Hello World. It's been a hot second. And, honestly, the truth is that it's been a hot second because the past five episodes of TBL (ever since 804 who's surprised) have been extremely.... dry. The Blacklist works because it has a formula. Take down a Blacklister, sure. But, more specifically, take down a Blacklister with the involvement of both Raymond Reddington and Elizabeth Keen. And, if she's not helping, at least show what she's up to because she's one of the main characters of the show.
And obviously, it's also been dry because Liz has been gone which means no Keenler and, yeah, I've been missing them, and so what about it.
So you know the drill. I'll freak out about what I need to freak out about and then I'll go into why I think it's necessary for the plot, or, in this case, I'll scream at the writers a little for writing Liz Keen in this heinous way.
Before we bring Ressler into the picture, let's just focus on Liz for a moment. She's been mysteriously pulling the strings around the post office for five episodes, but we haven't gotten a chance to see her or listen to her. That all changed in 809........ kind of.
I don't know where Megan Boone is, or why she hasn't been in these last few episodes (I miss her), but in 809 we got to hear her thoughts... through a cyranoid. And though I'm itching to talk about Keenler, first we have to talk about how out of character Liz was in this episode. Most notably, in the standoff between cyranoid Liz and Reddington, Liz risked her cyranoid's life when she wouldn't tell Red where she was located. In a heart-stopping game of roulette, the audience listened to Liz's cyranoid beg for her life as Liz reacted mercilessly and Red got down to the very last bullet in his gun's chamber.
That scene painted Liz so utterly terribly. So. Terribly. And I, as part of the Liz Keen Defense Squad, wasn't thinking about how my own feelings about her might've changed because of what she did (they haven't, but more on that in a second); I was thinking about how the people who already hate her are going to hate her even more. And, even worse, they'd have a valid reason to. Not only did she risk an innocent woman's life; she actually did kill Chemical Mary, which is also out of character. I mean, I know Liz has killed in the past, but there was something about how it went down. How Mary was literally arrested. How completely unhinged that decision was. I hope the writers have an explanation for how out of character Liz was because I'm truly trying to make sense of all of this.
The reason why I don't hate her for what she did is because I'd like to think I know this character. After 7 seasons of getting to know Elizabeth Keen, I feel like I know what she's capable of. And putting an innocent life in danger? No way.
Threatening to kill Ressler? ......well, she's threatened it before, but no. No way is she capable of killing the man who is her island of calm.
Which brings me to Keenler angst!!! Because we got our Keenler-pointing-guns-at-each-other scene (though it was slightly disappointing)!!!
I thought Keenler at gunpoint was going to be the Keenler highlight of the episode, but the highlight came when Liz's cyranoid turned herself in and Ressler had to question her, doubting that the person in front of him was actually Liz. To prove herself, Liz brought up...what they did the night before they left. Which, yep, Liz is using it to her advantage, to manipulate. She's using their relationship as a tool, just as I knew she would (but it doesn't hurt any less that she did).
Then Liz didn't know the new codes to get out of the building, and she held a gun to Ressler's head and threatened to shoot if he didn't put in the code. I gotta admit, that scene had a lot more...danger infused into it somehow(?) than all the rest of their gun scenes. Maybe it was the fact that the woman was Liz but also wasn't. Maybe it was the fact that they hadn't just kissed like in 801. Maybe it was that Liz wasn't trying to go in; she wanted to stay out. She had everything to lose.
Anyway, your ship doesn't hold guns to each other's heads and then say "I really do miss you" as the elevator door closes? Can't relate.
I'd like to say that I have a clear idea of why the writers did what they did in this episode, but I don't...really. I do think this episode was a good catalyst to push the task force to actually get some thicker skin when it comes to Liz, as proven by Cooper putting out an arrest on Liz (Although I should note that Ressler still wanted to push back on that.....that girl just held a gun to your head again.....he's in love with her and she keeps taking advantage of it and he deserves better it's fine I'm fine). I think having Liz be an official official fugitive again is a big step in the plot.
Like I said, Liz in this episode was really, really out of character. And I'd like to think there's a method to the madness. Cyranoid Liz is Liz...so we believe, but I'm keeping my eyes wide open. Because maybe Liz was out of character because that wasn't actually Liz. What strings are being pulled in the background? We have no idea what's been happening to her since we've only been watching what's been happening to Liz through the task force's eyes.
I kinda desperately want to know what she's been up to. There's been a rumor going around that we haven't been seeing Liz because Megan has been filming separate scenes for future episodes where we'll go back in time and focus more on Liz's adventures. Amir did recently confirm that there are a whopping 22 episodes this season, which is crazy given the shortened shooting schedule.
I should also note that next week's episode has Dembe being tortured in the teaser, and that is also so not Liz, so I'm just tapping my foot waiting for the writers to explain themselves.
Only time will tell where she is and why she's doing what she's doing. In the meantime, here's to Ressler sticking his wick in the fugitive end of the swimming pool. 810 here we come.
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