Blacklist Slumping

 This 8th season of Blacklist, although I'm watching belatedly, started so badly with episodes 1 - 4 that I quit watching it altogether. But when I heard that Keene was killed at the end of the season, I had a renewed interest and picked up where I left off which was episode 5. And sure enough it became interesting again, as was episode 6. But then with episodes 7 through 10, it has slumped, and I'm thinking it isn't going to be worth watchin again. Why?  Well after watching episodes 7 - 10 I have determined they were just fillers. The plots don't contribute to the storyline, which, btw, is lousy. 

Elizabeth Keene is a horrible character. She wasn't always. I thought she was a pretty good character when she was a rookie FBI agent learning the ropes with more than a little help from the mysterious Red Reddington. And as the years went by, she became a better agent. Of course, with experience, that's usually the case. But focusing the storyline on her now as a super villain is painful to watch, and it's why I stopped watching after the start of this season. 

I had hopes that it would be good again without her, and with episodes 5 and 6, that seemed to be happening. But this slump better stop with episode 11 which I plan on watching tonight. And by the way, the whole show will be bullshit if they don't finally give a good reason why Red was so obsessed with her in the first place. The only reason that can make sense is if he is really her biological father. Nothing else will make sense. But I heard him say, again, that he is not her father. So do we have a show that is based on bullshit? It is appearing that way.

Goodbye Elizabeth Keen

So I returned to viewing The Blacklist. I had written it off due to the horrible writing that had made Lizzie into some super villain. But the reality was the writers were actually writing her out of the show. Once I realized the end game of it, meaning they were going to kill her off, I thought, okay, let's check it out again. And yes. The show is much better without that annoying character in it. It's a shame, really. I thought Megan Boone, the actress who had been playing Lizzie, did a fine enough job when the writing had her being what she was supposed to be -- a rookie FBI agent being helped by the criminal mastermind Red Reddington. It worked and all was good. 

I already wrote about the many reasons why it was good and how it devolved into a lousy show. But it seems they are fixing it. I would have written it differently, of course, and probably much better, but at least they are getting it right now. So I watched episode 5 and 6, and liked both of them well enough. Even in spite of the constant references to Lizzie.

It's a shame one of the characters died in real life and he died in the show, too. I guess that was fitting. And of course, James Spader gave a great performance to send him off. Or was it a performance? Maybe he wasn't acting. Since the real guy died, maybe he meant every word.

Whatever. It's a good show now. I had liked it before. Now I do again.