The Blacklist 6x21 Thoughts
May. 14th, 2019 05:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaAnna McMahon [No. 60]
Eh, it was okay.
+ That whole Red/Liz bench conversation was very perplexing to me. Liz bringing up her mother with ”I learned my mother was (the devil)” was very awkward because I’m left going ‘...but when?’ about it. She blames her mother for destroying her father and states that while she might have shot him it was Katarina who killed him so maybe this is her trying to shift the emotional blame to deal with her guilt? Okay, fine. But to have this attitude of ‘she’s evil’ with no nuanced feelings about it? No. Especially after her talk with Dom where she learns more about her mother and Katarina is put in a very sympathetic light, so it ends up feeling very forced. It’s weird how Katarina’s being positioned when compared to Liz’s ‘father’ and the very many forms he’s taken over the seasons. When you see Katarina’s crimes and then compare it to say Liz’s tumultuous relationship with Tom, and how Liz viewed that. Or Liz’s own recent betrayal of Red. I don’t really get Liz’s POV on her mother this season and why she’s so welded to the idea that she was a terrible person.
Then we get ”She’s more of a threat to Agnes than you ever were.” … what. ?????? I don’t even know where the hell Liz is getting this. I don’t understand her pov here at all and it is really throwing me. Why the hell would Liz think her mother, if she were alive, would be a threat to Agnes?? There is literally no reason for Liz to assume this, especially post-Dom. We even had that little moment with her in Dom’s truck where she clearly had a memory of her last phone call with her mom with that soft “bye mommy” from her. In all flashbacks, memories and information that Liz has Katarina has never been anything but devoted to her daughter. If she was alive, she disappeared very thoroughly for decades, in part to protect Liz, so her reappearing as a danger now, from Liz’s pov feels like a weird leap? I’m just very confused. Also confusing is Red’s response to Liz blaming Katarina for her father’s death: ”Your mother can’t hurt you.” – what? Why is that his first response to that statement?
I just don’t get this entire conversation! It’s very clear what the show is setting up here but they are doing it really badly, imo.
+ Red/Liz were back in their old groove which was strange after Red’s coolness towards her in the last episode and the fact that he’s still pissed/hurt that she betrayed him. It was like all their interactions here came from earlier in the season. Did their talk at the end of the last episode and Liz’s decision to bring Agnes back really have that much of an effect on him? I love them when they’re in sync and working together but this didn’t work for me. There was no hint of that tension between them so it mostly felt like the writers hadn’t watched the previous couple eps.
That said I did enjoy them even though they felt off to me. Their first scene was great and I loved Liz's annoyed "sometime this year". I loved Red drive-by saving her.
+ Cooper leaving the President’s office was pretty suspicious and I was surprised that it didn’t end up working against them. Instead Cooper does that himself when he tells McMahon that they know everything. Dude! I mean she suspected that they knew but didn’t know how much they knew, why would he throw that away?
+ Liz running out of bullets (so Red could save her) was dumb. Straight up contrived. She didn’t even shoot that much! Why doesn’t she have a spare clip? Wouldn’t there be one in the car? Honestly a lot of the little Liz moments didn’t work for me. Like, once again she stays with the person while Ressler chases after a suspect alone.
+ I liked the Red/Cooper scene with Red thanking him again and calling him a friend.
Eh, it was okay.
+ That whole Red/Liz bench conversation was very perplexing to me. Liz bringing up her mother with ”I learned my mother was (the devil)” was very awkward because I’m left going ‘...but when?’ about it. She blames her mother for destroying her father and states that while she might have shot him it was Katarina who killed him so maybe this is her trying to shift the emotional blame to deal with her guilt? Okay, fine. But to have this attitude of ‘she’s evil’ with no nuanced feelings about it? No. Especially after her talk with Dom where she learns more about her mother and Katarina is put in a very sympathetic light, so it ends up feeling very forced. It’s weird how Katarina’s being positioned when compared to Liz’s ‘father’ and the very many forms he’s taken over the seasons. When you see Katarina’s crimes and then compare it to say Liz’s tumultuous relationship with Tom, and how Liz viewed that. Or Liz’s own recent betrayal of Red. I don’t really get Liz’s POV on her mother this season and why she’s so welded to the idea that she was a terrible person.
Then we get ”She’s more of a threat to Agnes than you ever were.” … what. ?????? I don’t even know where the hell Liz is getting this. I don’t understand her pov here at all and it is really throwing me. Why the hell would Liz think her mother, if she were alive, would be a threat to Agnes?? There is literally no reason for Liz to assume this, especially post-Dom. We even had that little moment with her in Dom’s truck where she clearly had a memory of her last phone call with her mom with that soft “bye mommy” from her. In all flashbacks, memories and information that Liz has Katarina has never been anything but devoted to her daughter. If she was alive, she disappeared very thoroughly for decades, in part to protect Liz, so her reappearing as a danger now, from Liz’s pov feels like a weird leap? I’m just very confused. Also confusing is Red’s response to Liz blaming Katarina for her father’s death: ”Your mother can’t hurt you.” – what? Why is that his first response to that statement?
I just don’t get this entire conversation! It’s very clear what the show is setting up here but they are doing it really badly, imo.
+ Red/Liz were back in their old groove which was strange after Red’s coolness towards her in the last episode and the fact that he’s still pissed/hurt that she betrayed him. It was like all their interactions here came from earlier in the season. Did their talk at the end of the last episode and Liz’s decision to bring Agnes back really have that much of an effect on him? I love them when they’re in sync and working together but this didn’t work for me. There was no hint of that tension between them so it mostly felt like the writers hadn’t watched the previous couple eps.
That said I did enjoy them even though they felt off to me. Their first scene was great and I loved Liz's annoyed "sometime this year". I loved Red drive-by saving her.
+ Cooper leaving the President’s office was pretty suspicious and I was surprised that it didn’t end up working against them. Instead Cooper does that himself when he tells McMahon that they know everything. Dude! I mean she suspected that they knew but didn’t know how much they knew, why would he throw that away?
+ Liz running out of bullets (so Red could save her) was dumb. Straight up contrived. She didn’t even shoot that much! Why doesn’t she have a spare clip? Wouldn’t there be one in the car? Honestly a lot of the little Liz moments didn’t work for me. Like, once again she stays with the person while Ressler chases after a suspect alone.
+ I liked the Red/Cooper scene with Red thanking him again and calling him a friend.
