The Blacklist TV show review

Apr. 11: I have been busy with work and looking for a job.  Now let’s take a break and write about something else.

The Blacklist: I saw the pilot way back in Sept. 24, 2013.  The show starts off with Raymond (Red) Reddington played by James Spader entering an FBI building.  An agent runs his ID and the alarms start ringing.  All agents point guns at him. 

The FBI boss Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix, he was an agent on Dollhouse) talks to Red.  Red is a broker to deals to the highest bidder. 

Red: Ronko Zimman is the bad guy.

Cooper: He died 6 yrs ago.

Red: He got off a flight recently.  I want to speak to Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone.)

Liz wakes up with her husband Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold, a teacher from 90210 remake) and their dog.  They overslept.

Tom: The last adoption meeting is today.

A helicopter and 3 SUVS come to pick up Liz.  Liz meets Cooper and she tells him it’s her first day in the FBI and doesn’t know Red.

Cooper: Profile yourself.

Liz: I have a deep yearning to learn the criminal mind.

Cooper: Why you?

Liz: I’m new, and he thinks I can easily be manipulated.

Liz meets Red.

Red: Zumani will kidnap a politician’s daughter.  You were abandoned by a father who’s a career criminal and your mom died of weakness and shame.

Liz goes to Cooper.

Liz: How did he know that?  He established value.  That girl is going to be taken.

Liz calls Tom at the adoption agency and says she can’t come to the meeting because of this important case.

Liz goes to the ballet school to pick up 6 yr old Beth.  They are riding in a car and they stop at a bridge.  They were to turn around, but a truck hits the SUV they Liz is in.  Machine guns start shooting.  Liz shoots at one.

Bad guys give a gas mask to Liz and they pour gasoline everywhere.  Liz puts the mask on Beth.  Liz runs out as they cars blow up.  It was crazy.

Liz goes to Red.

Liz: There are no demands after 4 hrs.

Red: Tell me about your scar on your palm first.

Liz: There was a fire.

Red: You have to think like a criminal.

Red sees wall of photos.

Red: What does he desperately want?

Liz: The chemist Zinman survived, but his wife and kid died.  The daughter will die to settle the score.

They find the Zinman.

Red: We need to go there.  I need to be without handcuffs.

They go to a nice hotel to find Zinman.

They found the lab.

Liz comes home and sees “It’s a girl” sign in the living room.

Tom is tied up and beaten up.

Zinman: What else do you know about the plan?

Liz: All I know is the girl.

Zinman stabs Tom in the leg.

Zinman: Save many Americans or save only one?

He stabs Tom in the stomach and he leaves.

Liz calls 911.

Tom is in a coma.

Liz confronts Red.

Liz: Did you send him?

Red: What did Zinman say?

Liz puts pen in Red’s neck.

Liz: Now you tell me what happened.

CSI takes pictures of her home.

Liz washes the blood stain in her carpet.

Liz goes to the hospital to talk to Red.

Red is out in the parking lot.

Red has a tracking chip in him.

Red talks to Zinman.

Red: The General’s daughter is a risk.

Zinman: I’m going to put the red plague out.  60 yrs from now, they will talk about this.

Liz: I saw a stamp on his (Zinman’s) hand.

There is a flashback of an earlier scene were Tom talks about a field trip.

Liz: It’s a stamp fro the zoo.

Liz goes to the zoo and finds Beth.  Beth has a bomb strapped to her.  In the backpack, there is a timer.  Liz gets a call from Red.

Red: My friend is coming.

Agents point guns at Zinman and he pulls a tracking chip.

Agent: Son of a bitch!

Liz shows Beth her scar: This makes me brave.  Touch it.  It will make you brave.

Red’s friend Bomb Guy takes bomb off and runs with it.

They never catch the Bomb Guy, but they got Zinman.

Red tells Cooper about the Blacklist: The criminals who matter, the ones who don’t exist.

Liz is cleaning the bloody carpet, and then she cuts it.  There is a box with money and a gun.  There are passports with Tom’s face and different identities.

Liz talks to Red.

Red: You discovered something about your husband.

My opinion: The pilot was good and well-written.  I didn’t connect with it, though it had a lot of elements of TV shows I liked.  It was a good action-drama.  I was surprised with Liz coming home to find her husband is tortured and that her husband Tom is also a spy too.

I looked it up, and the show has been picked up for a second season.  Good for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blacklist_%28TV_series%29

Comparisons:

A woman working for a government agency: It was like Alias.

A FBI team hunting down bad guys: It was like Criminal Minds.