TV Review: THE BLACKLIST: Season 4, Episode 10: The Forecaster (No. 163) [NBC]

The Blacklist The Forecaster (No. 163) Review

The Blacklist: Season 4, Episode 10: The Forecaster (No. 163) takes a major narrative risk but nevertheless maintains the show’s sense of gravitas and realism.

Indeed, the show departs from longstanding Blacklist tradition in another way. While every episode of the program with the exception of last season’s Cape May is titled after the antagonist or some other person of interest to Red (James Spader), last night’s show is named after an ally of Liz (Megan Boone) and the FBI, although it doesn’t seem as such at first. With Liz restored to her position with the bureau and set to settle into her new home in Washington D.C. with Tom (Ryan Eggold) and baby Agnes, everything seems to be finally coming together for the long-strained couple. When they receive a strange diorama that depicts a gruesome death on their doorstep however, Liz and her colleagues track down the perpetrator and discover Fiona Driscoll (Maggie Lacey) and her disabled daughter Maggie (Brooke Liddell).

Realizing that Maggie not only makes dozens of dioramas like the one sent to Liz but that they also resemble crimes and other tragic events, the team takes the bizarre step of turning off all the electronics in the house and monitoring the area for acoustic activity. Upon doing so, they discover that Maggie’s hearing aid picks up R4 radio waves caused by the hitman next door conversing with his employer. It’s a strange scene probably more at home in Stranger Things or The X-Files, but the show handles it well and doesn’t make the mistake of injecting a supernatural explanation to the event.

As all this goes down, everybody’s favorite bodyguard Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) struggles to cope with his newfound resentment towards Red. While he can’t believe – much less forgive – that Red killed Mr. Kaplan, his boss continues to live life and manipulate others as if nothing happened, orchestrating a complicated string of events in order to simply procure a new set of cleaners. So deep is Dembe’s bitterness than when he’s asked if he would ever betray Red, he says “I don’t know.” As interesting it will be to see if their relationship deteriorates further, all I hope is that Dembe doesn’t go the way of Mr. Kaplan.

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