Madeline Pratt (No. 73)
- Episode aired Feb 24, 2014
- TV-14
- 42m
Liz helps Tom adjust to the impending adoption; Red reveals a woman from his past is a target; Red convinces Liz to pull off a heist at the Syrian Embassy.Liz helps Tom adjust to the impending adoption; Red reveals a woman from his past is a target; Red convinces Liz to pull off a heist at the Syrian Embassy.Liz helps Tom adjust to the impending adoption; Red reveals a woman from his past is a target; Red convinces Liz to pull off a heist at the Syrian Embassy.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Red (James Spader) briefs the FBI on Madeline Pratt (Jennifer Ehle), the camera pans across several screens of surveillance photographs, supposedly showing Madeline at various charitable and political events. The last one appears to depict Madeline dining and conversing with Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz, a Republican and the junior U.S. Senator from Texas.
- GoofsThe painting in Red's borrowed apartment, supposedly Vermeer's "A Young Woman Seated at the Virginal" is about 3 times the size of the actual work. The original which is one of Vermeer's smallest paintings is only 9 7/8" x 7 7/8" (25.2 cm x 20 cm.)
- Quotes
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: [to Lizzy] There you are. What the hell happened to you? You just leave me stranded with awful Algerian. He's been hitting on me for 20 minutes.
Embassy Guard: Sir, this is a secure area.
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: [to security guard] Well, not secure enough if you ask me, sister. You know what? Why don't ask Rasil? We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for that troublemaker. Always an agenda with him. Cultural attache. Culture, my ass.
[Points at Lizzy]
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: The things I do for this one.
[to Lizzy]
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: Gallivanting around the globe for you little assignations with you know, hmm-hmm.
[to security guard]
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: Carrying her furs and bikinis as if I wouldn't rather be back in Dutchess County my shelties.
[to Lizzy]
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: Hey, don't take anything for granted. Everything you have was bought and paid for by your boyfriend.
[to security guard]
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: Do you have any idea who's horn this tramp is blowing? Let's just say it starts with Bashiar, and ends with Assad, gassing you faster than a Sunni. So let's get her out of the hot seat and into a limo. Good God, crumbs up!
Embassy Guard: What?
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: Your cummerbund. Pleats up. You look like Bob Yashimura in eighth grade swing choir. It's upside down.
[Red punches out the security guard]
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: Oh god, that hurts!
Elizabeth Keen: What the hell was that?
Raymond 'Red' Reddington: I don't know it just felt so right in the moment.
I prefer to start this one telling you what I don't know. Spader was, I believe, a "brat pack" member as a younger actor. He never gave a bad performance. But he never gave a great one either. He did a film with Susan Sarandan the name of which I have completely forgotten. (Remember the "what I do not know" theme here.) It was fun. At the time.
I cannot readily name or identify his body of work over the last two decades. I do not know which other actors read for Blacklist except to add that millions of viewers should be grateful "they" did not get the part.
I do know that as the series progresses his acting is on an entirely different level of magnitude than his cast associates. And he just keeps getting better.
I gave this episode a low rating by the standards of the series, a high rating by the standards of most other shows. The story lacks bite, it is bit hard to swallow (as compared with, for example, the earlier episode where the Bureau was hijacked, Red was in a locked cage, and Lizzie was about to be shot in front of him -- THAT HAD BITE).
However what this episode does have is the opportunity for Spader to show his dominance over the role and he does that in (ahem) spades. Simply to watch his performance is worth the visit.
- A_Different_Drummer
- Jan 5, 2015