The Blacklist - Ep 1.15 - The Judge (No. 57) - Review

"Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you, Jolene"
- "Slow Ass Jolene" - Good Little Buddy - (Original lyrics by Dolly Parton)

How long have the creators had that song in their pocket waiting to use it, lol? Excuse my lateness in regard to writing this but I thought that with a week without The Blacklist I could type this review out and we could all discuss the show and it will feel like The Blacklist aired when it didn't. That sentence sounded a lot better in my head. Nothing could replace this show, especially this review. Plus, I figured the big bombshell ending would be a lot to take in and we would all need to take a collective deep breath after the collective *gasp* heard 'round the world at the end of the episode. Can it be a bombshell ending if half of us (or more) thought this was going to happen? I didn't think it would happen so quickly but I trust the writers with this remarkable story and the journey they are taking us all on. At first I thought to myself "slow down with the reveals" and "spread the info out please, we want this show to last a very long time". However, I then thought about how creative the writers have been and I know they will not steer us wrong. The episode they give us has an interesting villain, a new character, and a reveal that we have been waiting for since Episode One.

Episode 15 of The Blacklist gave us villain number 57, The Judge. We begin with a heavily bearded man shuffling his feet down a snow covered road oblivious to the cold world around him. We later discover this man to be Assistant US Attorney Mark Hastings, missing for 12 years. The amount of time Hastings went missing was the exact amount of time he knowingly, wrongly and unjustifiably sent someone else to prison. Coincidence? Nope. Red concludes that this must be the work of The Judge.

Every culture has a myth or legend relating to how they feel justice should be doled out; a tale that alludes to a higher power protecting the weak and innocent. Red gives plenty of examples explaining this to Liz - Jewish people have Golem; Tu Po watches over Chinese; One of the old Greek Gods is Adrasteia, the goddess of revenge. Lacking in branding creativity, I suppose, prison inmates named our protector just "The Judge". It is the prisoners court of last resort. When your legal appeals have all been exhausted and there is absolutely no hope left for you the unjustly imprisoned can make one last plea to The Judge. Prisoners state their case, argue their innocence, explain why they were convicted so unfairly and who the responsible party was in writing. They then discretely place their message in a book which finds its way to The Judge by one of her subordinates, Frank Gordon. In essence, If someone in a position of power unlawfully imprisons someone for personal gain they can appeal to The Judge to exact revenge by means outside the law. I like how I knew you all would understand yet I felt the need to give you more examples, lol.

The matter that makes The Judge in this episode so compelling is that one of the accusers is our very own Agent Harold Cooper. Cooper was the senior FBI agent and investigating officer at the time Alan Ray Rifkin was being questioned for a raid and subsequent killings on innocent civilians in an Afghanistan village. Cooper, on orders from his superior Thomas Connolly, beat Rifkin into confessing to further Connolly's career. Rifkin appealed to The Judge but was later executed in spite of attempts made by Liz to free him pointing out new evidence proving his innocence. This means that our own Agent Cooper would need to be executed with Connolly so The Judge can seek retribution for what happened to Rifkin. Liz and Red to the rescue! Liz seeks Red's counsel and he does all he can to free Cooper of his precarious situation. We see a little into Red's past for a moment when he goes to speak to his former roommate, Richard Abraham, who is not so pleased to see Red since Red's disappearance and selling of Top-Secret US Documents put Richard's life in question and hindered his chances of rising within the ranks. Red promises to right that wrong in exchange for documents revealing what really happened with Rifkin in Afghanistan. After some creative sleuth-like thinking, Liz discovers who The Judge is and the location of her base of operations. Red is granted a one-on-one chat with The Judge where he expertly shows The Judge the error of her ways and asks her not to make her last verdict a wrong one with the execution of Cooper. He then continues to explain what Rifkin did and that Cooper is not at fault, saving the day...and Cooper and Connolly's lives.

The B story involved Red and, hopefully, a new character to the show in The Cowboy. Lance Reddick is incredible and I hope we will get to see a lot more of him on this show. His character, The Cowboy for now, is someone who locates people. Simple as that. Red wants Lucy Brooks found and gives The Cowboy the information he needs - She faked her death to evade Red and goes by the name of...wait for it...Jolene Parker. Oh wait, you all knew that already. Red wants to know where she has been what she is up to and that's exactly what The Cowboy does.

The C story is, of course, Tom and Jolene/Lucy (I have no idea what to call her now so how about moving forward we just stick with Jolene). Tom is still at his teacher conference and right there next to him is Jolene wanting to wipe cream cheese off his lips herslef. They later have a short-lived make-out session in the men's bathroom (not very lady-like Jolene) and right after they get caught by someone walking in on them she slips Tom her room key.

The episode ends with Tom going to Jolene's room, walking in and telling her he cannot go through with it. He cannot betray Liz because he loves her, he loves his wife, and turns around and heads toward the door...more on what happens next right after I explain one thing...

I felt the underlying meaning of this episode has to do with transitions and how everyone reacts to change. The transitions in the characters lives and the transition from life to death is relevant in many of the interactions and scenes; it was no coincidence that there was at least 3 biblical references. Mark Hastings was the extreme and not aware of his surroundings when he was walking on that snowy road and definitely not aware of anything when he was sitting with his family later on and Liz went to go talk to him. He couldn't transition himself from the life back on The Judge's ranch, locked up as a prisoner and all alone. He couldn't function when brought back to society and the things he knows to be true and real. The meaning of transition is also apparent in the Last Rites being read to Cooper before The Judge was about to execute him. She recites the words of the final stage of Last Rites which is the sacrament that deals with the transition between the physical world and the spiritual world. Lucky for us (ok,ok...and Agent Cooper) she never gets to finish the reading. The episode teaches us that change is not easy. How will The Judge transition to life behind bars like he has sentenced so many people to? Liz was judging Cooper when she found out what he did to Rifkin. How is that going to change her view of him going forward? How will Liz react to other changes in her life? Which brings us back to good ol' Tom...

He cannot betray Liz because he loves her, he loves his wife...and says this to Jolene...he turns around, away from her, and heads toward the door but before he can grasp the doorknob he hears the voice of the true Judge..."Wrong answer". Jolene did not like what Tom had to say so she judged him right then and there. She did what Agent Malik could not do with what appeared at the time to be clear and cut evidence against him. Jolene made Tom aware that she knows his secret. Elizabeth Keen is Tom's target. He said he was in love with her because that is what he is "supposed to be". Cue "gasp".

This was by far one of my favorite episodes of the series (I think I say that every review) and not just because of the big reveal at the end. The writing, directing, and acting were all outstanding. There are 7 episodes remaining this season so anything can happen and I cannot wait for Tom and Liz's next interaction. Looking back at a lot of scenes with Tom in them makes a little more sense now. For example, we now know how Tom knew to look beneath the floorboard and knew that Liz had seen his box with the mysterious carving. The entire episode "Gina Zanetakos" makes a lot of sense looking back on it now. It's possible Red was right about her being Tom's lover and it explains why his picture was in her apartment. Remember Gina also had the same box with the "Y" shaped symbol on it that Tom has. The scene where Tom and Red are drinking coffee outside the hospital after Sam dies looks completely different now too. I'm sure Tom knew who Red was at that time? All this new knowledge does not solve the puzzle but it does give us a few more pieces to play with.

- Thoughts and/or Questions -

- Did you notice Jolene's drink of choice? She only says "Makers" but it's Makers 'Mark'. A Mark is another name for a target of a spy. And she orders a double...Red and Tom, maybe? Maybe I'm stretching for that one?

- Did you notice that when The Judge is interrupted by the FBI while reading the Last Rites to Cooper the last word she says is "...and the Father" right before Red shows up? A possible hint? Hmmmm? Maybe?

- Who are 'they' that Tom refers to at the end? He says, "Did they send you?" to Jolene, right before she backs away from him, I should add. Does Tom and Jolene work for the same people?

- My favorite scene and possibly one of the best quotes of the series was when Red first speaks with The Cowboy and says to him, "I love hats, but that (referring to The Cowboy's Stetson) takes a certain kind of man. What size are you? 7 and a quarter? I'm a 7 and a half."

- I know I've said this before but I keep seeing LOST Number references. I'm not sure if my mind is just trained to see those because I've seen LOST a thousand times or if it's an actual homage but I am going to list the references I see.

---- Jolene's hotel room is #618. 6+1+8=15
---- Red says the date 10/3/02. 10+3+2=15
---- The Cowboy's licens plate number is 952. 9+5+2=16 And he drives a '78 Cadillac. 7+8=15

Wait...unless the writers are referencing their own show and the episode number because I recall noticing "14" a few times in the last episode. Sorry, for wasting everyone's time with this. I know, I know, I could just delete this entry but I don't like deleting anything.

- I loved the scene at the end right before Tom walked into the room. Jolene was looking through the window and her reflection seemed blurred and distorted much like what we knew about her. These directors are amazing.

- The scene where Tom is walking down the hallway towards Jolene's room, slowly, with the music playing was incredible as well. The writers really know how to make us sympathize with these characters, good or bad. Excellent acting by Ryan Eggold (Tom) also. I know we all give Mr. Spader his credit but lets not forget the other cast members.

- I was laughing so hard when Red stood up and said to Cooper, "Harold, don't look so glum" and the next shot was Cooper gagged with the electrical apparatus still around his head, LOL.

- Here is one of the interesting components about The Blacklist that I have mentioned previously - Red "decides" whose name is revealed next off the blacklist and given to the FBI. Is he doing this for his own gain? At first glance it may not appear so but upon closer inspection some of the choices in villains, in one way or another, Red is benefitting.

- Let's not forget Red's ominous warning, "A war is coming...". The Blacklist is going to get a whole lot better I think.

- Why was Red hiding on a sheep farm outside of Dingle? I assume it's Dingle, Liverpool. I don't think this is of much importance, just funny that The Cowboy mentioned it. All I know of Dingle, Liverpool is Ringo Starr is from there...Go Beatles!...who had FOUR members, and the Number 4 is one of...just kidding. :)

Thanks for reading my Review everyone! Let's discuss more in the comments section and/or you can give us your Thoughts and Questions!

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.