This is one of my new favorite shows. It is well written well-acted and well-paced. What a trip it has been since the beginning. The cast is astounding in their presentation. This show gives you just enough to keep you coming back but does not frustrate you with what else you need to know. This show very well could be around for a long while if it can avoid some major pitfalls ahead.
This shows starts off where else but the very beginning. It is Agent Keen’s first day on the job. She is about to be running late when Red Reddington turns himself in to the FBI. Apparently he is one of the most wanted and just walks in and gives himself up. He has but one condition. He works only with new profiler Elizabeth Keen. Who is now whisked away from her house and thrown into the middle of a very intense and in depth investigation. The kind of career maker you work and entire career for. But Red has a connection to Keen and will only work with her.
The way they portray the anti-hero of Red Redington, played superbly by James Spader, is phenomenal. He is all business. There is almost nothing personal about this for him except of course for his relationship with Elizabeth Keen. We are not sure what this relation is and it gets teased throughout the series. This is a pitfall they have to avoid. There is the easy way out and I hope they don’t take it. More on that later. Red is running through a list of former associates for the FBI. He is handing over the worst of the worst. These are the criminals no one even knows exist. These are the masters behind the scenes. These are the guys that hire the guys that make it difficult to get on an airplane, to travel freely, or just generally make it impossible to sleep at night. That is Blacklist in a nut shell.
The big mystery that runs through the show is a simple one. What is Red’s relation to Keen? This seems to be part of the ongoing speculation amongst fans. This is the most common topic of discussion amongst the people I talk to about this show. Many believe he is her father. I am hoping this is not true. See agent keen was rescued from a horrible fire as a small child. She believes it was her father who rescued her and gave her to her adopted father. Who then raised her as his own. Before dying in the middle of the season her adoptive father had something important to tell agent Keen. However Red did away with him before he had a chance to tell her. Was this a mercy killing as Red said? Was this red keeping him form telling Keen who her real father was? Is red her real father? I hope they do not take this obvious way out. This seems to be beneath a show that does well at giving you suspects and clearing them to only have them be a different bad guy than you had originally thought. I hope against hope they do not take this easy road.
This show gives you agent Keen’s loving and caring husband. He is an elementary school teacher. Being a high school teacher this made me cringe. He was pulled in as a suspected terrorist then cleared. Then there was the affair with the substitute teacher who later turns out to be his handler who he has to kill. Then he himself tries to take out agent keen then promptly disappears. Why are there no positive teacher role models on TV anymore? Why are teachers always portrayed as bad people? What is with our country that we no longer value education enough to allow teachers to not be having sex with students, affairs amongst other teachers, or just our right terrorists? But I am way off point here. The bottom line is no one can be trusted. We have had a mole inside our black ops facility. A department head who was selling secrets a bureau chief that was fabricating evidence and a senator who appears to be working with a terrorist. No one, and I mean NO ONE, is to be trusted.
This show has been picked up for a full second season and should do well. My two main concerns are well the first I have already dealt with. If they make Red her father I am out. I am done. I do not care how much I love Red’s straight forward not personal approach they have. I am gone. I mean I love the way they write for him but if the commit this crime it will be unforgivable. More likely the mistake, for lack of a better word, will simply be stringing us along too much on something that really never pans out. They have an entire season and I am afraid they will adjust the show and take the time they want to make the stories longer. The format is not broken so don’t try to fix it. We need a new black lister ever week. I will allow two weeks for each of the block breaks, just after November sweeps after February sweeps and of course season finale. I fear they will just focus too much on a single name and this show will lose its wonderful pace.
The Black list on NBC is one of my favorite shows to get renewed this season. Wonderfully executed on all fronts. The writing is top notch the acting is excellent. The pacing is about as close to perfect as you can get. My hope is the black list will remain around for a long long time. Hundreds of names and I want to see each and every name scratched off the list.