The Blacklist
Episode 1: Pilot
By: Carlos Uribe
The Blacklist
is about the most-wanted criminal helping a rookie criminal profiler
catch criminals. I will be covering this show weekly.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
The Blacklist is not the most original show. The whole idea of a
criminal helping the police has been explored by White Collar and
Breakout Kings. The Blacklist is slightly different because the
criminal in this case turns himself in for the sole purpose of
helping them. I'm sure that anybody familiar with pop culture can
also point to numerous other inspirations that the creator had when
crafting this series. Of course, we don't necessarily need our
television series to be original. That's an almost impossible task in
today's culture. We've heard almost every single kind of story that
we can tell. What matters is that the Blacklist manages to offer
something fresh and that it's entertaining on it's own right. The
pilot is able to do both. It's able to set up a series with a weekly
mystery that provides a formula for every episode. It's not
surprising that this will behave like a normal cop show but it also
provides a serialized mystery for the show. The biggest question is
Red's motives for helping the police, and specifically the criminal
profiler he insists on talking to, remain up in the air. The criminal
profiler also finds out that her husband has a secret stash of fake
passports, money, and a gun. The weekly cases provide the viewer on
what to expect every episode but the serialized aspect basically
helps hook the viewer into tuning into every one. The structure of
the series is sound. As for the fresh perspective, I think it's
there. Red's desire to help the police catch criminals might be
mysterious but this helps to add a fresh layer into the idea. He
wants to be there which makes it look like he's having fun. It's no
surprise that this sense of fun is able to permeate through the
television set into the viewer. It helps that Red is a pretty unique
character but that's partly due to James Spader's performance. The
Blacklist might not be the most original show but that doesn't mean
you shouldn't watch. It might offer a weekly case but it's serialized
nature should help to win over skeptics of the procedural aspects.
Overall, the Blacklist is a strong, fun new series that has the
potential to become something great.
The pilot of the Blacklist is pretty strong. I'll admit the weekly
case isn't that interesting. There's this Eastern European who seeks
revenge on the United States for bombing a chemical factory that
wiped out his hometown. He's using the kidnapped daughter of the
general who ordered the attack to bomb a zoo. Red Reddington tries to
help the police to stop the bombing from taking place and saving the
girl. It's a pretty typical case that does nothing new. This is
disappointing because the pilot is the first showcase a writer has to
present what they're able to deliver. At the same time, the pilot's
concentration is less on the weekly case and more on setting
everything up. It'll be interesting to see what the series is able to
deliver when it's figured everything out. The weekly case might not
be that strong but everything else is. The serialized portions of the
Blacklist is basically what helps the pilot sell itself to the
audience. It's able to set up the actual premise in strides, the
questions it sets up are intriguing, and the relationship between Red
and Keen is already turning out to be pretty interesting. The dynamic
that the series went for is starting to work so that one is
interested even in the pretty standard weekly case. It is in fact
because of this that the pilot of the Blacklist is not only able to
entertain but even stand out. It helps that the pilot employs a pace
that never allows the action to slow down. It goes from one plot
point to the other in rapid fashion. This helps build the tension and
build enough narrative momentum to keep even the most skeptical
viewer engaged. Overall, the weekly case could have been stronger but
everything else is already working like gangbusters.
The most interesting character in the Blacklist is Raymond “Red”
Reddington. It's a role that James Spader is clearly having a lot of
fun. Red is an anti-hero. He's a career criminal who had a reputation
of being a concierge. This has allowed him to develop a network of
criminals. That puts him in a perfect position to help the police
catch the bad guys that they might not even know exist. His sneering
attitude, criminal background, mysterious motives, and James Spader's
performance helps to create an instantly compelling character. He
insists on only talking to Elizabeth Keen. Keen is a character that's
going to need to be developed in the next couple of episodes because
she's a bit underdeveloped at this point. What's worse is that what
we're told about her doesn't necessarily mesh with how we meet her.
When we first see her, she's a loving wife whose worried about her
first day at work. Confusingly, she's also chosen that day to have
the final interview with the adoption agency. You'd think she'd space
them out so that she would have some breathing room but she clearly
likes to multitask massive moments of her life. Anyways, she's
basically presented as a normal person who is in a happy marriage.
When she's forced to profile herself to her new boss, she tries to
sell herself as an abrasive whose difficult to manipulate. Red seems
to agree with her assessment. It just feels like the first meeting is
inconsistent with what the creator actually wants us to think who the
character is. Granted, she does later stab a pen into Red's neck and
finds out that her marriage is a lie. The former is a move of
desperation that at least sells the idea she's tough. On the other
hand, her husband's secret identity clearly shows she's not immune to
manipulation. The main character, Red, is a strong anti-hero who is
basically the reason you'll be watching the series for. His
interactions with Keen is strong which helps create a strong dynamic.
The thing holding the dynamic back? Keen's character needs to become
more consistent and better developed. Once that happens, the dynamic
will become a classic.
The side characters of the Blacklist are basically one-note at this
point. This really isn't a big surprise. The Blacklist pilot had to
set up the premise, the main characters, their dynamic, and a weekly
case. This left absolutely no room to properly develop the side
characters. Keen's husband is Tom. Tom is basically presented as the
typical loving husband but the pilot establishes that he has some
secret life. This helps make him slightly more intriguing. The pilot
establishes an FBI agent named Donald Ressler. That's basically his
character: FBI agent. The boss is Harold Cooper. Cooper is basically
defined by his job as well. The first priority of The Blacklist
should be to sort out Elizabeth Keen's character but the second
should be to develop the side characters.
The Blacklist is a show with a lot of potential. It's not the most
original show but it's able to offer a fresh and fun perspective.
It's weekly case reveals how every episode will work while the
serialized aspect will keep people tuning back in. The pilot does
have some problems: the side characters are undeveloped, Keen is
presented inconsistent and is underdeveloped, and the actual weekly
case is average. On the other hand, the dynamic between Keen and Red
is strong but that's partially because of James Spader's performance
and Red is a strong character by himself. The pilot is very
entertaining. Overall, the Blacklist has a strong opening but it's
going to need to sort things out as it goes along to truly be a great
show.
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