The Blacklist 1.10: Those Words

The Blacklist 1.10 concluded the two-part episode that began last week, with a sharpening of everything already in place, a new major player, and some words at the end by Red to Lizzie which preserve what we knew and didn't know, and set the agenda for the resumption of the series in January.

Let's start with those words.   When Lizzie asks Red point blank if he's her father, he answers no.  The question is more than warranted from Lizzie, since she's just seen Red put his own life at risk to save her, after he brilliantly staved off the bad guys when he was locked in that transparent enclosure.   But he uses the same ingenuity to get out of the enclosure, and give the bad guys what they want - himself in their custody - all on behalf of saving Lizzie.  So her question is eminently reasonable.

But is Red's answer truthful?  I'm still thinking it's not.  And this pitches the question into why would Red lie about this?  I'm guessing this is the central question of at least the first season, and, whatever the answer is, we'll see that Red was unable to answer to truthfully because the lie was necessary to keep Lizzie safe.

And, as I've also said before, I'm thinking that Lizzie's husband has something to do with this.  Red reminds us to be suspicious of the husband by warning Lizzie about him.    He has yet to do anything overtly to put Lizzie in peril, but there's something about him that's wrong,  and I'm betting it will just be a matter of time until we see  his true colors when the series resumes.

Indeed, the scene with Ressler and his former wife in the hospital makes me think that in the end it will be Lizzie and Ressler that we'll see together.   Not only did Red save Ressler last week, but Ressler gave up the code tonight - against his superior's orders - to save Lizzie.   It's not completely clear what she is now feeling for him, but he definitely cares a lot for her.

And it was great to see Alan Alda as the soft-spoken head bad guy on the scene - Fitch - introduced tonight.   My guess is he knew that Red would get the better of Anslo in that room.  Maybe he even would have given Red those little scissors, if Red hadn't obtained them another way (come to think of, when did Red them in his hands?)  Anyway, a soft-spoken powerful antagonist is the perfect foil for Red.

Another fine piece of writing - by Lukas Reiter and J. R. Orci.

See also The Blacklist Debuts: Alias Meets Jay Z ... The Blacklist 1.2: Mysteries ... The Blacklist 1.3: Construction Site Heights ... The Blacklist 1.6: Truth and Enigma ... The Blacklist 1.7: Natural Immunity ... The Blacklist 1.8: The Father and the Husband ... The Blacklist 1.9: Field Transfusion

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