The Blacklist Recap: ‘The Kingmaker’ [Episode 20]

A politician in Prague is framed for murder by “the kingmaker’ and thus we are introduced to this week’s blacklist offender. Following Tom’s advice, Liz takes the key to open a safe deposit box where she finds an envelope containing pictures of Red entering the hospital the day her father died. At first, Liz says nothing to Red about this, she just wants to know where Tom is hiding and Red just wants to her to go after the kingmaker.

The kingmaker is a psychopathic strategist with a gift for making and breaking politicians’ careers. His latest client, an assemblyman named Chandler, secures his family and himself inside their family car and nosedive off a bridge. Chandler and his daughter survive the stupid act, but his wife did not make it even though he tried to revive her. Red swears Chandler’s act of heroism was purely a media stunt engineered by the kingmaker. He’s right of course, but who goes to such extremes for political power. I don’t even think our political parties, as crazy as some of their members are, would go that far. Now as for some of these benefactors, well that’s another story.

By the way, the kingmaker has one annoying quirk or affliction. He has a habit of constantly sniffing as if he smells gas or bad body odor. He sure couldn’t hide from anyone because they could easily “sniff” him out. Pun intended.

Knowing there is someone out to get him, Red seeks to form an alliance with Alan (Alan Alda) and his One World Order buddies. Since Red allegedly has some sort of damaging evidence dangling over the heads of this mysterious group, Alan must meet with the brethren first before giving Red an answer. It’s understandable. You should never rush into making decisions where Red is concerned.

In their quest to find the kingmaker, Red, Dembe and Liz enter a building operating as one thing (I believe a pawn shop), but behind one closed door it is a cigar bar/restaurant that is shut off to the poor and middle class, upper and lower.

Liz and Donald find proof that the kingmaker has been keeping tabs on one Senator Mitchell. He was hired by Chandler to find a creative way to “push” Mitchell out of his senate seat. Its doubtful Chandler knows the full details of just how this is to take place especially since Chandler didn’t expect to lose his wife in his previous dumb act.

The kingmaker breaks into the man’s house and shoots him. Is becoming a politician really worth all this? Liz and Donald arrive to find the Senator bleeding all over the floor. While Donald is checking out the back area, the kingmaker sneaks up on Liz and starts choking her. My goodness! Leave the girl alone. She’s probably still black and blue from last week’s pounding from Tom. Fortunately, Donald sneaks up on the kingmaker and pops him good in the head. The king is dead.

Red is ticked off! Alan and his council of the secret order refuse to help him. According to Alan, they are grown people who can handle their own affairs even whatever Red has up his sleeves. Yeah so they say, but are they as cunning as the man? Red is also upset about the kingmaker being dead. It seems the former political career maker/destroyer had answers to Red’s big question. Who is out to bring him down?

Now Liz is ticked off! She knows that Red was not only at the hospital but in the hospital room when her father died. She point blank asks if he killed her father. What’s this? Hesitation? Red is caught between a rock and a rockier place. The cat has got his tongue for a moment. Finally, he admitted he did kill him, but tells her he did so to end Sam’s suffering. Now, if memory serves me correctly, Red killed Sam to keep him from talking. There was no mercy killing there. Well, maybe there was some mercy, but his primary reason for smothering the life out of Sam was to keep some secret smothered.

Disgusted, Liz tells Red they are done and begins to walk out. Uh-oh, wait. It looks like she’s about to give him two snaps and a bird. She does not do it but you can see the temptation in her eyes. Red looks genuinely sad and at a loss for what to do next. Liz, on the other hand, sashays on over to her partner Donald’s apartment. Wait. What? So what do you think? Did Liz go there to cry on Donald’s shoulders or to cuddle in his arms?

Tune in next week as Liz figures out that the Berlin they seek is not a place but is actually a person and this Berlin is coming for Red.

Watch ‘The Blacklist’ on Mondays at 10:00 PM on NBC.

 
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