For the most part, The Blacklist has been a solid show. It hasn’t always been perfect, but James Spader is supported by a capable cast, the long-term plots were (relatively) interesting, and the action has always been fun to watch. There is a lot of nuance and depth to each character, even though sometimes the long seasons causes them to forget. “Dr. Adrian Shaw”, though, had nothing. No surprises, no twists. There were some that were intended to be, but nothing really landed or clicked.
This week on The Blacklist: Liz debates whether or not she should help Kirk with blood transfusions after he collapses in FBI custody. Tom takes a firm stance against helping Kirk. Reddington hands over a blacklister to the task force, so that he can use them to flesh out another blacklister, Dr. Adrian Shaw, who experiments on humans.
I’m pretty lenient with most shows I review. Generally, I like shows I write about, and I do try to keep as objective as possible about the process. I understand that making TV shows is difficult. Though I occasionally have good ideas that the show sometimes takes into account (see my reviews of last year’s The Muppets), I could never be a writer for a show. But my job is criticism, with the hopes of shows I love improving. All of that said, I don’t think there was much they could do to save this episode.
It was all set up for the fall finale next week. Other than the not-so-shocking revelation that Kirk is not, in fact, Liz’s father, we gained very little in the way of new information. They tried to set up for the next episode by making this episode dramatic, but none of the attempts at drama really landed. Tom revealing to Liz that he met his mother was less dramatic and more “oh yeah, isn’t he leaving for a spin-off soon”? Reddington giving them a blacklister so that he could gain from it is just like every episode. The only weird part about it this time was that Ressler and Samar called him out on it. Way to keep up, FBI!
Here are a few other thoughts:
- The only cool, slightly surprising part of this episode was that the bus crash and Kirk’s escape seemed to be connected. Twists like that are fun.
- Anyone catch the promo for next week? Are they back on this Red being Liz’s father thing?
- Also, was Kirk simply not aware that Liz was not his daughter? Or was he the major conspirator? Not really a clear reveal
- Red and Dembe doing the Highlights magazine picture search was the best part of this episode. BAR. NONE.
So don’t get me wrong, because I genuinely do love this show and I’ve meant everything I’ve said about it to this point in my two years reviewing it. But this episode felt like a whole lot of nothing. Set up episodes that don’t have any meat to them at all are just disappointing. I’m disappointed in The Blacklist, especially after the great job they’ve done exploring other characters and keeping things interesting to this point.
What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the episode? Let us know in the comments!
The Blacklist airs Thursdays at 10/9c on NBC
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