NOTE: this post contains spoilers for The Blacklist season 10 episode 2, "The Whaler." Catch up with our previous recap for The Blacklist season 10 episode 1.
The cat and mouse game started by Wujing (Chin Han) intensifies in "The Whaler." The episode begins at a high-end casino in Sydney where a woman is arranging a line of credit for a high-roller client. When the head of security at the casino balks at approving it the woman strangles him, letting him know she's not an ordinary fixer and her client, Yao-Ling, will be approved and all her other requirements will be met as well. She threatens to blow up his car outside his home if he doesn't go along with her plans.
This woman is Anika De Beer (Lucy Taylor), the titular "Whaler." She's an international concierge gambling fixer, setting up games at casinos around the world for the highest of high rollers who travel the globe to gamble millions of dollars.
While Anika is setting up a high-stakes game in Sydney, Red (James Spader) and Cooper (Harry Lennix) are in New York, discussing Siya Malik (Anya Banerjee) joining the team to help them with their pursuit of Wujing and other Blacklisters.
Red tells Cooper Wujing has been spotted at casinos in several different countries and he believes Wujins is getting these rich gamblers to fund his vendetta. Word is out that Anika is setting up a special invite-only game in two days for a handpicked selection of multi-million dollar players in Sydney. Red believes getting a player into her game is their best way to find Wujing.
But getting into the exclusive Sydney game isn't going to be easy and they don't have a lot of time. Red sets up Malik to pose as a high-stakes player named Emilia Lyons and Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) to pose as her plus one at an exclusive, high-payout game run by a New York music promoter Red knows. He's hoping Anika will be scouting this game for players to round out her party.
Ressler is worried about Malik, but Red says the other players are trained to read people and Ressler would be too obvious. They won't see Malik coming. The ruse works, as Malik proves she's got what it takes to pull off the operation. After watching her win on video from Sydney, Anika approaches Malik and invites her to the Sydney game.
While Ressler and Malik are on their way to Sydney, Red is taking care of an issue closer to home. He feels protective of Agnes (Sami Bray), who is dealing with a bully at school. Red is clearly still feeling some guilt and grief about losing Elizabeth.
In typical Red fashion he finds out who the bully's parents are, then pays a visit to the man's boss. The boss owes a lot of money in gambling debts. Red gives him the money to pay off his bookie in exchange for the boss transferring the bully's father and family to Florida. All things considered this is a good solution, and much less violent of a solution than Red is known for.
In typical Red fashion he finds out who the bully's parents are, then pays a visit to the man's boss. The boss owes a lot of money in gambling debts. Red gives him the money to pay off his bookie in exchange for the boss transferring the bully's father and family to Florida. All things considered this is a good solution, and much less violent of a solution than Red is known for.
At the poker game, things are tense. Security is tight, so Malik and Ressler are on their own without any way to contact backup if things go bad. They settle in and Malik sits down at a table to play. There are two Chinese billionaires at one table that Malik recognizes because MI6 has files on them.
When a Chinese man who looks and acts military comes in and sits down but isn't playing cards, Ressler is suspicious. He slyly gets a photo and goes to the bathroom to send it to the Task Force team. The man is a Chinese mercenary, former special forces. As Ressler is speculating about why the man is there, Anika's security come in and take Ressler away.
While security grabs Ressler, Anika gets Malik away from the table. She knows Malik isn't "Emilia Lyons" but doesn't know who she actually is. Back at the game, Anika's client Yao-Ling joins the game, and it is none other than Wujing.
Red suspected Wujing would be at the game. He shows up at the casino and bribes Anika with $6 million in diamonds to get in the room. Then he challenges Wujing to one hand of no-limit poker.
While Red gets himself a seat at the table, Malik and Ressler fight their captors. They overpower Anika's security team and then, watching the security cameras, realize the Chinese billionaires were letting Wujing win millions of dollars. On the phone with the team in New York, they figure out these poker games were how Wujing was getting clean money to fund his assault on Red. He needs clean cash because international agencies were watching all his bank accounts.
Wujing and Red face off as only these two powerful adversaries can in a controlled environment. Red is always at his best in these situations. He wins the hand and as the police enter the casino the high rollers scatter. As Anika tries to flee the country, Wujing hijacks her car and kills her for betraying him. Red may have won this round, but Wujing isn’t going to be deterred from coming after Red.
New episodes of The Black List air Sundays on NBC, then are available on-demand on Peacock the next day.
