The Major (The Blacklist)


"The Major" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the American crime drama The Blacklist. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on March 12, 2015.

Plot

Harold is issued a subpoena to testify in Liz's murder case. However, the FBI goes before the judge attempting to quash it based on national security. The judge requests that Liz explain why he needs to drop it in private, and she relates everything that's happened up until now. Harold comes in and says that Liz was indeed on a mission when she was on the boat where the cop was shot. Red hunts down The Major, the man who recruited Tom. Red reveals that he hired Tom, who flipped and worked for Berlin. The Major reveals where Tom is located. Dembe says Red should tell Liz everything. Tom is still in Germany undercover. The judge receives evidence involving a bullet that contains DNA connected to Liz.

Reception

Ratings

"The Major" premiered on NBC on March 12, 2015 in the 9–10 p.m. time slot. The episode garnered a 1.7/5 Nielsen rating with 7.49 million viewers, making it the third-highest-rated show in its time slot behind ABC's Scandal and CBS's The Big Bang Theory. It was also the thirtieth-highest-rated television show of the week.

Reviews

Ross Bonaime of Paste gave the episode a 4.5/10, stating: "What 'The Major' does is seemingly attempt to prove my point, that an entire episode can have basically nothing in it besides the opening and closing moments, with nothing at all worthwhile in between."
Jason Evans of The Wall Street Journal gave a positive review of the episode, writing: "I'm sure many Cracklisters will moan and complain that this was a wasted episode with lots of flashbacks, but I still really enjoyed it. It was sorta fun to hear Liz recap the entire series thus far. It is a pretty ridiculous story."