The Good Samaritan (The Blacklist)

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"The Good Samaritan"
The Blacklist episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 11
Directed byDan Lerner
Written byBrandon Margolis
Brandon Sonnier
Production code111
Original air dateJanuary 13, 2014 (2014-01-13)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Anslo Garrick Conclusion"
Next 
"The Alchemist"
The Blacklist season 1
List of episodes

"The Good Samaritan" is the eleventh episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist . The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on January 13, 2014.

Contents

Plot

Red remains missing and conducts his own investigation to hunt down those who betrayed him during the Anslo Garrick incident. The entire FBI team is under investigation as internal affairs tries to find the mole. Aram is initially suspected, but Red is able to prove he was set up. Meanwhile, a serial killer from Liz's past, "The Good Samaritan" (guest star Frank Whaley), strikes again. Elizabeth is allowed to join the hunt for the killer, as Cooper knows Red will likely realize how much this unsolved case means to Elizabeth and reach out to help her. Soon Elizabeth discovers the victims are all linked through abusing a family member, and that the killer was likely an abuse victim himself. Though she finally kills the Good Samaritan, she gives the man's final near-victim (guest star Frank Pando) a warning to treat his wife better or she'll make him regret hurting her. Red confronts a financier named Henry Krueger (Victor Slezak) for betraying him and shoots him, forcing the wounded Kreuger to give up the name Newton Phillips, who is in fact Red's aide. Red later confronts Phillips for leaking his location to Garrick and kills him via suffocation, with Phillips having told him to make it look like an accident. Red then visits Elizabeth to tell her that "his house is clean" now, but hers isn't, explaining that Phillips couldn't have pulled this off by himself and that there's another mole inside the unit.

Reception

Ratings

"The Good Samaritan" premiered on NBC on January 13, 2014, in the 10–11 p.m. time slot. [1] The episode garnered a 2.5/7 Nielsen rating with 9.35 million viewers, making it the highest rated show in its time slot [2] and the eleventh most watched television show of the week. [3]

Reviews

Jason Evans of The Wall Street Journal praised James Spader's performance as Raymond Reddington: "This was another tour-de-force by James Spader. He has so much fun playing bad Red and we saw a lot of bad Red tonight". [4] However, he said "the story of the Samaritan was a bit of a yawner" and thought "it just did not matter to the overall plot". [4]

Jodi Walker of Entertainment Weekly gave a mixed review of the episode: "The Blacklist may be a little over the top, and it may really just be a showcase for one great actor, but I continue to be impressed by its ability to balance a serialized mystery and mythology with week-to-week storytelling and narrative arcs". [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Blacklist</i> American crime thriller television series (2013–2023)

The Blacklist is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, a former US Naval Intelligence officer turned one of the Most Wanted fugitives who cooperates with the FBI in hunting down threatening criminals on a special list of his called the "Blacklist". The series also stars Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff, Ryan Eggold, Amir Arison, Hisham Tawfiq, and Harry Lennix. The Blacklist was produced by Sony Pictures Television, Universal Television and Davis Entertainment. John Eisendrath, John Davis and John Fox served as executive producers for the entire run of the series; its creator Jon Bokenkamp also executive produced the series for the first eight seasons. Other executive producers include director Joe Carnahan and Spader.

"The Decembrist" is the eighth episode of the second season of the television series The Blacklist, aired on NBC on November 10, 2014. The episode was directed by Michael Watkins, and written by Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath. This episode serves as the season's fall finale; the show returned on February 1, 2015 after the 49th Super Bowl.

"Luther Braxton" is the ninth episode of the second season of American crime drama The Blacklist, which aired on February 1, 2015 after NBC concluded coverage of Super Bowl XLIX. It is the first part of a two-part episode which concluded on February 5, 2015.

"Pilot" is the pilot episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on September 23, 2013. It was written by series creator Jon Bokenkamp and was directed by Joe Carnahan.

"The Freelancer" is the second episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on September 30, 2013.

"The Stewmaker" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on October 14, 2013.

"The Courier" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on October 21, 2013.

"Frederick Barnes" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on November 4, 2013.

"Anslo Garrick" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on November 25, 2013.

"Anslo Garrick Conclusion" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on December 2, 2013.

"The Alchemist" is the twelfth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on January 20, 2014.

"The Cyprus Agency" is the thirteenth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on January 27, 2014.

"Madeline Pratt" is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on February 24, 2014.

"The Judge" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on March 3, 2014.

"Mako Tanida" is the sixteenth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on March 17, 2014.

"Ivan" is the seventeenth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on March 24, 2014.

"Milton Bobbit" is the eighteenth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on March 31, 2014.

"The Pavlovich Brothers" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on April 21, 2014.

"The Kingmaker" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on April 28, 2014.

"Berlin Conclusion" is the twenty-second episode and season finale of the first season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on May 12, 2014.

References

  1. "Episode Title: (#111) "THE GOOD SAMARITAN KILLER"". The Futon Critic. 2014-01-13. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
  2. Kondology, Amanda (2014-01-14). "Monday Final TV Ratings: 'Intelligence', 'Mom' & 'The Bachelor' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers . Tribune Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
  3. Bibel, Sara (2014-01-22). "TV Ratings Broadcast Top 25: 'NFC Championship' Tops Week 17 With Adults 18-49 and Total Viewers". TV by the Numbers . Tribune Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on 2014-01-25. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
  4. 1 2 Evans, Jason (2014-01-13). "'The Blacklist' Season 1, Episode 11, 'The Good Samaritan Killer': TV Recap". The Wall Street Journal . Dow Jones & Company . Retrieved 2015-06-04.
  5. Walker, Jodi (2014-01-14). "The Blacklist recap: Let's Get Biblical". Entertainment Weekly . Time Inc. Retrieved 2015-06-04.