Runaway Train | The Blacklist “Miles McGrath” Review

The Blacklist is continuing to deliver action packed episodes, and “Miles McGrath” does not disappoint.  Liz and Red continue the hunt for Alexander Kirk and Agnes.  Red still feels betrayed and wants to search on his own, but Liz won’t let that happen.  We also got to see Tom using his undercover skills so well. 

Now back at the FBI, Liz is definitely confused about Kirk.  She’s not sure if he’s her father, but so far she has no reason to doubt it.  She doesn’t necessarily want to defend Kirk, but she seems to understand that he’s just doing what he feels is necessary to get his family back together. 

This was also the first time that Aram and Samar got to see Liz again.  Samar is still upset and doesn’t seem comfortable even being around Liz.  She goes so far as to reveal that she’s putting in for a transfer.  Is this the end of Samar on the task force?  Aram is just happy to see Liz alive and well.  During the hunt for Agnes, Liz realizes just how far Samar’s animosity goes.  Liz is frustrated that Samar hates her, but Aram understands.  He lets Liz know that even though he doesn’t hate her, he hates what she did. 

Liz goes to Red to see if he has any leads on Kirk and Agnes.  He says that he does, but he wants to go after Kirk on his own.  Liz doesn’t want to accept that, but Red won’t let her help.  Unfortunately for Red, he gave up too much information, so Liz just uses the FBI to help her find Kirk.  Kirk reached out to Miles McGrath.  They call McGrath an incubator.  He listens to pitches from criminals, and if he likes their idea, he invests money in exchange for a piece of the profits. 

McGrath is currently working on an operation and just so happens to be short a man.  Red knows the leader of the group who’s doing the dirty work and offers up one of his men to join the op.  Lo and behold that man is Tom Keen.  Tom joins the team and ends up on a train full of containers from the CDC. 

McGrath has the group steal all of the CDC vials from the train.  These containers just happen to be every Class A substance.  Kirk has McGrath steal sample number 17 for him, and the group gets to keep the rest.  Of course, the FBI raids their facility moments later and recovers all of the CDC containers aside from sample 17.  Thankfully, the group leader gives Red McGrath’s location, and Red pays him a visit. 

Thinking that McGrath will lead him to Kirk, Red gets McGrath to get a meeting set up with Kirk.  If there’s anyone who can go toe to toe with Red, it’s Kirk.  He knows that something must be up and avoids the meeting with Reddington; I guess Kirk is still one step ahead… for now.  But, Red still has the virus that Kirk needs in order to prolong his life.  Kirk has a disease, a systematic failure to create viable bone marrow cells.  The virus that Red has obtained from Miles McGrath will help Kirk to prolong his life, since there is no real cure to his disease.  But, if he has a biological descendent, it could save his life.  Red is convinced that is the only reason that Kirk is still after Liz, but he still has Agnes.  Could Kirk really be using Agnes for her blood? 

Ironically, it seems that no one can die in this show!  Mr. Kaplan is in fact alive.  She wakes up after Red and Dembe are long gone.  Although she’s clearly bleeding out, she finds a way to drag herself to some water.  It’s here that someone comes across her.  It’s unclear whether or not this person is going to help Mr. Kaplan, but I’m guessing he will.  What will she do if she can survive this?  Will she hide from Red or confront him? 

Liz is still trying to figure out if Kirk really is her father.  She ends up stealing her mother’s diary.  The diary exposes her mother’s affair with Reddington, but what Liz didn’t know is that her mother was assigned to be in Red’s life.  Liz’s mother was supposed to seduce and betray Red, but she got attached.  Liz understands the irony when she’s telling this to Tom since Tom was assigned to be in her life by Red. 

Editor's Rating

Overall–90%

This episode was another solid performance for The Blacklist, but I’m still waiting for a giant shoe to drop.  We’ve gotten some smaller surprises but have yet to get that bombshell.  Samar officially put in for a transfer after she found out Aram was cooking dinner for another woman in his apartment.  Was Samar considering a date with Aram?  Is she too late?  I’m glad to see Amar has moved on for his sake.  I assumed that Mr. Kaplan wasn’t dead, but what will she do if she survives this?  Is there a chance that Agnes is just a pawn in Kirk’s game to save his own life?  Only time will tell.  Keep tuning in to The Blacklist on NBC. 

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