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.

Why Should I Sing?

 About my music, I've posted often that I can't sing. And yet I do sing on the songs I've posted on SoundCloud. Well, I had to sing. No one else knows my songs. And how could they? I've been in bands before, and I have corresponded with members of other bands. Almost always they say that when you write a song, you have to sing it, even if you can't sing. How else will a real singer know how you want your song sung?

I was hoping, at first, that a singer can just hear the tune that I wrote, and then sing the words I had written to match those tunes. I was told it's not as easy as that. So for twenty some years, my songs were sitting on cassette tapes without vocals and vanishing into obscurity. Because no way was I going to post just instrumental music anywhere. It would be like posting a painting of just a background with no subject matter in it. In other words, it would have sounded incomplete.

Then I remembered something. Years ago, I would play Black Sabbath songs on the piano and a friend of mine would sing the lyrics. He wasn't a singer, but he still sang the songs, and it worked well enough for two teenagers playing  songs in the living room. But the reason he was able to do that was because he had heard Ozzy sing those songs and he knew how they were supposed to be sung.

So I thought to myself, if he could sing the songs of someone else's music, even though he's not a singer, why the heck can't I sing the songs that were my own songs?

And that is why I went ahead and finally sang the songs and posted them. With mixed results, sure. It's clear that it would have been preferable to have a real singer. But in some of the songs I think I'm actually doing a passable job. Some, I think, are better than just passable. But that doesn't mean I think I could audition for Simon Cowell. No. Not even close.

But like anything, the more you do something, the better you get at doing it, and the same can be said for singing, especially when the songs are songs that you wrote. So for the last two albums I posted, Volumes 1 and 14, I think I'm doing a better job at singing than the first albums I posted, which are Volumes 2 through 13. 

Will there be a Volume 15? I should think so. I'm already getting ideas for more original songs. It's a matter of getting back into the mood. Might be soon. Maybe I can have another album written by summertime. We'll see.

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.