The Blacklist 4x06 Thoughts
Oct. 28th, 2016 09:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaThe Thrushes (No. 53)
I really enjoyed it.
+ I actually really loved everything with Liz. I often find myself annoyed with her seemingly constant back-and-forth on Red but I thought it played out so great here and I loved the multiple bait and switch reveals on 'oh no where are her loyalties'. I love that in the end she chose to trust in and work with Red. I don't even mind that she is torn about whether it was the right choice or not, and is torn about what exactly she feels for Kirk. It makes sense to me. I thought her reactions all episodes were great.
I mean Liz was very passive-aggressive and belligerent with Red in her first scene, and my immediate thought was that Red's stroppiness last episode was clearly contagious, and yet it didn't bother me. I even kind of enjoyed it, tbh. I can definitely see why she'd react like that since she thinks Red has been lying to her about her father all this time. I really loved the reveal that the two of them were actually acting together to draw out Kirk. I loved Liz telling Ressler that she meant every word because it makes no sense that she would have moved back to forgiving Red yet.
Actually I think that's why she works so well for me here (wherein other times she hasn't): I understand why she's pissed off, the show is letting her be angry with him while at the same time not putting her emotions over the end goal. She's mad but she's still working with Red. That base of trust they've built up over four years is still there. She's mad but when Kirk states he's going to kill Red she obviously finds the idea upsetting. She's mad but she still lets Red in to see Agnes.
+ There were some really great Red/Liz scenes.
+ I also really love him acknowledging that he's "suffocating" Liz which shows that he does know he's partially at fault for their current situation. I'm curious to see what he does to try and change things.
+ "I have never lied to you." This has been Red's refrain to Liz from the beginning of their relationship, and I'm choosing to believe that it is the truth, but to be honest it's gotten to the point that it's lost a lot of... it's meaning and weight and essential truthfulness when Red also keeps absolutely everything from Liz at all times. He might not straight-out lie to her but that doesn't mean he's truthful with her either. As time goes on I find myself more sympathetic with Liz.
+ I loved the Red/Harold scene. It was nice to see Red opening up to someone even if it was only a little. So originally Red turned himself in when he did because of Tom/Berlin, right? Was there more to it? I'm curious about what he did think would happen afterwards.
+ I thought it was really interesting that Kirk was never on Red's list. There seems to be a lot of enmity between them, though clearly a lot more on Kirk's side, and yet Red never planned to go after him. I know Red says he didn't want to bring Liz to Kirk's attention but before the Masha reveal there was no real way to connect her to her past?
+ Kirk deciding to suicide off the side of a skyscraper with his granddaughter to spite/hurt Red when cornered was a serious 'WTF dude!' moment. What is wrong with him?! Geez. I did love Liz speaking to him in Russian and calling him father to try and reach him.
+ I'm not entirely sure why Kirk didn't shoot Red in the head or shoot him multiple times when he had the chance. Being a bad shot only explains so much of him not taking advantage of the opportunity to finally kill Red. All I can think is that he never intended to jump and he's got some long-term plan/goal in play.
+ I'm 100% certain now that Kirk isn't Liz's father. I wasn't sure about whether he knew that - his expression when she told him about the DNA test was hard for me to parse - but his actions at the end lean me heavily to thinking that he does believe she is his daughter.
+ I found it super weird how little role Tom had this episode. He was basically just there as support for Liz even though this was them finally rescuing Agnes.
+ I love meeting new Red people. Oscar (and his associates) and Chester were both great additions. I loved the low-tech safe room.
+ Red setting up LeBron to be killed wasn't surprising but Liz going along with it was a little bit. She didn't appear bothered at all with what they did.
+ I love that Aram figured out the truth about Elise himself and I loved his reaction to it. Him going undercover was great and despite his nervousness I thought he did really well especially when he was forced to give Elise a reason for his behaviour. He was great this ep.
+ I'm little confused about Aram/Samar's relationship. Two episodes ago ended with them being very harsh with each other and now suddenly they're back to friendly joking. I'm not opposed to it but I feel like I missed a scene. That said they were great this episode. Also Samar's description of Aram - "handsome, smart, incredibly nice guy who's easy to be around" - made me aw, and it is so true.
+ I like the reveal that the Blacklist changes according to Red's needs. He may have started with a certain number but new people get added as needed. That makes sense to me.
I really enjoyed it.
+ I actually really loved everything with Liz. I often find myself annoyed with her seemingly constant back-and-forth on Red but I thought it played out so great here and I loved the multiple bait and switch reveals on 'oh no where are her loyalties'. I love that in the end she chose to trust in and work with Red. I don't even mind that she is torn about whether it was the right choice or not, and is torn about what exactly she feels for Kirk. It makes sense to me. I thought her reactions all episodes were great.
I mean Liz was very passive-aggressive and belligerent with Red in her first scene, and my immediate thought was that Red's stroppiness last episode was clearly contagious, and yet it didn't bother me. I even kind of enjoyed it, tbh. I can definitely see why she'd react like that since she thinks Red has been lying to her about her father all this time. I really loved the reveal that the two of them were actually acting together to draw out Kirk. I loved Liz telling Ressler that she meant every word because it makes no sense that she would have moved back to forgiving Red yet.
Actually I think that's why she works so well for me here (wherein other times she hasn't): I understand why she's pissed off, the show is letting her be angry with him while at the same time not putting her emotions over the end goal. She's mad but she's still working with Red. That base of trust they've built up over four years is still there. She's mad but when Kirk states he's going to kill Red she obviously finds the idea upsetting. She's mad but she still lets Red in to see Agnes.
+ There were some really great Red/Liz scenes.
+ I also really love him acknowledging that he's "suffocating" Liz which shows that he does know he's partially at fault for their current situation. I'm curious to see what he does to try and change things.
+ "I have never lied to you." This has been Red's refrain to Liz from the beginning of their relationship, and I'm choosing to believe that it is the truth, but to be honest it's gotten to the point that it's lost a lot of... it's meaning and weight and essential truthfulness when Red also keeps absolutely everything from Liz at all times. He might not straight-out lie to her but that doesn't mean he's truthful with her either. As time goes on I find myself more sympathetic with Liz.
+ I loved the Red/Harold scene. It was nice to see Red opening up to someone even if it was only a little. So originally Red turned himself in when he did because of Tom/Berlin, right? Was there more to it? I'm curious about what he did think would happen afterwards.
+ I thought it was really interesting that Kirk was never on Red's list. There seems to be a lot of enmity between them, though clearly a lot more on Kirk's side, and yet Red never planned to go after him. I know Red says he didn't want to bring Liz to Kirk's attention but before the Masha reveal there was no real way to connect her to her past?
+ Kirk deciding to suicide off the side of a skyscraper with his granddaughter to spite/hurt Red when cornered was a serious 'WTF dude!' moment. What is wrong with him?! Geez. I did love Liz speaking to him in Russian and calling him father to try and reach him.
+ I'm not entirely sure why Kirk didn't shoot Red in the head or shoot him multiple times when he had the chance. Being a bad shot only explains so much of him not taking advantage of the opportunity to finally kill Red. All I can think is that he never intended to jump and he's got some long-term plan/goal in play.
+ I'm 100% certain now that Kirk isn't Liz's father. I wasn't sure about whether he knew that - his expression when she told him about the DNA test was hard for me to parse - but his actions at the end lean me heavily to thinking that he does believe she is his daughter.
+ I found it super weird how little role Tom had this episode. He was basically just there as support for Liz even though this was them finally rescuing Agnes.
+ I love meeting new Red people. Oscar (and his associates) and Chester were both great additions. I loved the low-tech safe room.
+ Red setting up LeBron to be killed wasn't surprising but Liz going along with it was a little bit. She didn't appear bothered at all with what they did.
+ I love that Aram figured out the truth about Elise himself and I loved his reaction to it. Him going undercover was great and despite his nervousness I thought he did really well especially when he was forced to give Elise a reason for his behaviour. He was great this ep.
+ I'm little confused about Aram/Samar's relationship. Two episodes ago ended with them being very harsh with each other and now suddenly they're back to friendly joking. I'm not opposed to it but I feel like I missed a scene. That said they were great this episode. Also Samar's description of Aram - "handsome, smart, incredibly nice guy who's easy to be around" - made me aw, and it is so true.
+ I like the reveal that the Blacklist changes according to Red's needs. He may have started with a certain number but new people get added as needed. That makes sense to me.
