'The Blacklist' Season 7 Episode 13: Newton takes a 'loud' revenge but critics struggle to 'see the logic'

The one common idea that stayed with viewers throughout the fandom was the viciousness of the murders

PUBLISHED APR 4, 2020

Spoilers for 'The Blacklist' Season 7 Episode 13 'Newton Purnell'

The most recent episode of 'The Blacklist' sees the titular Newton Purcell seek vengeance by exposing his victims to sound waves with an altered frequency that can actually cause disruption in blood circulation and nerve functions. This has sparked off quite the Twitter debate over the plausibility of it all.

Newton was an employee at a data server firm, where the facility's cooling systems emitted low-frequency sounds that cause stress hormones to elevate, resulting in high blood pressure, stroke and even heart failure. Newton blames the firm for having ruined his functionality from prolonged exposure to these waves and decides to target the two experts who were paid off to authorize the usage of these systems. So he sets them up in a bathtub with speakers all around and makes them bleed out as the killer sounds impact their nervous system leading to eventual death.

While some fans are pretty much mindblown by how the writers could come up with ingenious motives and murder weapons even after seven successful years and taking it to Twitter they gushed about it forever. "Killing by sound is bloody terrible, #TheBlacklist writers. You always impress me week after week with your creative imaginations," tweeted a fan. Another wrote: "Dude getting killed by sound. #TheBlacklist invents new ways for villains to take people out.." Quipping about the entire situation, a fan pointed out: "I guess nails scratching a chalkboard is no longer the most painful sound in the world," while another fan stressed on the plausibility of it all, writing: "Sound can drive insane! Hell yeah! When the husband tries to eat chips from a bag while I watch."

The idea, however, didn't sit all that well with certain fans as one of them pointed out: "How can sound do something like this? It's sound. It's everywhere every day, from multiple sources. I'm failing to see the logic here." And another just pointed out how the murder motive didn't seem strong enough, tweeting: "This guy is nasty. He doubted your methods, so you kill him with sound to prove a point?"

But the one emotion that resonated throughout the fandom was the viciousness of the murders. As one fan pointed out: "Blood coming out the victims eyeballs. I’d say sound obsession made Purcell crazy."

'The Blacklist' season 7 airs on Fridays at 8 pm only on NBC.