"Madeline Pratt" is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily sur ...

''. The episode premiered in the United States on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on February 24, 2014.

Plot

Madeline Pratt (

Jennifer Ehle Jennifer Anne Ehle (; born December 29, 1969) is an American actress, the daughter of English actress Rosemary Harris and American author John Ehle. She gained fame for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 BBC miniseries '' Pride and Prejudi ...

), a former professional and personal interest of Red's, enlists Red's help in stealing a statue called the Effigy of

Ashtart Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart (Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar (East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name i ...

in the Syrian embassy. The statue secretly contains coordinates for Soviet nuclear bombs hidden in America, which has the interest of the Russian mob. Red enlists Elizabeth's aid in the operation, only for the pair to be double-crossed by Pratt. Faking their capture, Red succeeds in getting the location of the Effigy and the coordinates from Pratt. The statue is secured and one of Pratt's allies is arrested. Pratt is able to free herself and steals a precious painting from Red. Meanwhile, Cooper's investigation into Diane Fowler's disappearance is effectively stonewalled by Special Agent Walter Gary Martin of the D.C. Bureau, who says the orders "came from the top".

Reception

Ratings

"Madeline Pratt" premiered on NBC on February 24, 2014 in the 10–11 p.m. time slot. The episode garnered a 3.1/9

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

with 11.18 million viewers, making it the highest rated show in its time slot and the tenth most watched television show of the week.

Reviews

Jason Evans of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' gave a mixed review of the episode: "As ''Blacklist'' episodes go this was unusual. For the first time I can recall, the subject of the episode, Madeline Pratt, end up just fine – neither captured nor dead". He went on to say: "Some of what happened involving the hunt for the effigy by the FBI and the Russians doesn't really make sense. I need to think about it a bit more, but this episode just felt "off" at times". Jim McMahon of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

gave the episode a 6.8/10, stating: "A decent hour of ''The Blacklist'' is highlighted by Lizzy's (criminal?) past". He went on to complement the "cool past" of Elizabeth Keen, and felt "tonight was the first time" he found her character to be "remotely interesting".

References

External links

* {{The Blacklist 2014 American television episodes The Blacklist (season 1) episodes Television episodes directed by Michael Zinberg Astarte