Luther Braxton
| "Luther Braxton" | |
|---|---|
| The Blacklist episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Joe Carnahan[1] |
| Story by | J. R. Orci Lukas Reiter John Eisendrath Jon Bokenkamp |
| Teleplay by | Jon Bokenkamp John Eisendrath |
| Original air date | February 1, 2015 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Luther Braxton" is the ninth episode of the second season of the television series The Blacklist, which aired on February 1, 2015 after NBC concluded coverage of Super Bowl XLIX.[2] It is the first part of a two-part episode which concluded on February 5, 2015.
The Blacklist number for the episode is No. 21.
Plot
News broadcasts highlight the military's capture of Reddington (James Spader), whose whereabouts are undisclosed to the public. Reddington has been placed in "The Factory", a high-security prison in the middle of the Bering Sea. Reddington bribes a prison guard (Scott A. Martin) with $50,000 in order to free Red, since Factory inmate Luther Todd Braxton (Ron Perlman) is anticipated to escape and kill Red.
Assistant Director Cooper (Harry Lennix) meets with high-level NCS members Kat Goodson (Janel Moloney) and her unnamed superior (David Strathairn), who has replaced Alan Fitch as the NCS' board director. They inform Cooper of the situation, prompting him to dispatch agents Keen (Megan Boone), Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) and Navabi (Mozhan Marno) to the Factory and extract Reddington. The three are ambushed by Braxton's men upon arrival, with Ressler and Samar being captured while Liz is able to escape. Meanwhile, Braxton breaks out of his cell and assembles a team of criminals.
Liz reunites with Reddington, who tells her he didn't want her here. Reddington explains that he planned his arrest to stop Braxton from obtaining "The Fulcrum", a hard drive containing highly confidential information on national security. The Fulcrum is not in the prison, but Braxton believes Red has it. Red and Liz meet with a group of factory inmates to plan their attack. One man advises that they go to the boiler room and cause an explosion that will destroy the Factory's server. Braxton calls Reddington over the phone and the two have a brief but confrontational talk before parting ways.
Braxton is looking to get the codes used to access the Factory's servers, which Goodson is determined to prevent. The FBI attempts to negotiate with Braxton, who responds by executing the warden (John Ventimiglia) and threatening to have Samar hanged. Cooper reluctantly gives the code to Braxton, who accompanies his men to the servers and gains access.
Braxton and his crew access the server room and using the code, access the system.
Liz and Red arrive at the boiler room and increase the pressure in the boilers until an explosion occurs, incapacitating Red and causing Braxton to lose connection with the servers. Liz attempts to resuscitate Red, but ends up getting captured and taken to Braxton. Elsewhere, the NCS director is urged by his coworkers to have Braxton eliminated, and in response, orders Goodson to deploy an air strike on the facility.
Reddington wakes up and brandishes a shotgun, making his way through the prison until he arrives at Braxton, shooting his men down and subduing him. Braxton begins to explain how he knows about Red and Liz's history in the house fire, how Red "came for Liz" and that Liz is "the one". Red urges Liz to shoot Braxton, but the missile strike hits the prison.
Production
Series creator Jon Bokenkamp — in an interview for 'The Hollywood Reporter' — said that the two-part story arc resembles a "big heightened event movie in a very contained way."[3] When asked whether or not the episode will be fit for new viewers post-Super Bowl, Bokenkamp said:
It's certainly an episode designed for a new viewer to just dive right into. In watching it, I think they will very easily get a sense of what the show is, who Reddington is, what the show tastes and feels and smells like. It's an easy show to sort of dive right into at this point, but also I think we've designed some really fun revelations and some [surprising payoffs] for people who are ardent fans.[3]
In regard to preparation for new viewers, executive producer John Eisendrath said in an interview for Entertainment Weekly:
Yes, we knew that it was going to be the Super Bowl. We felt as if, first of all, we were going to get a lot of viewers who had never seen the show before. We wanted to make sure that we had an episode that was a good introductory episode to Red and the situation that he is in with the FBI and a standalone case. We didn’t want to confuse any new viewers with anything that may linger in other episodes that are serialized. And we wanted to have a big, impactful event for those new viewers.[4]
In casting Ron Perlman as Luther Braxton — the episode's title character — Bokenkamp said "I've been a fan of Ron Perlman for a long time. He just brings this great presence to the show. I think he's going to be a memorable Blacklister."[3]
Prior to the episode's release, James Spader expressed his hopes to Zap2it that the series would gain more viewers from the Super Bowl.[5]
Reception
Upon airing, the episode ranked as NBC's biggest overall audience for a scripted series in more than 10 years, with 26.5 million viewers.[6] The Canadian broadcast received 1.37 million viewers, making it the fourth highest-rated broadcast of the night and the twenty-second of the week.[7]
Jodi Walker of Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a positive review, saying
rather than give us an interesting one-week character, we got a baddie to sink our teeth into with the likes of Ron Perlman and his mysterious Belgrade references, and rather than skirting around the lingering issues from November’s midseason finale, the show went full-frontal Fulcrum. The only thing I might fault this midseason premiere for is feeling quite similar to last season’s midseason return; but I don’t need The Blacklist to reinvent the fedora every week, especially if it means Red Jack Bauer-ing his way through a secret floating prison in order to tell Lizzie that she’s… something.[8]
References
- ^ Melanie Heggs (November 24, 2014). "'The Blacklist' Season 2 Super Bowl Episode SPOILERS: Executive Producer Joe Carnahan Gives Details". Fashion N Style. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 11, 2014). "NBC 2014–2015 Schedule: 'Parenthood' Renewed; 'State of Affairs' & 'Marry Me' To Air Post-'Voice'; 'The Blacklist' Moves Midseason + 'Parks and Recreation' Final Season Benched". TV By the Numbers. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ a b c Gajewski, Ryan (January 30, 2015). "'The Blacklist' Creator on Super Bowl Episode's "Revelations," Red and Tom's Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ "'The Blacklist' bosses preview 'amped up' Super Bowl episode". Entertainment Weekly. January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ Bobbin, Jay (February 1, 2015). "'The Blacklist's' James Spader hopes Super Bowl XLIX is 'good enough' to keep viewers around". Zap2it. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ Bibel, Sara (February 2, 2015). "Post Super Bowl Episode of 'The Blacklist' Scores as Primetime's Top Broadcast Entertainment Telecast Since the Oscars". TV By the Numbers. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ "Top 30 Programs (January 26 – February 2, 2015)" (PDF). Numeris. February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
- ^ Walker, Jodi (February 2, 2015). "'Blacklist' recap: 'Luther Braxton'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
