The Blacklist season 5 episode 7 review: Dembe, Reddington’s connection revealed

Last time on The Blacklist Harold Cooper had a really great story, which we don’t get to see often enough on this show. Speaking of characters that don’t get enough screen time, tonight we are going to have Dembe front and center as he embarks on a mission that Reddington has strongly advised against since it will put him in serious danger. Let’s dive in and see if Dembe survives!

Liz and Tom’s wedded bliss

For all of you Liz and Tom fans out there, these two are deep in the honeymoon phase of their second marriage (their first one was annulled). We weren’t sure how Reddington was going to react to the news that Liz and Tom eloped, and he took it as well as we expected him to. He admitted that he’s obviously not Tom’s biggest fan, but that he does believe Tom wants what he thinks is best for Liz and their daughter, so he tells her that he’s happy for her.

Tom is still hot on the trail of Pete, but so is the hit man following. When Tom finds Pete and learns that not only did he not kill Nik, but that someone else took the case of bones he’s not sure what to believe,… that is until two men come into their hotel room knocking them out. So who has them captive? These are men looking for Reddington and Tom is happy to offer him up in exchange for his life (or at least that’s how it’s looking at the moment).

Dembe undercover

We rarely get to see Dembe in the spotlight, but tonight he’s going undercover with the task force to help find out who took over Reddington’s human smuggling ring, now that the new owners are killing people instead of bringing them where they want to go. The task force doesn’t want to help Reddington get his smuggling ring back, but they do want to stop it.

After Dembe gets the name of the person who took over Reddington’s business the task force wants Dembe to go further undercover. He wants to help, but Reddington has concerns over putting Dembe in that kind of danger (which is interesting since Dembe is always in danger by Reddington’s side). What we really saw out of this is how much these two really care for each other – this goes way deeper than just a working relationship or a friendship… they are family. We always thought that Dembe pledged his life to Reddington because he saved his life, but Reddington revealing that it is because Dembe feels that he can save his soul. For Reddington, Dembe represents all that is good with the world and a higher standard to want to work towards.

CarterMatt’s overall thoughts

Can we just say that we love Dembe? As much as Reddington comes across as an international man of mystery for us Dembe is just as much of a mystery.  We know that he’s a highly trained killer that speaks 8 languages and can kick Reddington’s butt in mini putt, but outside of that there’s still so much to learn about him. We loved seeing him in the spotlight tonight and now we want to see more of him in the forefront working with the task force. This season of The Blacklist has done a great job giving us more insight to some of the supporting cast and we hope to see that continue.

If you missed our exclusive interview with Blacklist showrunner Jon Bokenkamp you can check out what he had to say about season 5 at the link here.

What did you think of tonight’s episode of The Blacklist season 5? Leave us a comment in the box below and share your thoughts with us.

(Photo: NBC)