"The Blacklist" The Stewmaker (No. 161) (TV Episode 2013) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
13 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
9/10
The greatest contribution Thomas Harris...
A_Different_Drummer14 September 2014
.... made to the evolution of suspense fiction (in his Silence of the Lamb series) was when he explored for the first time in modern fiction not the depths of evil (been done before) but rather what happens when, for a brief moment in time, you have "turnabout;" you have that force used for (briefly) good.

One can argue that the entire premise of Blacklist is a riff on this theme -- and the notion is fundamentally correct -- but this episode is the first in the series to bite down and take it to the gristle.

Just as Hannibal saves Starling from certain death, here Spader's character saves Lizzy from a similar fate. And it is done as well as, if not better than, the film version.

No mean feat, that.
15 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
The Real Red
ZegMaarJus8 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The episode begins in a hostel room with a man called The Stewmaker he kills his victims with sulphuric acid. Liz testifies against a mexican drug boss: Hector Lorca, two witnesses were killed by Lorca's people killed them. The Stewmaker killed one of the witnesses: Luis Pena. Red gives the task force the case: The Stewmaker. The helicopter exploded when Liz wanted to step in with Lorca, Liz got ubducted. Red has a meeting with Lorca he takes Ressler with him. Liz has been ubducted by The Stewmaker. Liz gets away from the house but The Stewmaker captured her again. Red has arrived and banged The Stewmaker down. Red holds a story in front of The Stewmaker, after this he throws The Stewmaker into the bath full of sulphuric acid. In this episode we first see the cold blooded Raymond 'Red' Reddington, he killed The Stewmaker and this actor James Spader makes the show so good. Really good episode of The Blacklist.
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Ressler and Red Work Together!
ShelbyTMItchell18 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I am not the biggest fan of Ressler as he has so far been annoying to the point. But last week, at least he acknowledged Liz and her work. While keeping the tail on her a secret.

As Liz is kidnapped by a Hannibal Lecter like serial killer known as the Stewmaker. As it will take much more of Red's smooth talking to get Liz out of this one.

She is tortured all over. You can't help by feel for her. It is about matching wits with Red each and every single week. We see a bit of character development in Ressler. And hopefully we will see some more.

Tom is a man of mystery! As he wants to whisk his wife away to a three night holiday. In the end, the hotel that the couple wants to whisk too is really a huge mystery that will be open.

Liz has trust issues with Red as well as with Tom. You have to feel for her!
6 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
If you weren't creeped-out by "The Stewmaker" you're numb to drama..,
uqob5 October 2016
What's not to love about this episode? Essentially, a serial killer, played by the impeccable character actor bad-guy Tom Noonan, who disappears people in the hundreds. Elizabeth Keen's psychological sparring to buy herself more time and Reddington's casual execution of vengeance, combined with an above average cinematography, put to an evocative soundtrack. This ep stands up to a 2nd and 3rd viewing and set the stage for a great spy/espionage thriller, with more twists and turns than a crazy straw. This and many other eps is one of the foundational episodes that make this series a stone-cold addiction. Lots of great acting from Spader and Boone.
11 out of 12 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
What a Creepy Character,Creepy Episode
abdiluqman-4759324 July 2020
This criminal is just amazing in his methods,he is unique and creepy.He dissolves bodies in chemicals.Just amazing episode.loved it
6 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
One of the creepiest things I have ever seen
foamythefearsome29 June 2022
So far the Blacklist has brought us a couple of criminals, properly introducing them by showing what atrocities they are capable of. But this one.. This one gave me the chills. It also came with a great story, and marks one of the rare instances where Liz' actual function at the bureau becomes useful to her (the one aside from her being Red's extention cord).
2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Ultra-Intense
Hitchcoc3 November 2022
There are two perpetrators. First, a drug lord who kills anyone who will testify against him, Lorca). He farms out the disposal of the witnesses to his associates and then to a guy who is expert at dissolving the bodies, the Stewmaker. Unfortunately, during this whole business, Liz is captured and ready to face death. Red, as is usually the case, is playing a complex game so he can get both of the bad guys. As will continue to be the problem with this series, things get really far fetched and we have to accept that these bizarre creatures are behind every rock. And we must accept that Red has intimate knowledge of their beings. But that is fiction for you.
2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Something special about the blacklisters
fpythdw26 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
In the end of the episode we discover that Reddington always get a case in order to his own benefit.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Incomplete and absent plot
CursedChico28 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Incomplete and absent plot

I felt always missing things for 4 episode. Maybe because of plot.

How could elizabeth leave alone the witness? And it was so easy to kidnap keen between other people.

Otherwise than, raymond is making fbi do his job. In 4 episodes, zamani, the woman were killed and here stewmaker were killed which he wanted to kill but never found. Probably stewmaker killed his relative or lover.

Chinese mob was also captured. Those are good for raymond because he has still name and reputation. Despite anyone can say about him to criminal world to be careful about him.

It was a scary episode. Shaving his legs and head is still n my memory. Raymond did great job to find him, not sure about murder.

Lorca was in his jet. He also killed lorca? Or captured? I dont know but fbi is doing great job for him.
1 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Too Unbelievable for my Taste
phoenixnl-1664710 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Like mentioned in other comments, all government agencies in this episode are incompetent and have no clue how to do their jobs (But somehow they seem to be able to keep the fact that Reddington cooperates with the FBI regularly a secret). Just as bad is the fact that Lorca's organization seems to be just as stupid. When they bust their boss out (the helicopter blowup scene) they kill every guard and agent around with automatic weapons. But they kidnap agent Keen. Just to have the Stewmaker have her disappear??? Why? If they wanted her dead a few bullets from those automatics would have done the job just as well(And da lot cheaper I imagine). Also other then revenge the Lorca's don't have a valid reason for wanting to kill/disappear her. She's not a witness and only has her profile of the Lorca Boss which is useless without evidence or witnesses. She has no real knowledge so kidnapping to extract information doesn't make sense either. The whole kidnapping was clearly just a plot gimmick and felt forced.

Then there is the premise that the Stewmaker makes bodies disappear with chemicals in a very short time span. This is also completely ridiculous. Even with the most aggressive acid (Hydrofluoric acid) this wouldn't work. (The Mythbusters tried it, testing a Myth based on the Breaking Bad episode where a bathtub filled with Hydrofluoric acid with a body ate through the body, the tub and the floor dropping everything through the ceiling into the hall below. They busted it completely. After over a day the pigs in the tub had partially dissolved but big chunks of bones and meat remained in the bath and didn't really dissolve any further)

Also we are supposed to believe that even though Reddington keeps walking in and out of the FBI office and also meets with FBI operatives in other locations, and none of the criminals he deals with get wind of that???
5 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
I wish there was a zero option
navinpais16 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
The Blacklist: S01E04, The Stewmaker: 0/10 Against better judgement, I decided to give this show one more try, after all, how bad could it be, well, guess what, it can be really really bad. In the pilot they made FBI look like complete idiots, in this episode, they decided to make the Marshals looks worse than the FBI. I don't have any love towards the US Marshal Service, but their record with WITSEC is commendable, making them look completely useless & in such a manner was a disgrace to watch. At this point I was still OK to go along, I honestly thought this was the lowest the show could fall to. Then came the Indian in the show, the one who was equally appalling in Alcatraz, at first I thought she too was FBI (I had not watched ep 2 & 3), after a bit of googling I came to know she's CIA, so now, not only do we have a dumb FBI, inefficient Marshall service, we even have the FBI & CIA playing all buddy buddy, how creative & real, so all that rivalry between the two agencies was just a smokescreen to fool the rest of the world & Americans, lets forget for the time being that CIA is now operating on US soil, right out in the open for everybody to see, why stop there, they are even into interrogating suspects like any other law enforcement agency. The worst part, apparently even the CIA are a bunch of useless dumbf$#@s as they too have no idea of all these hit men, who Reddington knows of, again, so believable. Now lets come to the episode in question, it starts of with unbelievable poor dialogue, goes chugging along the crazy train for some time, then hops onto the crazy train, here an FBI agent whose handing over a suspect to Homeland Security gets abducted, what happens to the Homeland Security agents you ask?? well like all law enforcements agencies in this show, they too are a bunch of useless dumbf$#@s, who not only get their agents killed, they EVEN don't make an effort to go after the people who killed their agents, like the US Marshal Service earlier in the episode, apparently agents getting killed is just another normal day in the USA & their agencies will do nothing to avenge that. So, where was I, the abduction, lets skip to the end, nothing really happens in between, other than complete hogwash, no point wasting time writing abt it. So now we have Reddington who gets the address of the cabin in the woods through a dog service company, impersonating the Stewmaker, never mind the fact that earlier in the episode he had no idea of the Stewmaker's name, but like everything on this show, how & from where he gets the name too is not explained, skipping through more of the bullshit, Reddington does what he has to do, which is kill the hit-man, I mean why keep him alive, when you can get a b$#tload of intel from the man, killing makes total sense. Here comes the most hilarious part, he kills the man just in time & kneels in a surrendering position just a second before the useless FBI with an equally CIA officer break through the door of the cabin, so not only is he a criminal mastermind, he is a psychic too, otherwise how on earth can you explain the timing, & the name of the hit-man he had impersonated earlier over the phone in the episode, who he had just heard of, never seen or knew his name.

So is there anything else they could do worse, they sure can, haven't you heard of the Secret Service, no no, not the agents who protect the President, they even look after the treasury, Im sure one of these days they will be an attempt to rob the treasury, & going by the standard of writing seen so far, Im sure its going to be a successful robbery.
11 out of 53 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Yawn
edward-a-bowden6 February 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Spader is good and the general premise of the show is sound, but this episode was just silly. Exploding helicopters, chemical dissolution of bodies that requires a gas mask, unless it's Spader doing it etc

And you know Keen won't die so the torture is pointless and frankly annoying.
4 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
How???
acj-6500412 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
How did the stewmakers body dissolve completely in the 30 seconds that elapsed between the time he is pushed in the chemicals and when the cops bust in? They said they couldn't find any trace of him and thought he got away right? Is this a thing? I don't think it is, but I guess it could be that there's some chemical mix that will dissolve bodies in 30 seconds.

And why is this lady so upset that a mass murdering psychopath gets killed and saves tons of taxpayer money and family anguish? She seriously acts like Red is worse than the serial killer and actually tells him he's no better. The guy that just saved your life and murdered a mass murderer is no better than him? What is this nonsense? Was that just the residual drugs talking?
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed