The Blacklist 5x08 Thoughts
Nov. 23rd, 2017 10:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaIan Garvey [No. 13]
Wow.
+ I really wasn't expecting Tom's death to happen so soon. Or ever, tbh. Red shooting Tom being a fake-out wasn't surprising but then he died anyway! I'm a little suspicious that it could be fake but only a little. It felt very real - we got to see the body in the morgue, those doctors weren't Red's and Red would have no reason to fake Tom's death. I'm fairly certain he's dead and it was pretty damn sad!
I admit I've been annoyed with Tom both for going behind Liz's back and lying to her again, and because his return to the show has taken screen-time away from Liz/Red which is a relationship I'm more interested in. That said a part of me is sad to see him gone. As a goodbye to the character he got a pretty good one - fighting to the end to save Liz and himself, being a badass.
+ I also wasn't expecting the time jump! My main thought here is that I really hope this take's Liz's character in an interesting direction. Maybe do a soft reboot. The two people she loved and trusted most once again lied to her and it ended in violence that left her husband dead and her in a coma for ten months. She lost 10 months of her daughter's life! I'm most excited to see where she goes from here while at the same time most worried that the show isn't going to do anything interesting with the opportunity.
+ I love that Red's very first words to Liz were to tell her how excited Agnes would be to see her; both reassuring her that Agnes is okay and telling her that he did what she wanted and told Agnes about her. Has Red been raising Agnes? I wonder how that works with rebuilding his empire?
+ The whole sequences as The Sound of Silence played was great.
+ I loved Liz punching Garvey in the face.
+ I loved Red's reaction when he realised Liz was awake. The little jump of complete shock and his awed relief at seeing her staring back at him was great. Actually all of Red's reactions about Liz - the way he looked at her and gently cradled her head when he found her in the apartment, his expressions when Liz and Tom had their final conversation in the car, his face while he waiting in the car to see if Liz would survive - were wonderful.
+ I loved Dembe reaching back to hold Red's hand while they waited to see if Liz would survive.
+ I liked the flashbacks and the reveal that Red was at Liz/Tom's first wedding.
+ I liked that little moment in the station bathroom where Tom saw and then threw away the glasses. It was a nice little call back to season one Tom.
+ I enjoyed Red/Tom and them working together. They're actually a pretty good team. I loved that little moment where Red flicks the back of Tom's head while bemoaning how much simpler it would be if he could just put a bullet there. It was weirdly friendly.
+ Tom taking the time to make the moltov's to take out the vehicles was clever and made up for his dripping blood revealing them. Plus whatever Tom might have ever said about wanting a normal life his grin after they escaped the farmhouse alive showed that he loves the rush he gets from surviving life threatening situations and beating the bad guys.
+ I feel like at this point those bones belonging to the 'real' Raymond Reddington's is the only thing that makes sense. Mainly because of the fact that anyone who discovers who they are can immediately connect them to Red even when they don't know him, like Garvey. Them belonging to Masha or Katarina could have a huge affect on Liz but they wouldn't be enough to make Garvey think he could control Red's empire through them.
+ It's weird that Garvey didn't recognise Liz or take any real interest in her. She was simply 'the wife'. If he is so interested in Red than you'd think he'd have recognised the 'russian spy' that went on the run with Red and got pardoned by the president. Or there's the fact that Liz's name/id was used to identify the bones and her name/address was on the suitcase tag so you'd think he'd be interested in her for that reason alone.
+ I wish that Liz hitting her head had happened later in their fight for survival so that we could have had her fighting alongside Tom instead of lying helplessly on the floor watching him fight back, unable to do anything to help herself. Or had her hit her head and yet still manage to fight back just as Tom fought through a gunshot and five stab wounds. It should have been the fighting together, damn it. It's something they do fairly often with her and it annoys the crap out of me. I get part of why they went this direction - so they could shoot it in a hazy/dreamy fashion though her eyes - but the actual result is Liz once again not being able to fight to control her own fate, once more being the 'weak' one, the one that needs to be saved/protected, the one not as competent or badass. I really hate it.
+ So the blame for this entire clusterfuck was shared pretty equally between Red and Tom. Red and his pathological need to keep secrets and never let Liz discover the truth is certainly the start of all this. If at any point, but especially once the briefcase was uncovered, Red had actually told Liz the damn truth this probably could have been avoided. (The reveal better be worth it!) On Tom's part he promised Liz not to lie to her and made the commitment to have a normal life with her and their daughter. Instead the instant the opportunity arrived he was back to lying to her and getting involved in shady shit. If he had simple told Liz the truth when he originally planned this would have all played out much differently. Through-out he had many opportunities to either tell the truth or back out of the situation as it got more dangerous.
+ I don't understand why Tom refused to contact Red at the end when Garvey was torturing him? The way that part of the scene played out weird. There was all the reason for Tom to call Red especially considering Liz was there with him and in danger. It would have made more sense for Tom to call Red with a location (where they're supposedly at), Garvey to leave to meet Red, and then Red to show up unexpectedly to save Tom/Liz.
+ Tom's hypocrisy with regards to Red, Liz and lying is never not going to be annoying. They are both constantly lying to her! He's not better than Red in this aspect!
+ Weirdly the part of Tom's death that makes me saddest is that Scottie has lost her son again and they never really had a chance to make up and get to know each other as mother/son. Poor Scottie. Did he at least save her and reveal the truth about Howard before returning to DC/this show?
Wow.
+ I really wasn't expecting Tom's death to happen so soon. Or ever, tbh. Red shooting Tom being a fake-out wasn't surprising but then he died anyway! I'm a little suspicious that it could be fake but only a little. It felt very real - we got to see the body in the morgue, those doctors weren't Red's and Red would have no reason to fake Tom's death. I'm fairly certain he's dead and it was pretty damn sad!
I admit I've been annoyed with Tom both for going behind Liz's back and lying to her again, and because his return to the show has taken screen-time away from Liz/Red which is a relationship I'm more interested in. That said a part of me is sad to see him gone. As a goodbye to the character he got a pretty good one - fighting to the end to save Liz and himself, being a badass.
+ I also wasn't expecting the time jump! My main thought here is that I really hope this take's Liz's character in an interesting direction. Maybe do a soft reboot. The two people she loved and trusted most once again lied to her and it ended in violence that left her husband dead and her in a coma for ten months. She lost 10 months of her daughter's life! I'm most excited to see where she goes from here while at the same time most worried that the show isn't going to do anything interesting with the opportunity.
+ I love that Red's very first words to Liz were to tell her how excited Agnes would be to see her; both reassuring her that Agnes is okay and telling her that he did what she wanted and told Agnes about her. Has Red been raising Agnes? I wonder how that works with rebuilding his empire?
+ The whole sequences as The Sound of Silence played was great.
+ I loved Liz punching Garvey in the face.
+ I loved Red's reaction when he realised Liz was awake. The little jump of complete shock and his awed relief at seeing her staring back at him was great. Actually all of Red's reactions about Liz - the way he looked at her and gently cradled her head when he found her in the apartment, his expressions when Liz and Tom had their final conversation in the car, his face while he waiting in the car to see if Liz would survive - were wonderful.
+ I loved Dembe reaching back to hold Red's hand while they waited to see if Liz would survive.
+ I liked the flashbacks and the reveal that Red was at Liz/Tom's first wedding.
+ I liked that little moment in the station bathroom where Tom saw and then threw away the glasses. It was a nice little call back to season one Tom.
+ I enjoyed Red/Tom and them working together. They're actually a pretty good team. I loved that little moment where Red flicks the back of Tom's head while bemoaning how much simpler it would be if he could just put a bullet there. It was weirdly friendly.
+ Tom taking the time to make the moltov's to take out the vehicles was clever and made up for his dripping blood revealing them. Plus whatever Tom might have ever said about wanting a normal life his grin after they escaped the farmhouse alive showed that he loves the rush he gets from surviving life threatening situations and beating the bad guys.
+ I feel like at this point those bones belonging to the 'real' Raymond Reddington's is the only thing that makes sense. Mainly because of the fact that anyone who discovers who they are can immediately connect them to Red even when they don't know him, like Garvey. Them belonging to Masha or Katarina could have a huge affect on Liz but they wouldn't be enough to make Garvey think he could control Red's empire through them.
+ It's weird that Garvey didn't recognise Liz or take any real interest in her. She was simply 'the wife'. If he is so interested in Red than you'd think he'd have recognised the 'russian spy' that went on the run with Red and got pardoned by the president. Or there's the fact that Liz's name/id was used to identify the bones and her name/address was on the suitcase tag so you'd think he'd be interested in her for that reason alone.
+ I wish that Liz hitting her head had happened later in their fight for survival so that we could have had her fighting alongside Tom instead of lying helplessly on the floor watching him fight back, unable to do anything to help herself. Or had her hit her head and yet still manage to fight back just as Tom fought through a gunshot and five stab wounds. It should have been the fighting together, damn it. It's something they do fairly often with her and it annoys the crap out of me. I get part of why they went this direction - so they could shoot it in a hazy/dreamy fashion though her eyes - but the actual result is Liz once again not being able to fight to control her own fate, once more being the 'weak' one, the one that needs to be saved/protected, the one not as competent or badass. I really hate it.
+ So the blame for this entire clusterfuck was shared pretty equally between Red and Tom. Red and his pathological need to keep secrets and never let Liz discover the truth is certainly the start of all this. If at any point, but especially once the briefcase was uncovered, Red had actually told Liz the damn truth this probably could have been avoided. (The reveal better be worth it!) On Tom's part he promised Liz not to lie to her and made the commitment to have a normal life with her and their daughter. Instead the instant the opportunity arrived he was back to lying to her and getting involved in shady shit. If he had simple told Liz the truth when he originally planned this would have all played out much differently. Through-out he had many opportunities to either tell the truth or back out of the situation as it got more dangerous.
+ I don't understand why Tom refused to contact Red at the end when Garvey was torturing him? The way that part of the scene played out weird. There was all the reason for Tom to call Red especially considering Liz was there with him and in danger. It would have made more sense for Tom to call Red with a location (where they're supposedly at), Garvey to leave to meet Red, and then Red to show up unexpectedly to save Tom/Liz.
+ Tom's hypocrisy with regards to Red, Liz and lying is never not going to be annoying. They are both constantly lying to her! He's not better than Red in this aspect!
+ Weirdly the part of Tom's death that makes me saddest is that Scottie has lost her son again and they never really had a chance to make up and get to know each other as mother/son. Poor Scottie. Did he at least save her and reveal the truth about Howard before returning to DC/this show?
