The Blacklist: The Role James Spader was Born to Play (S1-E1)

By:  Baby Z

Ever since he played Steff, the asshole we all loved to hate in “Pretty in Pink” I knew that James Spader was destined for awesomeness.  Yes, he was good in “The Practice” and in “Boston Legal,” I didn’t really jump on the whole “Robert California” train with his role on “The Office” too much, although Steve Carrell’s shoes would’ve been hard for any actor to fill, truth be told.  

But along comes Raymond Reddington in “The Blacklist” and finally - FINALLY we get to see James Spader in the role he was born to play.  Brilliant?  Yes.  Snarky?  As hell!!  A criminal mastermind at the top of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List??  Oh hell to the Spader yes!!!

The show opens with Reddington turning himself in to the FBI, basically by walking into their offices, thru their security & metal detectors and right up to the main guard station, announcing who he’s there to see and handing over his name unabashedly.  While waiting, he walks to the center of the atrium, removes his jacket & hat placing them over a briefcase that was delivered to him just outside the building and then calmly bends down to his knees and waits.

Just these first 2 minutes of the show had me hook, line & sinker.

By way of an awesome profile shot of Spader, the camera pans in on an “FBI Most Wanted” flyer for Raymond Reddington, Spader’s character in the show:  

       (Pic courtesy of Eric Rosenberg, Creative for NBC - Behance page)

We are then filled in via a pretty moronic discussion between FBI Agents Cooper and Ressler (Cooper:  Is it really him?  Ressler:  Uh, yep, prints match.  Oh - and I’m pretty sure that you’d have to be a complete asshat to say you’re someone on the FBI’s Most Wanted list when you’re really not?)  that Red Reddington (RR moving forward) was in the Naval Academy, top of his class and was being groomed for Admiral by the young age of 24.  Then in 1990, he disappeared - leaving behind his blossoming career, and his wife & child at Christmas time.  

He was gone for 4 years before classified documents started appearing from a wide array of countries with his name on them, apparently brokering illegal dealings between countries, essentially placing him in the role of a terrorist whose only allegiance was to that of the highest bidder.

And he continued these illegal dealings until - this particular day when he just up & decided to turn himself into the FBI.  When Agent Cooper asks why he’s turning himself in, we’re informed that they do not know- RR is not speaking to any of them.  

And, as if by cue, a confined to some weird compartment type contraption, RR says:

“Evidently someone with the authority to make decisions has arrived.  I think I smell the stench of your cologne, Agent Cooper.  Smells like hubris.”  

Which in and of itself is such a brilliantly delivered line but for those who don’t know - hubris means excessive pride or self confidence - arrogance… and the way the word “hubris” so casually rolls off his tongue is… well, it’s nothing short of perfect if I’m being honest.  Excellent writing, writers - and even better execution, Mr. Spader.

RR continues on to say that he’s well aware that everyone’s wondering why he’s there.  He rattles off 3 dates and events that the FBI was unaware were related let alone the doing of one man, and said that that man is Ranko Zamani.  "You want him.  I want him.  So let’s say for the moment…that our interests… are aligned.“  

A random FBI Agent does a Google search (ok, not really) on Ranko Zamani, who comes up as having been deceased for 6 years.  This amuses RR, who pontificates the irony, then, that Zamani just stepped off of flight #283 from Munich to their very own Washington DC airport.  The FBI agents kick into gear and within 30 seconds are able to find out the identity Zamani is assuming and get 9 points of confirmation that it is, in fact, Zamani from his flight’s ARMREST.  


I know.  Far reaching at best.

After humiliating Agent Cooper by making him admit that they were wrong, RR informs them that they’re now going to play by his rules - number 1 of which is that he will only speak with Elizabeth Keen, a name that means absolutely nothing to any of them.

Cut to Elizabeth Keen’s normal life with her normal problems (her & her husband sleeping in on her first day at a new job, rushing around like a madwoman trying to get ready, who’s taking the car and who’s taking public transportation today, etc.., etc..,) and it is just before they go running out of their home that Keen’s husband tells her not to forget that they have their last adoption meeting at 1:30.  She assures him that she’ll be there, of course, and a little bit of foreshadowing on my part tells me to place money on the exact opposite.

Her husband leaves, followed a minute or so later by Lizzie who bounds out the door to find him standing on their front stairs gazing at her lovingly.  They have a little "moment” whereby he tells her how amazing she is, and she assures him that this new job will not get in the way of their “family plans,” their family is still her priority and 5, 4, 3, 2……1….

The FBI shows up in DROVES to “summon” Lizzie, who we find out is starting her first day at her new job as a PROFILER.  They bring her to RR, and their meeting has a very “Silence of the Lambs” feel to it, however it’s RR’s hinting that he may be her father that are of particular note to me.  

RR then informs Lizzie that Zamani’s plan is to kidnap US General Riker’s daughter within the next 36 hours, and that if she does not stop him, he will kill the little girl.  How does he know all this?  He’s the one who got Zamani into the country.  Dun dunnnn dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!  

Lizzie, with the assistance of pretty much every FBI Agent within a 100 mile radius, descend upon the ballet class of US General Riker’s daughter and once they have her in their care, a tailgate-party worthy line of FBI vehicles is heading over the bridge in DC when they are rerouted by a Hazmat team and told to turn around due to a chemical spill.  It is during said “U-turn” that Zamani’s men attack the barrage of FBI vehicles, guns a'blazin and gas cans and explosions ensue, and before you know it - a gas mask is being handed into the (now flipped on its side) FBI truck containing Lizzie and the little girl and Lizzie informs her that some men are going to take her but that she will come find her.  The little girl puts on the mask, the mysterious arms reach in and lift her out of the vehicle and a newly detonated gas can is left in the girl’s place for good measure.

Once the dust clears a bit, we see that Zamani’s team now have the little girl and are leaving via boats beneath the bridge.

Back at the FBI headquarters, RR reviews the “evidence board” with Lizzie, trying to figure out what Zamani’s next move might be, and it is deduced that Zamani hired a chemist at some point to build a bomb.  Due to all the help that RR is providing, he procures himself a nice hotel suite compliments of the FBI thankyouverymuch and Lizzie leaves to “clear her head” and I believe she mentions needing a shower.  

She arrives at her apartment, which is FILLED with lovely pink balloons and streamers and a sign that says “It’s a Girl!” and for a brief moment she is elated that the “final adoption meeting” went so well without her, you know, being there and all until she is sees that her husband is tied to a chair and has clearly, for lack of a better term, had the shit beat out of him.  Zamani appears and wants to know exactly what the FBI knows about him and his plans, and once he is satisfied that she’s told him everything she knows, tells Lizzie she is going to need to make a decision between stopping him now, saving many Americans lives or not stopping him now in order to save her husband - who he proceeds to stab repeatedly in the femoral artery region of his thigh.

Cut scene to hospital room, where Lizzie’s husband is most definitely not in good shape (but alive) and NOW it’s personal & Lizzie’s on the warpath, gunning for RR, whom she is now convinced is involved in all of this even to the point of helping plan the attack on her hubby.  RR attempts to get her to relay to him EXACTLY what Zamani said to her in her apartment, but it all happened so fast & there was so much blood that she can’t be sure, but manages to blurt out that Zamani thanked her for the FBI taking care of the aforementioned “chemist” for him, which tells RR that the bomb is still in play.

But Lizzie’s had enough of RR’s shit, grabs a pen from the table and STABS HIM IN HIS CAROTID ARTERY, removes the bloody pen and leaves RR gasping for air.  But not before he manages to tell her that if she kills him, she will never know the truth about her husband.  

I know, right?  …..the fuck??

She goes home to clean a very bloody apartment and get some comfort from a dog they suddenly have (?) and the following morning decides that she wants to know more about what RR was talking about with regards to her husband, only dun dunnnnnn dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn - - RR has disappeared from his hospital room.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am loving this show and most things about it so far but, does it not seem to you like this has been a 3 hour event so far?

This show is going to be one HELL of a show to recap, of this much - I am sure.

The following scene shows RR meeting up with Zamani at the Lincoln Memorial, leading us all to believe that he has been a part of this entire plan all along, and when RR asks Zamani about Lizzie’s husband, Zamani responds that he did what RR asked him to do.  It’s a good thing the FBI put that tracker in RR’s shoulder at the beginning of the episode because NO WORRIES FOLKS - the FBI is all over this, they should only be STEPS behind him, yet never seem to catch up.  RR calls Lizzie’s cell phone and asks her if she remembered anything else about her encounter with Zamani, and she tells him about a tattoo on his hand.  RR responds that Zamani is a Serbian Orthodox and would not have a tattoo, which helps Lizzie figure out that it was actually a handstamp - and that of the DC Zoo.  Zamani’s plan is to detonate the bomb at the DC Zoo!

She somehow manages to get there, and into the center of said zoo within minutes (meanwhile the FBI Agents tracking RR are still “hot on his trail”) and she spots the US General’s little girl sitting on a park bench, strapped with the bomb in question with 3 minutes on the timer.  RR calls her cell, tells her that a friend will be there shortly to help and for her not to touch the bomb.  

The FBI has finally caught up with the tracking device, only it is in Zamani’s possession, not in RR’s neck, and along with the tracking device is the detonator for the bomb.  Zamani is on a building ledge, is going to detonate the bomb and then leap to his death from the building only - - FBI Agent shoots the shit out of him first, sending him over the edge of the building just before he has the opportunity to hit “Blow Up” or whatever it is that detonators are labeled.

Lizzie, in an attempt to keep the little girl calm, tells her a story about what helps HER when she’s scared.  Earlier in the show, RR had mentioned to Lizzie that he noticed she messed with a particularly unsightly scar on her wrist that she explains happened in a fire when she was 14.  Now, she explains to the little girl, that the scar is what helps her to be brave in times when she was scared, because it was from her daddy and now I want to know what the fuck RR did to Lizzie at 14 that caused such a result.

In the meantime, RR’s “friend” arrives, he is foreign and she cannot understand him, however he manages to detonate the bomb, after which he removes from the little girl and disappears with to God knows where.  RR (and a bazillion FBI agents) arrive seconds later (of course).  Lizzie is upset that there’s a chemical weapon in the hands of what turns out to be a Ukrainian friend of RR’s, and well - that’s the price ya pay to have it not blow up a zoo full of children, Lizzie - lesson learned.

One of the final scenes of the show is RR in an FBI boardroom with Agent Cooper, where he explains that their collaboration isn’t over, that Zamani was just the 1st on a long list he refers to as his “Blacklist.”  This list contains people the FBI cannot find because they don’t even know they EXIST (booooyah!) and amongst them are politicians, mobsters, hackers, spies, and – that RR will be willing to help the FBI get these people, but only if they agree to his rules:

RR Rule #1:  He never sleeps in the same place more than 2 nights in a row.

RR Rule #2:  He wants a fully encrypted 8mm chip embedded in his neck, not the garbage tracker they inserted earlier.

RR Rule #3:  He wants his own security.  He has assembled a list of 5 acceptable applicants, of which the FBI can choose 2.

RR Rule #4:  Whatever RR tells them, falls under an immunity package that he negotiates himself.

Annnnnd the 5th and final rule:  RR speaks only with Elizabeth Keen.

And on that note, we cut to Lizzie at her apartment, cutting a hole into the flooring, where she finds a large wooden box.  It’s contents include a SHIT TON of money, a gun and so many passports I wouldn’t even wager a guess as to how many - all containing her husband’s picture, and all with different identities.

She returns to see RR, who in all his James Spader glory says to her, “You’ve discovered something curious about your husband, haven’t you Lizzie?” and we are treated to an awesomely bluesy-indie version of Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” to close the series premiere.

My personal opinion:
This is a kick-ass, awesomely awesome show based on the pilot, excellently written and perfectly executed by its main star.  I can’t wait for more, although the recaps may have to shorten a bit.

Have a tutti fuckin frutti day,
-BZ