The Blacklist 7x15 Thoughts
Dec. 3rd, 2020 11:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaGordon Kemp (No. 158)
I enjoyed this episode. Mostly for the Liz/Red and Liz/Harold scenes.
+ I loved the final Red/Liz scene. I keep having issues with how their relationship goes all over the place but I always love how complicated it can get. Red telling her "It meant a great deal to me that you were on mine" and then immediately getting the call that reveals that a) she knows he's not Ilya (aka that he's been lying to her) and b) has in turn kept that from him and has been investigating it behind his back was kind of delightful. I loved his expression. And of course he can't confront her with it (because then she'd demand the truth from him in return) so instead he offers a "To being on the same side". And she smiling returns with "At long last" because they are two lying liars who are ridiculous. I love it. I'm sure the show will annoy me with them soon enough so I'm going to enjoy loving them as they are right now. I'm excited to see where this latest iteration of their on-going cat-and-mouse power struggle goes.
+ I do love that Liz chose Red even if it was more over doing the right thing in her mind. I also loved her immediately going to Red to reassure him that it wasn't her who betrayed him, opening up to him about her fears and staying to have a glass of wine with him.
+ "I find you increasingly clear-eyed." - Red. Uh huh. I can't remember the last time Red came off as tempting Liz to his side so hard. Flatteringly calling her a person of 'conviction and principle' as to why Harold didn't trust her to do her job and not break the law. Saying the above line in response to her opening up that she's having problems seeing the line between right and wrong. I wonder how differently he sees this conversation after the phone call revelation?
+ This episode really emphasised how Lawful Good Harold (and less so Ressler and Park) are in direct contrast to how very not Liz is. It also really showcased how similar Liz and Red are which I loved. In their talk at the end I loved the little smile she got when she realised that Red probably killed Kemp (talk about dark impulses!)
+ I really love that Harold knew that there was a chance that Liz would tell Red and so purposefully lied to her. After all this time he knows her. Her relationship with Red is volatile but she often sides with him, and additionally she is absolutely willing to break the law to accomplish her goals, especially when she thinks she's in the right. He loves her but he also knows better than to trust her. It was win/win - either she would stay true to her badge/him and not tell Reddington and it wouldn't matter or she would tell Reddington and he'd fall for the decoy vehicle (winning the game for Harold).
+ "Today was a terrible day and it might be more than I can handle if I thought you and I couldn't forgive each other." ♥ I loved the Harold/Liz confrontation. She got the 'angry and disappointed but mostly concerned (dad)' talk by him! And it clearly affected her. And it honestly made me go all awww because they both care about each other so much and I love when we get moments like this that show it. The way it ended with the above quote was perfect.
+ Both Liz and Harold acknowledging that Liz "has dark impulses" was interesting. I like that they're being open and honest about it. It makes me wonder if this - her dark impulses being brought up - is foreshadowing for later in the season. Actually this plus her betraying the Taskforce both feel like they're going to come up again. At the same time I'm left going 'dark impulses, whaaaat?' Because helping Red steal a single shipment of guns is really not that dark. Especially for Liz who has murdered multiple people. Like. Perspective.
+ I get why Liz was angry with Harold for lying to her, and that she felt used and like a dupe, but also lol Liz! He can't trust you! She literally just proved him right in not trusting her. So her getting all righteously angry about not being trusted was rather hilarious.
+ The part in Red's speech when he stated that he'd "lost many friends to gun violence" did not work for me. He talks himself about the difference between his 'world' and the rest of the world and most of the gun violence he's lost his friends to have mostly all been because of 'his world'. Some of it he's done himself (Kaplan), some of it has been consequences of being connected to him (those people Kaplan went after for example), some of it's just working in that world (Baz, miss him!). It's such an integral part of his world that to call it 'gun violence' kind of sits wrong to me.
+ I liked that Harold was upset about helping Kemp move the guns safety and we got to see it.
+ I loved Dembe's little pause before he tells Red that "it was Elizabeth". Poor Dembe. He seems so done with all this drama. I wonder if he sometimes just wants to lock them in room until they are honest with each other and work out their issues?
+ Kemp is kind of weird as a blacklister. He's a rich asshole who bends the law as far as he can and doesn't care about the damage his weapons cause but that's kind of all and thus it doesn't feel like he belongs on the list. Also Red deciding to go on a vendetta specifically against him was a little weird. The girl's death hit Red hard but it's not like killing Kemp was going to change anything in the long run. His company is still there selling guns. Red did nothing to change that. So it wasn't change he was after, he wasn't trying to make things safer for the innocent people, he seems to have simply been lashing out. Did he also kill the middleman criminal?
+ Is it a sign of Red having changed that instead of immediately deciding to kill Kemp he first tried to take him down semi-legally by using the Post Office instead? Or maybe just a sign of how used to using the Post Office for his own goals he's gotten.
+ I don’t get why the private detective kept Ilya under surveillance as long as she did without telling Liz about him. Wasn’t Liz simply paying her to find him? Was it that she hadn’t gotten a clear picture of him as proof and felt like she needed it? Because her being there watching the building for long enough that Ilya noticed her and mentioned it many times and gotten paranoid over it doesn’t make sense. It definitely seemed like that had been going on for days at least.
+ Bremley breaking the private detective by using board games as his interrogation technique made me lol.
+ Poor Ilya. Katarina really did a number on him. His wife blames Red hard and Red is clearly in full sin-eater mode and full of guilt over everything but honestly a lot of this is on Ilya and the time he betrayed and tried to murder Katarina.
I enjoyed this episode. Mostly for the Liz/Red and Liz/Harold scenes.
+ I loved the final Red/Liz scene. I keep having issues with how their relationship goes all over the place but I always love how complicated it can get. Red telling her "It meant a great deal to me that you were on mine" and then immediately getting the call that reveals that a) she knows he's not Ilya (aka that he's been lying to her) and b) has in turn kept that from him and has been investigating it behind his back was kind of delightful. I loved his expression. And of course he can't confront her with it (because then she'd demand the truth from him in return) so instead he offers a "To being on the same side". And she smiling returns with "At long last" because they are two lying liars who are ridiculous. I love it. I'm sure the show will annoy me with them soon enough so I'm going to enjoy loving them as they are right now. I'm excited to see where this latest iteration of their on-going cat-and-mouse power struggle goes.
+ I do love that Liz chose Red even if it was more over doing the right thing in her mind. I also loved her immediately going to Red to reassure him that it wasn't her who betrayed him, opening up to him about her fears and staying to have a glass of wine with him.
+ "I find you increasingly clear-eyed." - Red. Uh huh. I can't remember the last time Red came off as tempting Liz to his side so hard. Flatteringly calling her a person of 'conviction and principle' as to why Harold didn't trust her to do her job and not break the law. Saying the above line in response to her opening up that she's having problems seeing the line between right and wrong. I wonder how differently he sees this conversation after the phone call revelation?
+ This episode really emphasised how Lawful Good Harold (and less so Ressler and Park) are in direct contrast to how very not Liz is. It also really showcased how similar Liz and Red are which I loved. In their talk at the end I loved the little smile she got when she realised that Red probably killed Kemp (talk about dark impulses!)
+ I really love that Harold knew that there was a chance that Liz would tell Red and so purposefully lied to her. After all this time he knows her. Her relationship with Red is volatile but she often sides with him, and additionally she is absolutely willing to break the law to accomplish her goals, especially when she thinks she's in the right. He loves her but he also knows better than to trust her. It was win/win - either she would stay true to her badge/him and not tell Reddington and it wouldn't matter or she would tell Reddington and he'd fall for the decoy vehicle (winning the game for Harold).
+ "Today was a terrible day and it might be more than I can handle if I thought you and I couldn't forgive each other." ♥ I loved the Harold/Liz confrontation. She got the 'angry and disappointed but mostly concerned (dad)' talk by him! And it clearly affected her. And it honestly made me go all awww because they both care about each other so much and I love when we get moments like this that show it. The way it ended with the above quote was perfect.
+ Both Liz and Harold acknowledging that Liz "has dark impulses" was interesting. I like that they're being open and honest about it. It makes me wonder if this - her dark impulses being brought up - is foreshadowing for later in the season. Actually this plus her betraying the Taskforce both feel like they're going to come up again. At the same time I'm left going 'dark impulses, whaaaat?' Because helping Red steal a single shipment of guns is really not that dark. Especially for Liz who has murdered multiple people. Like. Perspective.
+ I get why Liz was angry with Harold for lying to her, and that she felt used and like a dupe, but also lol Liz! He can't trust you! She literally just proved him right in not trusting her. So her getting all righteously angry about not being trusted was rather hilarious.
+ The part in Red's speech when he stated that he'd "lost many friends to gun violence" did not work for me. He talks himself about the difference between his 'world' and the rest of the world and most of the gun violence he's lost his friends to have mostly all been because of 'his world'. Some of it he's done himself (Kaplan), some of it has been consequences of being connected to him (those people Kaplan went after for example), some of it's just working in that world (Baz, miss him!). It's such an integral part of his world that to call it 'gun violence' kind of sits wrong to me.
+ I liked that Harold was upset about helping Kemp move the guns safety and we got to see it.
+ I loved Dembe's little pause before he tells Red that "it was Elizabeth". Poor Dembe. He seems so done with all this drama. I wonder if he sometimes just wants to lock them in room until they are honest with each other and work out their issues?
+ Kemp is kind of weird as a blacklister. He's a rich asshole who bends the law as far as he can and doesn't care about the damage his weapons cause but that's kind of all and thus it doesn't feel like he belongs on the list. Also Red deciding to go on a vendetta specifically against him was a little weird. The girl's death hit Red hard but it's not like killing Kemp was going to change anything in the long run. His company is still there selling guns. Red did nothing to change that. So it wasn't change he was after, he wasn't trying to make things safer for the innocent people, he seems to have simply been lashing out. Did he also kill the middleman criminal?
+ Is it a sign of Red having changed that instead of immediately deciding to kill Kemp he first tried to take him down semi-legally by using the Post Office instead? Or maybe just a sign of how used to using the Post Office for his own goals he's gotten.
+ I don’t get why the private detective kept Ilya under surveillance as long as she did without telling Liz about him. Wasn’t Liz simply paying her to find him? Was it that she hadn’t gotten a clear picture of him as proof and felt like she needed it? Because her being there watching the building for long enough that Ilya noticed her and mentioned it many times and gotten paranoid over it doesn’t make sense. It definitely seemed like that had been going on for days at least.
+ Bremley breaking the private detective by using board games as his interrogation technique made me lol.
+ Poor Ilya. Katarina really did a number on him. His wife blames Red hard and Red is clearly in full sin-eater mode and full of guilt over everything but honestly a lot of this is on Ilya and the time he betrayed and tried to murder Katarina.
