by Lee Padrick, December 3, 2013
The Blacklist S1E10
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Leg wounds are never as bad as they appear. At least on television.
This week's episode is the second part of "Anslo Garrick," and it also serves as the mid-season finale. All in all, an exciting hour of The Blacklist.
by Lee Padrick, November 27, 2013
The Blacklist S1E9
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Lizzy comes to work on her day off and channels her inner badass.
The promos for the latest episode of The Blacklist suggest that the show is stepping up its game. So I tuned into "a very special Blacklist," expecting an unknown international turkey smuggler being the target. Because its Thanksgiving. What I got was much better.
It is fun and cathartic to watch the highest rated new show of the season. The characters are over-the-top, the plot makes absolutely no sense, and there is a big budget which translates into lots of stuff blowing up. A great release for those of us who watch prestige drama.
by Lee Padrick, November 15, 2013
The Blacklist S1E8
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
This episode's theme is about fatherhood. Or not.
The opening scene where a father and son are playing in the park as aircraft parts (and bodies!) fall from the sky is terrifying. Later, we find out that the father and son died as a result of the aircraft bombing by a group of nutcases calling themselves "General Ludd." The General Ludd group appear to be the illegitimate lovechild of WTO protesters and the Unibomber. And their main guy, the newly-blond Bradley Holland/Nathaniel Wolf/Arthur Denning (Justin Kirk), a familiar look-a-like, is busy planning more attacks in hopes of bringing down the country's financial system. Because his daddy was laid off, found comfort in a bottle, and committed suicide. Sure, why not destroy your country's financial system if a family member develops a substance abuse problem and suffers from depression? Makes perfect sense. If you are Carlos the Jackal.
by Lee Padrick, November 8, 2013
The Blacklist S1E7
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
The beauty of The Blacklist is that it is a satire of other popular TV dramas.
As Andy Greenwald describes it, television is cannibalizing itself. In this new era of Walking Dead Miami and Better Call Saul, The Blacklist stands out as a big-budget over-the-top hour of wickedly nonsensical badassery, driven by the riveting performance of James Spader as Raymond Reddington. As I have mentioned previously, the best way to view the show is to suspend logic until after the credits roll.
by Lee Padrick, October 30, 2013
The Blacklist - S1E6
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
After a strong episode last week, The Blacklist delivers "Gina Zanetakos," an episode as hard to follow as the title is to pronounce. A lot of stuff happens within the show's 44 minutes and a fair amount of it does not make much sense.
As I've said previously, for me to enjoy The Blacklist, I have to suspend logic and just come along for the entertainment of Spader's acting and the big-budget action scenes. But this week requires more than a suspension of logic. It requires thought. And thought during The Blacklist can make the show much less enjoyable, because most of the plot of The Blacklist does not make sense.
by Lee Padrick, October 23, 2013
The Blacklist - S1E5
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Ford F-150 versus Jeep Cherokee!
The strength of The Blacklist is size of the budget. Every week, the show continues to up the ante on its action scenes.
There is a new unknown international badass ghost that is known as the Courier. The Courier specializes in moving things, often across international borders, for his clients. His service is expensive, and if the buyer or seller does anything untoward, he executes them both. And, he happens to be on Reddington's (James Spader) blacklist.
by Lee Padrick, October 23, 2013
The Blacklist - S1E4
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
OK, by the fourth episode of a new network show, its fate has usually been sealed. Future episodes are ordered, or the ones already in the can will likely be burned off at 8 PM on fall Saturday nights.
The fourth episode of The Blacklist worked for me, as it moved back to the promise offered by the pilot. Not coincidentally, this episode (along with the pilot) was directed by Joe Carnahan, and it showed. Carnahan may not be able to do much about the writing, but he put the "creep" in "creepy" as our latest Villian of the Week was an odd bird indeed.
by Lee Padrick, October 22, 2013
The Blacklist - "Wuijing" S1E3
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
OK, James Spader is bringing a world class 'A' game to The Blacklist. Trouble is, the script cannot keep pace with Spader's acting chops.
At least in this third episode of the show, the FBI is no longer pretending to have Reddington in custody. So watching the first half of the episode was more enjoyable, considering I didn't have to keep wondering how he comes and goes from custody. You know, since he is a High Value Detainee and all.
