The Blacklist Dembe Zuma Review
The Blacklist: Season 4, Episode 16: Dembe Zuma kicks the third quarter of the show’s fourth season into high gear with laughs to match the abundant drama.
Coming in the wake of a confusing midseason finale that seemed unable to decide where it wanted to go, the fluid, focused nature of last night’s episode was greatly appreciated. Instead of spreading itself to accommodate every possible character and storyline into the show, the program wisely trims the fat and zeroes in on the hunt for Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq), who handed Red (James Spader) the glass of wine that nearly poisoned him in the previous episode.
In typical-Blacklist fashion, however, the whole thing turns out to have been a ruse by Dembe to make it look like he was trying to kill Red so as to get closer to the party that actually plans to. As part of this scheme, the former bodyguard kidnaps a hapless Aram (Amir Arison) and enlists his services. This leads to one of the funniest moments of the moments of the season (if not the series), where Aram uses his FBI credentials to bluff their way into a secure location. When the guard asks to see their warrant, Aram berates Dembe for leaving it “on the desk” and asks if there is somewhere they can wait while the proper authorities forward another copy. The guard obliges and escorts them into a waiting room where Aram is able to hack into the building’s system and obtain the information he needs.
For a show that has been through as many as twists and turns as The Blacklist has, it is heartening to see that it cannot only tell a simple story, but make it entertaining as well.
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