Go for it HW!!

IW, I have fresh strawberries and cookies!

I really think they did a fantastic job considering how little they had to work with. Three episodes, only a bit of filming, how do you put it all together so your fans can have something of an end of season? And when they switched between live and animated, they used a visual effect and a sound that decidedly The Blacklist and used in every episode! 

Did I love the animation? No. But they did not have thousands of experts and unlimited time to work on it. 

I have to say, I loved that they went full on with the cartoon, the balloon thoughts or comment and the best was the fight scene with the BAM! BLAST! SOCK EM!... ok, I don't remember exactly what they said, but I really think they pulled it off.

Seriously, my only frustration was at the very end, why did they cut the last song like that! It's an AWESOME, classic! I get they wanted to show the people but I wanted to savor the moment and the mood. 

 

Titiana -- agreed! -- that's a great song, but I understand them wanting to show everyone, and I'm okay with that, too. They are a like a family and suddenly had to work remotely.

Per the article I posted: I understand the challenges of the actors to find somewhere to record their lines that has great sound quality. And privacy. I have a dedicated home office, but I soon found that under the right conditions, my co-workers could hear my neighbor's dog carrying on while we were in an online meeting, not to mention that I have a cat who loudly expresses her opinion when she is locked out of my office. Cats hate doors!

I had to make a trip to Menard's for materials and improvise some sound-proofing. It's still not studio quality! But I can give an online presentation without having an animal chorus, plus I was able to make some videos and narrate Power points. I can only imagine the challenges faced by actors who live in noisy settings. Well done!

I hope that everyone is staying well! I'll check back in soon. This is planting time out here in Iowa. I took time off to watch the show. Now I've got to haul two more tubs of mulch out to the community garden tonight. We're growing a huge "victory garden."
 

Not much time to put it together.  I thought they did a great job.  I loved the ballon thoughts as well. 

I have to be honest, I really disappointed that it ended that way.  I have said before that I don't like Red not giving her more truth.  But I get tired of her being written this way.  Back and forth....   Taking her moms side?  She really doesn't know her that well yet.  Back and forth with Red is a bit old. 

KR has done so many evil things in the past,  how do we know for sure she didn't take that file?   

If Dom could hear Liz, he may just pretend he's asleep to avoid her.

RedIsMyCoPilot wrote:

I admit, I was kind of hoping for a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' ending where viewers got to vote whether Liz ended up keeping on Katerina's side or going back to Red after what she found out she'd done. And having us wait who knows how long before we find out at the start of Season 8.
 

oh, that would have been very cool.

As a season finale, I would have been livid had I not known the circumstances of the series and filming. I suspect there was a lot more that was planned for the last three episodes. I think we were going to get a far more in-depth scene and lots of clues with Red and Dom and Liz and Dom. I think this was a really messy, hard to patch story and they did the best they could
I think there were one or two scenes that would have been spectacular had they been able to film them in the way they had planned. 

And I really think we were going to get more insight into Red, his illness, who he is to Liz, etc.


 

Hi everyone! It’s been awhile since I’ve stopped by! Still watching every week.

I didn’t mind and applaud those who had a hand in creating the  comic book animation. I thought they did a nice job getting a story out and appreciated the character “though” bubbles. Those helped me understand a little more of some of the scenes. Could not follow the story line of the blacklisters and the guy who had the briefcase. Didn’t feel like it made a difference anyway.

With that said, I was not on board with the ending. Not just that Liz claimed she has chosen a side, but the words she spoke and how they came across on screen. She sounded and looked like the end of every cartoon villain or superhero looking out over their city proclaiming to bring down the bad guy or protect their city and   Its community. CHEESY!!! I thought she was going to fly off the building and soar thru the air with her longer jacket.



I also don’t want another season of Liz trying to take down Red.. We just had that 2 seasons ago.

Hats off to the hard work that went into salvaging the episode and then crafting it in such a way that it actually worked! Considering the time constraints plus the fact that everyone had to work from home to do it, i think they did a great job. Was it 100% satisfying? No. But I think that was more from them making the changes to craft it into a season finale, rather than just being episode 19 of 22. I think some of the story would have worked better if they’d been able to let it develop over the last three episodes. But, hey, it is what it is. We were lucky they decided to finish it, and did a good job in spite of circumstances. Plus it makes me want to see the return of season 8!

I agree with BBB, was Liz really choosing her mother's side? Or was she setting her up to be able to gather her own information, with no real allegiance to either side?

I read somewhere that there will be a special feature about this episode on the DVDs.

Iowa, I couldn’t eat the chocolate bar. I had a sick kitty sitting on my lap and didn’t want to get chocolate on her fur or her fur in my chocolate. She’s feeling a little better today, but it’s going to be a slow recovery since she’s almost 20 years old.

Honey West wrote:

Hats off to the hard work that went into salvaging the episode and then crafting it in such a way that it actually worked! Considering the time constraints plus the fact that everyone had to work from home to do it, i think they did a great job. Was it 100% satisfying? No. But I think that was more from them making the changes to craft it into a season finale, rather than just being episode 19 of 22. I think some of the story would have worked better if they’d been able to let it develop over the last three episodes. But, hey, it is what it is. We were lucky they decided to finish it, and did a good job in spite of circumstances. Plus it makes me want to see the return of season 8!

I agree with BBB, was Liz really choosing her mother's side? Or was she setting her up to be able to gather her own information, with no real allegiance to either side?

I read somewhere that there will be a special feature about this episode on the DVDs.

Iowa, I couldn’t eat the chocolate bar. I had a sick kitty sitting on my lap and didn’t want to get chocolate on her fur or her fur in my chocolate. She’s feeling a little better today, but it’s going to be a slow recovery since she’s almost 20 years old.

 imho one of the reasons an episode that didn't feature much Spader succeeded was the unique animation. Due to obvious time & budget constraints, not having much in the world of animation experts on the production crew I thought they handled the animation brilliantly. The real skill was morphing from live screenplay to animation - that's not an animation thing - that's a human thing, and these guys carried it off seamlessly.
Even though the actual animation was at least a decade behind current animation techniques/science it worked so well because we already knew most of the animated characters well (8 seasons will do that to a person). The somewhat primitive animation was housed in an overall cloak of evening darkness but traits of all our favorite characters were exhibited marvellously in the animation. Kudos to the seamless voice-over work which I always, as a former radio actor pay extra attention. 

Also loved the honest & somewhat uplifting intro to the show by the main actors (except Spader) who apologized both for the animation and the Covid19 virus. Diego, who's the most emotionless character on the set became the emotional leader for the cast. Ms. Sohn also connected well on a human level.

If I had one criticism - and I usually have several - its that Teddy Coluca & Glen didn't get a chance to cut human intros at the top of the show. 

Tuxie400 wrote:

Honey West - Sorry your kitty is sick again. I hope she will feel better soon.

Thanks, Tuxie! If she makes it to July, she will be 20 years old. Never had one this old before, and it's a challenge. But overall she's got good quality of life, except when she gets sick.