The Blacklist Declassified

🔴 Scribblings and Scuttlebutt Dec 2018 –

 
Link: https://wp.me/pDKwi-8Mo
 
My little corner: musings, comments and personal notes. This is probably the closest thing on this blog to a “blog.” I post lots of notes on things not working or behind (with explanations and apologies!). Increasingly, that’s been mostly what it is. Reverse chronological. Comments are open.
– LizzieB90


Go To: ⭕ Earlier Volumes “Scribblings & Scuttlebutt”:

Sep 2017-Nov 2018: http://wp.me/pDKwi-5Gh (Season 5)
Jan-Aug 2017: http://wp.me/pDKwi-3S9
Jul-Dec 2016: http://wp.me/pDKwi-3di
Apr-Jun 2016: http://wp.me/pDKwi-2I3
Jan-Mar 2016: http://wp.me/pDKwi-2hK
Oct-Dec 2015: http://wp.me/pDKwi-1Hz
Jul-Sep 2015: http://wp.me/pDKwi-1gs
Mar-Jun 2015: http://wp.me/pDKwi-Vd

 
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5/27/2019

Clickable Tag Index Tips

The “Clickable Tag Index” has been updated through Season 6. This powerful tool gives you capabilities for searching this site that go beyond the “Search” button. But it is tricky. Here are some tips:

● Give it time to load. There are thousands of entries, all hyper-linked so it takes about 15 seconds.

● It includes character names, titles, locations, themes, key quotes and major plot points. Items are often posted more than one way [ eg “Colton Prison” and “Prison (Colton)”]. It’s alphabetical with each “L”etter marked with a 🔶. It includes all Seasons, though Season 1 is just the one file.

● Every term is a hyperlink that will take you to the headers of any post on this site tagged with the term, usually in reverse order in which they were posted. Links won’t work until they all load. The links are very responsive, so you need to be careful to scroll in the column between the list of terms and the photos or to the right of the photos.

● Hitting a term hyperlink will bring up the headers for all posts in which the tag was used. To select one of these, hit the link “Continue reading … ” For instance “You’re a glorified serial killer” brings up the script for “5:14 Mr Raleigh Sinclair”.

● If the screen goes black, it’s doing an auto-refresh. It will be back and you’ll be in the same place. I just poke at it.

● It takes some practice, but it is useful for finding something when you don’t remember what season it was in or the “Search” button or page-searching Easy-Scripts doesn’t work. I use it a lot.

P.S. Page-searching the tag links also works.

This is from the text below the Index:
 
🔴 Clickable Tag Index
 
Permalink: https://wp.me/pDKwi-4BV
 
This page includes all tags except songs (see below). Clicking on a tag above takes you to all the posts tagged with it (mainly to episode scripts). Tags cover episode titles and numbers, main locations, snippets of memorable quotes, key events and memorable secondary characters. Usually excluded are general things that occur in all episodes since the search would produce too many results (though James Spader {Red} and Megan Boone {Liz} occur in all Scripts). Other main characters are tagged when they played a very important role in the episode. Expressions in parentheses () are for clarification or disambiguation.
 
This list is (painfully) curated, not computer-generated. For consistency, I use conventions applied across this blog. For instance, Daddygate is shorthand for Liz’s paternity matters. Lizzington is used for Red/Liz emotional connections (and applied broadly). By default, I use Red, Cooper, Ressler, Tom, Liz, Aram, Samar and Dembe for names (not Reddington, Harold, Donald, Mojtabai, etc). There are exceptions for some characters, Kirk is both Kirk and Rostov. I use Masha (first name only). Mr Kaplan is problematic. I use Kate Kaplan, Kaplan and Mr Kaplan. To me these defaults seem reasonable, though others may differ.
 
I reorganized the order in which search results appear so the Index reappears after other search results, not before (duh).
 
So far, except for the Pilot, all the S1 scripts are only in the single Easy Search Scripts file. (I only started watching the show in Season 2.) A detailed index into this 300-page+ file is pretty useless, so it is only lightly indexed. This summer I plan to break out some of the individual scripts, based on most popular. Eventually, I hope to get to them all.
 

🔴 Separately: Songs
 
An exception to all this is that Songs are tagged and indexed separately ⭕ Here The Complete Song List linking to YouTube videos is Here. A few particularly important songs are included above (e.g. “Just Breathe,” “If You Could Read My Mind”), but linked only to the scripts, not the music files.

 
🔴 Separately: Search Assistance (with Lists)
 
Search Assistance (with Lists) is ⭕ Here. Included are Lists of Episodes and Articles, Blog Structure (with a lot of Background), and links to “Black Sites” (other places to find Blacklist stuff on the Web). There is a cross-referenced Alphabetic Index to blog features and general topics and commentary on the series. It is here you’ll find links to information on the actors, writers, general topics (e.g. Cold War, Islam, medical and political background etc), reviews, interviews and features like fan fiction and Twitter “Moments.” Whereas the Clickable Tag Index above focuses on the content of the episodes, Search Assistance (with Lists) focuses on the series context.
 
Happy Sleuthing!

 
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5/25/2019

The Tag Index Fixed

I realized about mid-season that the tag index was no longer adding terms, but I had to wait until the season ended to contact WordPress about it.

The “Happiness Engineer” (that’s what they’re called) was great. He gave me access to an earlier version of the app ~ and it’s loading again. I’m so happy I don’t have to write a work-around!

 
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5/19/2019

Unanswered Questions for Season 7

With the tight schedule this season, I haven’t had much time to devote to these notes. I still have photos to do for about 1/3 of the episodes which I’ll do over the summer. I also need to fix the Index which broke down about halfway through the season. I think it topped out at 9,999 entries. I hope to be able to get WordPress to expand this, but I may have a Plan B if they won’t. (Always have a Plan B!)

As for Unanswered Questions, I felt like I couldn’t do a headstart before the finale because too many things were in the air. I’m still mulling, especially after the scene with Red and the person the IMDb cast list calls “The Stranger.” He sure looks like an older Ilya, doesn’t he? Plus, Eisendrath (the show runner) dropped some notions in interviews that maybe he shouldn’t have. I excepted them (Under Interrogations), but they may be spoilers. Then Bokenkamp said we should still assume Red is Ilya. So I have to decide to go by the scripts or what they say. I’m confused.

Plus, I’m not sure what to do with some very old questions, mostly about Reddington’s earlier family. Are some of these abandoned ideas? Making a show like this work over six seasons is difficult. I like where they seem headed with Katarina reappearing. She’s dark and mysterious. I like dark and mysterious. It seems silly to still be bringing up issues from five seasons ago when the show seems headed in a direction I love.

So I’ll keep you posted, now that some of the week-to-week pressure is off. ♡ ི•̮͡• ᤢ ྀ ♡

 
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4/2/2019

Katarina and the Osterman Umbrella Company

Trivia: Here are some excerpts from the dream sequence in 3:19 Cape May in which Katarina has been targeted by the Osterman Umbrella Company at the behest of the KGB. I highlighted in red lines that I think are similar to those between Samar and Aram:

[ GLASS SHATTERS ] [ Red looks for the perpetrator ]
Mysterious Woman (Katarina): Behind you.
[ GRUNTING ] [ Red and the man fight inside the bathroom ]
Man: Oh!
[ GRUNTING ] [ The Woman grabs the man from behind and slams his head against a mirror, then the sink – several times. He collapses dead onto the bathroom floor ]
[ Red coughs ]
Woman: You all right?
Red: Yeah. Thank you. You know him?
Woman: It doesn’t matter. He’s one of them. Not the first, not the last.
[ They wrap the body in the plastic shower curtain and clean up the blood ]
…

[ CELLPHONE VIBRATES ]
Man: [ On cellphone ] Gregory, do you copy? Did you copy that?

[ The Woman breaks the phone in half ]
Woman: We don’t have much time. They’re coming.
…
Red: This’ll work. I’ll drive.
[ Red loads the man’s body into back of a black SUV in the garage. The mysterious woman turns to walk away. Red grabs her arm ]
Red: I’m not leaving without you.
Woman: Yes, you are.
Red: No. I’m not.
Woman: Those men are after me. It’s my problem, not yours.
Red: You made it my problem the moment you walked into the ocean.
Woman: I didn’t ask for your help. Let me go.
Red: No.
Woman: Why not? What difference does it make to you?
…
[ VEHICLE APPROACHES ] [ There are six or seven men ]
Woman: You still have time to go.
Red: I don’t know your name.
Woman: Don’t be ridiculous, Raymond.

P.S. How could Red have had this dream if he is not “Raymond”?
 
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3/14/2019

Blacklist Renewed for Season 7

Wow! This surprised me. An early renewal, nonetheless! I’m also happy Red apparently won’t be executed! I can work myself into a frenzy thinking of ways the writers could pull a fast one on us!

Looking forward – the next two scripts are written by Jon Bokenkamp (the creator) and John Eisendrath (the showrunner). The second of the two also credits Lukas Reiter, an Exec Producer and Boston Legal alum. It’s also a two-parter, so it seems be be situated where a midseason finalé would be, if this season had the regular breaks. JB and JE always write the premieres and finalés, so it should be exciting. Their scripts are fast-moving, thematically intertwined and complex. They’ve given us most of the 9+ ratings on iMDB.

Six of the nine executive producers are now writers (if you include James Spader as a writer, which I do). I like it when the producers are writer as I think it assures integrity and artistic cohesion.

 
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2/17/2019

Prescience

I continue to be amazed at the ability of this series to address issues that are only first coming into public consciousness. Some may be easy, like the nervousness of the busboy at being undocumented or Red’s comment that ‘anyone who reads a newspaper knows we are living in a theater of the absurd,’ but how did they hit upon the topic of the collapse of insects, a topic that just hit the mainstream press with an article in The Guardian on Feb 10 for an episode that aired Feb 15 (6:7 General Shiro)?

These scripts are written months ahead and filmed weeks ahead of airing. It seems I always learn something from these episodes, something that stirs me to do more reading. Kudos to The Blacklist for making us think!

 
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2/10/2019

Lilly versus Jennifer

The reason I use “Lilly” vs “Jennifer” in the scripts is that, even though Liz uses “Jen,” in the IMDb listings for each episode, “Lillian Roth” is listed for Fiona Dourif’s character. I assume that it is the show that provides this information. Lillian Roth is the name Jennifer was given under witness protection and it is her legal name, although her birth name was Jennifer Reddington, the daughter of Carla and Raymond Reddington. Carla, of course, also had a name change under WITSEC, and appeared in the show as “Naomi Hyland,” Hyland being her married name.

Jon Bokenkamp has said more than once that The Blacklist is about “Identity.” I get it. Online, I use several different names, and except for financial stuff, I never use my real name. Nor do I post any personal photos. LizzieB90, by the way, is an homage to Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of my favorite novel, Pride and Prejudice.

 
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1/21/2019

Songs

A couple of notes on Songs.

1) I notice both the “Post” and “Page” versions of Songs are showing up under “Popular Now.” They are the same, except for the Index Terms above the “Post” version and minor formatting tweaks. I don’t remember why I did it this way, actually. But I know there was a reason.

2) As for the small “Play” buttons for songs embedded in the script, the instruction to “Press Twice” is incorrect. You only have to press once. Oops. In reality I press repeatedly until it plays. I will change the instruction someday. I guess until then, I figure anyone who wants to play these songs has figured this out already. Which means you’re smarter than me.

 
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1/6/2019

Late Start

Just to acknowledge that – yes – I’ve gotten a late start on editing the first two scripts. There are several reasons, but just know I WILL do better. Sorry. 🙁

I did update the Blacklisters list and POIs (Persons of Interest). And the Moments Twitter “Episodes in Tweets” for all of S5 are done.

 
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1/2/2019

List of Blacklisters

I updated this list, adding the episode numbers for the Blacklisters with episodes named after them, I also updated the descriptions of each Blacklister, though more recent ones are more detailed than earlier ones. It’s still pretty messy. I still haven’t really settled on a format. It’s hard to keep up-to-date but I’ll keep working on it.

 
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12/21/2018

🇺🇸 Trump/Russia 🇷🇺 Bibliography

With Tweets, Retweets, links to articles and excerpts, I’ve tried to document this national soap opera/tragedy we’re living through. The resources at the beginning are a mixed bag of timelines and documents and I provide a clickable cast of characters (Russians, mostly).

What does this have to do with The Blacklist? A lot, actually. Russian mob figures, spies and apparatchiks. Semion Mogilevich, the Smart Don, reminds me of Red, though Red is a lot nicer and much better-looking.

Featured are drawings (she calls them “maps”) by @Jzikah, and “Mueller, She Wrote” is the best podcast I’ve come across. The three women who do it are comedians, though they’re all super smart and A.J. (the lead) has a PhD and is a Veteran.

Caution: You may enjoy this feature a bit more if you’re of the liberal persuasion. This is the single place on this blog where *there are politics* though I tend to stick with MSM, specialized sources (ex-Intel Community, altGov, and reputable sleuths) and other people I’ve learned to trust.

 
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12/13/2018

Countdown‼️

For those of you who follow me on Twitter (@BlacklistDCd), I will be doing a countdown of key episodes in Season 5 in the days leading up to the Season 6 premiere. Here’s the schedule:

● Dec 26 ~ 5:1 Smokey Putnam
● Dec 27 ~ 5:8 Ian Garvey
● Dec 28 ~ 5:9 Ruin
● Dec 29 ~ 5:19 Ian Garvey Pt 2
● Dec 30 ~ 5:20 Nicholas Moore
● Dec 31 ~ 5:21 Lawrence Devlin
● Jan 2 ~ 5:22 Sutton Ross (first half)
● Jan 3 ~ 5:22 Sutton Ross (second half)

I’ll start between 1-2 pmCT* each day. If you find this disruptive to your Twitter activity, remember you can unfollow me for the duration. I hope you’ll follow back later though. ♡

I’ve been working hard on these photos. It’s my favorite thing to do for this blog. Unfortunately, given the tight schedule, I’m not planning on doing the Storybook or these Tweetstorms for Season 6. I’ve depended on the breaks to do catch up and there’s simply not enough time otherwise. However, I think I’ll embed some photos in the scripts themselves and tweet those.

*Changed from 3-4pm. Starting earlier takes some pressure off and I can post a little slower. Plus, in the past, I’ve been locked out for “bot-like behavior.” So I try do mix it up and “act human” which takes more time. 😆

 
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12/1/2018

Welcome to Season 6

Wow, what a long break, but still I’m in a sprint to get my plans in place.

 
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