 Tagline: Who's Your Daddy? Former government agent Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader) has eluded capture for decades. But he suddenly surrenders to the FBI with an offer to help catch a terrorist under the condition that he speaks only to Elizabeth "Liz" Keen (Megan Boone), a young FBI profiler who's just barely out of Quantico. Storyline: A highly articulate, erudite and intelligent businessman and mastermind, "Red" Reddington, has allegedly been on the "10 Most Wanted List" of various U.S. law enforcement agencies for over 20 years. The legend is that Red is as elusive as he is clever, controlling a labyrinth of creative enterprises, coupled with uncanny ability to gather and finesse information at the drop of a hat. On the first day at FBI for a new female profiler fresh out of Quantico, Red offers to bandy wits with the FBI. Red promises to deliver various criminals and plots previously unknown to any branch of law enforcement... and all Red requests in return is to choose his muse. Written by LA-Lawyer 4.01 Esteban [No. 79] - Captured by Alexander Kirk, Liz refuses to believe him about being her father, attempting escape a few times that end in failure. Raymond Reddington sets out to rescue Liz after being betrayed by Mr. Kaplan, who he reluctantly allows to help him. Meanwhile, Tom and Agnes are captured by Kirk's men; while Tom manages to escape, he is separated from Agnes. The task force reels with shock from the truth of Liz being alive and her apparent betrayal; including Samar, who takes it the hardest of everyone. Red makes contact with a 'blacklister' known as Esteban, who is working with the CIA, and strikes a deal with him for Liz's location, but arrives too late to save her. Although they manage to get Agnes, Red's car is hit on impact by a bounty hunter named 'Mato', hired by Kirk, who takes Agnes and disappears. [Show Spoiler] 4.02 Mato [No. 66] - While still captured, Alexander Kirk takes Liz to a place which he claims to be her childhood home. During her stay at the house, Liz uncovers a memory of her mother. Meanwhile, Reddington tracks down Mato, with Mr. Kaplan's help, and uncovers Liz's current location before killing him. Red informs Ressler and the Task Force, who lead an FBI team to the house and rescue Liz, but discover that Kirk has escaped and that Agnes is still missing. With Liz now safe, Reddington takes Mr. Kaplan to a forest and shoots her for her betrayal. However, just as Red leaves, he misses Kaplan's hand moving, leaving her fate unknown. [Show Spoiler] 4.03 Miles McGrath [No. 65] - Red says Miles McGrath is the key to finding Alexander Kirk and Agnes. Liz apologizes to the FBI team for not telling them about her faking her death. Samar says she is asking for a transfer. Tom and Liz work together to get info from the FBI on what they have on Alexander. Liz gets her mother's journal, which talks about an affair with Red. Katarina was assigned to be in Red's life to seduce him and betray him. Red enlists Tom to work with a group of mercenaries, who are working with McGrath, in the hopes that they can get to McGrath. Samples of Class A substances are hijacked from CDC. Kirk wants one of the viruses. Kirk has a disease, a rare blood disease. Roboski virus will help him. He needs a genetic donation from Liz that will help him. Mr. Kaplan is alive and someone finds her. [Show Spoiler] 4.04 Gaia [No. 81] - Red tasks Liz and the FBI team with hunting down an eco-terrorist. The terrorist wants to set off a nuclear plant in retaliation for radiation affecting him when he was in the military. The radiation also affected his child. Aram falters at shutting off the helicopter, which would kill the eco-terrorist but stop the attack. Harold pushes the button. Samar says she is leaving for good and gets into a fight with Aram. Tom thinks he can help get Agnes back and calls in a friend to track a video feed. He fails, and Alexander Kirk pulls the feed. Liz is furious with Tom because he went behind her back. Alexander Kirk is hesitant to use the baby in order to help himself because it might kill Agnes. The eco-terrorist's son has the same doctor as Alexander Kirk. Red captures the doctor. Mr. Kaplan is being nursed back to health but discovers she is chained up. [Show Spoiler] 4.05 The Lindquist Concern [No. 105] - The Lindquist Concern kills for revolutionary technology. Tom asks for Ressler help in getting info on Alexander Kirk. Silas, who works for the patent office also works for the Lindquist Concern, is killing inventors but is eventually cornered by the FBI task force. Red uses the doctor to track down Alexander. Tom gets info on Alexander's whereabouts tipping Liz off that Alexander has set a trap for Red. Tom gives Liz a DNA test that says Alexander is her father. Red gets only one revolutionary technology. Liz confronts Red about his lies. [Show Spoiler] 4.06 The Thrushes [No. 53] - As the task force closes in on Alexander Kirk, Liz discovers that he is her biological father and is torn in trusting him and Reddingtion. Meanwhile, the task force is dealt with one of Kirk's hacking groups called "The Thrushes" specializing in hacking the most secure networks. Aram is dealt with the truth about his girlfriend and Mr. Kaplan is faced with the person who rescued her and struggles to survive. [Show Spoiler] 4.07 Dr. Adrian Shaw [No. 98] - Alexander Kirk is supposed to be transferred but after he collapses, he is taken to the hospital. Unless a relative donates stem cells to him, Alexander will die. Red uses the FBI team to lure out the coroner in order to find Sonia Bloom, a research scientist. She is now named Dr. Adrian Shaw. Her partner was murdered by the Lindquist Concern. Her work with blood connects her to Alexander Kirk. Liz decides to be Alexander's donor. Tom tries to convince her from having surgery to help save Alexander. The FBI board the ship but Shaw is nowhere to be found. Liz discovers she's not Alexander's daughter. Red captures Shaw and wants her to assist him. Alexander has men coming to get him out of the hospital. [Show Spoiler] 4.08 Dr. Adrian Shaw: Conclusion [No. 98] - Alexander Kirk's men break him out of the hospital. Liz is taken, too. Tom pursues them. He is nearly captured as well, but Ressler arrives to save him. Mr. Kaplan continues to be helped by the hunter in the woods. Mr. Kaplan gets free from her shackles, and the hunter decides to let her go. Red has Dr. Adrian Shaw find patient zero, Lucille Box, who responded to Adrian's treatment, which means Red has the cure for Alexander. -- Alexander learns Liz is not his daughter from his own people. Red demands a trade for Elizabeth, and he is taken to Alexander. Alexander tortures Red and asks if Red is Liz's father. Red says yes. Alexander refuses to take the cure. He prepares to kill Red, but Red whispers a secret to him that stops him. Red returns to see Liz and the baby. [Show Spoiler] 4.09 Lipet's Seafood Company [No. 111] - A seafood processing plant, which is being used for a secret operation by a member of the New Martyrs Brigade, is attacked, and tech is stolen. Red puts the FBI team on the New Martyrs and the attack. Aram attends a deposition about his girlfriend who was undercover and hacked the FBI. He is cleared as a person of interest. The New Martyrs send Farook from Libya to finish the project and find out who attacked them. A member of Blackthorn Kincaid, an American business, is helping the New Martyrs with the classified tech. The FBI is given a possible suspect by the Blackthorn Kincaid, but he is being set up. Turns out, Samar was working with the Mossad, who set up the attack. Samar is captured, but the Mossad and the FBI team up to stop the terrorists and rescue Samar. Aram rescinds his dinner date with Samar citing issues of trust. Red uses the president-elect and gets Liz pardoned. Liz is returned to special agent status. [Show Spoiler] 4.10 The Forecaster [No. 163] - Red plays two businessmen against each other, pretending to work with the other. After Iniko kills his employee, Red reveals that Iniko killed one of his friends two months ago. Red kills Iniko and hires Iniko's cleaners. Dembe, worried about Red's actions, seeks out Liz hoping she can reach him. He reveals that Red killed Mr. Kaplan. The FBI team takes on a case involving a girl who has premonitions, or rather, her hearing aid picks up a criminal's murder plans. These plans associate with affecting stock prices. Ressler manages to kill the murderer, but the one behind the plans and dealing with the stocks gets away. Tom tries to get into living a normal life, but he reveals to Liz that he has reservations that he can do it and leave his former life behind. [Show Spoiler] 4.11 The Harem [No. 102] - Liz infiltrates a heist group to get a witness protection list that was stolen. One of the ladies in the group, a former British agent, has ties with Red. She wants to get out of the game, and betrays the group during a heist. She gives Red the list and he agrees to get her out of the life of crime. The leader of the Harem is captured and the other members disband. Liz confronts Red about Mr. Kaplan's death. Red reveals that he went after the list because Mr. Kaplan's sister is on it and he wanted to protect her. Red's accountant winds up dead and Red suspects someone is behind it and attacking his crew. [Show Spoiler] 4.12 Natalie Luca [No. 184] - A girl with a deadly disease kills Red's accountant. Red tasks the FBI team with finding out who and why. Turns out, the girl was hired by Isabella Stone. However, the girl has been targeting people for money in order for her boyfriend to use those funds for his research. He wants to get the disease like her so they can be together. Unfortunately, another organization is after them. They want to use her for a weapon. The boyfriend is killed, but the girl gets to give one kiss before he dies. Aram takes a pay cut for Samar, so she can make as much as he does. Red recruits Tom to take on Baldur Magnusson, but he isn't after Red. Red and Liz talk about loving each other and staying together. [Show Spoiler] 4.13 Isabella Stone [No. 34] - Isabella and her crew continue to take out men associated with Red's organization. They even put one in jail after police believe the man killed his wife. Red tries to rescue him, but the man is shot in the escape. Red manages to leave and the man stays behind. The FBI team is able to track down Isabella, who is planning to harm a paraplegic that happened to get donations from Red. The team shows up and captures Isabella. She refuses to reveal who she is working for. She is taken away. Red's team stops the transport and captures Isabella. Meanwhile, Tom searches through his past after learning his father was killed in an airplane crash. [Show Spoiler] 4.14 The Architect [No. 107] - Red discovers that the person who hired Isabella Stone is from his bank. Red later learns that the person who hired her was him, or at least the person did it under Red's name with his funds. Harold asks Red for a blacklister after learning he kidnapped Isabella. Aram goes undercover to track down the Architect. Aram runs into his ex-girlfriend, Janet, who has been hired by the NSA to go after the Architect. Aram is captured by the Architect to help free a white supremacist from prison. Aram shoots the Architect's vehicle to prevent him from escaping after Ressler and Samar show up. Tom discovers that the man who said he killed Tom as a child, Christopher Hargraves, was given a script by his mother to admit it. She doesn't know who or why. [Show Spoiler] 4.15 The Apothecary [No. 59] - Red is poisoned. He believes one of his 11 associates betrayed him. Red tries to put the pieces back together and learns Marvin Gerard was leaving the country. Red believes it was Marvin that went after him, but he learns Dembe poisoned him. The Apothecary was behind the poison, as well as a case involving an affair. He also forced his wife to have a baby with him. [Show Spoiler] 4.16 Dembe Zuma [No. 10] - Reddington continues to search for the person responsible for trying to take down his criminal empire. Dembe kidnaps Aram to help him found out who actually poisoned Red and has been after Red. The task force discover that Aram has been kidnapped by Dembe, however, not to kill him, but to help him track down Mr. Kaplan. One of Red’s associates is killed and that leads Red and Liz to a killer going after criminals her parents helped protect in her revenge plot. Red uses her to find Dembe’s family. Dembe discovers Mr. Kaplan is alive. The hunter who saved Mr. Kaplan shoots Dembe, but Red arrives to save him. Red tries to get the hunter to give up Kate, but the hunter sacrifices himself and blows his place up. Meanwhile, Samar continues to struggle with her feelings for Aram when she discovers that he is back with his spy girlfriend. [Show Spoiler] 4.17 Requiem [No. N/A] - Kate Kaplan is collecting all the bodies she cleaned up for Red in order to use it against him and destroy him. In flashbacks to the 1960s, '70s, '80s, a young Mr. Kaplan is hired by Liz's mother Katarina Rostova to be Liz's caretaker. Kate learns about Katarina’s relationship with Red and that he reportedly thinks Liz is his child. After a fire breaks out, Katarina is forced to run, and Kate is given instructions to give Liz to Sam to raise. Kate finds a relationship and thus the reveal of where Mr. Kaplan came from. Her love is shot and killed, and metal plate is put in Kate’s head. Red calls upon Kate to be his cleaner and help protect Liz. She says that she will always pick Liz if the choice is between the two. In the present, Reddington finally tracks down Mr. Kaplan and she vows to get revenge on him and bring him down. [Show Spoiler] 4.18 Philomena [No. 61] - The bodies Mr. Kaplan unearthed starts an investigation, which brings on a former partner of Ressler, Julian Gale. Ressler joins Julian, and Julian believes Red had someone on the inside. He wants to investigate Liz. Fingerprints might have revealed a killer, but no match to Red is made. Liz discovers Mr. Kaplan cared for her as a child. Mr. Kaplan uses Philomena, a bounty hunter, to track down Red’s associates. When they won’t turn on him, she turns them into the police with connections to Red. Red apologizes to Dembe, but Dembe refuses to leave. Philomena reveals where Mr. Kaplan is headed. [Show Spoiler] 4.19 Dr. Bogdan Krilov [No. 29] - Red gets wind that Kate is going after Dr. Bogdan Krilov, the man who manipulated Liz’s memories years ago. Ressler gets a call about a witness in the Reven Wright case, only to be ambushed by Bogdan and his accomplices on Mr. Kaplan's orders. Ressler believes he has Reven’s murderer in his crosshairs, but Liz shows up just in time to reveal to him that he was being manipulated. Ressler doesn’t shoot, but he is arrested. Mr. Kaplan tells one of Red’s associates the truth about his son’s death. Red visits but kills him, thanks to another loyal associate. Red and Dembe manage to escape, trying to keep up with Mr. Kaplan. Meanwhile, Liz is forced to meet with Gale. [Show Spoiler] 4.20 The Debt Collector [No. 46] - The Debt Collector is after Liz. Reddington asks Mr. Kaplan to put their differences aside when trying to help Liz from being kidnapped by a mercenary named The Debt Collector. It is seemingly revealed that a criminal from Liz’s past put out the job on her. However, it turns out that it was Red the whole time in an effort to get Mr. Kaplan. He offers her up a chance to have a truce but she refuses. Julian follows Ressler who is headed with Samar to stop Red. He fires at Red but misses. Mr. Kaplan escapes. [Show Spoiler] 4.21 Mr. Kaplan [No. 4] - Red’s associate’s are leaving him as Mr. Kaplan cleans out his accounts. Aram is called in to testify. Julian tells Ressler he knows about Red. Mario Dixon was hired by Mr. Kaplan to get documents on Red, including his signed immunity deal with the Department of Justice. Mario is captured, but he makes a deal with Red to give her Mr. Kaplan. Red gets the info then kills Mario. Red goes to Dom, Liz’s grandfather, to retrieve an item and reveals Liz is alive. Red offers Mr. Kaplan a chance to live by going to a paradise island. She refuses, and Julian shows up to stop Red. Mr. Kaplan tells Julian she will testify. [Show Spoiler] 4.22 Mr. Kaplan: Conclusion [No. 4] - Mr. Kaplan agrees to testify. Red wants Henry Prescott who has Reven Wright’s body. Aram testifies but says he is proud of the work done with Red. Samar finds out Aram’s girlfriend, Janet, testimony gave up Aram. Harold submits DNA sample to find out if Red is her father. After finding Reven, the Hitchen's bullet that killed her was used to force Hitchen to derail the grand jury. Hitchen gets the grand jury to be stopped. Before Mr. Kaplan can reveal a truth to Liz, Red’s men show up. Mr. Kaplan kills herself so her contingency plan will activate and the truth about why Red showed up to Liz will be revealed. Ressler accidentally kills Hitchen. Liz reveals she already tested for Red’s DNA two weeks after he showed up but never checked to see the answer. Aram gets out of jail and kisses Samar. Liz finds out that Red is her father. Tom gets the suitcase containing a skeleton. Red says they need to find the suitcase before Liz finds out anything. [Show Spoiler] ------------------------------Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Michael Reuben, September 9, 2017 Spoiler alert: This review assumes familiarity with the three prior seasons of The Blacklist. If you haven't seen all of them, proceed at your own risk. The Blacklist began its fourth season on unsteady footing, as the show's creative team struggled to gather up the narrative strands left dangling by the whirlwind of revelations that concluded Season Three. With the death of Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) revealed to be an elaborate hoax engineered by Keen and her husband, Tom (Ryan Eggold), and designed to separate their lives and their newborn daughter from criminal mastermind Raymond Reddington (James Spader), how could the series return to its original format? Could Keen's friends and colleagues on the FBI Task Force welcome her back to the fold after she had forced them to endure such a wrenching farewell? Would Reddington ever again trust Liz? What revenge would he take on his long-time cleaner and trusted confidante, "Mr. Kaplan" (Susan Blommaert), for helping the Keens execute their deception? Is the Russian oligarch (Ulrich Thomsen) who kidnapped Liz and her baby in the Season Three finale really her father as he claims? And what does he want from his putative daughter (and infant granddaughter)? The writers' task was complicated by the demands of the series' short-lived spinoff, The Blacklist: Redemption, which required them to create a pretext for Tom Keen to disappear from the original show for much of the season. The result was a wobbly start, as the weekly search for criminal "Blacklisters" alternated uneasily with the resolution of leftover subplots. By the season's second half, however, The Blacklist had regained its balance and returned to top form, with Red once again defending his empire from sustained attack—only this time the enemy was even more formidable than Season One's Berlin. The ensuing war led the series deep into Red's and Elizabeth's murky history, and Season Four turned out to be the year when many of The Blacklist's most stubborn mysteries were finally resolved. As in Season Three, a pivotal episode (Episode 17, "Requiem") departs from the usual format by having a title other than the name of a weekly Blacklister. It's a journey into the past filled with stunning revelations in one of the series' finest and most memorable hours to date (and, ironically, most of the principal cast doesn't even appear). Season Four accumulates its own subplots as it proceeds, including new layers of barely repressed attraction between Task Force members Aram (Aram) and Samar (Mozhan Marnò), which are complicated by a new romance for Aram, and the reappearance of Donald Ressler's (Diego Klattenhoff) eccentric former partner Gale (Enrique Murciano), with whom Ressler spent years tracking Reddington and who is now asking uncomfortable questions about the Task Force. Still hovering in the background is the cheerfully sinister National Security Advisor, Laurel Hitchin (Christine Lahti), who is secretly a member of the criminal organization known as the Cabal and whose uneasy truce with Red could end at any minute. This overview of Season Four is adapted from the episode guide included with the Blu-ray set. The descriptions have been edited to eliminate spoilers:
As The Blacklist enter its fifth season, the series' creative team have written themselves the opportunity for a fresh start of sorts, as Reddington faces the daunting prospect of rebuilding the criminal organization that has been so effectively dismantled by the end of Season Four. No doubt, the wily "concierge of crime" will find ways to exploit the FBI Task Force in service of his efforts, but what of Elizabeth Keen? What will her relationship be with Red going forward, after the revelations of Season Four? How will Liz reconcile her responsibilities as a new mother with the hazards of continuing to serve as Red's conduit to the FBI? If the season finale is any indication, there are still more bodies buried in their collective past for Liz to discover. Still, having finally divulged so many of the answers that the series' creators managed to withhold for four seasons, they have their work cut out to maintain The Blacklist's distinctively twisty ambiance. In the meantime, Season Four is recommended for its strong second half, and the Blu-rays are highly recommended for their technical polish. Cast Notes: James Spader (Raymond 'Red' Reddington 97 episodes, 2013-2017), Megan Boone (Elizabeth Keen 97 episodes, 2013-2017), Diego Klattenhoff (Donald Ressler 97 episodes, 2013-2017), Harry Lennix (Harold Cooper 97 episodes, 2013-2017), Hisham Tawfiq (Dembe Zuma 95 episodes, 2013-2017), Amir Arison (Aram Mojtabai 93 episodes, 2013-2017), Ryan Eggold (Tom Keen 88 episodes, 2013-2017), Mozhan Marnò (Samar Navabi 75 episodes, 2014-2017). IMDb Rating (11/16/17): 8.1/10 from 132,005 users
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