If theres one thingThe Blacklisthas taught us, its that Ray Reddington demands all eyes on him at all times.
But during the NBC dramas Season 2 premiere, it wasnt the criminal mastermind at the center of everyones attention. Instead, Mondays jam-packed hour belonged to two very important [and very different] women.
Before we get your thoughts on the sophomore premiere, lets review the finer points of Lord Baltimore:
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THEART OF WAR | We find Red in the back of a Jeep thats barreling through Cameroon, where hes been seized by a war lord named Yabbari though my spelling of that name is admittedly questionable who is unhappy with Red crossing his turf. I told you if I ever found you on my territory again, Id kill you, Yabbari says, somewhat gleefully. But as always, its Red who gets the last laugh: He offers Yabbari $3 million in exchange for the names of the bounty hunters that Berlin has hired to tail Red. With the help of a few Hellfire missiles, Red gets the name hes looking for Lord Baltimore, a world-class data tracker and promptly burns the money he promised the war lord and his associates.
Red informs Liz [whos holed up in a motel, for now] that Lord Baltimore is their best hope for tracking down Berlin. As the task force begins digging, they zero in on Rowan Mills [hi, Krysten Ritter!], a data engineer at a major analytics firm who recently had $250,000 appear and disappear from her IRA in the blink of an eye. Rowan seems innocent after her first round of questioning with the FBI, but after she gets a threatening phone call warning her not to speak to the FBI again, Rowan enlists Liz and her team to trace the call which came from inside the house! an apartment leased by Rowan?
SISTER ACT | Rowan is able to explain the funny business by citing her long-lost sister, Nora, who allegedly perished in an accident years ago but is seemingly still alive, using Rowans identity to get her own apartment. Rowan and her mother both confirm that Nora was once molested by her uncle, forcing her to lead a much darker childhood than her sister.
Back at Rowans apartment, a man named Marcus enters unannounced, and although Rowan tries to get him to leave, he insists on playing a record for her: We Three [My Echo, My Shadow and Me]. Marcus talks Rowan through the song, trying to jog her memory about a particularly fateful night years ago and just like that, Rowan remembers. How long was I gone? she asks, stone-faced, before rounding up a team of associates outside Naomis apartment. They gun down most of the guests and FBI agents at Naomis place, and Naomi is taken to a remote location while Liz arrests Rowan or, as we come to know her, Lord Baltimore in the flesh.
Later, Liz questions Marcus about what triggers Rowans memories, then plays the same song for Rowan on her cell phone. Within minutes, its revealed that Rowan is really Nora Mills, who killed her sister years ago in order to claim her siblings less tragic identity. At the same time, Ressler heads to Noras mothers house, where he finds a van in the backyard that contains the decayed corpse of the real Rowan. [Whew! Still with me?]
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Other highlights of the hour:
* Red is briefly captured by former Mossad agent Samar Navabi [House of Cards Mozhan Marnò], who knows Red from a previous dust-up in Haifa, Israel, which killed two of her fellow agents. Red also knows that Samars brother perished in a 2009 bombing hence the falcon tattoo she has in his memory and although Samars time on the screen is limited, surely shell be back on Reds radar very soon.
* Red and Dembe pay a visit to Harold Coopers apartment, where the former FBI director now gets around with the help of a cane. [Is it in totally poor taste to say that the past few months have done wonders for Coopers physique?] Red attempts to convince Cooper to return to work, but his argument seems to fall on deaf ears until the end of the episode, when Cooper returns to the FBI headquarters and is welcomed with open arms. Also receiving a warm welcome? Lizs new haircut, which must mean Megan Boones conspicuous wig days are behind her. Rejoice!
* Ressler spends most of the hour avoiding Dr. Friedman, the FBIs resident shrink, who is scheduled for regular appointments with the agent and his undoubtedly damaged psyche. Ressler blows offthe doc more than once, but behind closed doors, his pill-popping habit indicates hes not doing so well on his own.
* Liz receives paperwork confirming her annulment from Tom. She insists on keeping the last name Keen, considering it was never really Toms surname to begin with and speaking of Tom, might he be the one spying on Liz throughout the hour?
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