When we last left our crew on "The Blacklist," Cooper had been told by a mysterious FBI agent named Martin to STOP INVESTIGATING the death of Director Fowler. Meanwhile, Liz's relationship with Tom was going down the tubes as Tom angrily decided to attend a teacher's conference in Orlando, leaving Liz behind in DC. It should come as no surprise that one of the first people he ran into in Orlando was the woman he knows as Jolene… but who we know as Lucy Brooks. Red has been furiously investigating Lucy this entire season.
Before we get to the recap of tonight's episode, I wanted to highlight a few juicy tidbits from the comment section of last week's recap. There were several comments on Red's heart-wrenching story [which may be true or may be fiction] about the horrifying Christmas Eve where he found his wife and daughter in a pool of blood. A poster named Petie pointed out that Red never said his family was dead, he merely noted that there was a lot of blood. Hmmm. There were lots of other clever thoughts, but Petie's is the one I am going to highlight this week.
By the way, judging from the previews, tonight's episode is going to focus on Lucy Brooks! She is a major player in the ongoing plot of the show, not just some one-off Blacklist member. What's more, the more we know about her, the more we are likely to learn about her motives for targeting Tom Bond [my nickname for him]. When we first met Lucy/Jolene, it sure looked like someone was paying her to target Tom. Knowing who is targeting Tom and why is bound to be a huge reveal in the show's mythology.
So, do I think we will get a lot of the answers I mentioned above? No, but it will be fun getting a little bit closer to them. Anyway, on with the recap…
The episode starts with an old man walking down a snowy road. He looks lost. A man approaches him and the vagrant drops a wallet. It identifies him as an assistant US attorney. His name is Mark Hastings and he has been missing for 12 years. His wife, Donna, is brought to him. She wants to know where he has been. He is unresponsive.
Red goes to meet a mysterious man in a car. They discuss Lucy Brooks. "She's calling herself Jolene Parker," says Red. "I'll find her," says the man, who is wearing a cowboy hat that Red admires. Cowboy is being played by Lance Reddick, a well-known actor who has played key supporting roles on lots of great shows including Lost, The Wire, and Fringe. Red tells him he does not want to know where Lucy is. Red wants to know where she has been – cities, safe houses, all of her back story.
We head to Orlando where Lucy and Tom are at the teacher's conference. He gets a call on his cell from Liz and he ignores it.
Red comes to see Liz to talk about the long-missing ADA, Hastings. Red thinks Hastings was taken by "The Judge," who is a mysterious man that is part myth, part legend. The Judge is supposedly someone wrongfully convicted prisoners can appeal to for justice. He is not part of the legal system but if the Judge thinks you are innocent, "he evens the score. An eye for an eye." Red believes that Hastings did something wrong to convict a man named Demps, who was sent away for 12 years. The Judge then took 12 years of Hastings life away as revenge.
The FBI thinks they have found the man who communicates with The Judge, a man named Frank Gordon who works in a prison book depository. Liz and Ressler investigate. Gordon's "office" at the prison is a spooky mess. Gordon knocks Ressler out and gets away. But, they find dozens of case files that Gordon was reviewing for The Judge. The case that appears to be next on The Judge's list involved Dir. Cooper. A man named Rifkind that he helped convict is going to be put to death. Liz is worried The Judge may try to exact revenge on Cooper.
Liz goes to visit Rifkind, who is represented by a woman named Ruth. Ruth is played by noted actress Dianne Wiest. She is too big an actress to be playing a small role. She's going to turn out to be The Judge. Rifkind says that he was beaten by Cooper and forced to confess to the crime.
Back in Orlando, Tom and Jolene are having a drink. They are acting coy. She asks him about keeping secrets and about his wife. This is pretty clearly headed toward something extramarital. Yup, seconds later they are ripping each other's clothes off in a bathroom. They get interrupted by a child coming into the bathroom and Tom suddenly feels regret. Jolene walks out but slips her key into his shirt, inviting him up to her room.
Gordon is on the phone arranging for Cooper and a DA he worked with to be "grabbed" if the Rifkind execution happens. Ruth [Dianne Wiest] is with him. She takes him to a barn where she has a bunch of prosecutors and the such held in a makeshift prison. She is clearly the Judge. Her father was wrongly imprisoned for many years and this is how she is taking revenge.
Liz and her FBI buddies figure out that Rifkind may have been tortured. It appears some documents about his transportation were faked. Liz goes to talk to a US Marshall who knows about all of it. The Marshall says that the DA on the case desperately needed more evidence to make the conviction. He says he knows that the DA asked Cooper to beat Rifkind to get a confession.
Cowboy [Lance Riddick] is investigating Lucy/Jolene and he is good at what he does. He finds dozens of fake IDs. He also finds a flash drive that shows she was in several cities that Red was also in. He says, "She's tracking someone. She's either got lots of little targets or one big one." Sounds to me like Red is her big target. Now, if only we knew why!
Cooper meets with Liz and has the DA, named Connelly, with him. Liz accuses the two of them of beating a confession out of Rifkind. She has evidence of doctored records to cover it up. Cooper admits to beating him, but Cooper thinks he did nothing wrong. Connelly tells her none of this matters and that even the Supreme Court would not care. The deadline to consider Rifkind's innocence has passed.
Rifkind is strapped to a gurney and given a lethal injection. He dies, accusing Cooper and Connelly to his last breath. As they leave the execution, Connelly says that when he is someday Attorney General, he will get Cooper appointed head of the FBI. Frankly, Cooper looks pretty awful right about now.
Outside, Connelly and Cooper are quickly grabbed by some of The Judge's henchmen. I wonder if Liz put a tracking device on Cooper. That would have been the smart thing to do. They are taken to The Judge's farm/prison. She lectures them about what they did wrong and then says she finds them guilty.
Liz appeals to Red for help. He tells her to try to get something out of Hastings, the nearly comatose ADA we saw at the start of the episode. Meanwhile, Red goes to visit a man named Richard in a Navy uniform. He knew Richard many years ago and they were roommates at the Naval academy together. Red wants to know how much Richard knows about the incident where Rifkind was accused of murder.
Liz visits Hastings and she hears enough to figure out that he was held by Ruth. Liz is the smartest agent in FBI history! She remembers everything!
At Ruth/The Judge's farm, they have prepared a makeshift electric chair for Cooper and Connelly. Cooper is strapped in the chair as the FBI and local police surround the farm. Liz convinces Ruth to hear new evidence that Red has discovered. Red goes inside to talk to Ruth. He shows her a classified Pentagon folder on the Rifkind case. He clearly got it from his Navy friend. It turns out that Rifkind was secretly working with the Taliban. Even though Cooper did beat Rifkind, it turns out that Rifkind was a killer who deserved to die.
Red lectures The Judge about what a righteous person she is. He is convinced she will now give herself up and not kill anyone else. The Judge does just that. All of her prisoners are freed.
Back at the FBI blacksite, Cooper tells Liz he does not mind if she turns him in for the beating. She tells Cooper that justice would not be served if that happened. Red essentially tells Cooper that, "you owe me a favor." I am sure that will come back to haunt Cooper someday!
Red meets with Cowboy. It does turn out that Lucy/Jolene has been following Red. Red tells Cowboy to do nothing more. Red wants to see how Jolene's "operation" turns out.
Tom is contemplating going to Jolene's room. He uses the key and opens the door. She greets him with a kiss. He says, "I'm sorry. I can't do this because I love my wife." He returns the key and turns to leave. "Wrong answer," says Jolene. "Elizabeth Keen is not your wife, she is your target." Tom's expression suddenly turns. "Did they send you to test me?" He asks. "I told you I was in love with her because that is what I am supposed to be. That is my job."
And the episode is over!
WOW! It ended with a bang!! Tom is some kind of secret agent. Tom Bond is an appropriate name for him. Someone has assigned him to be in love with Liz. This is a major bombshell for the show!!
Ok, all of you who have been clamoring for answers, you just got a huge one. Tom is not what he seemed. But, are you convinced he is a bad guy? I am not. I wonder if he might have actually fallen in love with Liz on his own. We will see. All I know is that every time you think you have "The Blacklist" figured out, something new happens.
So what did you think? Did the Tom Bond bombshell surprise you as much as it did me? What are your theories about what Tom is up to? Share your theories and reactions to tonight's show by posting something in the comment section. As always, I'll be highlighting the most thought-provoking posts in my recap next week. I'll see you there!
If you want to read more of Jason Evans' commentary on the Movie and TV industry, follow him on Twitter @TVFilmTalk and be sure to check our Speakeasy every Monday and Wednesday for his recaps of The Blacklist and Arrow.