BBB - I hope we get at least a few answers before the end of the season.  I've really enjoyed all the episodes so far, until this one. 

I can visualize a rather angry James Spader (executive producer hat on) reaming out the cast, most of the actors, the writers (especially the writers) and the director for turning in a putrid, below=average work. 

I think James knows the gig if up (the show, not Reddington) and he's hoping against hope a declining writing staff can still cobble together some decent episodes to close out and tie down most aspects of a once magnificent show!

BBB - I don't think anybody's been told this will be the show's last season, and this episode was filmed way back in the fall. The court scenes and prison storyline are wearing thin with me as a viewer. The whole point of putting Red in prison was so Liz and Jen could do some digging. They should have done a lot more by the fifth episode in.  I think we're in for a long S-t-r-e-t-c-h.

Last edited by Tuxie400 (2/01/2019 10:39 pm)

Tuxie400 wrote:

BBB - I don't think anybody's been told this will be the show's last season, and this episode was filmed way back in the fall. The court scenes and prison storyline are wearing thin with me as a viewer. The whole point of putting Red in prison was so Liz and Jen could do some digging. They should have done a lot more by the fifth episode in.  I think we're in for a long S-t-r-e-t-c-h.

Of course I don't know what holds in the future for TBL. But the anecdotal evidence is usually the move of a great show to the deadening echo of Friday nights; add to that some inferior writing/continuity plus declining storylines and vola - aspects of cancellation looming!

One of those renewal prediction sites thinks TBL will be renewed for a season 7. Can't remember which one it was and I'm too lazy to look it up.

I think the episode should have been called "Altar Ego".

So what will happen when Red finds out it was Liz that got him thrown in the slammer? Will her Liz Immunity protect her? Red has to kill whoever betrays him like that, but he has to protect Liz at all costs including sacrificing his own life. What a predicament.

I thought it was a good episode. They have to set up what's to come. Next week's looks intense. "Only one man who knows Red's true identity..." So, if this places his life in danger now, what about the past thirty years? I wonder if the Dr. actually knows who he is at all. Maybe Red went from one false identity to another one, for all we know.

P.S. wasn't Lukas Reiter one of the co-writers of the episode? I need to go back and review the recording tomorrow.

Last edited by Honey West (2/02/2019 3:27 am)

Just as I predicted, this episode has fans on other sites saying it's proof Jennifer is not really Jennifer.  I still believe she is Jennifer, daughter of real Reddington.

Interesting observations! There were indeed a lot of parallels with earlier episodes. About 6: wasn't there a similar fight between Samar and Nez in The Artax Network? I'm not sure if that was an elevator though.

Another parallel is between Ressler enlisting Alter Ego for help and him calling Henry Prescott at the end of season 4. In both cases he uses help from the case-of-the-week character.

Do we have any idea which organization Van Hess was working for? It seems powerful and I'm thinking it might be one of the players on the map from Mr. Gregory Devry.

Tuxie400 wrote:

Honey West - I think Series Finale and Grim Reaper have BL as likely renewal at this point. Cancel Bear says it's a tossup. Personally, I hope this will be the last season. There's only so far you can stretch your central mystery.

Altar Ego - Who do you think is on the altar - Red or Liz? 

 

Heehee, I was thinking more like church altar, as in weddings. But you are right, could be a sacraficial altar, too. 

Yep, I agree! Filler episode with some nice bits. Great list of parallels, Tuxie!

I don't have much to add, except that I don't think Jennifer is a plant. I just think that her days are numbered. My guess is that somehow it will be her voice on the tape, not Liz's voice. Maybe she was afraid that Liz won't phone, so she did.

I had another thought along those lines: maybe Dembe finds out that it is Liz's voice, so he substitutes his voice for hers . . . but that would take the show in a terrible direction, so I dismissed that idea, plus he would have to involve Aram (or the Chinese kid) to make that happen.

Finally, as for the show being renewed for Season 7: I don't think so. If it is, the writers and showrunners really need to up their game, and I think they are running out of steam. That's too bad because I think we all can think of some ways this show could be interesting and keep going for a bit longer, but it would involve getting back to the spy stuff and coming up with some sharper writing.

Added: this whole jail/court arc just isn't working for me. I understand that for story purposes they needed to get Red out of circulation, but it's really dragging. Red is so much more interesting when he is out and about "doing business."
 

Last edited by IowaWatcher (2/02/2019 3:34 pm)

Tuxie - thank you for putting together that list! It's so helpful.

As for Jennifer, I agree, I think she's the real Jennifer Reddington. There's no evidence otherwise. 

Iowa Watcher, I like your ideas. I certainly could see some kind of switch of voices or that because Liz was working she couldn't make the call and Jennifer did it for her.

I felt a bit claustrophobic in this episode. They were inside in obviously staged settings which is so not like TBL. What I really did like was the interaction between Dembe and Red.

Favorite line: None of my friends die by accident unless it's on purpose. LOL!