The Blacklist 8x21 Thoughts
Jul. 3rd, 2021 08:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaNachalo
Considering I haven't watched in a season I ended up really enjoying this episode.
+ Sooooo, Katarina is Red. Or at least that was the elided to truth I was getting from the flashback explanations even if Liz wasn't. I honestly don't know what else would make sense. Every piece of information we get, even to random little lines, all came together to make it obvious that Katarina made herself into Red. The show doesn't out right state it which leaves it open to walk back but I honestly don't know how they could do it well.
This leaves me feeling very weird, lol!
Because of course I shipped the crap out of Red/Liz. I love their relationship and his devotion to her. In the beginning I never really bought that he was her father even if at times I would go 'but maybe??? ... Nah' and as far as the Redarina theory I thought it was interesting but wacky and super unlikely. Red/Liz's interaction (mostly) didn't come off as intentionally romantic but it was very shippy and I definitely thought it was open to that interpretation. And there were more than a couple moments that I could definitely see the show leaning it that direction (Red's reaction to Liz dying her hair in season 3 for example). So this reveal on that level is... a lot.
I have enough distance from the show and shipping to actually be really amused over this. I don't think I've ever had a ship canonically sunk with the reveal that one of them was the mother of the other. That's a new and fun way!
But also, how everything came together in this massive flashback, tying together everything that has slowly been revealed over the last eight seasons actually held together surprisingly well. The pieces somehow all fit together. Or at least they seem to from what's shown here and my memory. It doesn't feel like an ass pull or otherwise unsupported which I really like. As the story of Red and his overwhelming devotion to Liz and the Blacklist and his purpose this makes a lot of sense.
One big question that has been hanging over this show since the pilot has been: why is Red so devoted to Liz? Why her? Why is he willing to kill and lie and go to extremes and even die for her? The obvious easy answer has always been that he was her parent. So in that aspect this reveal makes absolute sense - Liz is his daughter, the first (maybe only) person he's loved unconditionally and he was determined to protect her from the mistakes he made.
On thing this reveal has done is made me want to rewatch the series with this new knowledge and see if I can see clues and if changes anything about how I viewed Red and his interactions with Liz.
+ Of course with the answer given (probably) I can't help but think of how many deaths and how much damage and hurt could have been avoided if Red had simply listened to Dembe or Sam and just told Elizabeth the goddamn truth, holy crap. I found myself increasingly annoyed with Red for his secret keeping as the seasons have gone on and events only got increasingly crazy and I have been increasingly muttering that he'd better have one hell of a reason for not telling Liz the truth (at so many different points in the show) and honestly I don't know if I buy that this was a good enough reason.
Being her long lost biological mother who has always watched over her from afar while building a criminal empire to protect them both from her many enemies and now he wants to work together to take them all down (plus a lot of other bad guys) is a whole lot of truth for their first day but he definitely could have worked up to it. Possibly doing it with her adopted dad to help smooth it over instead of smothering him in his sleep would have been a good method!
+ "The source of my power is right here. She's won't be destroyed." This episode reminded me how much I adore how much Red loves and is devoted to Liz. I loved how Red didn't for a second take his attention off Liz, that he doesn't listen to a word of Townsend's monologue, not even a twitch at learning that Liz betrayed him. None of it mattered in the face of Liz shot and maybe dying in his arms. I loved how when he did turn his attention to Townsend all he had to say were offers to give him anything he wanted, Red's entire operation, if only he would save Liz.
+ "In order to repel the ugly Americans. And here we are. You're American, you're ugly, and I'm about to repel you." - Red. LOL. ♥ I really have missed Red's monologues and the end of this one was excellent. Loved it.
+ I loved how the flashback explanation was done. Visually it was very engaging. I was really interested in seeing it all laid out even if lot of the information was stuff we already knew. Actually because so much of this information was known showing it in this way really helped to make it not feel like an exposition dump explanation. I loved seeing Liz interacting with all these people who have so affected her life and seeing her react to them and their tale.
+ I am confused about the reality of how this was playing out in that bunker. I guess Red simply explaining it to her? Except then who was she talking to? It also makes it confusing when Townsend arrives and Liz is facing away, zoned out even as shooting happens around her. That was weird.
+ I loved Liz shooting Townsend.
+ It was neat to see where The Blacklist is created and the centre of Red's empire. I guess Mr. Kaplan somehow didn't know about this considering she didn't try and destroy it when she was trying to take Red down.
+ I liked how they connected Liz's scar with how it's shown up in other places as a purposeful symbol Red put in place as a visual reminder of why he's doing all this.
+ If Red is Katarina that has to mean that Mr. Kaplan didn't know his true identity right? She just knew he wasn't the real Red and that he was put in place to protect Liz by Katarina, yes? Her actions don't make sense to me if she knows this truth.
+ "I gorged myself. On information, money, weapons, women, men." Huh, confirmation that Red slept with men too. I wish we'd actually gotten to see that or had a hint of it before this point.
+ The reveal that Red is Katarina makes the Cape May episode work even more for me (and it was already an amazing episode). I love that Red retreated to Cape May to grieve and fall apart after Liz's death when it was at Cape May that Katarina chose to live for Liz.
Considering I haven't watched in a season I ended up really enjoying this episode.
+ Sooooo, Katarina is Red. Or at least that was the elided to truth I was getting from the flashback explanations even if Liz wasn't. I honestly don't know what else would make sense. Every piece of information we get, even to random little lines, all came together to make it obvious that Katarina made herself into Red. The show doesn't out right state it which leaves it open to walk back but I honestly don't know how they could do it well.
This leaves me feeling very weird, lol!
Because of course I shipped the crap out of Red/Liz. I love their relationship and his devotion to her. In the beginning I never really bought that he was her father even if at times I would go 'but maybe??? ... Nah' and as far as the Redarina theory I thought it was interesting but wacky and super unlikely. Red/Liz's interaction (mostly) didn't come off as intentionally romantic but it was very shippy and I definitely thought it was open to that interpretation. And there were more than a couple moments that I could definitely see the show leaning it that direction (Red's reaction to Liz dying her hair in season 3 for example). So this reveal on that level is... a lot.
I have enough distance from the show and shipping to actually be really amused over this. I don't think I've ever had a ship canonically sunk with the reveal that one of them was the mother of the other. That's a new and fun way!
But also, how everything came together in this massive flashback, tying together everything that has slowly been revealed over the last eight seasons actually held together surprisingly well. The pieces somehow all fit together. Or at least they seem to from what's shown here and my memory. It doesn't feel like an ass pull or otherwise unsupported which I really like. As the story of Red and his overwhelming devotion to Liz and the Blacklist and his purpose this makes a lot of sense.
One big question that has been hanging over this show since the pilot has been: why is Red so devoted to Liz? Why her? Why is he willing to kill and lie and go to extremes and even die for her? The obvious easy answer has always been that he was her parent. So in that aspect this reveal makes absolute sense - Liz is his daughter, the first (maybe only) person he's loved unconditionally and he was determined to protect her from the mistakes he made.
On thing this reveal has done is made me want to rewatch the series with this new knowledge and see if I can see clues and if changes anything about how I viewed Red and his interactions with Liz.
+ Of course with the answer given (probably) I can't help but think of how many deaths and how much damage and hurt could have been avoided if Red had simply listened to Dembe or Sam and just told Elizabeth the goddamn truth, holy crap. I found myself increasingly annoyed with Red for his secret keeping as the seasons have gone on and events only got increasingly crazy and I have been increasingly muttering that he'd better have one hell of a reason for not telling Liz the truth (at so many different points in the show) and honestly I don't know if I buy that this was a good enough reason.
Being her long lost biological mother who has always watched over her from afar while building a criminal empire to protect them both from her many enemies and now he wants to work together to take them all down (plus a lot of other bad guys) is a whole lot of truth for their first day but he definitely could have worked up to it. Possibly doing it with her adopted dad to help smooth it over instead of smothering him in his sleep would have been a good method!
+ "The source of my power is right here. She's won't be destroyed." This episode reminded me how much I adore how much Red loves and is devoted to Liz. I loved how Red didn't for a second take his attention off Liz, that he doesn't listen to a word of Townsend's monologue, not even a twitch at learning that Liz betrayed him. None of it mattered in the face of Liz shot and maybe dying in his arms. I loved how when he did turn his attention to Townsend all he had to say were offers to give him anything he wanted, Red's entire operation, if only he would save Liz.
+ "In order to repel the ugly Americans. And here we are. You're American, you're ugly, and I'm about to repel you." - Red. LOL. ♥ I really have missed Red's monologues and the end of this one was excellent. Loved it.
+ I loved how the flashback explanation was done. Visually it was very engaging. I was really interested in seeing it all laid out even if lot of the information was stuff we already knew. Actually because so much of this information was known showing it in this way really helped to make it not feel like an exposition dump explanation. I loved seeing Liz interacting with all these people who have so affected her life and seeing her react to them and their tale.
+ I am confused about the reality of how this was playing out in that bunker. I guess Red simply explaining it to her? Except then who was she talking to? It also makes it confusing when Townsend arrives and Liz is facing away, zoned out even as shooting happens around her. That was weird.
+ I loved Liz shooting Townsend.
+ It was neat to see where The Blacklist is created and the centre of Red's empire. I guess Mr. Kaplan somehow didn't know about this considering she didn't try and destroy it when she was trying to take Red down.
+ I liked how they connected Liz's scar with how it's shown up in other places as a purposeful symbol Red put in place as a visual reminder of why he's doing all this.
+ If Red is Katarina that has to mean that Mr. Kaplan didn't know his true identity right? She just knew he wasn't the real Red and that he was put in place to protect Liz by Katarina, yes? Her actions don't make sense to me if she knows this truth.
+ "I gorged myself. On information, money, weapons, women, men." Huh, confirmation that Red slept with men too. I wish we'd actually gotten to see that or had a hint of it before this point.
+ The reveal that Red is Katarina makes the Cape May episode work even more for me (and it was already an amazing episode). I love that Red retreated to Cape May to grieve and fall apart after Liz's death when it was at Cape May that Katarina chose to live for Liz.
