Blacklist has always been light entertainment disguised as a more intelligent show by James Spaders flamboyant, enigmatic performance as Raymond Reddington. His constant 'knowing it all' fashion spiced with endless quotes of great thinkers makes us believe we are watching something far more clever than it really is. Sometimes the writers gets away with it, because their writing actually shows signs of intelligence on par with Reddingtons, and sometimes they just don't, like this episode where the main plot circles around the Alaska triangle where thousands of people have dissapeared for the last 10 years, without a clue as to why. Obviously our team solves this in a matter of the shows 40 min. timespan. And this is where the show gets dumbed down to 1990's level writing. Don't get me wrong, it is still very entertaining, but it makes me shout out "arhh, come on!" while watching, and as we all know, that will break the illusion.
The show has shown signs of fatigue over the years, and has somehow managed to bounce back, but I am starting to doubt it ever will again. Please don't go out with a whimper...
14 Reviews
An OK episode
celtigra26 July 2020
Not enough Red is my main complaint. However, it was an OK episode. They really do need to bin Park - she is a psycho and has zilch personality. Frankly I don't care what happens to her. She brings nothing to the table. I was really glad that Aram finally saw the light. I did not like the "new" Aram - totally out of character. Bring back the old Aram - he was likeable. The new one was not. Too much of Liz again.
714 The Blacklist Review
nickzapapp18 April 2020
Minor Spoilers
Little to non Spader, which puts this episode on a bad start instantly.
I usually enjoy the blacklist, I am not one to go and give episodes 1's or 2's bc I dont like on thing. But this episode is one of the worst episodes this season. How did we have 9 pretty amazing episodes at the start and end up with this. Ep 12 and 13 were the only good ones. 11 was shocking too. PS: i am writing this after watching both 14 and 15.
I do not want to here anymore about shipcontainers and trucks, 13, 14 and 15 are full of them... and they are seperate case that are not even linked in an arch
The writing was rushed and sloppy, yes they could have made this episode good.
I am one is usually happy to give park the benefit, but this story didn't even make sense, I hate it when tv shows don't explain something in the middle, and they add some useless scene to give her a chance to explain it becuase the story was so hard to underdstand. it was also a bit of a big who cares... I was maybe hoping for a link to the mythology, but I guess not. The only thing happening that I can see from this episode could be a better relationship for liz park ressler.
Aram and Elodie.... why introduce Elodie and get rid of her like that. It was to sudden. Things were starting to heat up last week, and then what now shes gone. There was no even real connection to anything ???
i am very disappointed with this episode, from the promotional photos it looked exciting, but it was very bad. Also, writers should stop putting 4 shootouts into an episode. It is more interesting to have 2 fights and one shootout.
Little to non Spader, which puts this episode on a bad start instantly.
I usually enjoy the blacklist, I am not one to go and give episodes 1's or 2's bc I dont like on thing. But this episode is one of the worst episodes this season. How did we have 9 pretty amazing episodes at the start and end up with this. Ep 12 and 13 were the only good ones. 11 was shocking too. PS: i am writing this after watching both 14 and 15.
I do not want to here anymore about shipcontainers and trucks, 13, 14 and 15 are full of them... and they are seperate case that are not even linked in an arch
The writing was rushed and sloppy, yes they could have made this episode good.
I am one is usually happy to give park the benefit, but this story didn't even make sense, I hate it when tv shows don't explain something in the middle, and they add some useless scene to give her a chance to explain it becuase the story was so hard to underdstand. it was also a bit of a big who cares... I was maybe hoping for a link to the mythology, but I guess not. The only thing happening that I can see from this episode could be a better relationship for liz park ressler.
Aram and Elodie.... why introduce Elodie and get rid of her like that. It was to sudden. Things were starting to heat up last week, and then what now shes gone. There was no even real connection to anything ???
i am very disappointed with this episode, from the promotional photos it looked exciting, but it was very bad. Also, writers should stop putting 4 shootouts into an episode. It is more interesting to have 2 fights and one shootout.
Decent, not great but decent
mikecallery-235-53738613 April 2020
I think after so many years it gets difficult to keep the fire going. At some point we will find out who Red really is and then the series will come to a conclusion but I'm not ready for this.
This episode gave good insight into some of the past of that new Asian agent, I cannot remember her name. Interesting how it played out, cannot say more but I think it will bring about some good character development between her and Red in future episodes.
Sad for Aram, that's all I'll say.
Other than that, just a good episode before what I really think what we were waiting for returns, Katrina! The previews show her coming back in the next episode and you know it will hit the fan!
This episode gave good insight into some of the past of that new Asian agent, I cannot remember her name. Interesting how it played out, cannot say more but I think it will bring about some good character development between her and Red in future episodes.
Sad for Aram, that's all I'll say.
Other than that, just a good episode before what I really think what we were waiting for returns, Katrina! The previews show her coming back in the next episode and you know it will hit the fan!
Baby, It's Cold Outside
Hitchcoc5 December 2022
Sooner or later, Park is going to be back in Alaska because she did something terrible there before she was transferred. The whole gang finally gets there as well, as a guy, accustomed to harsh places, is running a bunch of illegal stuff. Aram strikes out again when it turns out his girlfriend with whom he has had so much fun is herself a murderer. I've had it with this series for the moment and will take a little hiatus. I thought for a while that Park might be leaving the show, but it doesn't like like that is in the cards for now. I realized the other day, there have been no evil dwarf herds that need to be straightened out by Reddington.
Alina is INTOLERABLE!
roastedass20 May 2020
To summarize...
nemesis-8814 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
So let's take a deep breath and summarize. We have: (a) agent Keen who killed someone she thought was her father, whose mother is a Russian spy from the 70s, whose real father is either a Russian spy or a traitor American admiral; (b) agent Park who overdosed her mother as a child and who was placed in this show for reasons nobody can explain; (c) agent Munjtabai who is having an affair with a murderer, who may have helped said murdered to kill her husband; (d) agent Ressler who killed the president's national security advisor and got help from some criminal organization to cover it up; and (e) their boss agent Cooper who abandoned his whistleblower friend to die in Kuwait, beat confession out of a suspect, and perjured himself in court to protect his confidential informant. They all work for an international criminal with a biography more complicated than a Queen's corgi, whom they all help commit despicable crimes because he "brings them criminals they didn't know existed"... Does anyone, too, have a feeling this circus has gone off the track?
Not much to say...
boychevradoslav16 April 2020
Below average episode. The show is trying way too hard to push agent Park, a completely useless and purposeless cast member, through sympathy manipulation backstory.
Besides her relation to the episode, there was some clever storytelling, albeit very predictable. The blacklister was...there, with a creative backstory involving real-life events, that reminded me of earlier seasons. Not much more about him to say though - he was pretty irrelevant.
Change of scenery was refreshing.
Hoping for less filler episodes in the future and for the show to finally get to the point.
Besides her relation to the episode, there was some clever storytelling, albeit very predictable. The blacklister was...there, with a creative backstory involving real-life events, that reminded me of earlier seasons. Not much more about him to say though - he was pretty irrelevant.
Change of scenery was refreshing.
Hoping for less filler episodes in the future and for the show to finally get to the point.
Stupidest characters
davidlgraham9 May 2020
If one were to believe the writers of this episode, the new criteria for becoming an FBI agent, aside from being corrupt like the real FBI, is to meet an IQ metric: must not be over 95.
Also, the dialog really sucks.
Thank god for the bad guys.
Northern Lights
dpbennett27 July 2020
Off the rails
dishonoured5527 March 2021
Alaska ... I don't think so.
williamdavis194931 October 2021
The opening photo of the episode shows a picture of Crater Lake located in the Oregon Cascades, captioned as the southern coast of Alaska. As for the episode itself it needs a lot less of Agent Park. She should be the new cast member that dies after a few episodes to give the show a little believability. Her acting is absolutely terrible!
Lazy writing once again....
tert7224 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
If you are setting up a trap, just use one GPS in the truck? Don't have a double sleeper to hold agents, or have agents resting in the back? Not suspecting the weigh station was the point of abduction? It would take too much imagination to make them come up with.... Except it seems they made Park super ninja bada**.
I love how Liz, has the moral superiority to everyone else now. Telling aram he needs to go to the police........ Really????????? After the innocent deaths she has caused? Doesn't seem to bother her one bit.
The Liz making an excuse for the theft and murders committed and he might have to spend his life in prison???? Why because the government lied to the guy? If everyone killed people everytime someone in the government lied, there would be no one left...... Lots of these messages seems to have been coming through lately and it's really taking away from the show
Only thing good about this show is James Spader
pyr-0993817 October 2023
I'm actually surprised he's stayed this long on such an awfully written show. What's the criteria to be a writer on this show? Completing Kindergarten? Know your letters? Good Lord! Lazy, lazy writing & big fat F for research. Who was Megan Boone f'g to get her role? Seriously. She's absolutely terrible. I am curious though to hear her thoughts on show writers. Agent Park is another unwelcome cast member who must have went to the Megan Boone school of acting because she sucks! FBI = Full Blown Idiots. Bring back Samar & give Aram his brain back. Stop worrying about his love life. It makes him less believable as the smart one.
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