Liz is Most Wanted: A Blacklist Review

The Blacklist Season 2 Review

4 / 5

The show that drives its viewers insane.

I began watching The Blacklist a while ago because of the intriguing premise for the show. A supervillain on the FBI’s Most Wanted list hands himself in and subsequently provides them with a list of other supervillains, even ones which the FBI don’t know about, and he works with them to catch them. This is what attracted many millions of viewers I expect, but of course the programme has to grow and develop and extend to countless episodes as is the American way. However, despite the interesting story-lines concerning the Fulcrum, Reddington’s story, Liz’s identity and the workings of Cabal, I feel as though they are preventing the show from moving forward fluently. Season 1 had a stable and a tighter structure to individual episodes and the season as a whole, as the concentration was on catching these supervillians that are a part of Red’s Blacklist. Although as season 1 progressed the underlying stories of Tom/ Jacob, Liz’s identity and Red’s motives became more prevalent but it didn’t detract from the show, it complimented it and made season 2 hotly anticipated.

[ SPOILERS AHEAD ]

Season 2 has suffered some stalling tactics as the very slow reveal of Liz’s identity has now spanned 44 episodes so far and we have learned some things about Liz’s past but there are plenty of unanswered questions still remaining for season 3 and beyond. This is part of the draw of the show now for the viewers, they have invested in the story and many will continue to be a loyal viewer so they can find out all of the unrevealed mysteries concerning Liz’s past and Red’s involvement.

The season finale wasn’t blockbuster stuff but it still had some fascinating moments, none more so than the Connolly moment (WOW!) Not only is the murder really shocking given the fact that Harold was pleading with her not to, she does anyway which not only confirms her as a fugitive but it also provided us patient viewers with the biggest flashback that the programme has delivered so far. The scene before the fire where a young Liz witnesses an argument between her mother and a man (potential partner and Liz’s father), and during this argument a gun falls to her feet where she reaches down and pulls the trigger and kills the man. With this revelation, she is in a state of shock and she kind of is in a daze as she calls Red and she ends up meeting him, where we are given what I believe is the clearest hint that Red is her biological father since Sam’s death and his burns. Red says to Liz while sitting on a bench during the final scene of the finale:

“I didn’t want you to become like me.” The question we have to ask is, why would anyone that ISN’T her father say such a thing. It doesn’t seem logical that someone who is just looking out for her would say something like this, only a father would say this in my opinion. Having said that, this show has sprung so many surprises that it is still within the realms of possibility that he isn’t and there is a complex and unexplained mystery for his connection to her.

There were some cracking episodes in this season’s Blacklist, none more so than the double-header of Luther Braxton. Here we were presented with a dangerous villain that brings the story surrounding the Fulcrum into focus clearly for the first time. The episode is exhilarating and was presented like a short action film similar to Mission Impossible, Bond or Bourne. The plot thickens when Braxton reveals that he knows some of the history between Red and Liz. He captures Liz and forces upon her neurological experiments to trigger memories in Liz’s head to guide them to the Fulcrum and events of the night of the fire. By the end of the episode Liz is rescued and she has learnt that Red was there at the night of the fire and she also finds the Fulcrum … in her teddy bear.

Next season I will hotly anticipate the show, because we are now presented with new aspects that will make it different to the previous two seasons. Firstly, Ressler is now the Acting Director of the Taskforce; it will be interesting how he and the team attempt to hunt down Liz and Red as well as the possibility that Ressler will lapse back into his pill-popping phase to deal with the situation. I fully expect there to be a confrontation moment between Liz and Ressler and he’ll have to decide to bring her in or let her go, in a similar way he let her escape in the season finale. There is also the unique and dynamic relationship between Liz and Red now that are both on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. How will Liz deal with being a fugitive? How will she deal knowing she is Masha Rostova? And will Red’s personality rub off on her? The Cabal now know that Red possesses the Fulcrum and has given information to some investigative journalists; the question is how will they respond to this tactic used by Red? Furthermore, the resources that Red has acquired during his stint working with the FBI, for example Vanessa Cruz, how and will he utilise these Blacklisters in his attempt to take down the Cabal? And of course will the truth come out about Liz and Red, or will it be dragged out for another season … or more?

I will continue watching The Blacklist because of its premise, intriguing plots, brilliant villains and I am dying to know the complete story of Liz and Red’s history. Don’t we all want to know that? Isn’t that why we continue to watch?