Did anyone actually believe that Liz was in any real danger on The Blacklist Season 3 Episode 5?

Aside from Red, Liz is the other main star of the show, and it would be an extremely bold move if the series pulled a crazy fast one and killed off Liz. And that’s just not going to happen.

So kicking off the hour with Liz’s “death” wasn’t some shock and unfortunately sending what seemed to be super-skilled assassins didn’t raise the stakes or give the sense she was in any real danger.

Watch The Blacklist Season 3 Episode 5 Online

I get that with Red being concerned we as an audience should be concerned, because Red is always so on top of things and in control. But again, the most that would happen is Liz would get shot and wind up patched up by the end.

Now, if we were talking about someone targeting Aram or Harold or one of the other characters, then I’d be more apt to think that perhaps they might not survive the hour.

And that was pretty much a good chunk of the episode, Liz trying to avoid getting killed, and her and Red trying to shut down whoever was trying to kill her.

It was an interesting twist that it wasn’t the cabal that set up the hit, which was the obvious choice considering its desire to eliminate Liz and Red. Making it a girl out for vengeance for the death of her mother, who she believed Liz had a hand in her killing, wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

It wasn’t really that exciting of a reveal, but at least there was a surprise when it came to ending the whole hunt for Liz.

Though, that girl was pretty quick to believe Liz when she denied it. That or maybe being held hostage by someone you believe was a killer might make you less likely to be so accusatory in person.

Of course, the cabal was still in play for the hour.

Mr. Solomon finally got his hands on Liz and Red, with the help of that vile Mr. Vargas. And he could have killed Liz and Red right then and there, but we all knew nothing would happen. At least Red indicated that he assumed they were still alive because Mr. Solomon needed something from them.

Thankfully, we got an awesome rescue from a very injured Dembe. The dude looked badass wielding those two guns and taking out bad guys.

Here’s to hoping for a full recovery for the guy.

But it was Ressler of all people that is really going to be dipping his toes into enemy territory as he’s being forced to work with the Director. It’s an intriguing prospect, and I’m curious to see how it goes.

Obviously Ressler wants to capture Liz and bring her in, but he seems pretty clear that working with the Director is not on his bucket list. Things are going to get complicated real quick.

As for Tom’s assignment, he’s continued to weasel his way into Asher’s life, even killing off one of the men extorting Asher in the hopes of sending a message. He wants the Russians to come to him.

I liked that we still got to see him going over his plan with Harold, but I could see him getting in deep enough in this cover that things wind up getting out of hand. After all, Asher and his fiancee didn’t look too pleased.

So while I enjoyed seeing the other side stories, the main focus was on Liz trying to avoid being killed from well-trained assassins. And since I knew she would be OK, that really made the hour far less engaging and dramatic than it could have been.

Did you think Liz was in any danger? What's the cabal's next move? Sound off below, and be sure to follow in the hunt for Liz when you watch The Blacklist online now.

Quotables for the Week Ending October 22, 2015

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Note: The Blacklist Season 3 Episode 6, "Sir Crispin Crandall," airs Nov. 5 at 9/8c.

Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.