The Blacklist: Redemption – Leland Bray

  • Title: The Blacklist: Redemption – Leland Bray
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The Blacklist: Redemption - Leland Bray TV review

The first episode of the new spin-of throws Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold) together with the woman he believes to be his mother Susan Hargrave (Famke Janssen). Tom has several reasons for accepting the job at the covert mercenary organization, including attempting to learn more about himself while keeping his true identity secret. A meeting with the biological father (Terry O’Quinn) who recently faked his own death, along with the warnings from Reddington (James Spader), force Tom to keep quiet about his true identity while suspecting that his mother is up to something.

Along with the recruitment of Tom and the reintroduction of Hargraves’ company, “Leland Bray” introduces the other members of the team who include Matias Solomon (Edi Gathegi), Nez Rowan (Tawny Cypress), and Dumont (Adrian Martinez). Their first mission is to rescue a captured CIA agent (Cara Buono). The set-up is a bit more convoluted than I’d like while teasing an Oedipal attraction between mother and son which is awkward to watch. And, of course, the show is missing the franchise’s biggest on-screen presence in the absence of Red. I’ll be curious to see if how much of the spin-off is mission of the week action and how much is actually devoted to Tom seeking answers (which seems to be the point of the series, although I’m betting we get far more of the former).