The Blacklist - The Front

While Reddington (James Spader) reaches out to both an asset at the DMV (Clark Middleton) and Aram (Amir Arison) to find his missing daughter (Scottie Thompson), the FBI work to track down a cult whose leader (Michael Laurence) plans to use a sample of plague to cure the world of the evils of humanity by infecting his followers and spreading the disease across the globe. Red's trips to the DMV provide the episode's lighter moments while the tension of the episode comes from the plague plot which eventually is squelched but not before infecting both Lizzie and Navabi (Mozhan Marnò).

Although a bit over-the-top given the map on a stolen painting leading to the secret tomb where the sample of plague has been kept safe for hundreds of years, the plot involving the baddies of the week provide one of the most dangerous threats Lizzie and her team have fought. Although not surprising, the choice to make the cult leader and his girlfriend (Amber Skye Noyes) less than true believers allows for meeting between the lovers and Red who shows up not only looking for a cure for Lizzie but a key whose secrets it can unlock aren't revealed.

In terms of ongoing storylines Lizzie begins taking desperate measures to evade Reddington's tail by hiring a lookalike (Marianna McClellan) to buy her time to spend in her mysterious warehouse, a secret she has no plans about sharing with Red. Despite his struggles, Red does finally find the woman he believes to be his daughter setting up some big decisions for the master manipulator heading into next week's episode. "The Front" also takes another step forward in the previously foreshadowed relationship between Aram and Navabi.