The Blacklist - The Front (No.74) - Review: "The Snake In The Grass"

"His hourglass in his hand his scythe by his side
The master Death he leads them on
The rain will wash away the tears from their faces
And as the thunder cracked they were gone"
- "The Seventh Seal" - Scott Walker

The Blacklist is one of my favorite shows on television. It has everything a die-hard TV fan could want and more. A procedural show with elements of a serialized program. Season one was fantastic and season two is shaping up to be even better with creative blacklisters, new mysteries and threats lurking around every corner. Sunday's episode, however, was not the best hour of The Blacklist, but provided a unique villain and some compelling side stories to make it worth watching.

The blacklister this week was The Front, number 74 on Red's list. The Front, led by Maddox Beck, and eco-terrorist, is a cult that believes that humans need to answer for their crimes against the environment. Maddox inadvertently puts his pregnant wife in the hospital after she learns of his nefarious plans of mass human extinction, but not before he steals a painting that contains coordinates to a dormant pneumonic plague virus. Maddox successfully weaponizes the virus that he gives to his followers to cause a world-wide epidemic, but not before the Task Force can stop him.

The main story with the blacklister was interesting, but, to be honest, I was more captivated by the side stories this week. Navabi sacrificing herself to take down Perez at the airport, shows she is willing to go to great lengths to be accepted as one of the team. Liz accepting her by not letting Navabi be alone was another great scene that could play into future episodes. I enjoyed watching the scenes between Liz and Navabi, especially when Liz admitted to her jealousy of 'the girl' that Red is so hell bent on finding. She truly was acting like Red's daughter, whether she is or not.

Speaking of Red, who stated perfectly this week when he called himself 'the snake in the grass', I love how he is full of surprises every episode. He truly is a fun character to watch and one of the best on TV right now. The scene between him, Maddox and Pepper near the end of the episode was mysterious, to say the least, and I am intrigued as to where that story line is headed. How does Red know Pepper? Why does she have a key he needs? What is that key for and what is locked inside? More on this below, but I am glad The Blacklist adds new surprises at every opportunity.

There are a few long standing mysteries in The Blacklist that we will probably not know the answers to until the final season of the series. It's understandable that we would have to wait that long since they form the foundation that the story rests upon; if we new too soon fans might lose interest. The writing team has done a great job at keeping us entertained, however, by providing us with smaller arcs and mysteries to quench our thirst in the meantime. In season one, we wondered if Tom was really who he said he was or a spy. We also wondered how Mr. Fitch fit into Red's story and why Red was looking for Jolene and what her role was. It is a great storytelling method; they give us smaller arcs and a compelling story, while giving us pieces to the larger puzzle every so often. This season is no different and it says that The Blacklist is going to be around for a long time.

This season we have mysterious keys and locks that Liz and Red possess. Last week we were teased with the door that Liz apparently has the keys too and wanted in. This week we are teased even further by having Liz walk through that door, guarded by an unknown Samoan man. Where did that door lead to? Why did the Samoan man have to let her in? I feel this is all a setup to what should be an amazing midseason finale.


Red's Quotes

"You two, out here, playing grab-ass in the woods, just smacks of something biblical"
Red to Maddox and Pepper

"I'm the snake in the grass"
Red to Maddox and Pepper

"Does the FBI do a Christmas Party?"
Red to Liz and Lillian

"As a rule, I consider jealousy to be a base emotion, but in this case it's quite endearing"
Red to Liz

Music from the Episode

"Go It Alone" - Beck
Liz's double puts on a strip show as a distraction as Liz sneaks out of the house - Red calls his surveillance guy and informs him that he thinks Liz is hiding something.

"The Seventh Seal" - Scott Walker
Maddox hangs the stolen art print on a wall and starts to photograph a map visible only under black light.

"You Were Born" - Cloud Cult
Red plays music for Liz at the hospital - Red watches an old family movie - Liz looks at a newborn at the hospital - Red watches Zoe D'Antonio as she works on a food truck.

Thoughts and Discussion

- The biggest mystery (besides the key Red gets from Pepper) is that room that Liz walks into this episode. What is that room and why is guarded by that Samoan looking guy?

- How great was that to see Aram sitting next to Navabi's hospital bed at the end?

- Did anyone else feel sad for Liz when she was looking at the newborn in the hospital between flashback scenes of her and Tom from the beginning of season one?

- I liked that Liz admitted her jealousy that Red was looking to protect another girl. It shows that their relationship still has a strong bond and they care for each other.

- Did you notice...Red exclaims to Liz, "Who said she's my daughter". I loved it - it's as if he was talking to the audience as well about Liz being his daughter.

- I froze the frame when Red was handing that photo of 'the girl' to Aram and, although, it appears very blurry, you can kind of tell it is the photo that Red took from the Stewmaker's book last season. Perhaps I'm wrong, but thought it was worth mentioning in case anyone else thought similarly.

- Zoe D'Antonio. Does anyone think this is Red's daughter or just a girl that Red needs to find for some purpose that has yet to be revealed?

- Did you notice...The theme for the episode was 'death and rebirth':

1. One of the songs in the episode personifies Death, while another song is about being born and 'coming into the light'.

2. The blacklister this week was hell-bent on human mass extinction.

3. Maddox, the leader of The Front, kills himself at the end at the same time Carrie Anne's baby is born. A neat little fact is that the painting he uses to extract the map is the "Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome, Saint Catherine and Angels"

4. Both Red and Liz stare at children in the final moments of the episode.

5. At one point Liz mentions to Navabi that her life was upended when Red walked into it. She labels him as "the bane of her existence" - This felt appropriate for this episode as 'bane' could be defined as 'a deadly poison' or 'death, destruction, ruin'.

- What was up with what Red was talking to Pepper about? It seemed to come completely out of nowhere. Red already had the cure, yet he says to Maddox that he is not here for him.

Red to Pepper - "I think you know what I'm about to ask for."
Beck - "What's he talking about?"
Red to Pepper - "You never told him." At this point, Pepper, of course, looks very suspicious.
Beck - "Told me what?"
Red to Pepper - "Where is it?"
Pepper to Red - "Please. Don't."
Beck - "Never told me what?"
Red - "We don't have much time."

At this point, Pepper glance over to the bottle hanging from the tree and Red grabs the blue one down. He turns it over to allow a key left inside to fall to the grass. Red picks up what looks like a skeleton key. What this key is, I have no idea. I can't imagine what it opens or why it is important to Red. I can't recall any scene that alludes to Red needing a key. Hopefully, we will find out soon, and we can begin to connect the pieces of this strange puzzle.

- Did you notice...The room that Red is seen in with Liz, fixing the 8mm film of his daughter near the beginning of the episode, is the same one from Season One. This scene mirrors the scene in the Season One episode, Ivan, where Red is, again, seen with Liz, but that time he is fixing Liz's music box that plays the song her dad used to hum when she was a little girl.

Thank you for checking out my Review! I hope you all enjoyed the episode! Please comment below so we can discuss the episode and the series so far! Have a great weekend everyone!

About the Author - Geo N

My name is George and I am from Detroit, MI. My favorite shows are The Blacklist, Hell On Wheels, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, LOST, The Leftovers, The Strain, Sons Of Anarchy, Sleepy Hollow and countless other shows. When I'm not watching tons of TV, I enjoy reading, playing hockey, comic books, weightlifting, and writing. Thanks for checking out my post.

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