#ray reddington

[ardethbayrulez]

The Blacklist

Oded Fehr as Levi Shur

[smuttyfandomgalore]

Reddington is so daddy

[jamesspaderuniverse]

Raymond Reddington and a Random Quote

Just because it’s funny.

[ashes452]

My thoughts on 6.20

Overall this episode was good...up until you know...that sentence.

PROS:

1. Liz and Red haven’t seen each other in a week. (“Hi Stranger”), Red is mad as hell disguised in hurt, and Liz is incredibly sad about the whole thing. (Coming straight out of fanfic much???)

2. Liz wanting to talk about it and acknowledging they can finally be honest with each other. Even Red slightly agrees with that (Food for thought)

3. Red finally saying it to Lizs face -“ I don’t trust you and can’t forgive you.”

4. Red being Red trying to find people and get them to spill the beans.

5. Liz accepting the history and choosing to move on rather than figuring out the holes. Which again just highlights what we suspect - Dom only told one side of the story.

6. being impaled by a unicorn and seeing Agnes on a unicorn...foreshadowing much???

7. Cooper and Aram on Family and how Red loves Liz and how Liz loves Red and how NOW after 6 seasons, she won’t walk away from him. -> love, commitment and faith. And Liz in tears during this monologue.

8. Red and Liz on a park bench.

9. Liz Code “Love Wins” - “love is what brought you to that street corner, love...” Yes, without a doubt Liz loves Red. As corny as this was. And as much as Red doesn’t want to hear it cause he is pissed and doesn’t trust her or has forgiven her. She loves him.

CON

1. Liz recognizing but not really accepting the fact that Red is angry. She believes he shouldn’t and is acting like it shouldn’t be a big deal and that’s frustrating to watch. What are you 5 Liz?? Trying to desperately get out of the dog house??

2. Liz telling Ressler who Red is in the SAME fucking breath that it’s no one else’s business but hers and Reds. Really??? Poor writing?? Irony??

3. Ressler knowing. Who is obviously going to fuck up and ruining everything.

4. The blacklister- boring. I’m pretty sure they’ve done this type of blacklister before for every season.

5. Teddy explanation of Reds code. I’m sorry I value loyalty. I couldn’t emphasize on this monologue. Maybe I missed the point and need someone to explain to me???

6. Can we just have an episode where Liz and Red talk? They’ve barley had a full episode of screen time this year together.

7. “Parents don’t stay angry at there children or at there grandchildren, and that’s what you are to us.” 🤦‍♀️😤 REALLY?!?! Isn’t there a better way of putting this?? Of course there is! I would haven’t mind it had she just stopped at “Children”. But nope Red has been put into not the dad zone again but grandpa zone. Like WTF???

8. The whole conversation about Sam and what Agnes needs. I feel this whole thing was just thrown in there simply so Liz can say she is bringing Agnes home. It felt like it needed a backstory or something to make any sense. Sure Red did things for Liz - but the whole thing with the FBI and what exactly he did - it just seemed odd and misplaced.

Conclusion:

And this specifically for the Lizzington folk. Liz May have put Red in the family zone again. But RED doesn’t have to accept that or be in that zone. He can push back. He can ask for more. He can tell her straight up - I’m NOT your father figure, or grandfather.

Our only Hope is if Red DOESNT ACCEPT Liz familial zoning.

[asciuto]

the blacklist alignment chart

[princessprefers]

The Blacklist, Season 6: Episode 1 || Dr. Hans Koehler

[ultrrviolences]

Is that your dog or a customer’s? What a dear, yes. You’re a good girl.

[miss-musings]

My List of Top 10 Recurring Blacklisters

For my ongoing "Top 10" lists about different aspects of The Blacklist, today I'm tackling recurring Blacklisters who weren't already included in "My List of Top 10 Blacklisters."

Just for an FYI, I'm also disqualifying Tom Keen and Dembe Zuma, as they both have been regular cast members at different points in the series. I am, however, including non-antagonist entries -- that means that some of these Blacklisters didn't actually end up being 'bad guys,' but instead, either were or later became allies of Red and/or The Task Force.

There actually weren't too many Blacklisters to work with as I'd say about 70 percent of them are one-offs (and I already did a list about them), and many of the better ones who are recurring were already on my other list. But, of the small pool that did qualify, I'm judging them based on:

How much I personally liked them / how compelling I thought the character was

How well the guest star did

How much of a threat they were to Red, the Task Force, the public in general, etc. OR if they were an ally, how much the character adds to Red's or the Task Force's goals

I don't have quite as much time to tackle these entries as I have my previous two lists, so I'm only going to put like a paragraph of explanation for each. Also, no honorable mentions this time.

So, without further ado, let's begin:

10. ISABELLA STONE

I don't really care for Isabella Stone, but it was either her or the Pavlovich Brothers, and I care about them even less. I don't remember much about Stone, other than she was played by that actress who played Jan on "The Office," and at the end of her namesake episode, Red has her chained up in a walk-in freezer or something. I don't remember what she did, or why she was a threat to the Task Force/Red. I know she was hired by Kaplan to do some bullshit, but I don't remember what it was or how she did it.

9. NICHOLAS T. MOORE

I'm not really one for all the cults that this show does. It seems like they try to have 1-2 per season; but I actually didn't mind this one and thought it might be the best cult we've seen so far. It had kind of a "The Village" vibe to it, although I'm still trying to figure out how Moore convinced all those people to join him out in the woods. Anyway, the only reason I included him is because I like the actor -- he played The Warden on "Shawshank Redemption" -- and I thought the way he tricked Aram into getting him his Bible so he could kill himself was kind of clever.

8. THE MAJOR

I also don't really care for the Major, but I thought the actor did well in his scenes with Spader. Plus, he seemed to create a lot of problems (read: drama) for Tom and Liz, with trying to tempt Tom back into a life of crime when he was trying to go straight in S3b. (Am I remembering that right?) Again, I honestly don't really care for or about him, but I thought he was around enough and played a big enough role in Tom's, Liz's and Red's lives that he deserved a spot.

7. SUSAN HARGRAVE

Another Blacklister I don't really care about. (Almost makes you wonder why I bothered compiling this list.) Don't get me wrong. I think Famke Janssen is an underrated actress, and I enjoyed her weird dynamic with Spader in their scenes. I didn't like how she ended up being Tom's mother; I didn't like her ham-handed way of telling those one random dudes about her backstory. She's so open it's like she might as well be an audio-book version of her character. But, again, I think that's more how she was written than how Janssen played her. Even though I don't care about the whole Hargrave/Tom spin-off with "The Blacklist: Redemption," I still think she was an intimidating enough villain in her own right, as she was responsible for breaking Mathias Solomon out of prison and sic-ing him onto Liz while she and Tom were trying to get married. It's interesting that Hargrave was ultimately responsible for attacking her son's wedding and almost getting him killed, and endangering her future daughter-in-law and granddaughter. It's the kind of irony you'd see in a George R.R. Martin work. So, even while I don't like her, I think she deserves a spot because of the impact she had and the threat she posed at the time. Plus, I did think it was badass when Red shot her in the arm and she barely cared.

6. TOM CONNOLLY

Okay, NOW we're starting to get into "I actually kind of like these people" territory. I mean, I don't actually like Tom Connolly. If he were a real person, I would want to punch him in the face. But, as a character, I think he's more compelling than any of the previous entries on this list. Granted, he became a little cartoonish and over-the-top there at the end, but he posed a serious threat. And even though he was introduced to us as "a little too good to not want something" from Cooper / the Task Force, I appreciate that the writers at least TRIED to make his loyalties a little ambiguous or 'on the side of the angels' when he was first introduced. Granted, I don't think it really worked, but they tried. The actor also did a pretty decent job, and I thought his final confrontation with Liz and Cooper (where Liz ends up shooting and killing Connolly) was well-done. It was certainly the most shocking death of a Blacklister I can think of. As mustache-twirling as he was, he still posed a serious threat for Liz, Red and the Task Force. In threatening to kill them or end their careers, he pushed Liz into a no-win situation where if she shot him in an attempt to stop his machinations, the Cabal won by being able to turn her into a criminal. And if she did nothing, they would still win. Okay, anyway, moving on:

5. SMOKEY PUTNAM

I really like the character of Smokey. He's a little wacky, but cheerful and light -- which is something the show desperately needed after the morbid, dark and depressing S4b. Granted, I think how the show introduced him (as someone for Red to track down as a bounty hunter-type person) was a bit forced. But, oh well. I like what Smokey brings to the show and to Red's crew. I also think the actor does a good job keeping up with Spader while also bringing his own bit of weird flair to the show.

4. MR. RALEIGH SINCLAIR III

So, I really just love John Noble, and appreciated that the show was able to nab him to play one of the Blacklisters. And a pretty unique Blacklister at that. I thought his gimmick was really cool and unique, and while I could've done without him killing off all the people he recruited to be doubles, I guess it makes sense. I actually enjoyed when the show brought him back to turn that one guy into a double of Ian Garvey -- that was a nice little twist. I thought his interaction with Spader at the end of his namesake episode was a little too long, but still a hoot to see those two sharing a screen.

3. GINA ZANETAKOS

Our first-ever female Blacklister on the show, Gina Zanetakos was a serious badass. She was clever, fast, brutal and sexy. She absolutely demolishes both Ressler and Liz in fist-fights and she nearly kills Tom. She was quite a force to be reckoned with, both in her initial appearance and in subsequent episodes, and I really appreciated when the show brought her back in S3b. (Which, side note, did she get killed off on the show? I don't remember.) If she wasn't killed off, I certainly wouldn't mind her making a return appearance.

2. KARAKURT

So, fun fact: Karakurt is actually played by two different actors -- one in S2 and a different guy for S3. Not anything I hold against the character. It’s just interesting. Anyway, Karakurt is probably the most threatening Blacklister on this list for our Post Office crew. He easily manipulated Liz into killing a U.S. Senator and even more easily set up the OREA bombing to make it look like her fault. In comparison with his S2 showings, I think his S3 appearances are less-than. He just kind of hung out as a plot device for Tom to track down, beat up and threaten. Much less intimidating, although I appreciate that he didn’t give up trying to get one over on Tom, et al, and escape whenever he had the chance. Just what I’d expect of a Russian assassin and Blacklister extraordinaire.

1. MARVIN GERARD

A weird choice to put at #1, maybe, but I really like the character of Marvin Gerard. He’s just so different from most of the other Blacklisters that we see, in no part because of the fact that HE WAS ALREADY IN CUSTODY when he was introduced. Instead of Red giving the Task Force a name so they can track them down and put them IN JAIL, Red asked for Gerard to be brought to him so that he could break him OUT OF JAIL. Unlike most Blacklisters, or hell just characters on this show in general, Marvin Gerard is very calm, collected, calculated and can talk sense into Red when few other people can. But, he also feels very grounded in reality. He just kind of seemingly wandered into a hostage situation in 3x02 like “IDK what I’m doing here. WTF is going on?!?!” and then just kind of got back into a groove with helping Red and Liz with their plans -- both in 3x02 and throughout the rest of S3a. And, speaking of: whatever happened to Marvin Gerard? I feel like Red called him in Cape May about shutting down his business or something, but I don’t think we’ve seen him since 3x10. Hopefully he makes another appearance on the show, because I really appreciated how unique he was as a Blacklister and what he brought to the show as a character and to Red’s team as an asset.