At times the Blacklist mythology looks a bit scrambled, somewhat disjointed . . . . .however all that said, Spader's great performances of wonderful written words saves it almost every single time. . . . . Samar started to show the ravages of her brain injury with her stilted misunderstanding of basic FBI terminology!

3 stars of tonite's ep:

1. Spader
2. Harold Cooper
3. Ken Leung as the prosecutor

The #'s weren't very good to be truthful . . . 

Tuxie400 wrote:

Iowa Watcher - If Katerina is still alive, that may be who Red needs a cure for.  I was thinking it might be for Dom, if it's not for Red himself. The disease first presents in people who are in their 50s through 70s.
 

Dom or Red himself . . . possible, too.

I don't know why KR has been on my mind. I guess I'd really like to see some sign that she's still alive.
 

Last edited by IowaWatcher (1/11/2019 10:52 pm)

I have a few ideas about this evening.
First, I think this episode was laying the groundwork for the season and for some bigger issues.
Second, I think it's important that Samar is having memory issues. There just about isn't anyone who hasn't had a brain injury and memory issues at some point in this show. I still believe this show is surreal and I keep waiting for the producer to come out behind the curtain and yell, "Ok everybody, that's a wrap!"
Third, Dr. Stark is important. Red has contracted with him before. And whatever he's working on is important to the story line.
Fourth, the biggest movement I see in this story line is that Red is becoming increasingly nervous because while he's been able to pass as an impostor for 30 years, evidence keeps floating to the surface risking a true reveal. Red will stop at nothing to prevent his real identity from being revealed. Kaplan dug up some evidence and he killed her. The bones passed from like the plague and killed anyone who possessed it: Nik, the guy who worked on the bones, Garvey, Tom, etc. Now this season another person who has vital, direct records of his identity went missing: Dr. Hans Koehler who's last dying words were where to find the client list. Red got the thumb drive, erased his name, and handed it over to Liz.

Not sure how Dr. Stark's work figures into this all but time will tell.

Tuxie400 wrote:

The medical imagery just keeps on coming! It has to mean something big in connection with the mythology.

No Doubt.  

I didn't look, but have you been adding this Season's medical stuff?  

I deleted some incorrect info I posted early, but since people quoted me the error is tripled. I thought the disease Stark was treating was Cortex Degeneration, which does present to people ages 50s-70s.  But I see in recaps it was MCDD. That disease presents first in early childhood. I thought it was strange it was not better explained in the episode.

The disease must have a combination of three of these four areas: Psychotic symptoms, Behavioral Symptoms, Autistic Symptoms, and Neurological Symptoms. Symptoms must first present in early childhood.Some psychotic symptoms may include:
[list=1]
[*]Delusions, such as thought insertion, paranoid preoccupations, fantasies of personal omnipotence, over engagement with fantasy figures, grandiose fantasies of special powers, referential ideation, and confusion between fantasy and real life.
[*]Hallucinations and/or unusual perceptual experiences.

Wow Tuxie, that is very interesting and very, very specific. Initially I thought it was straight forward Parkinson's. Now I have some research to do!

After an exciting-paced intro last week they needed to have a setup story. So we got an in-depth exploration of Reds immunity deal and history with the task force. Cooper was placed in a difficult position and had to perjure himself. Red will not forget that and it will set up a future plot line, I’m sure.

I wonder what Liz's angle really is. She seems pretty genuinely worried about him. Or is she? Maybe it’s an elaborate slow game to get him to confess his secrets. Anyway, only time will tell.

I wonder what Red is paying Stark to do for him?

While the blacklister of the week was not outstanding, I still loved this episode. I feel like it had many highlights, some great references to actuality and some signs that show the writers have not lost track of continuity. 

- The court parts are amazing. I love how Red subtly works on Sima's nerves. His speech about truth and government are a nice subtle comment on modern day politics and especially Trump. In previous seasons, The Blacklist has often annoyed me by using certain references in their storylines but I think this one was well done. 

- Another subtle sign of brilliance was the simultaneous interrogation of Aram's biohacker friend and the guy from the pharmaceutical company, showing both sides of the ongoing development. Again, criticising or rather informing the audience about actual world issues, but not overly pushing an agenda.

- Samar shows signs of memory loss, which I expect to come up in the next episode as she's supposed to go undercover. 

- Cooper references past Blacklist cases including the Cabal, which at least shows the writers haven't fully forgotten about them. 

- Dembe is separated from Red now, but the upcoming episodes will probably focus on him looking for the truth behind Red's arrest. With Liz and Jennifer still working on their investigation, the FBI working on the cases of the week, and Red being in prison/court, the writers still manage to create a number of more or less separate storylines which all have a lot of potential. In the past there were usually just two main lines: Red and the FBI one one and Tom Keen on the other, with maybe some smaller ones too. 

- Overall the writers do a great job of making this plot work. I feel like there is more attention to details than before, which is also necessary if you want to run a plot in court.

- Previously, I feared the writers were out of ideas to create amusing Red scenes, but the past two episodes have proven otherwise. Reddington is indeed reborn. Perhaps the long break has given both the writers and actors fresh inspiration. 

- Red's relation to Stark is interesting. Apparently he needs the treatment for someone, maybe to help somebody in government who can give a favour in return. 

- Something else: last season someone noted there were two characters named Wilkins in the Invisible Hand episode (Big Willy and Dom). Now they use the name for another character. Probably meaningless but still.. 

A lot of random thoughts I had during the episode, more than usual I guess. But I feel like the show is also becoming more complex now, and I'm definitely in for the ride. I haven't really been this excited for the Blacklist since the season 2 finale. 

Yeti - The courtroom scenes did shine, and I thought Harry Lennix was a standout playing Cooper on the hot seat. I'm not quite as excited about the show as after that Season 2 finale, but this season sure has the potential to ignite my excitement again.

Tuxie400 wrote:

Tuxie400 wrote:

I deleted some incorrect info I posted early, but since people quoted me the error is tripled. I thought the disease Stark was treating was Cortex Degeneration, which does present to people ages 50s-70s.  But I see in recaps it was MCDD. That disease presents first in early childhood. I thought it was strange it was not better explained in the episode[color=#000000].

Well, now that I've read the script, I realize the first disease I read about was the right one. There are two diseases with the initials MCDD, The one that is a neurological/motor disease is the one Stark was treating: Motor Cortex Degenerative Disease. It does not involve psychosis.  It is the one that first presents anywhere from age 50-70.  When I read more about it, it sort of reminded me of the symptoms Josephine had after her beating - motor problems and aphasia. [/color]

Then again they did go to the trouble to point out that Red is turning 60.