I just added this section to the 🔴 Deep Background “page” of this blog. Thinking it would be “lost” otherwise and not noticed, I am also posting it here as a blog entry. I found out that most of the medical science exists or at least appears to be feasible, if anecdotally. My guess is that the show has access to experts in addition to what the writers come up with. Continue reading ‘🔴 Is TBL’s Med Sci Believable?’
Blurb: Convinced she can lead him to the Fulcrum, Luther Braxton has captured Liz and is going to use a doctor to retrieve her memories. Red is hot on his trail. He too wants to know what she remembers about a fire when she was 4 years old. Second part of two.
Red allows himself to be captured so he will be “disappeared” to a secret U.S. prison in the Bering Sea where a thief named Luther Braxton is planning to break into secret government computers containing information on the Fulcrum. First part of two.
Blurb: Red and Berlin head to Moscow looking for The Decembrist, who falsely blamed Red for murdering Berlin’s daughter. Alan Fitch tells Red he will be in trouble with his alliance (later called “The Cabal”) if he does not possess The Fulcrum. Red confronts Liz about Tom.
Blurb: Liz is being framed for the murder of a U.S. Senator as The Cabal tries to stir up trouble with Russia. Red does what he has threatened for 20 years and Cooper gets a new prognosis. The Season 2 Finale.
Blurb: A notorious saboteur, Karakurt, is in country to carry out an attack on a high-value target that will then be blamed on Russia. Red refuses to give Liz more information on her mother, so she turns to other sources.
Blurb: Liz prevails on Red for information about the photo of the woman with the small girl she found in Red’s secret flat. Red captures a cabal member to get information on an upcoming attack and a smuggler of dead bodies reveals he’s just smuggled in one very much alive.
Blurb: Red has been shot and cannot risk going to an emergency room where his enemies can find him. He tells Liz to find Leonard Caul. Dembe instructs Liz to go to a flat to get the suitcase Red retrieved from the trunk of the Presidential limo.
Blurb: A serial killer is framing members of the one percent. Tom and Liz toy with rekindling a relationship. Red attempts to convince members of the Cabal (formerly known as the alliance) to undergo a restructuring.
Nan, who contributes generously to the WSJ Speakeasy blog, has (with the help of her talented sons) produced a high tech transcript of the argument Liz/Masha hears on the night of the fire during her dream recall session in 2:10 Luther Braxton, Part 2. This is a much more complete version than the other two versions I posted earlier http://wp.me/pDKwi-CD. It is very helpful in interpreting what happened on that fateful night. The link for this discussion is: http://on.wsj.com/1ydAfLs Continue reading ‘🔴 Analysis Memory Recall Session’
Blurb: Red wants compensation from The Major, the man who provided Tom for him to keep an eye on Liz – but not to get involved. Liz testifies in chambers about the Harbormaster’s murder. Dembe cautions Red that it’s time to tell Liz.
Blurb: A serial killer appears be a man – and a woman. Red tries to reach the man whose number was in the safe in St Petersburg. Red scolds Liz for taking too many risks. She tell him she has the Fulcrum. Aram worries about his hair.
Blurb: A religious survivalist sect which favors child marriage and polygamy, stores contraband on its grounds for criminals. Red follows up on the instructions Alan Fitch gave him to find a safe in St Peterburg. Red buys Liz an apartment.
Daniel Knauf is a Co-Executive Producer and senior writer for The Blacklist. He answers questions about the show during and after it and is quite comfortable with Twitter. I don’t know a better way to re-capture Twitter (but I’ll try screenshots next time).
Below are his Tweets from 2:10 Luther Braxton-2. To find the original full interaction, do a search on Twitter using his handle @Daniel_Knauf followed by keywords from the Tweets below. A number of the early Tweets are comments on the episode action. You can see Knauf’s comic book work at play. Here are my takeaways: Continue reading ‘🔴 Daniel Knauf’s Tweets’
🔆 This❗️⋙ The “Clickable Tag Index” has been updated through Season 6. It includes character names, titles, locations, themes, key quotes and major plot points. This powerful tool gives you capabilities for searching this site that go beyond the “Search” button. But it is tricky. I’ve posted instructions here.
⊱❀⊰ ♤ ⊱❀⊰
🔴 Final Scene: Season 6
Brief (Where we’re at): Red has been abducted – by Katarina Rostova, Liz’s mother and notorious KGB/Cabal operative and femme fatale. Having found out that Ressler had stirred up Russian interest in her by his search for her, Red reached out to a friend (“mystery man”) who located Katarina living in Paris. Red found her walking alone along a dark Parisian street on a rainy night and called her name. She turned and recognized him, “Raymond.” She walked up to him and kissed him, deeply. “Are they watching?” she asked. “It’s not safe. You’re not safe,” he answered, followed by another deep kiss. Then she took out a hypodermic needle and jabbed him in the gut with it. He looked at the needle, then collapsed. A car drove up, two men got out of it, loaded Red into it and drove off. Katarina picked up his fedora and, twiddling it, walked on, smiling slightly.
Red has been friends with the mystery man since childhood. Not only did the mystery man cast doubt on the story Dom told to Liz about Ilya Koslov’s past with Katarina, he looks a little like an older Ilya himself. Not only do both he and Red know Dom, both refer to Liz as “Masha,” and both agree it was concerning that Dom told Liz “that story.” According to Dom’s account to Liz, Red was in fact Ilya Koslov before taking on the identity of Raymond Reddington. The reason Red gives for Dom’s story was that Dom wanted Liz to be able “to move on.” And in fact Liz has moved on, with her daughter Agnes, now about four, coming back home to live.
The Season 6 “plot against America” uncovered by former MI6 agent Christopher Miles turned out not to be a plot to assassinate the President at all but rather a plot by the President to assassinate the First Lady, who wanted him to come clean about a drunken car accident four years earlier that had killed a woman and her son. Liz and Ressler interrupted the shooting just in time to throw off Mr Sandquist’s shot, but Sandquist turned the tables and accused them of being the assassins, so they were arrested. (They had just earlier escaped from the Post Office along with Aram and Cooper in a break-out masterminded by Liz.) Red intervened by ramming the police wagon they were in and, after a shootout, Anna McMahon was just about to execute Red when Dembe(!) appeared and shot McMahon. So Dembe is back! “I said I needed to follow my own path. I did. It led me back to you.” But more trouble is in store. Dembe tells Red “Our friend in Miami says the Townsend Directive is in play,” so it’s possible being held captive by Katarina Rostova may not be the worst of Red’s problems.
🔆 This❗️⋙ The next episode of The Blacklist likely airs September 2019 in the US, at 7pm CT.
*Note: Twitter “Moments” are stories told in series of Tweets. I’m now using them for the Episode Tweets I send out on Twitter the afternoon before each new show. They read like a photo comic book of each episode.
(Then open a new tab for BlacklistDCd. Don’t use back button)
༺ ✿⊰ ♤ ⊱✿༻
Basic Look Ups
🔴 Click Here for Search Assistance (with Lists)
🔴 Click Here for the Clickable Tag Index
🔴 Click Here for Outline of this Blog
🔴 Click Here for Guide to The Blacklist on the Web
🔴 Click Here for the List of BLACKLISTERS
🔴 Click Here for the List of SONGS (with Videos)
🔴 Click Here for the Clickable Index of SONGS
🔴 Click Here for Individual EPISODES
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 1
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 2
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 3 (below)
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 4 (below)
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 5 (below)
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 6 (below)
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 1
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 2
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 3
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 4
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 5
︻┳デ═─➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ ➾ 💥 Click Here for Season 6
New‼️ ⋙ If you’re a Lizzington fan – or even if you’re not – check out Φαιη Βλαχογιαννη’s analysis ⭕ “Beyond Lizzington”.
⋙ The “NBC Blacklist” Twitter List has passed 1100 members‼️ http://bit.ly/1E7TeLy It’s tweeps who use #TheBlacklist in their Bio, Header Photo or Avatar @NBCBlacklist @BlacklistRoom (under my other acct @Auriandra) ~ You can subscribe if you have a Twitter account. If not, just follow this link: https://twitter.com/Auriandra/lists/nbc-blacklist
⋙ Note: This “Clues” page is updated for Season 6. If you are looking for something no longer on this page, you may still be able to find it in the Attic.
Episode 5:16 Highlight: Red’s warning to Garvey (2mins 17secs)
Episode 5:10 Highlight: Sins should be buried (1min 25secs)
Episode 5:9 Highlight: Don’t mess with Liz (3mins 48secs)
Stay with Me (“Sound of Silence” segment from 5:8 Ian Garvey) (4:37 mins)
Last Scene 5:8 Ian Garvey – Liz Loses Everything (3:11 mins)
Andra Day sings “Rise Up” at the Global Citizens Festival NYC 9/23/2017 This Song from 3:10 The Director – Conclusion, is my favorite song of the series so far. It really captures Red & Liz’s on-again off-again relationship.
There is an “Cast and Crew” Twitter list set up by NBC. Instructions on how to follow my Twitter List “NBC Blacklist” are below.
A Twitter List allows you to see all the Tweets of those who are “members” of the list.
For “NBC Blacklist” this includes:
1. Everyone on NBC’s Blacklist “Cast and Crew” Twitter List,
2. Many magazines and blogs following The Blacklist, and
3. Many fans who feature The Blacklist in their Twitter handle, avatar, Twitter bio or header photo.
Alternatively, you could follow the hashtag #TheBlacklist or NBC’s Twitter accounts @NBCBlacklist or @BlacklistRoom (Blacklist Writers), but people don’t always include these in their Tweets.
Especially around the time the show airs, a lot of people will be Tweeting about the show and following along on Twitter puts you in the middle of the action.
To subscribe, you need a Twitter account. Log in, then find @Auriandra and “Subscribe” to “NBC Blacklist” under “Lists.” Then select “Tweets” (vs “Members”) to see the Tweets of the 1000✛ people on the list. Caution: They are from all over the world and in many languages! ♡ ི•̮͡• ᤢ ྀ ♡
Note: Although my Blacklist-oriented Twitter account is @BlacklistDCd, I set up my Blacklist Twitter List before I created that account, so the Twitter List is still under my general Twitter account @Auriandra.
I rewrote this idea & submitted it to The Blacklist Exposed: http://www.goldenspiralmedia.com/feedback
They are soliciting ideas on where The Blacklist should go. You may have read an earlier version (detail is at the links). I saw the “spoiler” link – it just says they are looking for someone to play one of the alliance guys Fitch mentioned before he exploded. So, this is a bit of a promo, I guess. Continue reading ‘2:8 Decembrist: State Capitalism & the Internet (11/25/2014)’
@Belle Thank you for your thoughtful response and entirely plausible theory. I regretted posting that as soon as I did. It was late, I was tired. It’s true I stopped watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, but there other reasons, too. The fact is, I will likely keep watching The Blacklist just to watch Spader’s incredible acting. I am annoyed at the long hiatus and at something Jon Bokenkamp said in an interview: essentially, that the showrunners try to constantly upend viewers’ expectations. Sure, that keeps it engaging to watch, but it seems to go against character development, Liz’s bizarre (and unbelievable) imprisonment of Tom being a great example. I’m not the only one:
“NBC, plots are one thing. You can draw people in with interesting plots. But it’s the CHARACTERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS that keep people interested. It’s Writing 101. Pretty sure half of your fanbase is better at it than you. If you keep this shit up, I guarantee you, the ratings are going to drop tremendously once you make the shift to Thursday nights.” http://bit.ly/1uf1PrB
You likely have read The Rolling Stone interview about James Spader’s upending the production schedule over what the writers were doing with his character in the Anslo Garrick episodes last year http://rol.st/XJRtDS. I guess I sense a lot of tension between Spader and the creative staff. I also saw a series of tweets between Megan Boone and a reviewer with her expressing concerns about the way her character was written. I don’t know what the proper mix is. My background is literary criticism, where you’re always dealing with a finished work. The stresses of doing a TV series of this caliber must be enormous. I really want this show to be a great success. It has all the potential. I just hope they keep the characters coherent and relatable. They could have done more with both the Fitch and Berlin characters and it’s a shame they’ve made it impossible to revive them while literally resurrecting Tom from the dead and – according to one interview, signed up for next season http://rol.st/XJRtDS. I actually find Tom boring and un-sexy and stupid as an antagonist to Red. (I realize there are those on this blog who really like Tom…)
I hope the showrunners decide on whether they want the audience to be more engaged than startled. This blog has been all about engagement, trying to use the clues the show provides to guess where it’s going. The question of Zoë’s identity is a good example (timeline issues aside). An attentive, engaged viewer could pretty much figure it out from the clues provided. But, when they do things like Pepper’s key, with no context so the NBC staff have tell us it’s important, or like turning what Red took from Fitch from “some very damaging information” to an enigmatic “thing” in the course of a single episode – it reeks of too much emphasis on goofy plot twists that leave character coherence and thematic development in the lurch.
I hope the actors – who really have to put the meat on the bones of these characters – continue to make their voices heard, especially Spader. Usually, I’d say the writers should have creative control, but if they treat characters like sacks of flour to toss around, actors like Spader need to speak up. He can easily find another project at this point. I would primarily be afraid he’d leave TV entirely for film or the stage (as he has in the past). It would be a great loss for TV, but he would either get paid more (film) or not have to work as hard (stage) – both of which he deserves. Better than spending Thanksgiving on the phone arguing with Jon Bokenkamp.
Rant over – I hope ♡ ૂི•̮͡• ૂ ྀ♡…
P.S. Why doesn’t Red just kill Tom?
The Fulcrum (possibly an acronym) could involve a Master Plan for world domination, already in play, including a list of people embedded at high levels in national governments (like Fitch). It could spoil the plan if revealed. (Maybe Hillary Clinton is behind it – lol!)⋙ The theory is based on the fact that the World Wide Web went live on December 25, 1990 [the day after Reddington disappeared].Earlier in 1990, the Internet was put into the public sphere by the Defense Department, which had developed it. There must have been grumbling about this. Continue reading ‘FULCRUM: State Capitalism vs the Internet (2)’
Something earth-shattering happened on 12/25/1990…
“Tim Berners-Lee [creator of the World Wide Web] accessed the first Web page, on the first Web server, using the first Web browser on Christmas Day 1990.” – SciAm http://bit.ly/1yDRsyh Christmas Day – the day after Red Reddington disappeared. Earlier in the year, DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) had ended its ARPAnet project, the Internet’s precursor. The technology was free. The Internet, “the killer app of all time,” was in the public sphere.
Funny how changing “some very damaging information that you have about us” to “The Fulcrum” sends us all scurrying down rabbit holes that will keep our minds spinning for 80+ days. Unfortunately, what this ‘transformation’ will be is entirely up to the producers and writers. Imagine the heated meetings, panicked phone calls (including on Thanksgiving from our Advocate, JS), and online wrangling over the coherence of characters, episode plot needs & the overall arc of the series (pestered by un/knowns of series renewals, ratings & production costs)… Continue reading ‘2:8 Decembrist: The Fulcrum (11/12/2014)’
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🔴 S2 Unanswered Questions
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🔴 S2 Unanswered Questions
Continue reading ‘🔴 S2 Unanswered Questions’