• About
  • End of Year ‘Best Of’ Lists
    • ‘Best Film’ Lists
      • Film – 2017
      • Film – 2016
      • Film – 2015
      • Film – 2014
      • Film – 2013
      • Film – 2012
      • Film – 2011
    • ‘Best TV’ Lists
      • TV – 2017
      • TV – 2016
      • TV – 2015
      • TV – 2014
      • TV – 2013
      • TV – 2012
      • TV – 2011
  • Archived TV Recaps & Reviews
    • Canadian TV
      • Being Erica
      • Between
      • Bitten
      • Lost Girl
      • Orphan Black

Queer.Horror.Movies

The curated portfolio of film journalist Joe Lipsett

  • Queer
    • Horror Queers
    • Inside/Out Film Festival
    • Queer TV
      • American Horror Story
      • In The Flesh
      • Lost Girl
      • Pose
      • Sense8
      • Transparent
  • Horror
    • He Said/She Said
    • Horror Film Festival Coverage
      • Boston Underground Film Festival
      • Fantasia Film Festival
      • Hexploitation Film Festival
      • Horror-on-Sea
      • MidWest Weirdfest
      • Spring of Horror
      • Toronto After Dark
    • Horror Film Reviews
      • He Said/She Said Film Reviews
    • Horror TV
      • American Horror Story
      • Ash vs Evil Dead
      • Into The Dark
      • iZombie
      • Kingdom
      • Penny Dreadful
      • Scream
      • The Outsider
    • Horror Writing For External Websites
  • Movies
    • Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr Podcast
    • Film Reviews
      • Christmas Films
    • Film Festivals
      • Toronto International Film Festival
  • Podcasts
    • Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr Podcast
    • Horror Queers
    • XOXO Horror Podcast
    • Guest Appearances
  • Live Appearances

Quick Take review – The Blacklist 2×04: ‘Dr. Linus Creel’

October 14, 2014 by Joe Lipsett

Courtesy of NBC

This week on The Blacklist: Lizzie (Megan Boone) learns she has anger issues.

This is the opposite of surprising.

Let’s bitch it out…

Case of the week: The team investigates a scientist, the titular Dr. Linus Creel (David Costabile) who is recruiting individuals with the “warrior gene”, manipulating them with false allegations and Catfish identities in order to turn them into assassins. Initially the case is dull, but it takes a bit of a fun twist when Lizzie goes undercover and uses her real issues in order to get Aram (Amir Arison) access to Creel’s computer. Alas, this is passed over fairly quickly in favour of a rote Manchurian Candidate hostage stand-off, albeit one in which Creel positions himself as the murder victim in order to draw attention to his research.

Red Alert: Traditionally the best part of The Blacklist, the scenes involving Red (James Spader) and his ex-wife Naomi (Mary-Louise Parker) this week are beyond boring. You know it’s a slow episode when Red literally just hangs around trying to convince his ex-wife and her new husband Frank to abandon their old lives. His efforts are apparently part of his plan to find his missing daughter “Jennifer” who has gone MIA. Let the speculation begin whether Jennifer = Lizzie.

  • Spin-Off Potential: Paul Reubens returns as Mr. Vargas and his angry diatribe against Frank’s mistress for abusing her dog are wonderfully absurd. I definitely wouldn’t mind Vargas turning into a recurring character who parachutes in to spice things up.
  • Also: Red has had a hired marksman tracking Lizzie since Meera’s death last season and Lizzie has keys to a locked door in Red’s cabin. Still, these few tidbits fail to sustain an entire episode.

Lizzie’s Wig: Initially Lizzie’s hair is just the usual boring shoulder length. Her undercover hair is better: pigtails to discuss Sub Project 7 and professionally messy when she’s posing as “Angela”. All this to say that I miss S1 when the hair was more fun to mock, and I miss Alias even more because on that show the wigs and the hair were integral parts of the missions.

Agent Boring: Thankfully Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) just kind of hangs around in the background this week and we don’t have to listen to his maudlin whining.

Hot Assassin Husband: No sign of Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold) this week or his new, watered down replacement, Motel Guy (introduced last week).

Other Blacklist Business:

  • Aram and Samar (Mozhan Marnò) continue to make flirty faces at each other, but neither is making a move.
  • Lizzie totally has the angry gene, right? That’s why Samar lies to Aram about the results of Lizzie’s test?

Best Lines:

  • Red (when Lizzie requests the removal of the marksman): “He just saved your life and now you want him fired?”

Your turn: is Lizzie Red’s absent daughter or is that too obvious? What’s behind Door #1? Is Lizzie not-so-secretly a total psychopath? Should Aram and Samar just hook-up already? And what should Mr. Vargas yell about next? Sound off below.

The Blacklist airs Mondays at 10pm EST on NBC

Filed Under: The Blacklist, TV Tagged With: Amir Arison, David Costabile, James Spader, Mary-Louise Parker, Megan Boone, Mozhan Marnò, NBC, Paul Reubens

Comments

  1. darci says

    November 3, 2014 at 2:16 pm

    David Costabile might be the best actor on TV right now! He’s so good at just totally becoming his roles that for a guy whose face I recognize instantly, I never think “oh that’s David Costabile” I totally get lost in his character. He does Dr. Linus Creel in such a disturbing and convincing way, that alone was a highlight of this episode for me. My favorite role of his since Breaking Bad…

    I also think Naomi has been great for this show, and it is really pushing forward the links between Red and Liz. I do wonder if maybe secretly Naomi knows where Jennifer is though and I loved the whole end scene where Red and Naomi are talking before she drives off. Last, love the fact that they used “Tide” by Junip during that end scene, that’s such a great mood-setting song.

    • cinephilactic says

      November 4, 2014 at 12:48 pm

      He is indeed great, though I’d much rather see his talents put to better use than as a generic bad guy of the week.

The 411 on me

I am a freelance film and television journalist based in Toronto, Canada.

Words:
> Bloody Disgusting
> /Film
> Consequence
> The Spool
> Anatomy of a Scream
> Grim Journal
> That Shelf

Podcasts:
> Horror Queers
> Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr

Recent Posts

  • ‘Servant’ Unlocks A Location As New Foes Move In [TV Review w/ Gayly Dreadful]
  • ‘Wolf Pack’ Features Pretty People and Shallow Storylines [TV Review]
  • High Concept Series ‘Extraordinary’ Serves Up Safe and Familiar Comedy [Review]

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in