The Blacklist with James Spader

Red=Robert California=Alan Shore. Spader's a one-note actor, but he does it very well. Even Bilbo, the character he played in "Lincoln", was like a 19th century Red.
Regarding this week's episode, it looks like they're finally moving things forward with her husband.
Did anyone else think it was odd that they let Milton off himself?

 

I thought it was oddly unprofessional.

 

That was one of the creepier images on television in the past decade, when the guy would pull his nose off.

 

Where was The Undertaker getting all the money to sponsor these people?

 

Spader is being Spader, which he does so well. I have to believe this is why he was cast. He played this role in both "The Practice" & "Boston Legal". It's what he's good at.

 

Vince McMahon?

 

He was being paid well over the years to have people hit, according to red

 

Agreed!

I missed that!

 

I agree to a point, but I also think he's making an effort at portraying a very complex character: borderline psychopathic, extremely intelligent, but also capable of being very funny, and yet a villain who appreciates fine art, good music, and great food. And -- the hook for the show -- he has an emotional connection to the heroine for reasons as yet unexplained. I think Spader is the only reason for the show's success; without him, it would be a very ordinary FBI/procedural show.

 

Without him, it would be already canceled.

 

Agreed..

Without Red this show wouldn't survive...

 

Imagine, for example, Crusty the Clown in Red's role... Hard to imagine that lasting more than a season...

 

I really hope Tom knows Lizzy no longer trusts him and is just pretending. They made him so dumb to begin with, then so smart, it would be dumb to make him dumb again.

 

I hope Red and his man come in just as Tom starts trying to strangle Lizzy.

 

Would be more fun to see Lizzy kill him, while Spader sits and watches with glee.

 

Detuned has something there. Maybe a big scene with Tom tied up and telling Lizzie he never loved her and how he hates her. Lizzie wants to kill him, and Red stops her and takes him away for torture..............

 

Coming late to the conversation. Watched the first two episodes just now back-to-back and find it rather pedestrian. Don't see why it's deemed so good. Hmmm.

 

It is pedestrian, but Spader makes it just interesting enough.

 

As it is, it's NBC's biggest hit series... maybe their only new hit series! The ratings have some interesting and unexpected numbers (courtesy ZapToIt):



I see only two shows in the Top 25: The Voice and The Blacklist, and this is very bad for NBC. But I'm glad that The Blacklist is doing well, and the most recent episode this week was terrific. At least we now understand that Spader's character also does not know who the treacherous husband works for or what he wants...

 

I hung in there and watched episodes 3 thu 10 ... it got better!

 

It is very up and down. I think the first half of the season relied on the believability of the storyline involving the criminal of the week and some of those plots were ridiculous. In the more recent episodes, those elements are more in the background as the Red/Lizzy/Tom part of the show has become more satisfying.

 

And we don't know how Spader knew at the show's start that the husband was not what he seemed to be.

 

Who said it was? I think it has been noted several times that if Spader wasn't in the show, it would have been cancelled already.

 

I guess it's because my wife and I aren't in the 18 - 49 category, but we have seen only two shows on that list of 25.

 

In the last episode Red told Lizzie that several years ago he realized some people had started to investigate him. He in turn started to investigate them and the husband was one of the people he discovered poking around in his business.

The explanation wasn't any more specific than that - and it may not be the truth for all we [the audience] know at this time.