The Blacklist 1.10 Review: Separation Anxiety

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of The Blacklist, entitled ‘Anslo Garrick (No. 16) Conclusion’, then now is a great time for you to go and do that. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Well, we got our conclusion to Anslo Garrick storyline this week, including a very nicely executed death scene that Red carried out. There were a lot of great moments to this episode, but for the most part I just found myself confused. I mean, who was the guy that was talking to Red? What does Red have on them? Have we met them before? So many questions that it was almost difficult to enjoy this episode.

That being said, there were some good points to this conclusion. We got to see a lot more Aram, similar to last week’s episode, which was great. We also got to see Keen take down that man in the building across from hers effectively well. More suspicion, at least for our eyes, arose surrounding her husband, which is a tantalizing story I look forward to investigating further. Also, Dembe is most assuredly alive, and that is something I am very happy about. Getting to see Ressler kind of happy when his engaged ex-fiancé visits him in the hospital was almost worth the pain he went through. And one other thing was how comically good that team “Mr. Kaplan” used to take out that warehouse. They were really good. So, really, there was a lot of great stuff to this week’s episode, it just didn’t all seem to fit cohesively together as much as it normally does. The story was kind of a mess.

Overall, this episode was just messy. I did enjoy Aram and Keen working together, and getting to see Red say goodbye for now to Keen, with his parting words being to watch her husband. Again, the oddity of Ressler smiling was astounding in that he’s always the broody, dramatic character, and I definitely want to see more of that, particularly with interactions with Keen. I still have yet to see Cooper evolve into a fully formed character; for the most part he seems like a leader that doesn’t really have any more to him. The cameras in Keen’s apartment came to a head a lot earlier than I expected, and I’m not sure how I’m feeling about this series going forward, but I do think that of all ten episodes, this is merely the weakest, and I’m okay with that. Still, I have one question, and that’s was Red lying when he said he wasn’t Lizzie’s father, or was that a definitive answer? It didn’t sound like one to me, so I’m hoping he was lying.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“If you can’t save her, you’re of no use whatsoever.” – Red tells Ressler, after having saved his life.

“Anslo, what are you doing here?” – Red questions the man, knowing he was there all along.

“But I suppose I could make us a copy.” – Aram says to Keen, knowing it will be breaking the rules.

Okay, I’m off to review The Originals in a minute. Afterwards check back in for reviews of Supernatural and Trophy Wife.

The Blacklist 1.09 Review: Allies Today, Enemies Tomorrow

Anyone that has yet to watch yesterday’s episode of The Blacklist, entitled ‘Anslo Garrick (No. 16)’, now would be a good time to go and do that. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Now, wasn’t that just an intense hour of television? That’s two Monday night series that involved hostage-like situations (the other being Almost Human). Except, this one gets carried over to next week, something I’m not so sure I care about. I understand doing a two-part episode, but I’m not sure they couldn’t have wrapped this up well in this one episode. Or, at least, this episode could’ve ended a little differently. I get that cliffhangers are an exciting endeavor, but it feels a little cheap the way they did it on this series.

So, with this week’s episode we lost at least one character. One of Red’s bodyguards was killed and another possibly killed as well. I’m really hoping Dembe isn’t dead because, while I hadn’t grown attached to Luli, I have grown to like Dembe, so I’m really hopeful that that was someone else getting shot, not him.

Also, Ressler’s leg was shot, and there was a whole mess of having to cauterize his artery, which knocked him right out from the pain. Now, I know – or at least desperately hope – that they won’t kill him, there’s too much chemistry between him and Keen, but there is a chance he could lose his leg. I really hope that he doesn’t because that means desk job for him most likely and no more fieldwork. I think that would honestly be sad and wrong of the series not to use his untapped potential.

By the end of it, it seems as though Keen has also been caught. You’d think she’d have been smart enough not to leave her back open to multiple entry points. And while I do agree that splitting up does make things faster, it also makes this more dangerous. Now all there seems to be is Aram to save the day and take out the other devices blocking out calls. While I love Aram, and am so glad he also hasn’t been killed yet, him being their only hope does bode well, even if the other men hadn’t seen him and may stop searching after grabbing Keen.

All in all, this was a great episode intensity wise, but not exactly up to par with how the rest of this series has been going. What I’m trying to say is, this was a good episode of television, just not necessarily a good episode of this series. It was a little too all in one place, and not exactly fitting the tone of this show. That being said, I am excited to see how it goes next week.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Allies today, enemies tomorrow; the world is a complex place.” – Red explains to Ressler.

“I’ve only shot at paper.” – Aram states. “Pretend their paper.” – Keen shoots back.

“Kay, I think we’re cool.” – Keen mutters after throwing the device on the ground.

Okay, apologies for not posting this yesterday, but my sister need some help editing an assignment she was writing and it took longer than I expected. So here this is. Check back soon for reviews of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Originals, and Supernatural – not necessarily in that order.

The Blacklist 1.07 Review: The Good of the Many Outweigh the Good of the Few

For all those that have yet to watch yesterday night’s episode of The Blacklist, entitled Frederick Barnes (No. 47), this is where I will suggest you go do that before reading ahead. As always, this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

While this episode did not stand out amongst all the other ones this series has premiered, it did fit well along the lines of progression with the last episode. This episode definitely gave me the confidence in the writers to work the ups and downs of these characters perfectly interwoven into the story of these blacklist criminals week in and week out. That proof came with how the last episode ended, and fit just right carrying into this week’s episode.

My first thought with the way this episode opened was, ‘Hey! That’s Wilson!’, which automatically meant I knew who would be the focus criminal of this week’s episode after not having watching the previews because you don’t just throw Robert Sean Leonard into a series to play a victim. Moving forward with the episode, I thought the opening was brilliant with fitting in Keen and her husband’s fresh start after she thought he was a murderer – which I’m still convinced he is. I loved how she wanted to make a fresh go of the dining room, after all that had happened there, and that their relationship – for this episode at least – seemed to be back in a good place.

This was a nice, easy kind of episode (for this series at least) that was still quite brilliantly written. The way Keen hesitated to take down the perpetrator near the beginning of the episode because she didn’t want one man to die, and then for her to take him down later in the episode before the man could possibly cure his son of the disease. While it didn’t completely mesh well from point A to point B, I did like this use of storytelling, that Keen is right for the tactical unit. But I do believe that look Donald gave her after she said the boy was just one loss for the greater good of the many was sad that he was seeing her being shaped into this harder person, although I could be reading too much into things.

Elsewhere, Red and Keen’s relationship were on the rocks this week, and that friction between them was quite clear. He wanted to fix things, she didn’t trust him, so they didn’t quite work together as much as they have in weeks past. Keen worked more with Donald, which is a relationship I would love to see eventually flourish, while Red made off on his own to go help things out. But in the end, Keen gave some slack to their tug-a-war by saying their relationship is that of partners on this team, nothing more than that, which we all know won’t last, but we’ll let it stand for now.

Other things to note about this episode, both good and bad, one being Keen’s wig. Sometimes it looks terrible, other times not so bad, but for the most part I think it’s the top of it with the heaviness on top with the bangs and such that make it look not good. What’s the need for it when extensions would add length and probably look more natural? Also, I have to comment on how much I love Aram. He’s such a great secondary character, and I just loved seeing him run after Donald with the computer. Another thing, I loved that scene with Red in the house, looking at the markings on the wall, and remembering his daughter as a child. That just pulled on my heartstrings, and I’m sorry if that wasn’t Keen, it’s ridiculous for him to have a fixation on her otherwise. Finally, I have to conclude once again that this series is exceptionally filmed, but the music this week wasn’t quite as great as previous weeks.

Overall, I’m still very happy with this series. It’s not a basic procedural, and that makes it fresh for the television audience. I don’t think Red will be able to keep his contacts out of the loop forever that he is helping the FBI, but for now it could keep working. I absolutely look forward to this series every week and am getting anxious for the weeks that will inevitably be skipped for this series to go on breaks.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“You’re a winter, not an autumn, stop wearing olive.” – Red tells Keen over the phone.

“Autocrats, terrorists, me.” – Red says of Barnes’ M.O. of selling to the highest bidder.

Yay! I’m all caught up. Now to go watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Originals, New Girl, Trophy Wife, and Supernatural. I’m probably going to watch a couple, review them, then watch a few more, so stay tuned.