The Blacklist 4x11 Thoughts
Feb. 4th, 2017 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iaria'The Harem' (No. 102)
There were a number of dumb things this ep but I actually enjoyed it regardless and found it rather interesting.
• There was a very foreboding air to the episode with regards to Red. I feel like his life is on the verge of imploding. Between murdering Mr. Kaplan, Dembe's worry over his mental state, the current tension between him and Dembe, his once again estranged/tense relationship with Liz, the situation with Emma and a new enemy silently attacking Red's interests and declaring war it feels a little like things are falling apart for him. Like this is just the beginning, a snowball pushed over the side of a hill that's only going to get bigger and faster as time goes on.
He's been having a tough time lately and I feel sad for him because he's my favourite. But at the same time a lot of his angst is caused by himself. He was genuinely hurt about Emma but I can't really blame her for thinking she was trapped. I wonder if this is going to cause him to rethink how he runs his life/business.
• I enjoy undercover Liz but there is 0% chance that I buy her successfully going undercover ever again. She shot the Attorney General, she was accused of being a Russian spy, she was splashed across newspapers during her three months on the run, her name was linked to a secret world cabal that she helped bring down and she was just pardoned by the out-going president! How the hell could they not recognize her? I have an even harder time buying that no one in all her thieving hijinks recognised her. It's too unbelievable.
• I liked Liz this ep. Even with all the ridiculousness she handled herself really well. She got out of the murder test in a great way and didn't give herself away when the guy was killed. I loved how she handled being trapped in the room. Her profiling her way into getting to the strip club owner was great.
On the other end she got the diamonds too easily and I had a hard time believing Liz didn't notice Emma taking the List. Most important of all the fact that she apparently got so drunk she spilled something true to Emma and then didn't even remember made me want to facepalm.
• I liked Emma and the Liz/Emma scenes were great. As was the one Red/Emma scene.
• I really don't understand why the writers threw Emma and her situation into the story now. As far as how it's supposed to work with the current direction of the show.
a) It was portrayed as a warning to Liz that 'this could be you', you could lose everything including yourself... except she knows this already? A year ago she faked her death to get away from him and even with them back on good terms recently she still refuses to let him visit her new place. She knows how dangerous being around him is. She's even said so a number of times. So it feels oddly placed to throw this in now. It's not new information.
b) Emma was shown to be an almost proto-Liz perhaps to force Liz to question her relationship with Red and her place in his life. Again. ... Except I can't buy the comparison at all. Yes, Red lavished attention on Emma and made her feel special but we've seen this before. It's part of his m.o. More importantly we've had four seasons of seeing on screen just how important Liz is to Red and how far he'll go for her. We know Liz is far more important to Red. There is no way Red would ever considered giving his life for Emma which we've seen him do multiple times for Liz. He also forgives Liz stuff that I'm pretty sure he never would for anyone else. So I suppose it's entirely for Liz's sake and getting her to second guess the truth about Red's feelings for her but together with the first issue it leaves me going ????
• Yet another person telling Red to 'let Liz go'. I wonder if this is building up to Red actually doing so at the end of the season?
• Red's push for the Witness Protection List to protect Mr. Kaplan's sister made me go 'oh Red'.
• Red is working with/for other intelligence agencies?? Huh. That genuinely surprised me and then made me go 'of course he is' because... of course he is! I can't believe I never considered that Red could have a similar deal in effect with other agencies.
• I wonder what response Dembe was hoping to get from telling Liz? Did he simply want to use her knowing as a shock to Red to hopeful shake him out of whatever emotional hole he'd dug himself into?
• Liz dealt with learning the truth in a much more calm manner than I was expecting. I actually really enjoyed her FBI posturing with Red's accountant/staff and Red's reaction. I liked how she confronted him with Mr. Kaplan's death and that she listened to his story without storming out.
There were a number of dumb things this ep but I actually enjoyed it regardless and found it rather interesting.
• There was a very foreboding air to the episode with regards to Red. I feel like his life is on the verge of imploding. Between murdering Mr. Kaplan, Dembe's worry over his mental state, the current tension between him and Dembe, his once again estranged/tense relationship with Liz, the situation with Emma and a new enemy silently attacking Red's interests and declaring war it feels a little like things are falling apart for him. Like this is just the beginning, a snowball pushed over the side of a hill that's only going to get bigger and faster as time goes on.
He's been having a tough time lately and I feel sad for him because he's my favourite. But at the same time a lot of his angst is caused by himself. He was genuinely hurt about Emma but I can't really blame her for thinking she was trapped. I wonder if this is going to cause him to rethink how he runs his life/business.
• I enjoy undercover Liz but there is 0% chance that I buy her successfully going undercover ever again. She shot the Attorney General, she was accused of being a Russian spy, she was splashed across newspapers during her three months on the run, her name was linked to a secret world cabal that she helped bring down and she was just pardoned by the out-going president! How the hell could they not recognize her? I have an even harder time buying that no one in all her thieving hijinks recognised her. It's too unbelievable.
• I liked Liz this ep. Even with all the ridiculousness she handled herself really well. She got out of the murder test in a great way and didn't give herself away when the guy was killed. I loved how she handled being trapped in the room. Her profiling her way into getting to the strip club owner was great.
On the other end she got the diamonds too easily and I had a hard time believing Liz didn't notice Emma taking the List. Most important of all the fact that she apparently got so drunk she spilled something true to Emma and then didn't even remember made me want to facepalm.
• I liked Emma and the Liz/Emma scenes were great. As was the one Red/Emma scene.
• I really don't understand why the writers threw Emma and her situation into the story now. As far as how it's supposed to work with the current direction of the show.
a) It was portrayed as a warning to Liz that 'this could be you', you could lose everything including yourself... except she knows this already? A year ago she faked her death to get away from him and even with them back on good terms recently she still refuses to let him visit her new place. She knows how dangerous being around him is. She's even said so a number of times. So it feels oddly placed to throw this in now. It's not new information.
b) Emma was shown to be an almost proto-Liz perhaps to force Liz to question her relationship with Red and her place in his life. Again. ... Except I can't buy the comparison at all. Yes, Red lavished attention on Emma and made her feel special but we've seen this before. It's part of his m.o. More importantly we've had four seasons of seeing on screen just how important Liz is to Red and how far he'll go for her. We know Liz is far more important to Red. There is no way Red would ever considered giving his life for Emma which we've seen him do multiple times for Liz. He also forgives Liz stuff that I'm pretty sure he never would for anyone else. So I suppose it's entirely for Liz's sake and getting her to second guess the truth about Red's feelings for her but together with the first issue it leaves me going ????
• Yet another person telling Red to 'let Liz go'. I wonder if this is building up to Red actually doing so at the end of the season?
• Red's push for the Witness Protection List to protect Mr. Kaplan's sister made me go 'oh Red'.
• Red is working with/for other intelligence agencies?? Huh. That genuinely surprised me and then made me go 'of course he is' because... of course he is! I can't believe I never considered that Red could have a similar deal in effect with other agencies.
• I wonder what response Dembe was hoping to get from telling Liz? Did he simply want to use her knowing as a shock to Red to hopeful shake him out of whatever emotional hole he'd dug himself into?
• Liz dealt with learning the truth in a much more calm manner than I was expecting. I actually really enjoyed her FBI posturing with Red's accountant/staff and Red's reaction. I liked how she confronted him with Mr. Kaplan's death and that she listened to his story without storming out.
