The Blacklist can have its ups and downs. On occasion, it will be so wrapped up in the story that it’s trying to tell, it will forget to have any action at all. “Sir Crispin Crandall” started out a little slow, but thankfully it remembered the action part halfway through the episode, and in the second half reached the most exciting climax of the season so far. When The Blacklist does what it does well, like action and tense moments, it’s one of the best shows on television, bar none.
This week on The Blacklist: Red, Liz, and Dembe put a plan in motion to start the disassembling of the Cabal, while searching for a missing friend of “the Director.” The task force struggles with sharing information with CIA. Tom Keen gets into a fight club of sorts, but all in order to find the man he thinks can exonerate Liz.
I very rarely have problems with the way this show is presented, so let me start with the problems I saw. “Sir Crispin Crandall” really didn’t grab me at all. It just didn’t feel juicy enough to carry an episode, and the fact that this blacklister flew around non-stop just felt weird. I thought maybe there was a scene missing, in which they better explain the connection to “The Director,” and how all of this is working toward a common goal. The real strength of this show is when all the plots and characters are working toward the same basic goal. It’s probably the greatest strength of Season 3 thus far, and the first half of the episode didn’t really work toward it.
“Sir Crispin Crandall,” however, got more and more interesting as the episode progressed. Tom’s story was the one keeping me in and paying attention. Ryan Eggold is so compelling to watch. I knew he was going to have to kill Asher, but it was almost humorous in the way it happened. It was like no one took Tom as a serious threat until he started to fight, but since we (the audience) know Tom can fight, I, at least, found it extremely funny. The scene at the end with Karakurt, too, was awesome. Eggold is such an asset to this show.
Once they clipped the thumbprints off the guy in the plane, I knew we were gearing up for something. In a heist nearly on par with The Bank Job or Ocean‘s Eleven, Reddington was able to get everything out of that safe, and we saw “The Director” sweat for the first time. By the time they reached this point in the story I was enthralled. Whenever The Blacklist uses action, heists, or anything of that nature to tell its stories, it definitely grabs my attention.
Ultimately, “Sir Crispin Crandall” suffered from poor pacing at the beginning. By the end, it was one of the more interesting stories of the season. I really enjoy this show, but sometimes I have to be made to pay attention. I was definitely paying attention in the second half, and I’m really excited to see where it goes from here.
What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the episode? Let us know!!
The Blacklist airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.
[Photo credit: Peter Kramer/NBC]
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