The Blacklist Review: 3×07 “Zal Bin Hasaan”

The horrors of Navabi’s emotional past crash into everyone’s present when one of the most deadly terrorists in the world becomes the next step in Red’s master plan to clear Liz’s name on The Blacklist.

CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD IN OUR DETAILED REVIEW

The Blacklist — In order to set a valuable meeting that can further his plans against the Cabal, Red (James Spader) must do what no one else has been able to accomplish. He and Liz (Megan Boone) must find a ghost—Zal Bin Hasaan (Blacklister No. 31). An international terrorist, Hasaan is responsible for the deaths of more Mossad agents than anyone, including Navabi’s (Mozhan Marnò) former partner, but on an even more personal note Hasaan killed her brother as well. When terrorists kidnap U.S. citizens linked to Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, Hasaan is believed to be responsible, but when a lead directs Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff), Navabi and Mossad’s Agent Shur (Oded Fehr) to Hasaan’s location, Samar is shocked at what she finds. Her brother Shahin (Sammy Sheik) is not only alive, but has been held captive by Hasaan.

Meanwhile, Tom (Ryan Eggold) drags Karakurt (Andrew Divoff) to Cooper’s (Harry J. Lennix) home with the hope that beating a confession from the Russian will exonerate Liz, but as dismayed as Cooper is at the prospect of an illegal interrogation in his garage, Charlene (Valarie Pettiford) is downright horrified. With The Director (David Strathairn) and his men sniffing at every lead, it’s all Ressler and Aram (Amir Arison) can do to stay one step ahead, but when Tom contacts Liz with the good news, she and Red may find themselves ensnared by the FBI or even worse, Mr. Solomon (Edi Gathegi). Not to be outdone, Hasaan has a much more sinister agenda. The work of a criminal mastermind is never exactly what it first appears and Navabi may have to make the impossible choice between justice and her brother’s life this week on The Blacklist!

Is justice thicker than blood?

As the episode opened with a horrific glimpse into Samar Navabi’s past, it was obvious right from the start that this episode would finally shed some light on her loyalties through a tragic connection between our Blacklister and her family. After the assassination of their parents, young Samar and Shahin were both destined for a life tied to that brutal event and as the truth of their lives unfolded in this episode we had to raise a glass and solute the writing team for making Navabi’s back story worth the wait.

With the early connection from Red to Zal Bin Hasaan, who killed her partner and left Navabi hospitalized, Mozhan Marnò took us on an emotional roller coaster. With her finest effort to date on The Blacklist, Marnò was emotionally spectacular. We’ve certainly seen her deliver emotional moments in the past, but the dramatic swings from apprehension, warmth, elation, horror and ultimately a broken shell of a woman over the course of an hour was nothing less than exceptional.

As Samar puzzled through the final moments of the episode and came to the conclusion that her brother was every bit the monster she’d felt breathing down her neck for years, Marnò delivered her finest moments. After years of pursuing Hasaan for her brother’s death, it was heartbreaking to see that the life she sought to protect him from made him the man responsible. Her brother was dead to her and mourning him a second time would scrape mercilessly at her soul.

“The best I can offer is death with a purpose.” ~ Red

“Which is?” ~ Samar

“Agent Keen’s freedom.” ~ Red

“Sister! You swore to protect me.” ~ Shahin

“I swore to protect my brother. He died in Pishin. Hasaan is all yours.” ~ Samar

Not enough good can be said about just how well Mozhan Marnò pulled off every subtle moment of this episode. Actors don’t often get enough credit for the very small elements that sell us on the emotional shifts their characters transition through, but Marnò told as much with her eyes as with her dialogue in this episode. Her emotions were spot on for each moment Samar experienced. From the curious elation of her brother’s discovery all the way to his betrayal and her renewed mourning. It’s rare that another character outside of Red or Liz carries an episode of The Blacklist, but Mozhan Marnò nailed everything that was asked of her. This was her episode and she lived up to the moment.

Honey, guess who is joining us for the first cup of the day.

It’s not every day that the predator you released into the wild shows up on your doorstep for coffee and interrogation. Like a loyal cat with dead mouse for his master, there Tom stood at Cooper’s front door with a battered Karakurt in the trunk. If the look of horror on Cooper’s face wasn’t priceless enough, the shuffling avoidance of the blissfully unaware Charlene in the background made the moment gold. It was both serious and highly entertaining at the same time. Proud Tom asking for a cup of coffee with his prize in tow was priceless. The only thing missing would have been Cooper going on at length about how good his coffee was and we’d have fallen right into another Pulp Fiction moment. This show seems to make small nods to that masterpiece at times and that’s just fine by us. If you’re going to tip your hat, give it up for the best.

As Tom tortured Karakurt in an attempt to get information, we saw little glimpses of the small good spots in Tom’s heart that are still surrounded by incredibly warped emotional damage. He genuinely does want good things for Liz, but we have no idea how she’s going to react to the messy trail of blood and frustration that he’s left in his wake in an effort to clear her name. Liz still has the dream of a normal life, but it’s one that she’s slowly letting slip away to the reality that it will likely never happen. Tom however still lives in a world where things can be forced and created. Some part of him has to know that those things don’t work, but everything he has known has been to build a false world and then lie even to himself that it was real.

“Having to hide, that’s gonna end. You’re gonna have a normal life, Liz. A family, kids, everything you always wanted.” ~ Tom

Maybe Liz should have gotten on that boat. It certainly seems to be the lesser of two evils now, but that just doesn’t make for great drama and that’s exactly how all this has evolved since. We dare say that Cooper didn’t envision this being the way things would play out when he set Tom on a trail to find Karakurt either. Tom has proven that his love for Liz trumps all manner of reasonable judgment so in Tom’s mind torture in the garage is just how things are done to get what you want. It’s no big deal Charlene. Go back to your coffee and danish. But this was exactly the kind of mess Ressler hoped to avoid. We all shunned that decision at the time, but Ressler’s choice was starting to look rather brilliant when he showed up only to find Cooper scrambling to put the worms back into the can.

If being lied to and disappointed by Cooper didn’t sting enough, the prideful side of Ressler had to feel a bit prickly that Tom had both avoided arrest earlier in the day with Cooper’s help and actually found Karakurt when no one else could. And while Red is almost always the most entertaining element of any episode of The Blacklist, we couldn’t help be giddy as Ressler took a swing at Tom and it looked as if the two would throwdown on top of the daily paper right in Cooper’s quiet, suburban setting.

As much as we understood why, we were as frustrated as Ressler when Cooper broke up the tussle. Apparently no law abiding government agent wants an FBI versus Spy fight on the well-trimmed lawn. We on the other hand, would have pulled up a chair and asked for a cup of Joe ourselves while we watched. All of that pent up anger led to one of our favorite moments of the season so far. We’ll admit that we might have rewound and watched Ressler boot the gnome more than a few times. Maybe a lot. If you can’t kick the most irritating person on the lawn, apparently gnomes are fair game as an alternate. We’re betting the little fella didn’t enjoy that rude flight.

We didn’t see the hook or the hookup coming at the end of this one.

We admire Mr. Solomon’s dedication. We don’t think we’d do so well enduring a fish-hook to prove a point. Granted, he let that happen a bit too easily in our estimation. We think anyone else would fight that a bit more than he did, but we’ve never been in that situation and hopefully never will so what do we know. What did come from it was almost exactly what Ressler and team were hoping for from the beginning. The evidence connecting the two men was thin at best, but the phone taps on both sides showed the shady and uncooperative nature of The Director. That got him booted from the premises about as quickly as a garden gnome can fly across the road. The Task Force might be off the hook, pardon the pun.

Speaking of hooks, all right Blacklist writing team, that last moment with Ressler and Samar hooking up was both an emotional thrill and a gut shot. Just when we think we have this show somewhat figured out you guys throw us a complete curve. Then again that’s one reason we keep coming back. This show is one curve after another. That little tryst however stands above the rest for the moment because it came way out of left field for two characters that were at odds with each other when the season began.

As much we know this is going to crush Aram—and he will find out—we mostly get the connection. We didn’t see it coming, but it made some sense in the emotionally charged moment. Samar and Ressler have faced death side by side in the field and it’s not surprising they’d connect from it in some way. Is it love? Probably not. Did they go all the way? Probably so. Let’s face it—it would take damned good brakes to stop where things faded to black.

They’ve both had to take lives in this job and both have now suffered tremendous losses in their time on this Task Force. Right or wrong, they understand things about each other that most people just won’t. No matter how much we adore Aram and how much he compliments Samar, there are things he will never understand about her from behind his computer. And the sad truth is that she would never want him to go through the anguish that she has in order to relate. Ressler however, already has.

“I mean, this place, this job, it’s-After Audrey died, I came to work the very next day. It’s so easy to lose perspective, forget what really matters.” ~ Ressler

“Are you okay?” ~ Navabi

“I’m not so sure. ~ Ressler

“What really matters is this here now-nothing else is guaranteed.” ~ Navabi

We bet a lot of people wished that line worked as well in real life as it did here. But Marnò and Klattenhoff were emotionally perfect in the moment and that’s what really made the connection seem plausible. As he looked to comfort her, his vulnerability showed and so did hers. The work they do isn’t without sacrifice. Pain has to be pushed deep behind emotional walls in order to get the job done at times. Both of them seemed to instantly get that about each other in that final look. So just as one office complication in the form of an overseeing enemy exits, another sticky complication enters. Only this one has the potential to tear the team apart instead of pull them together.

FINAL VERDICT: The Blacklist unraveled a complex tale of loss, vengeance and justice. When the dust settled from a wild and emotional ride, a brutal choice between justice and family will leave lasting effects on nearly everyone.

In an episode packed with key components and plot elements, it was clearly Mozhan Marnò’s moment to shine and she delivered big. Time and again during this winding story she was asked to take Navabi to a different emotional place and every time Marnò simply nailed it. Her small emotional clues and eyes tell her story and her skill at projecting emotion comes through crystal clear. Marnò is loaded with a charismatic “it” factor and we’re not referring to how jaw dropping she looks in a tank top. Navabi has become an enjoyable character for a reason—Marnò is extremely good at what she does.

We’ve felt for some time that this show has been hiding her talent with so many other things that overshadow her character. That’s somewhat to be expected since The Blacklist is truly the story of Red and Liz, but we enjoy it when we get to see another main character take up the heavy lifting for a change and bring us deeper into their world. Marnò did just that and won us over time and again. We hope we’ll see more of her history and build an even deeper connection to Samar as this series progresses.

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What also impressed us was the work of Writers Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis. This episode was packed with all kinds of juicy tidbits. A lesser writing effort could have left us dazed and confused with such an ambitious story line to tackle. A crazy amount of things had to take place and even though we’re still in the dark about Red’s master plan, we followed along with this episode’s events quite easily. That’s no small feat given just how many characters and elements hit us in rapid succession during this hour. What could have been overwhelming was both entertaining and easy to follow. Kudos to the Brandons for making that all work so easily.

Director Michael Watkins, who has helmed more episodes of The Blacklist than just about anyone was back again to weave the complex narrative laid out by the Brandons. Was every moment perfect? Not entirely. Hasaan felt a little hollow after his reveal and both interrogations were oddly placed. So many good things happened though that we wanted to watch again to make sure it was as good as we thought the first time. And then to rewind the gnome flight a few times as well. All in all Watkins has an exceptional feel for this show and what it should be. He pulled out all the right flavors at just the right moments for this episode to work. We don’t know how all this is going to wrap up in a single episode before the Fall Finale is completed, but we do know that we don’t plan to miss the next episode of The Blacklist to find out what happens!

Questions, Comments, Concerns and My Reaction on Twitter…

• Wow young Samar had a rough childhood.
• That plan to get Tom to do the dirty work? Not looking so smart now is it Harold.
• I don’t know if I can trust her, but I like Hitchin. She’s got some brass ones.
• This all feels like it’s going to go horribly wrong. I don’t know why I think that, but I do.
• And of course our main dude gets away.
• Sister. Huh?? Oh boy.
• Way to go Aram with the hacker hacking!
• Burner phone to Tom. This, is NOT good at all.
• Uh oh. Looks like Hassan has pulled a little switcheroo.
• Where does Red find all these eclectic individuals that do his work?? #OxygenAfterTorture
• Wow. Nice code Tom and Liz. That worked pretty well.
• Ressler, can you just shoot Mateus? #SoMuchEasier
• Oh hell. This Hassan dude means business. He’s one ruthless son of a bitch.
• And now the truth comes out. Oh brother, you got some ‘splainin to do.
• Good Lord this is brutal.
• Holy Badass! Dembe is just the MAN!
• Thank the good Lord to whoever in wardrobe chose that tank top for Navabi lol
• “I swore to protect my brother. He died in Pishin.” Looks like you burned that bridge little brother.
• “You and your team will vacate this facility. You have until 5pm.” Check Peter! (Though the game isn’t over)
• Oh wow!! Tom and Ressler throwdown! Two years we’ve been waiting for Round one! lol
• “I’ve been on the receiving end of far worse. As will you.” That’s not two pals on the couch there I don’t think.
• All that matters is this, here, right now. OMG I did not see that coming! Aram is going to die inside. 😮