The Blacklist Season 2 Episode 10 Review: Luther Braxton: Conclusion
Sean McKenna
at
.
Updated at
.
The Blacklist can be such a tease some times.
Where The Blacklist Season 2 Episode 9 felt much more like an action piece and really zeroed in on the importance and hunt for the fulcrum by various parties, The Blacklist Season 2 Episode 10 seemed to be the promise of answers behind it all, holding out the carrot of truth for pretty much the entire hour before tossing a tiny piece right at the last second.
But my, how the show can suck you in when it comes to focusing on that larger mythology, and especially when it comes to the Liz and Red connection.
It wasn’t really a surprise that Luther Braxton was hired by the Director to get the fulcrum, even if there was a bit of misdirection with the missile attack on the facility.
And once again, Ron Perlman brought such a presence to a character that could have been so one note, that his by-any-means-necessary search made him a fearsome foe to be reckoned with. Granted, going up against Red is a dangerous task, but I enjoyed Luther’s commitment to the job.
That meant pulling out a memory from Liz (maybe he should have hired Leonardo DiCaprio to perform the mind heist?) which revealed a fire, her dying father, talk of the fulcrum, and that Red was there that night 26 years ago.
Though it was interesting that even after Red managed to take over and find Liz, he didn’t immediately stop the procedure (I was ready to groan about it if it was right before she was about to say something). However, he let it keep going because he too wants to find the fulcrum.
Liz got oddly pouty that she felt his connection and relationship to her was purely for his desire to find some object. I don’t think that’s the case at all, and even just by watching Red’s reactions when he’s around Liz makes that hard to believe.
But it was what the doctor said to Liz about someone messing with her memory before and that she might not quite remember that night how she thinks she does that made me pause.
I can’t help but keep going back to the “Is Red Liz’s father?” question. There just seems to be something much more familial when it comes to their connection, and the doctor’s words about the people’s roles in her memory that got my wheels spinning again.
At the same time, I’m even more curious as to who put that tiny object, presumably the fulcrum?, in her bunny rabbit stuffed animal. Did her “father” put it there?
It certainly wasn't Red, otherwise I'm sure he would have gotten it long before.
And just what is the real story that night, if Liz is remembering things incorrectly or in a jumbled way?
I still have so many questions and theories rolling around in my head, but at least the hour did offer up just a sampling of some answers. It would have been far more painful to go through the drawn-out memory retrieval only to get that Red was at the fire.
I was a little disappointed that Luther wound up dead, but when you cross Red, the alternative options seem limited.
As for the Director’s face to face, that seemed inevitable, but I’m glad that even if he was forced to sit for it, he didn’t seem frightened of Red, even going so far to say he was bluffing.
I’m sure the Director will use his resources and find a way to get to Red when he least expects it. Hopefully, there’s enough of a power struggle between these two forces that it doesn’t feel like Red is guaranteed to win (even if he probably will).
The conclusion of Luther Braxton really did set up a new direction for The Blacklist Season 2 (it almost made me forget all about the Tom saga from the start of the season) and was rather engrossing. Did it feel stretched out for the amount of answers we actually got? Sure, but we at least did get something to mull over and theorize about, and that's got me eager to see where that bigger story goes next.
What did you think of Liz's memories? Were you shocked about her finding something in the rabbit? Sound off below, and be sure to catch up on all the episodes when you watch The Blacklist online.
Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.
