The Kingmaker (played by Linus Roach, you may know him as Doctor Thomas Wayne from Batman Begins) is a proper Blacklist villain, if a bit mustache-twirly at times. He’s got a distinctive look, a very particular M.O., and some typically villainous personality quirks (he’s a germophobe with a seemingly hyperactive olfactory sense). He’s the guy you bring in when you have a political career to kickstart. While generally, anything involving the backroom wheelings and dealings of political spin is evil enough, the Kingmaker takes it to that very special next level. He doesn’t just build you up (by any means necessary), he also tears your opponent down…often in rather permanent fashion. Forget about political assassinations. Those are for suckers. This guy gives new meaning to the term “character assassination.” “The Kingmaker” features less in the way of pyrotechnics than “The Pavlovich Brothers” and also doesn’t move the overall story forward quite as dramatically. Which isn’t to say that nothing happens. Plenty happens. But like many episodes we’ve seen in the second half of this season, this is one that never fully commits to either half of its obligation. The Kingmaker himself would be perfectly at home during those earlier, purely villain-centric Blacklist episodes, and I wish we had more time with him. On the other hand, the larger plots, including the pressure that Red is under and Lizzie’s entire life falling apart both feel like they’re secondary. The problem is, they’re secondary to a villain who already feels like he’s taking a back seat. For a little comparison, last week’s episode, “The Pavlovich Brothers” was a much more balanced, focused piece of work. The Brothers themselves were both the threat/objective AND they ended up serving the larger story in a more meaningful way than the Kingmaker did this week. If The Blacklist is going to remain true to its villain of the week format (and I hope they do, it’s what drew me to the show in the first place), then they’re going to need to find more elegant ways to blend the fun, visceral, procedural aspects with its more cable drama-esque pretensions. Despite my misgivings about the necessity of a 22 episode season, I do believe it can be done. Anyway, back to the matter at hand… There were some fun, subtle ways to illustrate that Red is quietly losing his cool as the pressure on him builds. His exchange with the fella in the pool early on where, for the first time I can remember in the show’s history, one of Red’s marks actually calls bullshit his harmless, garrulous lies. There were other little clues. I initially wondered why his initial meeting with Fitch (Alan Alda) lacked that crackle and intensity of their earlier meetings. Then I realized…Red doesn’t hold the cards anymore. This is the first time all year where he has not only been negotiating from a position of weakness, but isn’t even sure enough of his position to bluff his way through it. I don’t feel like we were particularly bludgeoned with this fact by the dialogue, so I have to give credit to the writers. BUT…the last few minutes definitely made up for it. This is as close as we’ve ever seen Red to cracking. His reaction to the news that the Kingmaker is dead and that he won’t be able to use him for his own purposes was great, as was the way his face fell when Lizzie finally confronts him about her father. The most unexpected moment of all is when Red, in what is perhaps the most entirely honest moment we’ve ever seen from him, tells her the entire truth about what happened that day in the hospital. The audience knows this to be true, but Liz has no more reason to believe him. Still, we’ve seen her tell him that “we’re through” before… Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
