Season 3 of The Blacklist has been the most delightful surprise. I mean, sure, I always loved the show, but what I didn’t expect was to be so taken with the series’ new format. The whole of the season so far, leading up to this week’s fall finale, has been full of twists, turns, and all kinds of unexpected things. No matter the format, The Blacklist manages to keep me on the edge of my seat.
This week on The Blacklist: Samar assists Liz from Ressler’s computer, so Ressler gets Aram to help him find out what she did. Harold, Tom, and Mrs. Cooper run into some complications while holding on to Karakurt. Reddington is kidnapped by local scam artists known as the “Kings of the Highway,” complicating their plans. Liz and Dembe attempt to rescue Reddington, with Ressler hot on their tail.
SO much stuff happened in this episode. All of the tension that has been slowly simmering with the FBI task force finally boiled over. Reddington and Liz met their first real obstacle. Harold Cooper even got in on some of the action.What I love about The Blacklist, particularly “Kings of the Highway,” is that it knows how to excite. This episode was an exercise in tension building. Each character played a key role as the tension slowly built up to an extremely climatic ending.
I just can’t compliment the plot twist enough. Reddington got taken by some unwitting criminals, and the whole thing unraveled around them. It was brilliant. James Spader makes it so much fun to watch Reddington do anything, but even more so being captive in this situation. Each scene, Spader’s Reddington brings a gravitas combined with an intense vulnerability. I would watch anything happen on this show, so long as Reddington is involved.
This show’s success has a lot to do with Spader, but perhaps the most impressive part of “Kings of the Highway” was how well every cast member was used. The triangle of lies and deceit between Samar, Ressler and Aram was some seriously great drama. Often, these three are painted as one note characters but Season 3 (so far) has brought each of them a little more depth and explored them a little more. I think Tom Keen and Harold Cooper are a perfect odd couple, and I was really hoping to see more of Dembe/Liz sans Reddington before the last few minutes killed my hopes and dreams. Regardless, the cast beyond Spader has been phenomenal.
So here’s the million dollar question: How does Liz get out of this? Does she get out of this? I think it’s pretty safe to assume that since Tom and Harry still have Karakurt, and Red is still at large, that there is still plenty of exciting story to be told. With Dembe and Liz in custody, I would love to see those three join forces.
“Kings of the Highway” was an exciting finale in every sense. It had drama, it had pulse-pounding action, and it had just enough of a cliffhanger to hold us over until The Blacklist returns in January.
What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the fall finale? Let us know in the comments!
The Blacklist returns Thursday, January 7th at 9/8c on NBC.
[Photo credit: David Giesbrecht/NBC]
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