Blacklist - Suicide by Bull? WTF?

 All good things...as they say. But the end to The Blacklist was, for me, at least, disappointing. I was very happy with the writing up until the very last scene of the very last episode. Agent Ressler finds the dead body of Red Reddington in a field. He had been gored by a bull. So, yeah, like WTF?

In the show, Red had entered into a bull's corral, whether by accident or deliberately, (the writing did not make it clear.) But what was clear is that when Red faced off with the bull, he made no effort to vacate the area. He just stood there and waited for the bull to gore him. Actually, the bull seemed to be giving Red a chance to leave. But he didn't. And the last thing we saw in that scene was the bull beginning its charge. So, yeah. I've heard of suicide by cops, but this was on another level.

And, as I said, the final scene of the series is Ressler finding Red's gored and bloodied body. And very dead. A very anticlimactic ending, imo. We did have a eulogy of sorts, for Red, shortly before that, from the bed-ridden Dembe, which was fitting. However, for me, anyway, it would have been better writing if the camera never showed the dead body of Red. After the "bull" scene, I think it would have been better if Red was never seen again, alive or dead, by Ressler or anyone else. 

And if Ressler had never found the body of Red, then the audience could have fantasized that Red was living out the rest of his days somewhere with that very nice Cuban woman which the writers had established was very willing to do so. (You know, the younger sister of his former girlfriend.) Btw, about that. How was it that Red hooked up with his former girlfriend's little sister? That was never explained. Some people would call it lazy writing. But I digress.

A great character like Red Reddington, like Conan, should never be shown killed or dead. That's not to say he can't get killed. It just shouldn't be shown. It's what I didn't like about the final Daniel Craig Bond movie. Well, they really didn't show him killed, did they? (Nor did they show his dead body.) Okay, then, it is one of the major criticisms I have of the Star Trek movies because they did show Captain Kirk killed and even buried. (I hated all those movies.)

And yes, I do place the character of Red Reddington up there with my all-time favorite characters, which include Conan, James Bond, and Captain Kirk. Yes, indeed. Red belongs. 

One last comment. I never got my wish for the show to provide a definitive statement that Red was the biological father of Lizzy Keen. Although the writers were kind enough to put in the dialogue that he was the grandfather of Lizzy's daughter. I suppose that will have to do.

The Blacklist Once Again Back on Top

I know I've been all over the map with my opinions of the TV show called The Blacklist. I had praised it, I had panned it, and I had been everywhere in-between. The highest opinion I had at one point of this show was that it had supplanted Star Trek, TOS, as my all-time favorite TV show. That was after its third season, I believe. And I am glad to reveal that now, in its tenth and final season, The Blacklist has once again resumed its place on my all-time favorite TV show list.

The reason is a simple one. James Spader. The role he plays, Raymond "Red" Redington, is a great role. The world's most notorious villain. Except, he isn't really a villain. And his acting is absolutely flawless in every single episode. The supporting cast, now that Megan Boone is gone, is also stellar. And, yes, that was a knock on Megan Boone.

At one point I had thought her role in the series was necessary. And it was during its time as my favorite show. But it was largely, (although, not solely) because of her my opinion of the show began to wane. I was getting tired of this actress, or her role, and I found myself not enjoying the show as much because of her and other reasons. Those reasons I have documented often on this blog.

As for the final season now under way, we have found that the role of Elizabeth Keen was never necessary, and neither was the actress Megan Boone. James Spader was all the show ever needed. Of course, the FBI task force of Assistant Director Cooper, Agent Ressler and the new computer guy, Herbie, who has taken on the comedic role in place of the since departed Aram, is doing great and so is the new female member, Siya, who is a far preferable character than Lizzy Keen. 

But to wrap up this great show, it's great writing that takes precedence. Red knows he is dying and he is disassembling his mighty empire piece by piece, while at the same time, taking care of all the people who had worked for him. And that includes the FBI task force.

The only thorn in my side is that annoying politician who seems to be so hell bent on taking down the task force for no other reason than because the Attorney General won't fill him in on the secrecies of its mission. He has a driven mistrust of them and believes he is in the right. 

It's annoying, like I said, but I have no doubt that the great writers will pan it out to my satisfaction with the final two episodes that are left in this final season. And then, perhaps I can re-watch the entire series from the beginning, this time knowing that I don't have to be disappointed by the episodes that disappointed me before. Because I'll know it will all work out in the end. 

Oh, and before I forget, I still would like the final episode to reveal, once and for all, something we all must already know, that Red is the real father of Lizzy Keen. But even if they don't, I would like to thank James Spader for his contributions to a great show, a great role, and a great performance.

Blacklist - Meh

So it's over just like that. Marvin Gerard is dead, apparently by suicide. It was appropriate, but, of course, the audience did not see it. The audience was only privy to hearing a gunshot from the car in which Gerard was sitting. And that's it for this season.

Next season promises a brand new villain. A Chinese assassin, who was tipped off (by Gerard) who it was that put him behind bars. Was it Red? According to Marvin Gerard it was. Is it true? We don't know. We had never seen this guy before. But I had said that I wanted new villains, not just the same old premise of former friends turned enemies. So I suppose they are giving me what I asked for. Right? We'll see.

I still want to see storylines that include the Skinners. It was a great idea, but seemingly forgotten. Maybe they can meld the two storylines. That's what I would do. Again. We'll see.

This is So Old

So it's not Mr. Kaplan. But once again, the writers of The Blacklist can't think of any new or original storylines, but to make another one of Red Reddington's closest allies into a hated enemy. 

So it seems the Mr. Kaplan angle was a hoax, as I hoped, but that didn't make it any better. Instead, it's his oldest friend and attorney, Marvin, who had betrayed him. And he's the one who had Lizzy killed, and he's the one who was framing Harold. I was so disappointed because I have been criticizing this show for a long time, years even, that I was so tired of the same old storyline of Red's closest friends betraying him and becoming his enemies. From his closest friend, (and who better be his daughter,) Lizzy to his other close friends, and now it's Marvin.

Why can't they create a new foe? A real foe? Or at least stop rehashing the same storyline over and over again. Will they ever get back to that Skinner story? I was thinking they had a good concept there. But it was a one and done deal. At least so far. Once this Marvin story is over, I would very much like to see the Skinner story resumed. I hope they won't make me wait until next season. But they probably will.

Mr. Kaplan? Again? WTF?

 I really hate to continue this seemingly never ending criticism of what used to be my favorite show. Yes, The Blacklist. But once again it is failing to entertain. And once again I am on the verge of quitting that show. As the title of this post suggests, it's about Mr. Kaplan...again.

I used to like Kate Kaplan. (She was called Mr. Kaplan by a tormentor in her past, a mocking of her being gay, and the name stuck.) I liked her character because she was a loyal ally of Red Reddington. Until she wasn't. See the pattern here?

I never liked it when a man as good and generous and loyal as Red has been, is betrayed by those same people that he had been so generous and loyal to. It's like the writers of this show can't think of any other storyline. So they find Red's closest allies and turn them into enemies.

And a few years ago that was the storyline and I hated it. It went like this: Mr. Kaplan, who was a close friend and ally of Red's, suddenly becomes his rival and near equal in crime. And of course bent on DESTROYING him. (Caps deliberate.)

It lasted an entire season, until she jumped from a bridge into the Potomac River. Now it seems these lousy writers are expecting us to believe that a frail old woman survived the fall (and the drowning) to once again torment Red Reddington. No! I've had enough of that. So it better be a scam, meaning it better be an imposter and it better get resolved in this next episode. I don't want another long drawn out battle with this kind of tired storyline.

Actually, the storyline was supposed to be finding Lizzy's killer. Or are we going to have to suffer through a resurrection of Lizzy next?  And going by what we've been seeing, I'm betting she will rise again vowing to DESTROY Red Reddington, the man who saved her life no less than three times. 

Oh wait, she'll blame him for being shot. And oh yeah he had a secret, (which was the reason she wanted to DESTROY him the last time. (Even though he had saved her life maybe four times or more, (I lost count.) But yeah, that's how it will pan out. Just watch. And if it does, that will be the nail in the coffin for me. Pardon the pun. 

I'm No Reviewer

I may not be a reviewer, but that doesn't mean I don't have opinions of what I think is good writing and what isn't. And what I think is a good idea, and what isn't.

TV shows have been sinking in quality, imo, for the last several decades. I'm referring to the years since what I call the golden age of TV, which was the 60s. Back then, you had great TV shows. Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Wild, Wild West, Lost in Space, Star Trek, and even The Time Machine. Of course, the list goes on and on. I can't even count the number of great shows from the 60s.

The TV shows back then were great ideas for shows. The characters were great, and the casting for the characters was spot on. I mean James Arness as Matt Dillon was spot on. Lorne Green as Ben Cartwright was spot on. Robert Conrad as James West was spot on. Guy Williams as Professor John Robinson was spot on. And William Shatner as Captain Kirk was spot on. Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock was spot on. It seemed that the 60s was the golden age of TV.

I might concede that TV was okay in the 70s, but I was not sitting in front of a TV during that decade. Unless it was a football game. And that continued through the 80s too. Of course had there been a show worth watching, I would like to think that I would have. Alas, to me, at least, there weren't. Not even the return of Star Trek, (as in TNG) made me interested again. I'll admit I gave it a chance. At first I thought the older captain of a larger starship with a larger crew made sense. But at about half way through season one, I realized this new version of Star Trek sucked.

To be clear, I still had a deep affection for Star Trek TOS. And I had high hopes for TNG version. But those hopes were dashed by the portrayal of a starship captain who was always second-guessing himself, and who always needed the counseling of a much younger woman who actually had a position on the bridge as part of the command crew... It was like....what?

Can you imagine a captain of a battleship in our modern navy having to consult with a younger man or woman sitting next to him before he made command decisions? I don't think so... And so I stopped watching Star Trek, TNG before season one even concluded. I was glad I did. As for the subsequent editions of Star Trek shows, I'll admit I watched them on and off, with mixed opinions.

Which brought me into the 90s. Those shows were a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. There was the Babylon 5 show which I thought was pretty good. I never got into Cheers or Seinfeld, or any of those sitcoms. I wasn't much of a sitcom type of person. I didn't even appreciate All in the Family from the 70s. I thought it sucked actually. Which is my overall opinion of all sitcoms.

And now, in the 21st century, things aren't much better for me, as my most watched TV remains football games. The NFL in particular, and even that has suffered with the kneeling protests and the racially motivated lawsuits and such. It's a distraction and a detriment, imo.

Football was always a place, for me, at least, where race did not matter. First of all, skin color to me never mattered. Not when I was a kid growing up, not when I was a teenager and not now as an adult. A man was a man no matter what color was his skin, or what country was his origin. And a woman was a woman, regardless of any ethnic background.

But in the 21st century, race seems to be the issue that is on everyone's mind. Most people anyway, since it's always in the news and in TV shows and in the movies. Race and LGBTQ issues. It seems like TV and the movies are force-feeding these issues down our throats. And I don't appreciate that. I don't need Hollywood preaching to me. I don't need anyone preaching to me. Never did.

So I write what I like. Meaning I write my own books, I write my own music, I create my own art and my own stories. I don't expect anyone to appreciate what I write, nor do I need them to. If they have an opinion, even a bad one, that's their right. But life is too short to care about petty things like that. It's like I said many times, it doesn't matter to me. I have better things to do. 

Not Canceled

 So the Blacklist TV show is not cancelled apparently. And the rift between Red and Dembe seems to be mended. I thought it was stupid anyway. And even more stupid was when Dembe was going to betray Red for his daughter. Not that his daughter wasn't worth it. But the last time we saw his daughter she was like five years old, and now she's a grown up, like thirty something. It's lousy writing. And speaking of daughters, when will they confirm that Lizzy was Red's daughter?

I had said that I thought the show was going in the right direction because Red was now the leader of some ages-old secret organization called the Skinners. But since then, nothing has happened in terms of that.  It's suddenly all about who killed Lizzy, or who hired the guy that killed her. Okay. But I would like to see that secret organization return to the storyline. 

Just have to wait and see. At least Red's friends have stopped betraying him. For now.

Forget Blacklist

 I posted a lot about the TV show Blacklist. I did that because it had become my favorite TV show. I didn't even watch the show when it first came out. I think I started watching after it was on for over three years. Then I binged watched it with my wife, and I quickly declared it my all time favorite TV show. But after the third season, I was disappointed it was falling short of the already established level of greatness it had achieved. And for the next five years, I did not enjoy it much at all.

In short, the writing sucked. This current season, which is the 9th season, had made a slight rebound, but I read recently that the show will be cancelled. And that is all right with me. Because, even though I liked the direction it was going, it keeps on going back to the same old storylines of Red Reddington's closest allies conspiring against him. Even Dembe. Twice now.

The last episode that aired seemed to rectify that idiotic plotline, but there's another thing that bothers me about what these writers are doing. Using topical issues that include real life people in their fictional show. Another episode that disgusted me was the one about abortion. More specifically, it was about some lunatic who was transplanting pregnant women's uteruses into men who were against abortion and then daring them to get an abortion.

Not only was that disgusting, it was plain ridiculous. I almost quit the show at that point. But I kept on watching anyway, but with a reduced enthusiasm. So if it's true that Blacklist is being cancelled, I say Good Riddance. It was a once great show that turned into crap. It's not uncommon.

Blacklist - Here we go again

So The Blacklist has returned to being a good show. I like the direction it is going with Red being the top man in that Skinner organization. And I even like his new bodyguard...that Cuban woman...  And I can appreciate her skill with  a gun. I don't believe she could beat up four dudes, though.

What I don't like is here we go again...another rift between Red and Dembe. It's like, haven't we been here before?  Yes we have. And it's a place I don't appreciate. What really bothers me about these writers is that they are clutching at straws for plotlines. I hate it when they turn Red's closest friends into antagonists. It's like the writers can't think of anything better.

It all started with Mr. Kaplan. That was painful to watch. Not to mention the constant feuding with Lizzy. Then we had to watch the first rift with Dembe. They got over it fast enough, but I thought even then it was idiotic. Now we have to go through that again? No, please no.

What I liked about Blacklist was the allies Red had. His trusted friends. And then the next thing you know, his friends are not as trustworthy as he thought. I can see it happening once. But over and over again, with one friend after another, and now his closest and most trusted friend? Please...

If they can resolve this latest rift, like they did the first time with Dembe, then okay. But we'll have to wait until after the holidays to find out. Okay. I'll wait...and I'll find out.

Blacklist Season 9 -- Looking Good

 

I started watching The Blacklist Season 9 and just finished the two-part premiere and I actually liked it. So, hurray. The Blacklist has made a comeback! I really liked the way they laid out the new premise. It seems that once the show's main creators left the show, the new guys in charge are doing a much better job. It makes me think I was right about what I had said in an earlier post. To reiterate, I had said that I believed the show's creators and/or producers probably didn't think the show would last much past its third season, and so they didn't have a clue as to how to proceed beyond that.

It seemed like they were clutching at straws for storylines and/or story arcs, and the show suffered for that reason. But now, with the Lizzy Keen premise eliminated, which was a premise that had bogged down the show's progress, there's a new freshness about the show and it's working!

I thought this new criminal organization, The Skinners, is a great idea. I don't much care for the name "Skinners"  but the idea behind it is great. And Red Reddington as their new leader makes it even better. I loved how Red infiltrated the home of that lady senator, and arranged for the old FBI team to get back together, and continue their good work. Even if it's all in the name and memory of Lizzy, I have no problem with that. It's all good. And I'm on board for the ride!

Blacklist Season 8

 

I had given up on this show because it sucked for four years running. But the reason it sucked, as I explained many times, was because the role of the female lead, Lizzy Keen, was written so poorly, and the storylines around her were so bad, it was painful to watch. And since I'm not a masochist, I stopped watching. But then, as I explained, I heard they were getting rid of the character at the conclusion of Season 8, so I watched it for that reason.

And yes, by the end of season 8 she was killed. But it was just when they finally resolved the characters' issues. And at that point, I would have been fine with her staying in the show. My entire problem with the character of Liz Keen was her stupidity. She was so stupid to believe a strange woman was her mother. But she wasn't her mother. Liz Keen was just stupid enough to believe she was, in spite of the fact that the woman had lied to her. And in spite of the fact that the woman had put Lizzy's own child in danger by gaining Lizzy's trust to babysit the kid.. And in spite of the fact that the woman had murdered two of Lizzy's fellow FBI agents. And worst of all, for me at least, was how Lizzy was so quick to side with a strange woman just because she claimed to be her mother and then believing she had to hate Red Redington--the man who had saved her life many times over. 

It was just so stupid. Of course I don't blame Megan Boone. As I've explained. It's the writers who made the character so stupid. It was so old to hear how Lizzy wanted to kill Red, or whatever. So the final episode, when even Red wanted her to kill him, she couldn't, and that was good. So then a bad guy shoots and kills her. But I don't quite buy it. I haven't started watching season 9 yet, but Lizzy had been killed once before. But then she wasn't. Even the phony mother had been killed before. But then she wasn't. So now these stupid writers want their audience to believe Lizzy is killed now?

I won't hesitate to say I could have been a great collaborator for this show and the plot lines that have been happening. And I still could be. But shows don't run for much more than nine seasons. I wouldn't be surprised if this season is the last season. I'll watch it. And I'll see.

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.

No Liz, No More

 

I had stopped watching this show because it had turned into garbage. But one of the reasons it had turned into garbage was because of the character of Lizzie, or Elizabeth Keene. Originally the character was fine, but after the third season, the character of Lizzie Keene turned into a stupid, wishy-washy flake. Going back and forth on her convictions was one thing, but hating someone who had saved her life time and again, and had saved the lives of her friends and coworkers, is hardly someone she would hate. I would think she would be eternally grateful to that person.

But no. She would rather be duped into believing that a stranger was her mother. Never mind that the stranger had murdered two of her fellow FBI agents. Never mind that the stranger put her daughter into harm's way. And never mind that the stranger was not her mother in the first place.   

So I have not watched any of the episodes after the second episode of this season, and what I have heard is that the character of Lizzie Keene became so bad they had to kill her off and get her off the show. Hhmmmnnn... Okay. I guess that's what you have to do.

So will I start watching again? Now that the character of Lizzie is gone, might that mean the show will be good again? Not so fast. Don't forget... The show had become my favorite show while Lizzie was a main character. It was the writers who ruined that. Meghan Boone had to perform the role as the writers wrote it. So that means the show is not necessarily good again, even without Lizzie.

Maybe I'll have to watch it again just to see. But the father/daughter dynamic between Red and Lizzie worked for me. I would rather have had that come to fruition and then they take it from there. But if that is not the case, then it's better they offed her. I guess.

Resident Alien Gets a Passing Grade

So the first season of Resident Alien has concluded, and I had agreed to watch at least this first season to give it a fair chance to convince me it was worthwhile. I had said it started slowly for me, and by midseason, I was still on the fence. It had a lot going for it. But there was enough there to criticize as well. For one thing, I just couldn't get over the alien's idiocy. For another, I didn't like that he wanted to kill the little boy who knew his true nature.

But that got settled. Like I hoped it would. First, about the alien's idiocy. To be an advocate for the show, I might say, what do you expect? This is an ALIEN. Not a secret agent from Russia! or China! This is an ALIEN. Not a human. Not a creature from this planet. Can you get that through your head? It's an alien sent to this planet, not to intermingle with humanity. Not to pretend it's one of us. It had a simple mission. Drop the "extinction device" and go home. That's it. It wasn't supposed to land or get out of its spaceship or anything like that. 

But, of course, when the U.S. fired a missile at it, the spaceship was damaged before it could launch its weapon. That kind of makes you glad that the U.S. had a "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude. I would think that in real life we don't have that attitude. But in this fictitious farce, it does. Hey. It's a TV show, not a documentary about how earth should respond to unannounced alien visitors.

So the alien ship crash-lands, semi-incapacitated, and with its "extinction device" broken. The alien, like Jeff Bridges in Starman, can take human form. Almost just like in Starman actually. Although we don't see him go through the infantile stage like Jeff Bridges did. Whatever. And after a length of time residing in a loner's cabin after killing him, the alien learns, to some degree, how to speak and act like a human by watching television shows for some months.

So there you go. It leaned the language and learned about human behavior from TV shows, and the internet, which it quickly learns to master. And because the loner in the cabin was a doctor, it becomes that doctor, and thus recruited by a nearby town to take over for another doctor who had been recently murdered. By the way, killing the first person the alien confronted was a hard one to swallow until you learn that it came to earth in the first place to kill everyone. So it became believable.

But wanting to kill the kid was not believable. It should have known (even from TV) that killing a kid was going to bring too much attention to its situation, and now that the kid and the alien have become "allies" so to speak, I like it much better. The kid is a great actor, and a great character. So is the Muslim girl who becomes his partner in the quest to learn more about the alien. Both kid actors play their roles well, and more importantly, their roles are written well.

I'm not so sure I can say the same for Linda Hamilton's part. She had seen a UFO when she was a child, and ever since, she's on a quest to capture it. This is another one hard to swallow because she gives orders to her female agent to kill anyone who might compromise the mission, including innocent citizens and her male partner. Yeah, she's acting as a rogue, but ordering one agent to kill another for no reason? I don't buy it.

But the two female supporting characters are great. Asta and D'Arcy are both well written characters  and both have fun parts to play in the show. D'Arcy is especially likeable, as the more comedic of the two. Once Asta learns the alien's true nature, the show gets better. But that didn't happen until near the end of the first season. And after the final episode, when the alien decides not to kill everyone, you have a good feeling.

I love it when a show makes you feel good at its conclusion. But this show is not concluded. Even the final episode of Season One had a type of cliffhanger ending, so you need to see the second season to see what happens next. For now, the alien is off the earth, and after having repaired the extinction device, it destroys it, and now it just wants to go home. (For clarification, the alien is not a he or she. It had made clear that its species does not have male and female.) So what about its mission? We'll have to see the second season for that question to be answered. I'll be waiting. And I'll watch it.

Resident Alien

Since I put The Blacklist onto the trash list, I've been looking for a new show to watch, and presto, Resident Alien had its premiere episode right at the same time I stopped watching the Blacklist. So I gave it a go. I wasn't too thrilled with it really. It started pretty slowly for me.

The Premise: An alien spaceship is fired upon by U.S jets, and crash-lands in the Colorado Rockies. The solitary alien is able to assume human shape to blend in with humanity as it tries to fulfill its mission. Sounds like the movie Starman from some years ago which starred Jeff Bridges. 

But this alien did not come to say Greetings. This alien came to earth to destroy all human life. But of course, the crash-landing throws a wrench into that plan. 

What bothers me, however, is that the alien talks and acts like a person with a very low IQ through it all. And even though this alien had assumed the form of a known doctor, the people of the nearby town accept his moronic ways as natural, and no one is even suspicious as to why he's acting like an idiot, not even his estranged wife. Yeah, they call him weird, creepy, and his wife says he's acting differently, but no, he's acting like a total idiot. Or suffice it to say, I would not let any doctor who acts like that to touch me. So everyone is fooled except a little boy who can see his alien form.

The show explained why the boy can see the alien in his true form, but I don't buy the explanation. Whatever. I like the show well enough to keep watching. At least for now, and will probably watch the full first season and then reevaluate it. As for now, let's see:

The good: The casting is perfect. From the lead character to the supporting characters including the silly acting "Big Black" sheriff, the actors fit the roles in which they are cast.

It's really a tongue-in-cheek type of show and tongue-in-cheek shows are some of the most difficult shows to pull off. So far Resident Alien has, but only by a thread at this point. It's why I can tolerate, but just barely, the idiocy of the alien as he tries to act human.

The bad: The alien just acts too stupid. And the people not wondering why a supposed doctor is so stupid is hard to accept. But, it's tongue-in-cheek, so there you go.

Let's see how it pans out. Is it entertaining? Yes, which is why I'm still watching. Unlike Blacklist.

Blacklist is on my Blacklist

 I haven't watched any episodes of The Blacklist since that last post, and I don't miss it. I do feel disappointed that the producers or the writers of the show ruined what was my favorite show. Or maybe it wasn't quite that high on my list in the first place. After all, Star Trek remained my favorite show even during its poorly written third and final season. But to be fair to Star Trek, there were some pretty well written episodes during that final third season. So it wasn't a complete washout by then.

But I understand that Lizzy or Megan Boone hasn't even been on the show lately. Still I don't care. It had become a lousy show. It failed its audience. What the Blacklist failed to realize is that the audience didn't give a hoot about Lizzy or Megan Boone. It was a story about Red Reddington, starring James Spader.

And the first three seasons were great. But the writers, or whoever was in charge of the storylines, tested the patience of the audience and way too much. We needed to know by season 4 that Red is the real father of Lizzy. Sheesh, season 8 is getting ready to be wrapped up and STILL no one has a clue. Sure it's been made clear that Red has some super secret. And he has gone to great pains keeping that secret. Even from the TV audience. It was okay during the first three seasons. But it's not okay to keep this secret any longer.

Make it known once and for all that Red is Lizzy's father. It's the only thing that can make this show have any sense. And if they can do that by the end of this current season, I might just come back and watch this show again. But that's what it would take. I'm not holding my breath.

So you see that photo of Red to the left? That's not just Red turning his back. That's me turning my back. I'm turning my back on the Blacklist. And the Blacklist is staying on my blacklist. A blacklist of shows I don't watch, that is. We'll see if that changes. But like I said. I'm not holding my breath.

Blacklist - Worst Show on TV

So yeah. After this last episode, it is confirmed. The Blacklist has become the worst show on TV. That is, the worst show of the shows I watch. I wouldn't doubt if there's a worse show, but I wouldn't know, since I don't watch all shows on TV. But of those I do watch, Blacklist has become the worst. 

What that means is I will no longer be watching it. I have better things to do than watch a show where the writers, producers, and even the creators of the show are trying to come up with storylines for a show they had no idea would still be on the air for its eighth season. (And it's been renewed again.)

But whatever, I'm off this ride now. As early as its fourth season, it started flopping. And each successive season after that it only got worse. I thought at one point it had bottomed out. But no. It would be now it has bottomed out, if that means I'm done with it.

You see, once a character is no longer true to his/her true character as had been established, that means the writers are grasping at straws and hoping to put something together to keep their ride going. But Red Reddington believing Lizzy's comment that his loyal lawyer has turned against him to join Lizzy, and then trusting some dude who had only just made his first appearance, was just too much for me.

That was so NOT like Red Reddington to trust some guy he never met before over someone who had already proven his loyalty. In short, it was bullshit. And so we have a bullshit show now, whereas once we had a show that I had called my favorite TV show. Now it's just a joke.

Such is life. So many things have happened that are bullshit lately, it's just another one on the "black" list. Excuse the pun. But I thought it was a good one. Or, it could be said the Blacklist is now on my RED list. (That is, if Red lists are the shows I DON'T watch.)

Bye Bye Blacklist. You lost yet another viewer.

The Blacklist - Now a Big Joke

The Blacklist. Once it was a very good TV show. It featured a great actor, James Spader, playing the role of a great character, Raymond Red Reddington. It also had a weak actress, Megan Boone, playing a weak character, Elizabeth Lizzy Keane. But the weak character of Keane and the weak performances of Boone did not matter. And that was because the great acting of Spader and the great character of Reddington more than made up for it.

But now we have to believe the weak Keane has become the "female" Red Reddington. Now, the former FBI agent, Keane, is going to be the top criminal mastermind who will destroy, (that word again) the current top criminal mastermind of Reddington. Yeah. Right. We've heard that how many times now?

This is all one big joke of a show. And to make my meaning clear, a big joke of a show means that a once great show has become a perverse shadow of its former self. In simpler terms, it SUCKS.

I said this before. Reddington was the main character of Blacklist, not Keane. Spader was the star of the show, not Boone. But with Hollywood's focus on "feminism" the past twenty years, they are trying to reverse the roles, I suppose. Just like the joke of making Halle Berry the "female" John Wick. And now they are making the Equalizer into a female, too, on a new TV show. Another joke. It's a fat, old woman, at that. It was enough we had a skinny old woman pretending to be John Wick. Sheesh. Nothing against skinny or fat people by the way. And nothing against old people, either.

But Hollywood has lost it. They don't care. As long as the money rolls in, that's all they need to see. What ever happened to ratings? Well, I won't be watching The Equalizer, that's for sure. I won't even give it a single viewing. I have better things to do. As for Blacklist? Hey, it used to be my favorite show. And I still hope it can return to being that. I have hope because they can still salvage it.

Here's how they can salvage it. First of all, Lizzy NEVER gets the better of Red. That just better not ever happen. And lastly, it better be revealed THIS SEASON that Red IS THE TRUE BIOLOGICAL FATHER of Lizzy. That will be the only thing that can bring any sense to this show. And even better, if it were to also be revealed that the lady known as Katarina was NOT the biological mother of Lizzy.

Then and only then can I say, "Well, they had me for a bit there. Clever assholes, as they were, they had me, but now it's all good." And it will be my favorite TV show again. Will it be? Who knows? I would like it to be. Let's see those qualifiers happen, first.

Favorite Things

 I've been very critical of the TV show The Blacklist. And for good reason. It sucks. But why would I care so much as to dedicate time to point that out? Well, because it had been my favorite TV show, that's why. And to see it "fall from grace" so to speak was a huge disappointment to me.

It seems to have been a recurring thing to me with the things I've considered my favorite things. The Raiders football team is another example. The Raiders were a great franchise. For a long time. And then they become a very bad franchise. And that has been going on for a very long time, too.

I had a favorite rock band. Black Sabbath. But they couldn't keep their line up stable for the life of them. And even though they still made good music, there is no denying the music suffered. One day I will list every song they did, or every album, and give an honest opinion of how I feel about it. 

As for Blacklist, being a TV show, they have more control of being able to maintain greatness. A football team probably has the least control. You have 31 other teams, all with professional athletes, some of whom turn out to be better athletes than others. And when your ability to judge talent suffers, your team goes down. And it's not atypical for rock bands to have problems with their line ups. How many times have we heard about egos and drugs interfering with a bands success? Often.

But a TV show should not have any of these obstacles. If you have the same line up of actors, which it does, and the same writers, which it does, then there is no reason for the show to tank. But Blacklist's writers seem to have forgotten what made the show great.

It was the character of Red Reddington that made the show great. NOT the character of Elizabeth Keene. And the character of Dembe, Red's African bodyguard. And the storyline that followed, which was how Red got the FBI to take down his competition in the underworld, all the while granting him impunity for his own crimes. That was genius. And the show was fantastic.

But after three seasons, they seem to have lost their way. Red's closest allies betray him, and the writers began focusing on topical issues that had no place in the TV show, (like that horrible episode about abortion) which was a very disgusting and disturbing story.

But my repeated criticism is the repeated idiocy of the writing that has Lizzy hating the man who had saved her life over and over again. And this stupid "secret" Red has, which she just can't get over. And now, it's starting to bother me, too. The show has teased its audience enough. Who the hell is Red? Is he Lizzy's father or not? He said he's not. He said she shot her father and then the house burned down. But there was one episode that they showed a clue. In a scene where Red was changing his shirt we saw horrible burn scars on his back. So, what does that mean? Could it mean he was there when the house burned down? Could it be that he is the "father' that Lizzy shot? 

Two things have to happen. Let the audience in on the secret. Reveal that Red is the "father" that Lizzy shot, that it was he who saved Lizzy's life that day, even though she had shot him, and he suffered burns for the effort. And stop this ridiculous hating of Red. He has saved Cooper's life, Ressler's life, and just about everyone else's life on that damn show. Can we please stay grounded in reason if not reality? If they can do that, then I can say once again it's my favorite show.