The Blacklist Season 5 Episode 4 Review: The Endling
Lisa Babick
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Red is a man of ingenuity.
On The Blacklist Season 5 Episode 4, he took a mailman's simple scheme and turned it around to his level of criminality. And while the mailman wasn't too keen on joining forces with Red, did he have a choice?
It all started when Red left the motel to stay at a BnB that Dembe somehow found.
We all knew that Red would tire of living in a motel eventually, and now that his empire is growing, moving up in living quarters seems like a logical step.
And the BnB Dembe found was a step up. The mailman and his crew thought it was rich too, which is why they planned to rob it.
Little did Red know at the time the two robbers came into the place that a new venture had fallen into his lap.
But while the mailman thought making an extra hundred grand on the side was good business, he had no idea how much his business would grow with just a few tweaks from Red.
What a great idea to make these places safe houses for criminals! Only Red would come up with an idea like that. Not only is he going to make buttloads of money, he's going to make himself invaluable to his criminal counterparts.
How come no one ever thought to do something like this before?
But that's Red for you. His mind is always working. One little spark and his imagination goes wild. Now he has some cash, a plane, and a multitude of houses to fit his every need. And he still has the Task Force on his side.
I wasn't particularly fond that a stable of horses had to die in order to meet this week's Blacklister. This is the second of my shows that I review to have innocent animals senselessly killed. All in one week, mind you.
There must have been a "let's kill animals for no reason" cloud moving around writer's rooms when these episodes were written.
At least The Blacklist spared us having to actually watch the animals die, or worse hear them screaming as they burnt to death. But the idea of what happened is still at the front of my mind at least.
And before you jump on me for going off on this tangent, I know it's a TV show, and it's fiction. It doesn't mean I have to like it.
It was surprising that Red had no ulterior motive for handing over a Blacklister. Liz was surprised about that, too. It may have been a way to show Liz, in case she didn't know already, how devoted Red is to her and that he would do anything for her including giving his life to save hers.
As much as the Nirah was trying to do the right thing to save her son, she was incredibly selfish doing her dirty deeds for that purpose. It's true that a mother's love knows no bounds, but her vision was screwed up.
I disagree with Red that she was a sinner turned to a saint because of what she did. Yes, she made the ultimate sacrifice but only because she was forced to. Red gave her no choice. If she wouldn't have killed herself, there's no doubt in my mind that he would have pulled the trigger himself.
The boy would have gotten her heart either way with or without her consent.
Still, the scene was troubling. Suicide, even by force, is not pretty, and it's sure to leave some unpleasant residue for the people who witnessed it.
What I didn't understand about this story was (and maybe I missed it) if she had only given up her son two years earlier, how is it that he didn't recognize her? He wasn't a baby, so he should have had some memory of his mother. For some reason that bothered me.
Poor Nik was never able to escape from under Red's thumb. And now the guy is dead because of him. Ultimately it was Tom's fault, but all roads lead back to Red.
It wasn't clear if Pete was dead because I didn't see a body, did you? It would seem like he was killed, but then again, it could be that he found who the bones belonged to and decided to make some money off the truth. It's odd that he would deliberately set up Nik, but it also seems like something he would do.
If Pete is dead, and I missed it, then who killed Nik and took the bones? It had to be triggered by Liz's FBI I.D. and that puts the mystery in even more dangerous territory because you know someone is going to question Liz about it.
She's going to get sucked up into the mystery of the bones, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Tom made a poor choice using her ID to help identify the bones. He put Liz right into the thick of it with that idiotic mistake.
I'm going to guess that this is how Red ends up confronting Tom and possibly killing him. Liz will be questioned, she'll go to Red and Red will go to Tom.
Will it be bye-bye Tom time?
What did you think of "The Endling"? Who do you think killed Nik? Who took the bones and why?
Hit the comments and share your thoughts.
If you need to catch up, you can watch The Blacklist online right here via TV Fanatic.
