those hell bent on revenge for their husband’s death aren’t completely without compassion for people caught in the crossfire. For all her careful plotting, planning and work to set up her victims, Cruz made the same crucial mistake Tom did with Liz. She fell for the innocent bystander and in the end couldn’t go through with her plan.

“She said she made a mistake. She said she made a horrible mistake.” ~ Abby

We didn’t know exactly how or where but as Abby (Hani Avital) confessed her love for Vanessa we knew trouble would be ahead and as Vanessa’s plan crumbled, Anna was left bewildered and with only the simple explanation above. Ana de la Reguera was captivating, especially in her moments with Abby. In that moment when Vanessa returned the sentiment of love expressed by Abby, we understood the parallel to Tom and Liz. Vanessa fell for her victim, whom she was using as a pawn in a much bigger game, and it was evident from the first moments the two women were on screen together.

As Abby was left devastated, but alive because Vanessa couldn’t go through with her plan, we couldn’t help but wonder about Tom’s true purpose in Liz’s life. Why did Red go to such great lengths? His speech in Tom Keen certainly hinted that he’s done things for Liz that were in her favor. Was Tom one of those good things? Both as a protector and comfortable home life? Or was Tom there for some darker reason that he ultimately couldn’t fulfill because he developed feelings for Liz? All of these questions hint at fantastic writing and storytelling that have us spinning on the real motives behind Tom’s injection into Liz’s life. We’re dying to know the real reason, but it may be a while yet before we find out the truth.

Ambition’s debt must be paid.

While the Task Force was occupied with Vanessa Cruz and Liz was simultaneously caught up in her dilemma whether to steal Tom’s passports from the Post Office evidence room, Red was walking his own tightrope. Roger Hobbs (Ralph Brown) it would seem is a member of the Consortium and with Hobbs owing Red a favor, it seemed it was time to cache that favor in.

Red was his normal, spectacular best in confronting Kenneth Jasper (James A. Stephens). Both Brown and Stephens were good, but it was Spader that stood out. As Red laid out his plan to eliminate The Director and tip the scales in Kenneth’s favor, Spader was simply brilliant as he almost always is on screen. We can’t get enough of his storytelling moments and his sentiment of a Director only out to maintain power mirrored the essence of Vanessa Cruz’s ultimate motive—vengeance for ambition.

“Ambition’s debt must be paid.” ~ Red

“Julius Caesar?” ~ Jasper

“One of my favorites. The play, not so much the man. The man was a bit full of himself. He did have a brilliant military mind, but he couldn’t smell a plot to save his life. Intentional pun.” ~ Red

“And why is that?” ~ Jasper

“Pride. The subtlest and yet most deadly of the seven sins. Like the Director, he couldn’t be saved.” ~ Red

“And which part do you play in all this? Cassius?” ~ Jasper

“Oh, no. I’m the Rubicon.” ~ Red

Red however, wasn’t playing with all his cards. Without the Fulcrum he lacked the convincing power no matter how charming Spader was in the delivery. That entire sequence was smart writing. Red was attempting to bluff his way to safety by assuring Jasper would take control of the Consortium in return for a favorable vote. But unlike most, Jasper isn’t a man easily swayed by Red. That’s part of why we love this show as much as we do. Everyone is positioning or moving against everyone else. And when the plan backfired for both Hobbs and Red, we find this group won’t be so easily persuaded.

Red, if he survives the shooting at the end—and we know he will—may have to resort to much more discreet and subtle methods of undermining the Consortium’s power. And that may very well be why we see Mr. Kaplan (Susan Blommaert) at the end propositioning Vanessa Cruz.

It may very well be that Red has been using the Task Force for his own means in much more ways than we knew all this time. Finding Cruz and putting her on the run made her available for Red’s needs in exchange for protection. Could Cruz be put to use undermining the Consortium’s most powerful people in the same manner she took down her husband’s conspired killers? We’ll have to see, but that would be a genius stroke of writing if it turned out to be the case.

Et tu, Brute?

In the words of Red, the man Caesar may have been a bit full of himself, but in Shakespeare’s famous portrayal, he muttered those words in horror to his best friend Brutus to mark the significance of Brutus’s shocking betrayal. Clearly Caesar didn’t see that turn coming. We all know how that moment ended and the theme of betrayal was a common thread throughout this entire episode.

All of Vanessa Cruz’s victims were people she gained the confidence of by entering their lives and setting them up for a fall. The irony was not lost on us that this was not unlike Tom’s entrance into Liz’s life under false pretenses. Eggold and Boone shared a near tender exchange where it seemed very much like Tom finally wanted to let his life of lies go. But it took him a bit longer to realize that coming clean about Red, and likely burning him with Red forever, was the only way to ever win any points again with Liz.

Eggold and Boone were both excellent playing off one another. The complexity of nearly two years of struggle, ups, downs and a brawl or two played well in their eyes and emotions. If Tom is playing Liz or she is doing the same to him, than Eggold and Boone both deserve Emmy nods for making us believe they genuinely cared when if fact one may not. They were simply exceptional during both their gut-wrenching goodbye kiss and Tom’s eventual turn of heart and confession of Red’s involvement.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said About needing to tell you the truth. So I’m gonna tell you the truth.” ~ Tom

“I don’t understand.” ~ Liz

“The passports…The passports came from Reddington. Liz, there’s more…” ~ Tom

In the episode’s final moments, as Liz confronts Red and Dembe with the information that Tom has confessed, Red freely admits it, but begs to explain. We’d have loved to hear that explanation, despite Liz’s protest that she didn’t want to know, but as with so many things on this show, we’ll have to wait for more episodes to find out. A sniper inconveniently—or conveniently if you would like the story to extend a bit—shoots Red and leaves us wondering.

While the scene and the offer to give Red the Fulcrum was brilliant acting by both Spader and Boone, we would think that Liz would want answers at this point. She’s been betrayed by the man closest to her heart and Red is directly responsible. Let Red have his say.

Of course the shot that dropped Red stopped any explanation, but wouldn’t we all have “insisted” he finally tell us what the hell was going on instead of being so adamant he not? We didn’t have a ton of beefs with this episode, but that little tidbit bothered us. Curiosity is deeply rooted in human nature and almost anyone would want to know and have closure.

FINAL VERDICT: While Vanessa Cruz was an enticing entry, the real drama was with Liz, Tom, Red and the Consortium. A few sketchy details were overcome by good performances and an even more enticing big picture. Who saw that ending coming? We didn’t!

The Blacklist isn’t pulling any punches. For all his work to get Hobbs in his corner, Red seems to have more likely to have sent Hobbs to his death. We’ll see if that’s the case, but with Red’s own life hanging in the balance we were left with a cliffhanger ending on all fronts. We don’t know what Tom said to Liz and we certainly don’t know what Red’s explanation was going to be. All of this set up a pretty solid hook to get us back next week for what’s next on The Blacklist.

We’ll give Writers Vincent Angell and Daniel Knauf props for some splendid moments, especially those with Tom and Liz. Genuine emotion from both Ryan Eggold and Megan Boone made those scenes truthful and endearing. Liz isn’t simply falling back into his arms and he isn’t forcing himself into hers. There are consequences and wounds between them both that can’t be swept under the rug and between great writing and fantastic performances, we all felt for the predicament these two characters find themselves in now.

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We’d also like to ask both Angell and Knauf why they chose to have Liz refuse Red’s explanation so completely. That’s one of those moments where human curiosity would certainly seem to outweigh anger. Wouldn’t one want closure? Granted, we’re willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt that an explanation is forthcoming, but it would seem natural to want to “know” the truth before you walked away.

Vanessa Cruz’s story was well crafted and as a Blacklister, her motives and talents made for an interesting set of twists and parallels with the main cast. Ana de la Reguera certainly delivered a good performance and as a Blacklister that survived, we’d love to see what Red has in store for her. With his life on the line, he’s got a few other things to worry about first, but she was a cunning adversary for the Task Force. It took considerable wit and savvy to find her and that kind of talent is certainly something that Red can put to use.

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Director Guy Ferland and Director of Photography Michael Caracciolo both deserve a lot of credit for the polished feel of this episode. Interesting plays with dark and light echoed throughout. The parallels between Tom and Vanessa were complemented by the contrast in settings. Between the dark sensual settings for the seedier Vanessa Cruz and the light airy locations for the conversations between Tom and Liz, the parallels felt very much like lighter and darker versions of the same story. We don’t know if that was the intent, but it certainly had that feel throughout and it made the episode’s contrasts all the more vivid.

We don’t know where The Blacklist is headed next. Clearly there are huge unresolved events from this episode that need to be addressed and all of it feels like the slow build toward a monumental finale for the year. We certainly hope that’s the case and absolutely didn’t see the ending to this week’s episode coming. Perhaps we should have, but it shocked us as much as the characters. We’ve enjoyed the ride this year and are looking forward to seeing where The Blacklist takes us next week!

Questions, Comments, Concerns and My Reaction on Twitter…

• Somehow I’m thinking that little encounter didn’t go down the way he planned.
• It’s hard to take Dembe seriously in that hat. Except for the whole—he’s a badass thing. That helps.
• Black rubber mask. Okay. This ep is sliding down the kinky slope fast.
• Most women make the same mistakes over and over again. Are you listening Liz?
• Any bets that insurance policy isn’t legit? Damn. Should have had takers on that bet.
• Nice bump and grab Tom. Slick.
• I need your help. Wait, what?? Liz is really desperate now.
• Struck out with Red. Next criminal, Tom. Liz is developing devious connections.
• You strike me as a man who would prefer to pitch rather than catch. #ThingsRedSays
• Ambition’s debt must be paid. Nice quote Red.
• Pride. The subtlest and most deadly of the seven sins. Wow. Nice writing here.
• I’m the Rubicon. Oooohhh. This is getting meaty!
• What does a handshake mean between men that lie for a living? #ImBettingNotMuch
• More like his ball and chain. Well, that’s kinda right. It was just chains if I recall.
• I thought some people were nuts about comics & action figures. #DisWomanIsCrazy
• What kind of super spy doesn’t know how to swim? The Major not teach swimming??
• I love you too. Uh oh. Falling for the mark gets really complicated Vanessa. #AskTom
• What was that? That was goodbye. Wow. That tenderized my heart. Gulp.
• How DID you get the passports Tom?
• Your double-cross was double-crossed Roger. And sponsor? What is this, Amway?
• Mr. C, good thing Aram can access your CC. That both makes me feel better & worse.
• Couldn’t kill the mark huh V?
• Wait innocent people? Weren’t they all guilty of the murder of Cruz’s husband?
• Mr. Kaplan sighting!!!
• Tom fessing about Red? But did we see that ending coming? Nope! Wow.