The Blacklist 2x11 Thoughts
Feb. 14th, 2015 10:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaRuslan Denisov (No. 67)
It was okay.
+ I was a little worried about how this round of Liz's distrust and anger would go but I actually didn't mind it at all. Possibly because she was being pretty professional with it, minus some petulance (which I kind of enjoyed), and didn't go all 'I'm not talking to you' about it. I really enjoyed their interactions. Plus I enjoy watching Red trying to get into Liz's good graces.
+ Bringing back the harbourmaster's murder could be an interesting plotline but right now I'm having a hard time getting past how it's happening. Specifically the fact that while Red might not have been there for it he did show up to clean it up. There is no way, in no freaking universe, that Red would leave all these incriminating pieces lying around. Red had Mr. Kaplan deal with the body and clean the scene. How the hell did Samuel know where the body was? Why the heck was Samuel still hanging around? Considering the dirt he has on Lizzie I'd have expected Red to relocated him to another city (or have him killed). It makes no sense to me. Definitely not with Liz's life/safety at stake. There are only two possibilities here - either Red messed up or he meant for what happened on that ship to come to light. I have no idea how that could benefit him in any way but I have a really hard time buying that Red messed up. It does not compute.
+ Ruslan was the blacklister for the episode but he didn't feel like the real blacklister ie: the person Red is gunning for. Red helps him. Red is essentially grooming him and places him into a position to run Uzbekistan in the future. It’s an interesting change from the usual. I actually really liked how it all played out. It’s great to see more into how Red does business and this particular ‘case’ worked out very well for him.
+ The last episode made me swing back a little more to the 'Red is Liz's father' side so of course this one has Reesler making two comments positioning Red/Liz as a couple, sigh. First, when asking Red "Are you in the doghouse?" and then when he asked Liz if they were having a lover’s quarrel.
+ ”I'm impressed. (pause) Not with you.” – Red, Reesler laughs. Heh. I was also really amused by Reesler’s response to Liz saying she didn’t trust Red: ”Reddington’s untrustworthy, hmm”
+ When Liz asked the detective who reported the harbourmaster missing it made me facepalm a bit. That's not the right question to ask! That's the suspicious, weird question to ask. Why would she need to know that? Actually, why did she ask that? Why does it matter? It doesn’t end up mattering either way but at the time I had to shake my head at her.
+ I loved Liz's smirk when Red put the village water in front of the oil company executive
+ ”Everything you need to know about negotiation is there in the tango melonga. At the outset they are opponents. each has something the other wants. They size one another up, accessing risk, setting boundaries, challenging each other to reach them, sensuous battle, violence and sex, balanced on the blade of a knife. Nothing given that's bit earned. Nothing taken that's not given. This is the pure essence of negotiation.” – Red. So this felt very pointedly about/directed at Liz and I think that’s a big issue I’ve been having – I don’t feel like Liz is Red’s equal? I only wish this described them and their interactions. I still love their relationship but things like this make me think of how much better it could have been.
It was okay.
+ I was a little worried about how this round of Liz's distrust and anger would go but I actually didn't mind it at all. Possibly because she was being pretty professional with it, minus some petulance (which I kind of enjoyed), and didn't go all 'I'm not talking to you' about it. I really enjoyed their interactions. Plus I enjoy watching Red trying to get into Liz's good graces.
+ Bringing back the harbourmaster's murder could be an interesting plotline but right now I'm having a hard time getting past how it's happening. Specifically the fact that while Red might not have been there for it he did show up to clean it up. There is no way, in no freaking universe, that Red would leave all these incriminating pieces lying around. Red had Mr. Kaplan deal with the body and clean the scene. How the hell did Samuel know where the body was? Why the heck was Samuel still hanging around? Considering the dirt he has on Lizzie I'd have expected Red to relocated him to another city (or have him killed). It makes no sense to me. Definitely not with Liz's life/safety at stake. There are only two possibilities here - either Red messed up or he meant for what happened on that ship to come to light. I have no idea how that could benefit him in any way but I have a really hard time buying that Red messed up. It does not compute.
+ Ruslan was the blacklister for the episode but he didn't feel like the real blacklister ie: the person Red is gunning for. Red helps him. Red is essentially grooming him and places him into a position to run Uzbekistan in the future. It’s an interesting change from the usual. I actually really liked how it all played out. It’s great to see more into how Red does business and this particular ‘case’ worked out very well for him.
+ The last episode made me swing back a little more to the 'Red is Liz's father' side so of course this one has Reesler making two comments positioning Red/Liz as a couple, sigh. First, when asking Red "Are you in the doghouse?" and then when he asked Liz if they were having a lover’s quarrel.
+ ”I'm impressed. (pause) Not with you.” – Red, Reesler laughs. Heh. I was also really amused by Reesler’s response to Liz saying she didn’t trust Red: ”Reddington’s untrustworthy, hmm”
+ When Liz asked the detective who reported the harbourmaster missing it made me facepalm a bit. That's not the right question to ask! That's the suspicious, weird question to ask. Why would she need to know that? Actually, why did she ask that? Why does it matter? It doesn’t end up mattering either way but at the time I had to shake my head at her.
+ I loved Liz's smirk when Red put the village water in front of the oil company executive
+ ”Everything you need to know about negotiation is there in the tango melonga. At the outset they are opponents. each has something the other wants. They size one another up, accessing risk, setting boundaries, challenging each other to reach them, sensuous battle, violence and sex, balanced on the blade of a knife. Nothing given that's bit earned. Nothing taken that's not given. This is the pure essence of negotiation.” – Red. So this felt very pointedly about/directed at Liz and I think that’s a big issue I’ve been having – I don’t feel like Liz is Red’s equal? I only wish this described them and their interactions. I still love their relationship but things like this make me think of how much better it could have been.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-04 04:12 pm (UTC)I know!! This kind of things are so frustrating. I always blame the writers though. They're not smart enough or haven't thought things through. It's nice to read about your thoughts though, since you usually try to come up with an in-universe explanation. And of course, sometimes the explanation is that Red did something on purpose or something like that.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-06 05:07 am (UTC)