If last week's midseason premiere of The Blacklist demonstrated how the show, like its main characters, can frustratingly avoid previous seismic events, this week's suggested a way to alleviate that frustration: remove most of the cast altogether.
Outside of a brief kicker at Agnes's ballet performance, "Cornelius Ruck" jettisoned everyone in the main cast except Red (James Spader).
While the lack of follow-up on the big moments from the fall finale remains an issue, this episode mostly succeeded in pushing that to the side.
All it took was a familiar-but-satisfying premise (an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery) and fun guest star (Joely Richardson).
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