I'm feeling the same way as most of you: the show is past it's prime and they need to close it out with a stunning crescendo to recapture any of it's original glory.

BBB, you're correct: it was James Spader that made this show. There was some great writing and special effects in the earlier episodes but without Spader it wouldn't have made it to this point.

I know many might disagree, but I think there was a decided change in dynamic between Red and Liz sometime in season 3. And I think it has to do with the actress learning how much Spader was making and then demanding higher pay, which is totally fine. But I think there's a chip on her shoulder for it, everyone keeps saying how hard she works, and she does work long hours, but she was just barely out of rookie and Spader is a master actor. But in seasons 6 and 7 we barely see Liz and Red physically sharing a scene together.

That's where the drama really shone and it fed to the core mythology if the show. I think it was a mistake to concede to just phone calls as joint scenes.

Megan also stopped being as invested in the show when she stated her other business and advocacy, and then she declared she wouldn't use certain firearms because she was morally opposed to them.

I think it makes it much harder for Spader to shine now because he has no one to really act with to move the storyline along in an interesting fashion.

For me, if they keep screwing around with the storyline after the break I'll just wait until the show is over and watch the last few episodes. Really sad to say.

I actually think Person of Interest got better as it moved along.

I just got done watching Mad Men, a huge binge watch over just a few weeks and I found myself mesmerized.

Tuxie400 wrote:

Iowa Watcher - Yes, the stretching of the story and the cryptic dialog without payoffs is ruining a show I once considered a masterpiece. I would like to see it end this season, but ratings haven't dropped much, so I think it's likely to get an 8th season.

 
Well put.   Too much cryptic dialog.  I think they are to  worried about keeping all the theories going. 

I probably won't be watching live if its renewed.  My other half has to watch his show the next day because I am watching this. I watch it with him,  but 7 years is long enough.   

I'm sure they can find new work.  A lot of people would watch them just because they were in this show.

KathyN - I do like Emergence, but it's likely to only be a one season show.  Several sites have it listed as canceled.

Emergence is not cancelled (yet). The confusion came about because unlike the other new series like Stumptown, it didn't get  offered to add episodes to the initial 13 they contracted to make so people assumed it was cancelled. But it was written as a 3 year, 13 episode per year show. The producers didn't want any additional episodes.  That being said, the numbers are really low for night-of watching (those numbers  do double in streaming though).  It probably will be canceled, it's too good for ABC television. I hope if it does it gets picked up by a streaming service or one of the cable networks and continues there where it probably has a better home anyway.   The show started with a mystery around a young girl the town's (female) police chief finds at a plane crash site (first 2 minutes of the show and on all the commercials promoting the series so that's not a spoiler).  If this was the BL, they'd go 7 years trying to figure out who the girl is. The producers tell you in Episode 3. VERY RISKY and they did lose some viewers after that.  I was tempted myself to stop watching because I wasn't interested in that type of show but decided to watch the next week just to see. And the show got more interesting and better and I realized the mystery of who the girl is just the back story of where the show went/is going.  Of course there are still bloggers out there bemoaning the fact that the know who the girl is. If I felt like commenting to them I'd steer them to the Blacklist if they want to hold onto a mystery for a long time. lol

Anyway, I know that's thread drift, I am going to pick up my comments on the show on the hiatus thread where I think the show discussion is continuing until March (?).