Warning: Spoilers for the most recent episode of The Blacklist Season 6 -- "The Ethicist" lie ahead.
Liz crossed another ethical line in this week’s episode of The Blacklist, and she got busted doing it. Red’s threat in the previous episode did not seem to affect her decision to pursue the truth further.
After giving the task force a false number for the Blacklister’s burner phone, Ressler ultimately caught on. Ressler being Ressler, he wasted no time confronting her over it.
Liz explained that she did it for a good reason and that he has to trust her. Ask Red how that worked out. The Blacklist was not about to reveal everything. She denied killing the episode’s Blacklister -- albeit, she did let him die by suicide so that she could get the name of the nurse who helped treat a pre-surgery Red for Dr. Koehler.
Liz kept that latter part away from Ressler. Thus, he knows that something is amiss in the forest. He just does not know what lies within the trees. Ressler seemed to struggle with his conscience and the decision to trust Liz for now.
Let us never forget that Ressler hunted Liz down when she was a fugitive. Hence, this is a massive leap of faith for him to make. Of course, during that investigation, he violently killed a lawn gnome. So, in truth, he started to compromise himself during that op. I kid.
In all seriousness, his latest move is a sign that Ressler himself has a new perspective on his ethical boundaries. It is unlikely the character viewers saw at the beginning of The Blacklist would have granted Liz’s request. So, in a way, he crossed a new line along with Liz.
Speaking of Liz, she seemed bothered by the compromise she made to get the information for the imposter investigation. No one was more bothered than Jennifer, though.
The real Raymond Reddington’s daughter continues to perplex. One minute, she is seething to take down Red and claiming she will do whatever it takes. Then, she acts shocked by some of the lengths that will require. Jennifer remains under personal suspicion.
How is she supporting herself while she collaborates with Liz on their Red investigation? Is Liz subsidizing her? Or is Jennifer living off her savings? It is a bit of a mystery. If she is legitimately Jennifer Reddington, and everything she has told Liz is real, then her loyalties to Liz may change down the line.
She did not support what Liz did, even though she did nothing to stop it. If she is scared of crossing the lines Liz did in this episode, she could be even more of a wild card. Her loyalty to Liz is questionable at best.
"The Ethicist" marked the crossing of another new line crossed for Liz, who already crossed a significant one in The Blacklist's Season 5 finale. Liz blamed her choices on Red’s influence over her life. Eventually, she should have to face whether that is entirely true.
In a side note: Why didn’t Liz transpose a set of the numbers to throw the task force off? That way she could have claimed it was a simple mistake. Perhaps, it was pressure. Or the task force already takes that possibility into account and interchanges them to every possible combination. To her credit, she did think to be one number off. So, it is not a super big deal.
In other news, the twin theory seems to still be alive -- with the possibility that Red may not be the identical twin of Raymond Reddington, rather his fraternal one, growing stronger. Meanwhile, Samar’s health issues did not get addressed. Fans of The Blacklist will have to stay tuned to see what happens next with both stories.
How many more lines will Liz have to cross before she uncovers the truth about Red’s identity? Find out when new episodes of The Blacklist Season 6 air Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. The crime drama is among many series continuing their runs with new seasons throughout the midseason.
