Well said. I totally agree with the assessment that these were the 2 best episodes of the series. I've hung on to this show, out of admiration of James Spader and his consistent portrayal of this character. At times however, much of the story lines & the acting of others has been weak at best. Hopefully, they will maintain this level of quality. I don't yet know the status of renewal for next season, but if they are in fact wrapping things up, I am grateful for the long awaited explanations provided in these episodes.
2 very wonderful shows, hope it continues. having tom gone and no baby anywhere to be found helps immensely.
I do most of my TV watching off the DVR, but for some strange reason The Blacklist is appointment watching for me.
That is sad and funny simultaneously. I find it kind of hilarious when they establish a major plot change ("the star has a baby!") and then that whole situation kind of goes away and they don't talk about it much.
Ok, I must have missed something. I know that Tom & the baby have left to the spinoff (which I have no intention of watching), but how was it explained on Blacklist? I seem to recall them leaving (for safeties sake?), but what was the explanation for them not returning. What is Liz's take on this? I thought I've seen all the episodes, but maybe I was nodding off during a crucial scene.
Another great episode last night which piggy backed off of the 2 hour show from last week! Won't give much away but the fact they revisited Gordon Lightfoot and 'Sundown' was tremendously well done!
Anyone really surprised by the one "big reveal"? Of course not. Another character makes a huge decision and takes a fall, are they really dead? Probably not. Will they finally ramp things up with the Wexler character and make him 3 dimensional if the show does come back for another season? Who knows? Finally, the female lead shows she just might have some decent acting chops after all; that last scene between her and Red was stunning (great editing helped a lot).
i wonder if they knew that 'blacklist redemption" was cancelled before or after they filmed the final scene? the producers must owe that guy (tom/ryan eggold) something big.
^Good question "Redemption" was a clumsy show, deserved to be cancelled. However, I really hope they add Terry O'Quinn to the cast of The Blacklist next year. Would love to see Terry interact with James Spader.
Fantastic two part finale! The last scene with Liz & Red was very impressive & moving. Thinking she will cut all ties with him she embraces him & all the good/evil that he is.
I have to say, this is the best I've seen Megan Boone do. BTW, I just found out that the producers' original choice for Raymond Reddington was Kiefer Sutherland, which would have been an interesting alternative to what we have in James Spader. Now, I can't see anybody else in that part, but they're both contemporaries with similar skills and backgrounds (and have even been in films together, I believe). My main problem with the show continues to be they drag out plot developments much too long; this was half an hour of actual story drearily extended to a 2-hour episode. Four years of waiting and we finally find out the DNA results (no reveals from me, but it went in an obvious and easy direction). They're still leaving out a lot of details, like why Raymond has lots of burns on his back and what happened the night Liz shot her father (allegedly). And we know what's in the suitcase. They also seem to be trying too hard to shoehorn in reasons for the other characters to be there; the story would essentially be unchanged without them. It's kind of a mess, and the downward-spiraling ratings reflect that. We'll see if they can turn it around next season.
I initially watched Blacklist solely for Spader, and was rewarded for that. Boone's a pretty bad actress, though. I like Spader so much I actually watched Boston Legal for a while .
I never watched Boston Legal until I had to work on it for a couple of years, and I was surprised that Spader was as good as he was. It did seem to me like he picked up a lot of quirky mannerisms and "actor habits" from William Shatner, particularly the odd ways of speaking, But he's still very interesting to watch.
I'm squarely back interested in the show after this season. I thought it was a big comeback from last year, where I was ready to dump out. Yes, they took the easy route on the big reveal, but at least it's something that will finally be acknowledged in the open.
I was told by the crew that Bill Shatner was a delight to deal with, and judging by dailies, he almost never screwed up his line -- a total pro. I can recall some scenes where Spader struggled because of the long, tedious legal speeches in the courtroom, but he was a compelling performer to watch.
Due to unavoidable distractions, I watch as faithfully as I can - to enjoy Spader mostly - is this season over?