The Blacklist has always been about exploring the differences between black, white, and gray.

That was certainly the case on The Blacklist Season 9 Episode 4.

Michael, the Avenging Angel, only saw the world as black and white, that people were either good or evil, with no in-between.

Her obsession in life was righting the wrongs done to people. She even operated an online discussion board where people could vent about being wronged, which helped her select her targets.

At first, her killing the corporate villain who had stolen a company from his longtime friend and partner was something that viewers could get behind.

But as Michael's plan unfolded, it became harder to approve of her actions.

Her backstory, her being a young, unwed mother whose child was taken from her, made it simple to understand from where she was coming. She had lost someone valuable to her, and she didn't want anyone else to suffer from such an experience.

That's a noble sentiment. If only Michael hadn't been so brutal in her methods.

Undoubtedly, that's why Red brought it to the Task Force. For a change, he didn't have an ulterior motive.

Poor Red is starting all over, isn't he? What else would explain a trailer in the woods as his headquarters? Then again, it is isolated and well-hidden, two things would be looking for in a hideout.

He and Dembe indeed are having trouble getting back to a cordial relationship. Dembe's arrest of Vesco, who could have been Reddington's cash cow, on The Blacklist Season 9 Episode 3 surely didn't help.

Maybe that's just going to be how things are now. Dembe has moved on, establishing himself with the FBI and as part of the Task Force. Raymond has new muscle in Weecha, who is ruthlessly effective but not nearly the philosophical conversationist that Dembe is.

It's now employer and employee rather than comfortable companions.

The saga of the Van Gogh showed off the many sides of Red.

The painting was essential to Michael, so Reddington decided to steal it from his valuable contractor, despite Heddie's misgivings.

Only said contractor's son was crashing there, throwing a party. So Raymond had to bullshit him about the value of a worthless painting to snatch the priceless Van Gogh hidden behind it.

He used the Van Gogh painting to get Michael's attention and her address. Then he turned around and gave it back to the original owner, from whom the Nazis had stolen it.

Finally, after debating the value of Huntley's life with Michael, he shot and killed her, giving her heart to the steelworker that Huntley had indirectly wronged.

Then he debated how a person should be judged with Harold. Harold opted for judging based on what a person did on the worst day of their life. Reddington went with what they did every other day.

Raymond wouldn't have been able to pull off what he did if the Task Force hadn't been so distracted by personal issues.

That confusion started at the top. Cooper may end up changing his philosophical position before his travails are over.

Let there be no doubt that somebody is setting up Harold. And based on all the criminals that the Blacklist Task Force has put away, that's a long list of suspects.

He woke up in his car in a parking garage with no memory of how he got there. He was drugged. A bullet was missing from his gun.

Charlene told him that the man she had had an affair with had been murdered. So rather than inquire through official channels, he drove to the crime scene, refused to identify himself to a detective (that's not suspicious), who in turn took a photo of his license plate.

Harold quietly requested a copy of the official report, then secretly had ballistic tests on his gun, finding out it was the murder weapon.

The episode ends with him sitting outside a local police station. Hopefully, Red's words will sink in, and he'll do the logical thing and continue to investigate independently rather than turn himself in. But it's not likely to be that simple.

Ressler had his little bout with illegality, and he had to drag Park into it.

Afraid he wasn't clean enough to pass a drug test on his own, he asked her to supply a urine sample that he could use.

Initially, she refused, but she eventually helped him out, against her better judgment.

That was one convoluted process Ressler had to go through to produce clean urine for his monitored test. 

Maybe someday soon, it will be revealed what got him hooked on what drugs during that two-year hiatus.

Along the lines of no good deed goes unpunished, the test also revealed that Park might have cancer. Wouldn't you know her life goes to crap as soon as she returns to the Task Force, against the wishes of her new husband?

So let's see, now only Aram and Dembe have no personal drama going on? The young guy and the new guy, in other words.

To follow the fitful start of this new incarnation of the Task Force, watch The Blacklist online.

Has Red learned anything from his near-death experience, or is he back to his old tricks?

What will it take for him and Dembe to forgive each other?

Whose secret leaks out first: Harold, Ressler, or Park?

Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.