Directed by Jace Alexander
Written by Joe Bokenkamp, Brandon Sonnier (uncredited), & Brandon Margolis (uncredited)
The Freelancer (No. 45) provides examples of:
- CIA Evil, FBI Good: Invoked with FBI agent Donald Ressler and CIA agent Meera Malik, who sweetly informs the Freelancer that she's CIA, so she can do things the FBI can't do openly. Such as torture him by poking around his broken leg.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: The Freelancer is an assassin who specializes in making it look like his victims died as a result of a major accident like a plane crash or building collapse, taking the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in the process.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: The Freelancer is on the Blacklist because Reddington considers his crimes particularly heinous. Specifically, because he kills dozens of innocents along with his targets.
- The same can be said for the Everheart Cartel leader Floriana Campo, who Reddington has killed by having her poisoned with the barbiturates that she doses the people she traffics with.
- Playing Both Sides: Reddington plays the FBI against the Freelancer in order to get to his real target: the head of the Everheart Cartel, Floriana Campo.
- Wham Shot: Dembe has a scar that shows he is a former victim of Floriana Campo and the Everheart Cartel.
- Would Hurt a Child: "The Freelancer" commits mass murders to cover up his assassinations, making no exception for children who would almost inevitably be among the victims. Floriana Campo, Reddington's true target, is also very much this trope; she's a human trafficker who's made a whole career out of hurting young girls, while masquerading as a human rights activist condemning the very industry she's involved in.
