Episode no. Season 2
Episode 16 Production code 216 | Directed by Andrew McCarthy Original air date March 19, 2015 | |
Story by J. R. Orci
Lukas Reiter
Jon Bokenkamp
John Eisendrath Teleplay by Lukas Reiter
J. R. Orci | ||
"Tom Keen" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on March 19, 2015.
Contents
Plot
Following "The Major", Judge Denner finds that Liz was lying about the murder after police find the bullet that matched her gun and was used to shoot Samuel Alecko. In light of the evidence, the judge pushes forward an indictment for murder and perjury for Liz. In order to reach Tom, Reddington and Ressler sabotage an arms deal and kill Tom's assigned group, telling him to confess to his murder of the harbormaster. Meanwhile, Cooper, who confides to Liz about the perjury, has a seizure and is rushed to the hospital. Liz later finds out from Cooper's wife that he has a brain tumor and has at most a year to live. Tom comes to the courtroom and confesses to the murder, attempting to make a deal for Liz to be free from prosecution. However, Tom Connolly, in line to become the next Attorney General, intervenes, forcing the judge to drop the charges in exchange for avoiding arrest for exceeding his authority. Later, Tom Keen calls Liz and asks her if she is okay.
Ratings
"Tom Keen" premiered on NBC on March 19, 2015 in the 9–10 p.m. time slot. The episode garnered a 1.8/5 Nielsen rating with 8.64 million viewers, making it the second highest-rated show in its time slot behind ABC's Scandal, which collected 7.79 million viewers on a 2.4/7 Nielsen rating. It was also the twelfth highest-rated television show of the week.
Reviews
Ross Bonaime of Paste gave the episode a 5.0/10, stating: "'Tom Keen' does end the episode on a strong note, but it doesn’t counterbalance the fact that this installment shows just how disposable and changeable everything that came before it can be."
Jodi Walker of Entertainment Weekly gave a mixed review of the episode, writing: "With this confusing yet blatant, frightening yet lovely, frustrating yet enlightening episode of The Blacklist comes a turning point—hopefully one the series won’t go back on."