The Blacklist 3x14 & 3x15 Thoughts
Aug. 23rd, 2016 02:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iaria3x14 'Lady Ambrosia' (No. 77)
+ "The life I have because of you" no, no, no. Why are they going back to this? Ugh. Beyond that and Liz rejecting Red's money because it's 'dirty' I liked their scenes. I loved Red's reaction when Liz told him she was going to put her baby up for adoption. I'm assuming she was talking about Red when she told the couple that "my friend went to the Naval Academy" and it was nice to hear her call him her friend.
+ I love that Red gave Alistair Pitt's dogs to Glen.
+ This ep really showed how much Tom/Liz aren't working right now. They want to but they are on completely different wavelengths and more importantly they aren't talking to each other about it.
+ Theo's fate was so sad.
+ I'm not sure that Red's story about what happened with Katerina fits with what we learned during Liz's memory recovery/flashback last season. What we heard really didn't seem like Katerina wanting to get back together with Liz's father.
+ So that "as much as it pains me to say it" indicates that Red was in love with Katerina, yes?
3x15 'Drexel' (No. 113)
+ I am really having a problem with what the show is doing with Liz and it's a problem that keeps cropping up again and again. It's annoying that the show keeps treading the same paths. Liz getting angry at Red and lashing out/blaming him, Red does something showing his love for her, reconciliation on her part. It gets old. It makes me really frustrated with her because it happens so goddamn often. And it's frustrating because I think there is a lot of inherent conflict to mine between them but I just don't like how the show does it.
They even hit a couple points this ep that are interesting as both reveal long-standing issues she's had since the beginning.
1) her telling Nick that she 'feels trapped' and 'like her life isn't her own anymore'. Liz has always wanted that 'normal' life with kids, a simple job and husband and since she met Red everything has changed, often in ways out of her control. Her feeling trapped by it is understandable. The fact that she keeps returning to blaming Red for it when she knows it's not Red's fault is what doesn't work. She can long for that life and hate how things currently are without lashing out at Red as a convenient target especially since doing so, considering all Red does to protect and help her, makes her look ungrateful and like a tantrumy child. Which is not a good look.
2) "I am not your Lizzie, to be controlled, to be told what to do." I found the rant annoying but this part was interesting. This part revealed the source of some of her subconscious (or not) anger at him and I find it really understandable actually. He knows her very well but keeps so much of himself hidden. He intrudes on her personal space - like showing up at her home uninvited - even if he has the best intentions. He makes decisions that affect her life without her consent. Most frustratingly is that he keeps her in the dark, he doesn't treat her as an equal as far as keeping her in the loop goes (too used to keeping things close to the vest) and yet expects her to always do as he wants. This works for his people like Dembe and Mr. Kaplan but for Liz it's controlling and high-handed, and something she keeps running up against.
Honestly I think the most aggravating thing of all is that there are a lot of valid reasons for Liz to be angry, even to be angry at Red at times, but the way the show portrays it ends up undermining her understandable anger by making it unreasonable, having her act with impulsive anger towards him one moment and then friendly caring another. She goes to far into the extremes and it ends up not working.
+ The final Red/Liz scene was really lovely. I loved her looking him in the eye and thanking him. I loved the kiss on the cheek after he reassured her that she would get the life she wanted.
+ At one point I shipped Liz/Tom but I don't really anymore. She is so caught up on wanting back that perfect normal life she thought she had with Tom that she's apparently willing to overlook anything. I mean he was involved in a diamond heist and got shot! That is not normal. But she honestly didn't seem that mad. She refused to take Red's money because it was 'dirty' but Tom as soon as he fails once immediately returned to crime to get money - even though money isn't the crux of their issues. I realise that she loves him. A lot. But - meh. It's not working for me now.
+ Most interesting reveal of the episode: Red calling Katerina his 'enemy'! That is really not what I thought their relationship was. Also the fact that she was alive, which I'd already guessed, and that Red knows it. Was it the file in the last episode that revealed the truth or is this something he's known for awhile?
+ That painting was certainly something!
+ It's interesting that Nick feels trapped by Red because what we usually see with his people is a deep loyalty. A couple episodes ago a man even played a role he knew would end in his death for Red.
+ "The life I have because of you" no, no, no. Why are they going back to this? Ugh. Beyond that and Liz rejecting Red's money because it's 'dirty' I liked their scenes. I loved Red's reaction when Liz told him she was going to put her baby up for adoption. I'm assuming she was talking about Red when she told the couple that "my friend went to the Naval Academy" and it was nice to hear her call him her friend.
+ I love that Red gave Alistair Pitt's dogs to Glen.
+ This ep really showed how much Tom/Liz aren't working right now. They want to but they are on completely different wavelengths and more importantly they aren't talking to each other about it.
+ Theo's fate was so sad.
+ I'm not sure that Red's story about what happened with Katerina fits with what we learned during Liz's memory recovery/flashback last season. What we heard really didn't seem like Katerina wanting to get back together with Liz's father.
+ So that "as much as it pains me to say it" indicates that Red was in love with Katerina, yes?
3x15 'Drexel' (No. 113)
+ I am really having a problem with what the show is doing with Liz and it's a problem that keeps cropping up again and again. It's annoying that the show keeps treading the same paths. Liz getting angry at Red and lashing out/blaming him, Red does something showing his love for her, reconciliation on her part. It gets old. It makes me really frustrated with her because it happens so goddamn often. And it's frustrating because I think there is a lot of inherent conflict to mine between them but I just don't like how the show does it.
They even hit a couple points this ep that are interesting as both reveal long-standing issues she's had since the beginning.
1) her telling Nick that she 'feels trapped' and 'like her life isn't her own anymore'. Liz has always wanted that 'normal' life with kids, a simple job and husband and since she met Red everything has changed, often in ways out of her control. Her feeling trapped by it is understandable. The fact that she keeps returning to blaming Red for it when she knows it's not Red's fault is what doesn't work. She can long for that life and hate how things currently are without lashing out at Red as a convenient target especially since doing so, considering all Red does to protect and help her, makes her look ungrateful and like a tantrumy child. Which is not a good look.
2) "I am not your Lizzie, to be controlled, to be told what to do." I found the rant annoying but this part was interesting. This part revealed the source of some of her subconscious (or not) anger at him and I find it really understandable actually. He knows her very well but keeps so much of himself hidden. He intrudes on her personal space - like showing up at her home uninvited - even if he has the best intentions. He makes decisions that affect her life without her consent. Most frustratingly is that he keeps her in the dark, he doesn't treat her as an equal as far as keeping her in the loop goes (too used to keeping things close to the vest) and yet expects her to always do as he wants. This works for his people like Dembe and Mr. Kaplan but for Liz it's controlling and high-handed, and something she keeps running up against.
Honestly I think the most aggravating thing of all is that there are a lot of valid reasons for Liz to be angry, even to be angry at Red at times, but the way the show portrays it ends up undermining her understandable anger by making it unreasonable, having her act with impulsive anger towards him one moment and then friendly caring another. She goes to far into the extremes and it ends up not working.
+ The final Red/Liz scene was really lovely. I loved her looking him in the eye and thanking him. I loved the kiss on the cheek after he reassured her that she would get the life she wanted.
+ At one point I shipped Liz/Tom but I don't really anymore. She is so caught up on wanting back that perfect normal life she thought she had with Tom that she's apparently willing to overlook anything. I mean he was involved in a diamond heist and got shot! That is not normal. But she honestly didn't seem that mad. She refused to take Red's money because it was 'dirty' but Tom as soon as he fails once immediately returned to crime to get money - even though money isn't the crux of their issues. I realise that she loves him. A lot. But - meh. It's not working for me now.
+ Most interesting reveal of the episode: Red calling Katerina his 'enemy'! That is really not what I thought their relationship was. Also the fact that she was alive, which I'd already guessed, and that Red knows it. Was it the file in the last episode that revealed the truth or is this something he's known for awhile?
+ That painting was certainly something!
+ It's interesting that Nick feels trapped by Red because what we usually see with his people is a deep loyalty. A couple episodes ago a man even played a role he knew would end in his death for Red.
