by Lee Padrick, Janaury 15, 2014
The Blacklist S1E11
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
After a holiday break, The Blacklist is back for .... well, not much.
After a satisfying two-parter with "Anslo Garrick," I settled in for epic The Blacklist. The first red flag was the episode title. "The Good Samaritan Killer" made me roll my eyes, but I had visions of a blacklister that contracted to kill other blacklisters for favors, instead of money.
The opening scene with the mother and child, and the guy giving her the drugged coffee? "She must be a secret agent person or something," I said to myself. Nope, she is the victim of a case-of-the-week serial killer, and Liz must find the killer and bring him to justice because .... (in my best movie trailer voice) "This time, its personal!" Give me a freakin' break. The serial killer is a Dexter-ish ER nurse who deals with domestic violence victims and tortures and kills their abusers.
Meanwhile, our Man-of-the-Hour-With-Style-and-Power is running around killing all the folks that were involved with his capture by Anslo Garrick. He is even cheesily killing folks to Johnny Cash's "When The Man Comes Around." Can you tell this episode isn't working for me?
After he exacts revenge on all the Garrick mercenaries, and after Liz tracks down the Good Samaritan (named because he leaves his victims barely alive and calls 911 to save them? Really, who dreams up this stuff?) and shoots him before he can creepily torment his immobile elderly mother some more, we get a reconciliation of Red and Liz. Seems they have made up and will get back to catching blacklisters next week.
If that was the case, why did I have to sit through this week's episode? This was not my favorite The Blacklist episode. Seems this show is in a perpetual state of taking a step forward-a couple of steps backward.
Finally, we now know who the mole is. The show threw us a twist, making us think it was Aram. I was floored, but Aram as the mole was very believable. Then, the show pulled that rug out from under us and identified Grey as the mole. Grey?!? So Red kills Skinny Pete, and the whole mole (sorry, I giggled when I typed that) thing is settled. Except that the mysterious Grey is now dead. And I was hoping for a Grey-flashback episode later in the season. Well, there's still Dembe.
I have mentioned it before, but the premise of this show could be much more fulfilling if it was a 12-episode season, versus a 22-episode season. With a shorter season, we could skip some of these filler episodes where nothing happens and advance the season's arc at a more coherent pace.
I look forward to getting this train back on the tracks next week.
Random Thoughts:
- Tom wants to interview for a teaching gig in Nebraska. Good riddance! But if he won't go to work at his job in D.C., he probably won't work in Nebraska, either.
- Ressler is back at work and walking with a limp. C'mon, he would have lost that mangled leg in real life!
- Still don't trust Meera, the CIA chick.
- The scene where Liz threatens the wife beater in the hospital was so superfluous. I think I actually screamed at the television.
What did you think?
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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 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.
by Lee Padrick, October 18, 2013
The Blacklist, "The Freelancer", S1 E2
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Watched the second episode of The Blacklist. James Spader (three-time Emmy winner for Best Lead in Drama), playing Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the most wanted criminals in the world, is incredibly talented. The Blacklist writers, not so much.
by Lee Padrick, September 29, 2013
WARNING: This review contains spoilers
OK, so I've been seeing these promos for a new NBC show called The Blacklist. And I didn't know anything about it.
I have seen its name show up on some of the Best Shows of Fall 2013 lists. But thanks to the new ways of watching TV, I have somehow avoided the ads and promos that show up every fall on the broadcast networks. On Saturday, I saw it advertise numerous times during an afternoon football game. So, I fired up the pilot via OnDemand late on a Saturday night, which is apparently not a good time to try to absorb a new show about a Diabolical Mastermind.
