TV Show Review

TV Review: THE BLACKLIST: Season 4, Episode 15: Apothecary [NBC]

Jamie Harrold The Blacklist

The Blacklist Apothecary Review

The Blacklist: Season 4, Episode 15: Apothecary has interesting premises but fails to build on them and generate the undoubtedly expected “wow” effect they were supposed to have among viewers.

You would think that for the winter finale the show’s producers would be able to come up with a cogent, compelling story on par with the best the season has had to offer (examples being but hardly limited to The Thrushes and The Harem), but once again it seems they were unable to strike that much-vaunted balance between the program’s dueling subplots that its episodes so seriously need. A token attempt is made to tie Reddington’s (James Spader) story and that of the task force’s by explaining that Liz (Megan Boone) and the FBI are tracking down the man who made a toxin that was used to poison and potentially kill Red while he searches for the party who ordered this attempt on his life, but this explanation feels more tacked on than anything and the two stories never feel like they mesh together even as the dialogue tells us they do.

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In addition, one could even argue (quite credibly, in this writer’s opinion) that the scenes involving the titular Apothecary (Jamie Harrold) form a third, separate plot as they are almost so out-of-left-field that they feel like an entirely different program altogether. In fact, the whole thing, with its hapless victim tied to a bed and catchy but no less kitschy Mamas and Papas songs, feels more at home in Misery, and believe me, I love that movie as much as the next guy, but it’s not what I expect to see when I tune into The Blacklist.

Leave your thoughts on this The Blacklist review and this episode of The Blacklist in the comments section. Readers seeking more TV show reviews can visit our TV Show Review Page, our TV Show Review Twitter Page, our TV Show Review Facebook Page, and our TV Show Review Google+ Page. Want up-to-the-minute notification? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and Facebook.

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Reggie Peralta

**** We hired Reggie, fulfilled our obligations to him, and he quit in the middle of covering two TV series w/ no notice and no explanation. He then ignored our emails asking him to complete his coverage (we had no one else to cover those TV shows). He didn't care. We regret hiring him and we regret putting our trust in him. **** An aspiring writer, longtime film junkie, and former UCLARadio.com disc jockey (where I graduated with a BA in Political Science), I've made the jump from penning book reviews and current events editorials for HonorSociety.org to writing movie and TV news and reviews. When I'm not working towards my certificate in Radio and Television/Video Production at Fullerton College, I enjoy reading (horror, science fiction, and historical/political nonfiction are particular favorites), participating in my school's TV and theatre clubs, attending movie screenings, plays, concerts, and other events, and trying to come up with pithy things to say on social media. Believe it or not, there are occasions where I find time to write for my own leisure.
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