The Blacklist Review: Tom Keen (Season 2 Episode 16)

In last week’s review, I said that The Blacklist asked the question of how far everyone would go to protect Elizabeth Keen. The answer, of course? “Pretty dang far.” In this week’s episode, “Tom Keen”, we see that played out quite clearly as Red and Ressler head to Russia to track down Tom Keen.

They want to bring him back to the United States so that he can testify in the case being brought against Liz. If he doesn’t? She’ll likely be facing murder charges unjustly. Tom is adamant the entire episode that he would not go to jail for anyone, let alone her (which, ouch). But as he often is, Red is pretty convincing and strikes the fear of God in Tom. Either that or Tom actually realizes he once cared for Liz and wants to protect her.

But there’s something more important than whether or not Tom really loves Liz and it’s this idea of morality and the conflict of sacrificing your own values and compromising your morals in order to protect people. Cooper perjured himself for Liz. That is something he never thought he would do and it’s something he never wanted to do. He always held himself – and Liz, for that matter – to a higher standard: they were the good guys. They were the people who put criminals away and fought for justice. But Liz… well, Liz got herself into a bad situation that cost an innocent man his life because she was unwilling to be upfront and honest. Because of this and everything that happened, she loses Cooper’s respect and trust. Before he collapses in a seizure, he and Liz argue and he tells her that he doesn’t even recognize her anymore. She’s not the woman he hired eighteen months ago.

And it’s true: Liz has changed a lot since the pilot episode. Gone are the days of her optimism, her hopefulness. Elizabeth Keen has turned into someone who is hardened and bitter and who will do whatever it takes to bring someone to justice. Sound familiar? Slowly but surely, Liz has become more like Red and she can rebel against that notion all she wants, but it’s true. The reason she’s constantly repulsed by him and yet always returns is because the truth is that the reason we dislike other people is because we see pieces of ourselves in them. Liz doesn’t want to admit it, but she can see some of herself in Red. And I think that terrifies her.

Tom confesses to the murder of the DC harbormaster and then is exonerated because the federal government protects the task force. Remember Cooper’s friend Tom Connolly? This is the guy who is going to become the Attorney General and he pulls rank over Judge Denner (with good reason because Denner had no authority to be conducting a case that required the level of clearance that Liz’s case required). Denner eventually rules that Liz and Cooper’s testimonies would, in fact, endanger our national security and that the case would never see the light of day. It disgusts him and it disgusts Detective Wilcox who just wanted justice for Eugene Ames. The man had a daughter and has a widow. How is he supposed to explain to them that rank outweighed justice? And that no one will ever be punished, really, for Eugene’s murder?

This strikes something very real in Liz as she’s being confronted. She will have to live with this for the rest of her life. She will have to wake up every morning and realize that the reason a man is dead is because of her; the reason a widow and a daughter are grieving? They are in that situation because of the lies she told. Lies spiral. No one tells just one lie or just a white lie. And it’s clear from Cooper and Liz’s confrontation that the woman isn’t able to see exactly what or who she has become yet – she makes excuses and Cooper has none of it. He remembers who she once was. And he just hopes that one day she will too. But that’s the question, isn’t it? Who IS Elizabeth Keen? I don’t think that Liz will ever get back on the right trajectory until she takes the time to figure out who she is without Tom, who she is without a perfectly constructed life, who she is as an agent, etc.

At the end of the episode, Red and Liz have a conversation in which Liz inadvertently reveals that she has anonymously funded a scholarship for Eugene Ames’ daughter. And Red warns her of the danger in this – of the danger in not knowing when to stop. He seems to indicate, through this very specific conversation, that the reason he knows this is because he’s doing it for her. And that begs the question: did Red cause Liz’s biological parents to die? Does he feel so guilty that he keeps himself close to Liz in order to protect her? Since this is The Blacklist, I suppose we won’t ever get an answer to that question. But there were plenty of outstanding moments in “Tom Keen” so I can overlook the endless rabbit trail of unanswered questions.

For now.

Because if this episode taught us anything, it’s that no one can avoid the inevitable. We can try, but we never can quite escape the consequences of our actions.

Notes & quotes:

• Cooper has a brain tumor, which is really sad. I figured he had something of the sort but it was confirmed this episode and while he may not be expected to live long, the experimental drugs are helping a little bit.
• At the end of the episode, Tom called Liz to see how she was doing. These two are in some seriously weird love/hate/co-dependent relationship with each other. It makes me feel icky. I hope I’m not the only one. Related aside: we found out that Tom Keen was No. 7 on Red’s list of blacklisters!
• Ressler: “I’m coming with you.” Red: “No, you’re not.” Ressler: “She’s my partner.” There was so little solid Red/Ressler interaction but this was delightful.
• Red: “You may have given up on us, but I haven’t.”
• Red: “No, I mean he’s LITERALLY covered in holes.”
• “What do you want, Red?” “A quiet place next to a lovely stream where I can watch things… float by.”
• Red: “At the risk of sounding immodest, perhaps my reputation precedes me.”
• Red: “See? This is why we got the insurance.”
• Tom: “I’m not going down. Not for her. And sure as hell not for you.”
• Cooper: “Apparently Aram thought I died.”
• The Aram/Samar scene this week was adorable.
• Liz [to Cooper]: “You’re the only person in the world I completely trust.”
• Tom Connolly: “I didn’t expect it. But I sure as hell respect it.”
• Liz [to Red]: “You saved a man you hate to save me.”

Well, what did you all think of “Tom Keen”? Are you excited that Tom is off the hook and back in our lives? And what do you think Red’s secret is?

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The Blacklist airs at 9/8c on NBC