‘The Blacklist’ season 2, episode 9 review: Ron Perlman shines as Liz – Red fire revelations loom

Fans of “The Blacklist” had to wait until the end of a long Super Bowl in order to watch the start of the two-episode “Luther Braxton” saga, and at the moment, we have to say that this episode did not disappoint. There was action, there was drama, and we also learned that our title character has a little bit of hidden information in regards to that infamous night of the fire.

As Braxton himself managed to guess, Liz was indeed the girl present at the fire so many years ago, an event that has in many way formed a foundation for the series.  Right when we were starting to get to the point where the information was beginning to pour out, though, there was another explosion. How convenient! Of course, you probably saw this one coming.

Until this point, though, we learned more about how Braxton and Reddington went back several decades, and how the FBI was largely stuck watching chaos unfold in the Factory, a secret prison designed to hide notorious criminals. There were so many different factors to weigh here, and that bureau is still one in chaos after the death of Fitch.

The true scene-stealer of the entire night, though, was Ron Perlman. We knew from “Sons of Anarchy” that he could play evil effectively, but Luther was as dark and as vile as you would hope. He’s also chasing a shadow in a way, given that he does not even know everything about what he is hunting, or that he really needs Liz in order to find it. (This is in part of the mysteries still hanging over this episode for us.)

There were some other nice moments in here throughout, including Liz’s desperate attempts to save Red when she thought he was dead. Aw, she does care! This episode was a good bit of fun. Hopefully, there were enough new viewers who will keep watching to make up for this terrible move to Thursdays. Grade: A-.

What did you think about this episode of “The Blacklist”? Share below. (Photo: NBC.)