The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 3 Review: The Four Guns
Denis Kimathi
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Raymond and the team took a break from hunting down Wujing on The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 3, and while that sort of made sense, it also felt odd.
This being the final season and all, we expected Wujing to be central to the storyline appearing in at least one scene per episode.
It didn't feel necessary to keep him offscreen because, contrary to other antagonists Raymond has faced in the past, Wujing isn't exactly hiding.
It would have been better to focus on them parallel to each other as they make their plans separately to take the other person down.
And that might be true in the coming episodes, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
We focused on Raymond's attempt to try and get Robert out of prison for the hour.
Raymond needed people who had mastered the art of deception and creating illusions to do that. And man did The Four Guns know how to do it.
Their ability to create distractions made them so efficient in Panabaker's campaign rally. They knew that the security team would try to neutralize the perceived threat of a guy with his hands in his hoodie pockets. That was the first bait, and it was amazing how they fell for it.
They were also such a random bunch you wouldn't expect them to know each other. If I were a funny person, I would make a joke about an older man in a wheelchair, a middle-aged woman, a young man, and a handsome stranger walking into a rally, but I wouldn't know how to end it.
Even in the hospital rescue, it was like magic.
The episode had Raymond get active with his efforts, and from what we know about him, he appeared to prepare to go on the offensive.
Panabaker: Reddington blackmailed me.
Harlod: You said all that was forgotten.
Panabaker: Forgotten but not forgiven. I never want to be under that man's thumb again.
So far, he has been playing defense which would explain him living in an abandoned bath house. On The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 1, he was actively looking for a space that could offer him privacy, but all the listings from the realtor were too grand for him. It seemed like he had found it.
Wujing is not looking to kill Redington.
That would have been easier and less scary for Redington because the current plan Wujing has will bring Red to his knees.
Wujing plans to expose Raymond as an FBI asset, ending his credibility in the criminal world and thus making him weaker. Taking him out would be easier and less messy if he didn't have people behind him who would be upset by his death.
Once other criminals learn he's a rat, they will want nothing to do with him and cut the ties that bind them. It will mean nothing to them when they learn of his death.
And it looks like Raymond is also not concerned about it.
When he took Quentin, they did this thing where he opened himself up to be read by the guy.
I'll tread softly. I assume braver men have plumed your depths and drowned. The stuff you carry the way your smile never reaches those eyes. Is this humor and darkness? A life lived too long and with little left to lose.
Quentin
The mention of Raymond being tired of living didn't seem like news to Raymond. He might have thought about it for a while now that Elizabeth was gone.
It has been less than three years since he had prepared himself emotionally to die. The plan had already been made, and he had made peace with it.
It would be a good guess to think he feels he's on borrowed time as if he shouldn't be here anymore.
That might also explain the carelessness he's been exhibiting.
He goes around without security, takes a bus, and doesn't live in a mansion with a hundred ex-military guys for protection.
Maybe he's hoping someone will spot him and take him out, or it might be a calculated plan. Whatever it is remains to be seen.
You always have an angle.
Robert
The last time Raymond and Robert interacted, he couldn't keep Robert secure during Aram's reign. It was understandable why Robert wanted nothing to do with Raymond because the trust had been broken.
But anyone who knows Raymond knows they don't have an option when he does them a favor or needs their help.
Whatever Raymond is planning must be huge and requires stealing.
With a group of pickpockets and a master thief at his beck and call, he's in a great position.
Since Wujing's primary plan is to expose Raymond, something is always somewhere that contains all of Raymond's secrets.
The best guess is that this is what Raymond needs to be stolen before Wujing gets to it.
Something peculiar also happened between Dembe and Roth.
[to Dembe] You're an agent, too, so you know. The job doesn't care how you feel.
Roth
When Roth went off about how corrupt the FBI is, it seemed Dembe identified with that to some degree. Roth and Dembe are quite similar. They are both people who had gotten too close to the people they had sworn to protect, such that everything turned personal.
They then found themselves as part of a larger body that seeks to protect itself.
Will this realization that being an FBI agent isn't as satisfying as being Raymond's right-hand man be the thing that drives him out of the bureau?
He had grappled with the decision to join the bureau as a black man, and his daughter was against it, so he might be harboring some residual feelings about it all.
"The Four Guns" was actually a good episode despite digressing from our expectations. The blacklisters were great, taking the story in a different direction, but whether it was a good thing remains to be seen.
What did you think of it?
Is Raymond tired of living? Are his current actions natural stimuli to threats, but he is not fully invested?
We always love reading your opinions, so don't hesitate to share your thoughts.
As always, you can watch The Blacklist online via TV Fanatic any time.
Denis Kimathi was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.
