The Blacklist - Recap: The Man Comes Around
Recap and review of The Blacklist - Episode 11 - The Good Samaritan:
The Blacklist has never been a show about clear-cut morality, but "The Good Samaritan" is more problematic than most episodes, in that regard. And perhaps that's the point. There are two parallel stories going on here, both about retribution and the grey-shaded morality of exacting the figurative pound of flesh from those who deserve punishing. Both are interesting in their own ways, and both seek to turn the mirror towards the audience, asking us why we cheer for one guy taking lives in revenge, but not for the other guy, who is taking lives to prevent abusers from continuing in their abuse. That's a tricky narrative to tackle, and while I'm not entirely sure The Blacklist pulls it off, the show deserves all the credit in the world for the boldness of its approach.
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The story here is twofold: in one, Red (James Spader) goes on a Kill Bill-esque vengeance spree, attempting to track down the person who sold him out to Anslo Garrick; in the other, Liz (Megan Boone) is on the hunt for a serial killer known only as "The Good Samaritan", so named because he doesn't actually kill his victims, he tortures them right to the edge of death, and then calls 911 in order to at least give the victims a shot at being saved. And this is where the morality play comes into effect. We eventually learn that "The Good Samaritan" is actually Karl Hoffman (Frank Whaley), a nurse who fills in for short-staffed hospitals. In doing his rounds, Hoffman has encountered any number of abuse victims who refuse to name their attacker, since the psychological trauma and fear run deep. Hoffman would know, since he was the victim of lifelong abuse at the hands of his mother, Louise (Pat Squire), who is now borderline catatonic.
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Because he never really dealt with the trauma of his own abuse, and because he views the world through a warped prism of moral turpitude, he's decided that the abusers need to be taught a lesson. And so he tracks down the abusers responsible for putting his patients in the hospital. He then abducts them, takes them to his childhood home, and forces his own mother to watch as he inflicts the same injuries on the abuser that they inflicted upon their victims. He then drops them off somewhere and calls 911 to give them a shot at survival, but what he offers isn't really a gift, since his victims are often far too grievously wounded to be saved, in the first place. Once Liz and the rest of the FBI piece Hoffman's motives together, it isn't long before they catch him, hovered over his latest victim (an abusive husband who gave his wife a concussion, a detached retina, and a broken wrist) with a hammer in his hand.
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Liz has her standoff with Hoffman, and it's the killer who elucidates the theme of the episode, saying that he rids the world of these abusers because he doesn't have the luxury of Liz's "simple morality". He sees Liz as someone who's never experienced abuse, someone who couldn't possibly understand the amount of psychological damage that is inflicted. But Liz understands that morality isn't black or white. Hell, she'd know better than most, since this episode begins to slowly illustrate the effect Red is having on her. I'm not talking about her climactic decision to shoot Hoffman to keep him from murdering his own mother, but rather Liz's later moment at the hospital with Hoffman's would-be victim. As she approaches the injured man on his hospital bed, Liz looms over him like a figure of cold, calculated judgment. She warns him that if he ever lays a finger on his wife again, she'll find him and finish what Hoffman started. While one could imagine that Liz sees herself as the righteous figure in this one-way exchange, it's played as a foreboding, ominous, borderline sinister moment. I didn't think Liz had the capacity to be chilling, but her commitment to her own sense of righteousness is unsettling, particularly when considering she'd so often been a by-the-book agent. It's easy to see how Red's influence is beginning to twist and shape her.
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For his part, Red is already comfortably cloaked in cold, calculated exactitude. In a terrific montage, set to Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around", Red hunts down the people responsible for abducting him and taking him to Mr. Fitch (Alan Alda) in the midseason finale. Some of these people aren't criminals, but rather just downtrodden, blue collar workers threatened into doing the dirty work of a higher power. But Red doesn't care. The EMT with the pretty face? Dead. The average man in a men's bathroom stall? Dead. The white collar banker? Deader than disco. It's truly unnerving to see how nonchalantly Red kills his victims, particularly when he walks into a restaurant and carelessly kills four henchmen in order to get their boss alone. He's tracking information not only the mole who revealed intel about how to breach the FBI black site, but also the identity of the person who gave him up to Garrick. And so he tortures the mobster and pour vodka all over him, all while regaling him with the tale of his first cigarette (“The first time I ever smoked a cigarette was with Marnie Peterson in fifth grade. Funny little bat-faced girl, I adored her.”). Red then coaxes the pitiable crook into giving him the info he needs, before lighting a cigar and stuffing it in the mobster's mouth, before deciding he doesn't feel like waiting for the embers to set the man ablaze. He casually shoots the man in the heart, and it's pretty much the most unsettling thing in the episode, simply for its sheer efficiency.
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Red is similarly brutal in his dealings with Aram (Amir Arison), whom he abducts and forces to make an untraceable wire transfer. Sounds simple enough, but Red puts a ticking timebomb of sorts on it, telling Aram that he'll be shot dead if he doesn't make the transfer in the two minutes it takes Red to assemble his Colt 45. It's a thrilling scene that speaks to Red's ruthless efficiency, while also revealing to us that Aram isn't the FBI mole like the agents suspect. He's being framed by someone, and Red is still on the search for that individual. This brings him to the home of a former banker friend, and he's every bit as brutal in this situation, although at least here, he dresses it up with a bit of showmanship. He charms the man's wife by pretending to be a former Dartmouth classmate of her husband's, and then makes small talk about Beef Stroganoff, among other things. The scene is a real credit to James Spader's talents, particularly once Red drops the facade and shoots the man in the leg, threatening to end him if he doesn't give up a name. I get the feeling the show intends for us to cheer for Red, to see him really stick it to these guys who attempted to stick it to him, but the truth of the matter is that these were all people who were being threatened, people with no other alternative but to comply. So why should we root for a man this callous? Is that even what the show is going for? It makes for a stunning contrast with Liz's storyline, as both she and Red occupy a moral grey area that is turning darker as the weeks go by.
Credit: NBC
But back to the dinner scene, as the quickness with which Red goes from jovial to sinister is shocking, and it fits right in with the conclusion when we learn that the man who betrayed Red was Grey (Charles Baker), whose real name is Newton Phillips. Apparently, his family was being threatened, so he sold Red out. In a surprisingly poignant climax, Red scatters Luli's ashes and then meets with Newton, revealing that he could have helped him if Newton had just been upfront. With no other alternatives, Red places a bag over Newton's head and suffocates him, but not before promising to take care of his family for him. It's a scene that shouldn't be as touching as it is, yet there's a sense of a longer history between these two that I wish the show would have explored in greater detail. There are also other plotlines in the episode that I wish had gotten a bit more time, such as the possibility that the FBI mole is not only still out there, but is being protected by Director Fowler (Jane Alexander), who refuses to give up her asset to Mr. Fitch. I also feel like there's still a lot more to Tom (Ryan Eggold) than meets the eye, as he abruptly jets off to a job interview out of state and isn't heard from again for the rest of the episode. But I suppose it's just as well, since I imagine the aura of mystery surrounding Tom will become important sooner rather than later. As for now, there's little else left but for Red and Liz to chat about the next name on the Blacklist, and to reflect on how their circumstances have shifted, and what they've had to sacrifice to come as far as they have.
Credit: NBC
"The Good Samaritan" is more interesting for its subtext than for its plot, as it challenges the moral perceptions of the audience. I'm not sure it entirely works, but the boldness of the approach deserves to be commended. As does the performance of James Spader, who continues to turn in some of the best, most understated work on a mainstream show this year. The Blacklist is still far from the ideal version of what it could be, but this is a strong brick in the foundation for the future.