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Christmas is done, the New Years resolutions are already being abandoned and the God awful winter hiatus of our favorite shows are finally coming to an end. One of my personal favorites, The Blacklist, returns!

**Spoilers ahead for all of you binge watchers**

The first half was by far my favorite episodes in the series to date. With Liz (Megan Boone) and Red (James Spader) on the run, it turned the tables on the formula of catching the blacklister of the week to using them as assets in their continued escape from Agent Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) and his team of F.B.I. analysts. The mid-season finale saw the firing of Samar (Mozhan Marno) when Aram (Amir Arison) lets his personal feelings get to him and backstabs her, the Kabal makes its moves, Keen (Ryan Eggold) and Cooper (Harry Lennox) continue to attempt to clear Liz’s name, but the real cliffhanger was the capture of Elizabeth by Ressler.

The action picks up right where we left off, Liz has been captured, Red is playing the puppeteer and the Kabal wants Keen dead. Ressler is committed to protect Liz while in his custody but he quickly realizes that the Kabal’s reach is much further than he knew. Red recruits Samar to be his colleague in the plan to clear Keen while Ressler tries to protect the one witness that can clear her name in open court. There are shootouts, chases, political intrigue and near death experiences.

The mid-season premiere of The Blacklist is perfectly paced with exquisite character development on a program that already excels in that department. Spader is an absolute genius but that in no way takes away from the rest of the cast. I’m thrilled The Blacklist is back and I can’t wait until next Thursday.

 

5 jail cells out of 5

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