The Blacklist - Ep 1.13 - The Cyprus Agency (No. 64) - Review

"He's dangerous, amoral, he pathologically flaunts authority. He's reckless to the point of suicidal. But all this...everything we've done...none of this would have been possible if it weren't for him."
- Agent Cooper speaking of Red to Agent Malik

Since the start of the season Red has aided Liz in countless indirect ways. Helping her and the FBI solve cases they would not have even known without his vast knowledge of the comings and goings of the criminal underworld. He never tells Liz the answer she needs but rather leads her to a solution she surmises herself. Many people, I'm sure, have seen Red do this countless times and along with some other clues have speculated that maybe he is Liz's father. I am one of those people. I thought for sure Red was Liz's dad since the start of the season and even after hearing him deny it when asked directly by Liz. Now, after watching this episode, I'm not sure he is anymore. More on that later.

One of the first scenes is Liz and Tom watching a 3D sonogram of the baby they want to adopt. A cute little orange baby. Liz decides that she is going to stay home for a short while and take care of their little bundle of joy and Tom is obviously thrilled about the prospect. We knew right away that Red was not going to be happy about the situation and in no way would he sit idly by and watch what he has worked so hard for these past few months thrown away like so many disposable diapers. Which leads us to this weeks villain with The Cyprus Agency, number 64 on the blacklist. They offer couples wanting to adopt a baby a chance to customize the child based on specific criteria they want to see in it. However, the evil is not in what the agency offers but rather in how they get it done. They abduct and sedate women while fortifying them with vitamins and nutrients essential for prenatal care turning the women into baby-making machines.

What I find interesting about the relationship between Red and the FBI is that Red is always in control. At the start of the season when we see Red in hand-cuffs and inside a security box inside a black-site, he was still right where he wanted to be. He now gets plush living quarters and comes and goes as he pleases. The best part of his dealings with the FBI is that he alone can choose the next name given on the titular blacklist. We are still not sure if he is orchestrating all this and having certain names released in a certain order to his advantage or not. What we are sure of though is that this week he definitely wanted The Cyprus Agency to be the next organization investigated by the Liz and the FBI. Red knows that Liz and Tom are planning to adopt a baby and he believes that having Liz see, first hand, how difficult adopting a baby can be for all the people involved could perhaps sway her from doing so. While the very nature of Tom has yet to be revealed to us, Red knows that he is not who he says he is and would like very much for Liz to not be with him. Having Liz and Tom adopt a baby would definitely bring them closer and at the same time remove Liz from Red's life and counter-productive to whatever Red has planned for her.

"You are arriving at a point of no return Lizzy. If you have any doubts about your husband you can't go through with this adoption. When you get there, if there is even one shred of doubt..."
- Red speaking to Liz before he is abruptly cut off to her saying "There isn't"
(okay, sometimes Red is a little more direct with the point he wants to get across to Liz)

The investigation leads Liz and Ressler to a couple that, for a brief period of time, fostered Michael Shaw, a.k.a. Owen Mallory, the mastermind behind The Cyprus Agency. They acquire more intel from Aram, and one humorous drug-dealer encounter with Red, that brings our team to where the abducted women are being held captive. There is a stand-off and Ressler saves Liz from being killed by Mallory by wounding him before he could get a shot off.

After seeing all that has transpired and speaking with the foster parents about how they were not ready and their marriage was troubled, Liz comes to the realization that her and Tom are not ready for a baby themselves. She confronts him at home and basically paraphrases what Red asked her earlier in the episode, "...you can't tell me that there is not one shred of doubt? One shred that wonders if this is...broken?"
Very crafty Red, very crafty indeed.

The other story this week was the issue of the mole we have been so intent on figuring out. Meera convinced Red that she was set-up and if he gave her time she could find out who the real culprit was. Red agrees and Agent Malik retrieves for him the document revealing the name he needs, absolving herself of any wrongdoing. The writers have led us down so many paths regarding who spilled the secrets that ended up getting Red kidnapped and Luli killed and now we, along with Red, have our answer. Fowler signed a directive, ordering a mandatory security upgrade at the Post Office and that's how she got the blueprints into enemy hands. Many of you have guessed correctly that it was Fowler who gave Red up but I had no idea that Red was going to kill someone of such high status. I thought the scene was great and James Spader did a wonderful job of making such an important scene funny as well as serious.

"I can see her lying back in her satin dress in a room where you do what you don't confess"
- Gordon Lightfoot, Sundown

The biggest reveal, however, came from Fowler's final words to Red after he shot her once, "I know the truth Red, about that night. About what happened to your family. You want to know the truth?" To which Red replies, "more than anything in the world. But if you know the truth Diane, then somebody else does too." Immediately shooting her three more times after that Fowler dies without revealing the truth about Red's family. Which brings us to my first point of the article; if Red doesn't know the truth about his family then that must mean that Liz is not his daughter, right? We know he wants to protect her and keep her safe but maybe Red was telling the truth when he said he wasn't Liz's father on the payphone that night.

I thought the episode was great and tied up a few loose ends for us. We finally figured out who the mole inside the FBI was as well as knowing that Meera did not betray Red or the team deliberately. We know that Red is still searching for the truth about his family where I suspected he knew some truths about them. The Liz/Tom story line is getting richer and we could clearly see in this episode that Liz believes Red and it would seem that she is starting to heed his warnings about her husband. Speaking of Tom, he obviously is close enough to Jolene now that he goes to her seeking solace in his time of need. What we still don't know is Red's association with the Chosen One, Liz; is she his daughter? Are they related? Either way, we won't get any anymore clues for another FOUR weeks when The Blacklist returns with the next episode. Way too long.

"Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again"
- Gordon Lightfoot, Sundown

Thoughts & Questions

- Did anyone notice that Red spoke to Liz in a more fatherly tone this episode? He only used the name "Lizzy" when speaking with her where in other episodes he used "Liz" sometimes.

- Do you think there is anything else that Agent Malik knows about? When she was approached by Cooper near the end of the episode it looked as though she was deep in thought.

- When watching the episode I search for clues about anything, which sometimes are hidden in names. In case any of you like this sort of extra information - Galatea, the name given to the office where the abducted women were held, is of greek origin. From Wikipedia: The story of Pygmalion appeared earliest in a Hellenistic work, Philostephanus' history of Cyprus, "De Cypro". It is retold in Ovid's Metamorphoses, where the king Pygmalion is made into a sculptor who fell in love with an ivory statue he had crafted with his own hands. - Which makes sense when associated with The Cyprus Agency and how they "craft" or customize babies for a parent's specific wants and needs.

- Another reference, and my favorite, is Galatea is the name given to a female Super-hero based on Power Girl. Galatea is a clone of Supergirl created by Emil Hamilton, who sees him as a father-figure, he sees her as a daughter. Hmmmmm? Sound like a similar situation? Am I stretching on that one? Yeah, possibly, but still, kinda neat.

- If Tom is a bad guy like Red is suggesting, then what will Tom do now that he and Liz are on the rocks?

- Is Red Liz's dad or not?!? I just can't stop thinking about all the clues we have and wonder. I guess that's what makes this show so appealing. Let's at least start putting a percentage on it. At this point in the series I would like to put the percentage of Red being Liz's father at 50%. What do you all think?

-What did you guys think of the episode? What do you think will happen between Tom and Liz now? Will Red and Liz's relationship deepen as a result?

Thanks for reading everyone. Please comment below with your thoughts and/or questions and see you back here in FOUR weeks!

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, 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.