The Blacklist: Redemption episode 2 review: The truth with Kevin Jensen
Moving into The Blacklist: Redemption episode 2, we had an opportunity to learn a little bit more about the Halcyon Aegis team, who they were, and what exactly they were up to. Tom Keen also found himself thrust into a world where he thought he was going to be doing a simple mission regarding his past. However, in the process he ended up becoming immersed into very different sort of world.
Moving into tonight’s second episode entitled “Kevin Jensen,” we had a case that was certainly different. It was also interesting to see precisely how quickly the show was willing to move forward and push Tom’s family life into the background. The show likely realized that they couldn’t do crossovers every week for logistical reasons, so instead they tried to get more into the head of who Tom is as a person on his own, and how badly he wants to make some things right.
This is what Redemption does best — examine the psychology of a man trying to do some things a different way. A little more retrospection on Tom’s part could go a long way.
The mission
In “Kevin Jensen,” we saw a story that was all about Scottie Hargrave enlisting Tom, Mr. Solomon, and the rest of the team in trying to recover a longtime family friend in crisis. This was a chance to see further how much she cared personally about other people. We did not get a full sense of the relationship between her and Kevin, but it was clear upon his death precisely how much she cared about him. The Halcyon team is pretty skilled, but at the same time there is only so much that they could do.
The biggest twist that came in the episode was at the very end, when it was revealed that Jensen was not actually a journalist at all. Instead, he was a secret operative trying to ensure that he got the job done. Tom was told that recovering the data that he did was a heroic … but at the same time faced even further heartache when he realized that he was the only one who would know about said heroics. This put Scottie in an even worse position given that she was so close to Kevin’s mother and now had to lie to her. The big twist was that in the closing minutes, Scottie watched a memory of a birthday party featuring her son — and Kevin was also at that party. It’s not really a twist so much as a sad reminder of what was.
As a whole
“Kevin Jensen” was a solid entry, but at the same time, didn’t do a whole lot to further the overall narrative. If this was a show with 22 or even 13 episodes, we’d be more fine with a slow pace. Given that we only have eight, we came out of this episode feeling like we wanted more … even if we were moved by Scottie’s reactions to Kevin’s death. Grade: B-.
Next time
Want to see a preview for the next new episode of the series? Then be sure to head over to this link! (Photo: NBC.)
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