Well, now the "The Blacklist" S3 is over...
I'm still pretty darn angry about the way the season went.
It was still a disservice to the character of Liz Keen, as well as Megan Boone, who portrays her. Reading between the lines of her post-finale interview, I can see that she was frustrated with how reactionary and passive Liz was this season. Which is not surprising. She literally could have been replaced with an object for most of the episodes, and the plot would have carried on basically the same way. (That is NOT a dig at Ms. Boone's acting, only the writing which mistreated her so badly.)
And now that the Tom Keen spinoff has been greenlit by NBC, I was so hoping that Freaking Tom would finally go away and stop ruining the show I used to love. But no, it looks like from cast and showrunner interviews that he'll stick around and bounce between both shows. Which I could almost tolerate except that two of the bosses of the show called his story with Liz a story of "true love". VOMIT. This after the main showrunner just two or so weeks ago remarked that Tom doesn't know how to love (which I agree with).
Tom has never once apologized or even suffered for his murdering, lying ways all throughout season one and through the majority of season two. How can there be any redemption there? Why in the name of all that is good are we supposed to root for him and Liz to be in a relationship? And if we're not (which, alas, I think the writers actually do expect us to), then why the hell is she still with him, at the end of the season? (I mean, assuming he's not dead. Because he's never dead.)
Also, why would Mr. Kaplan think it was safe for Tom to run with Agnes to Liz at that moment? They had no confirmation Kirk was dead. He was the main enemy they were hiding from. Why would she, who has always been shown as extremely competent (with the major exception of another time she failed spectacularly in service of the horrible Tom arc), just be like, "No, yeah, that's fine, of course you're safe now," with no reason at all? Her scenes with Reddington were amazingly, beautifully acted, but since the reasoning was nonexistent, I can't even enjoy them fully.
Another thing: how is this guy Liz's father? What does that even mean, when Red swore to her that her father was dead - that she killed him - and the show writers have, over and over, emphasized that he doesn't lie to her? That, at least, I can believe we'll learn more about next season.
Finally, how in the world was this season "all about Ressler", as we were told by the bosses? There were some great Ressler moments, for sure. But most of the time, he just got to be the guy giving exposition, or alternately acting like a stick in the mud. Wow. Super cool. Thanks, writers. Of course Tom looks interesting in comparison with that, nevermind the fact that Ressler is one of the more actually admirable guys on the show.
In summary, GAH. I haven't given up on the show yet, but S4 is going to have to be amazing to keep me watching. It's going to have to either feature at least 90% less Tom, or he's going to have to actually change. And I'm really disappointed to be in this position. I almost regret owning S1-2 now, which makes me particularly sad.
It was still a disservice to the character of Liz Keen, as well as Megan Boone, who portrays her. Reading between the lines of her post-finale interview, I can see that she was frustrated with how reactionary and passive Liz was this season. Which is not surprising. She literally could have been replaced with an object for most of the episodes, and the plot would have carried on basically the same way. (That is NOT a dig at Ms. Boone's acting, only the writing which mistreated her so badly.)
And now that the Tom Keen spinoff has been greenlit by NBC, I was so hoping that Freaking Tom would finally go away and stop ruining the show I used to love. But no, it looks like from cast and showrunner interviews that he'll stick around and bounce between both shows. Which I could almost tolerate except that two of the bosses of the show called his story with Liz a story of "true love". VOMIT. This after the main showrunner just two or so weeks ago remarked that Tom doesn't know how to love (which I agree with).
Tom has never once apologized or even suffered for his murdering, lying ways all throughout season one and through the majority of season two. How can there be any redemption there? Why in the name of all that is good are we supposed to root for him and Liz to be in a relationship? And if we're not (which, alas, I think the writers actually do expect us to), then why the hell is she still with him, at the end of the season? (I mean, assuming he's not dead. Because he's never dead.)
Also, why would Mr. Kaplan think it was safe for Tom to run with Agnes to Liz at that moment? They had no confirmation Kirk was dead. He was the main enemy they were hiding from. Why would she, who has always been shown as extremely competent (with the major exception of another time she failed spectacularly in service of the horrible Tom arc), just be like, "No, yeah, that's fine, of course you're safe now," with no reason at all? Her scenes with Reddington were amazingly, beautifully acted, but since the reasoning was nonexistent, I can't even enjoy them fully.
Another thing: how is this guy Liz's father? What does that even mean, when Red swore to her that her father was dead - that she killed him - and the show writers have, over and over, emphasized that he doesn't lie to her? That, at least, I can believe we'll learn more about next season.
Finally, how in the world was this season "all about Ressler", as we were told by the bosses? There were some great Ressler moments, for sure. But most of the time, he just got to be the guy giving exposition, or alternately acting like a stick in the mud. Wow. Super cool. Thanks, writers. Of course Tom looks interesting in comparison with that, nevermind the fact that Ressler is one of the more actually admirable guys on the show.
In summary, GAH. I haven't given up on the show yet, but S4 is going to have to be amazing to keep me watching. It's going to have to either feature at least 90% less Tom, or he's going to have to actually change. And I'm really disappointed to be in this position. I almost regret owning S1-2 now, which makes me particularly sad.