Read on for our episode recap of Season 1 Episode 11 of The Blacklist, titled The Good Samaritan, where an old case of Keen’s pops up. Meanwhile, the FBI tries to figure out who the mole is, and Reddington does some investigating of his own. Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts on The Good Samaritan.
Episode Recap of The Blacklist, Season 1 Episode 11: The Good Samaritan
- When a woman named Karen drops her son off for a birthday party, a man drugs and kidnaps her. He collapses her lung, calls 911, and leaves her in a van. Tom applies for a job in Lincoln, Nebraska. Keen and the other agents are questioned to try to find the mole.
- “The Good Samaritan” is a an old case of Keen’s, called such because he always calls 911 to give them a chance to save his victims. Reddington tracks down and questions those who worked for the Apple Man in the Anslo Garrick operation, then kills them.
- Reddington calls Keen to help her with the Good Samaritan case, suggesting she focus on the victims. Keen figures out Karen’s son was abused, and that every injury she gave her son, the Good Samaritan gave to her. Reddington continues his quest for answers, and kills again.
- Karen’s son, Michael, admits to Keen and Ressler that his mom abused him. The Good Samaritan identifies a new victim while working at the hospital: a husband who abused his wife. Reddington visits an old friend named Henry to ask for all his wire and transfer records pertaining to the operation.
- Aram is suspected as the mole, but Reddington kidnaps Aram and forces him to untraceably steal $5 million and put it into his account. His method proves to Reddington that he is not the mole. The Good Samaritan participates in the self help group of the abusive husband, George.
- Reddington visits Henry’s home and demands to know who else got paid. He shoots Henry in the leg, and puts his frantic wife in the closet. Henry gives up the name “Newton Phillips.”
- Keen and Ressler identify the Good Samaritan as Nurse Karl Hoffman, then track him down before he gets too far in injuring George. Keen shoots Hoffman. In the hospital, Keen threatens George not to hurt his wife again.
- Aram brings in evidence from Reddington identifying the leak as Newton Phillips. Newton turns out to be one of Reddington’s assistants from early in the season. Reddington kills him. Diane refuses to reveal the leak to Fitch.
- Reddington visits Lizzie at home to tell her he’s back and to bring her the next name on the Blacklist.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 1 Episode 11 of The Blacklist: The Good Samaritan
I actually liked this episode of The Blacklist a lot. Sometimes the one-off aspect of this show is a little off-putting to me, and prevents me from really getting into the show at times, but I thought the Good Samaritan case was really interesting. Not only that, but there were a lot of other ongoing things happening throughout the episode that tied other aspects in with the continuing elements of the show.
Lest you thought Reddington had gone soft at all, the episode begins right away with him killing those who were involved in his attack, after pumping them for information first, of course. From Reddington’s point of view, it looks like the Apple Man is a big mastermind, or at least that’s what it seemed like from his line of questioning. Reddington’s visit to Henry’s house was awesome and hilarious. I love how Red can be charming one second, then deathly serious and scary the next, and back to charming immediately after that!
Of course, it wouldn’t be an episode of The Blacklist without Keen being incompetent in some way and needing common sense help from Reddington. She had been working on this case for years, and never considered focusing on the victims instead of the killer? She really needed Reddington tell her that? Umm, ok… That’s okay though, I’m getting used to her random stupidity by now. I kind of just ignore it and take it as a given.
So I guess the big kicker from this episode is that we learned Fitch is somehow involved with the FBI, and/or with the government, since he mentioned something about wanting to present the name of the leak to the Senate Committee. That makes us wonder even more who the people are that he represents, and what the secret is that Reddington is keeping, because it might be something about the U.S. Government.
Also, it looks like Tom is really pushing for Lizzie to leave her job, what with applying for a job in Nebraska and actually flying out for the interview. Or at least, that’s where he claimed that he went anyway. Who knows where he really went, as he could have just been using that as an excuse to pay a visit to whoever he’s working for. I’m wondering how his and Lizzie’s conversation about “us” is going to go as soon as he gets home.
I gotta say, with all of these questions swirling around, The Blacklist really has succeeded in investing my interest this season! I’m glad the show is back, and I’m pretty sure I will continue watching it through the end of the season!
Josh’s Thoughts: The Blacklist, Season 1 Episode 11: The Good Samaritan
COMING SOON
Scenes from The Blacklist, Season 1 Episode 12: The Alchemist
Here are scenes from the next episode of The Blacklist, titled The Alchemist:
What did you think of Season 1 Episode 11 of The Blacklist, titled The Good Samaritan? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
