Grade 'Blacklist'

How would you grade Blacklist?

  • A+

    Votes: 12 17.4%
  • A

    Votes: 7 10.1%
  • A-

    Votes: 9 13.0%
  • B+

    Votes: 9 13.0%
  • B

    Votes: 10 14.5%
  • B-

    Votes: 7 10.1%
  • C+

    Votes: 7 10.1%
  • C

    Votes: 3 4.3%
  • C-

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • D+

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • D

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • D-

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • F

    Votes: 1 1.4%

  • Total voters
    69

Top41

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Second episode of season six on tonight! Watch it and share your thoughts here. :cool:
 
Despite the ridiculous number of criminals out there chomping at the bit to turn their felonious activities into a personal cat and mouse game with Mac Taylor this week definitely left me with more optimism for the coming season.

The case started out a little slow, in fact I wasn't really giving it my full attention for the first 25 minutes but it grew on me and even at the halfway mark wasn't impossible to follow once I started really listening.

I've said it before but I'll say it again, I'm sick of hearing from felons without any grander aspirations than making Mac's life more action packed. Like there are no other crimes being committed against anyone else in all of NFY (New F#$&ing York). Thankfully they worked a few innocent by standers into this case, but still they managed to gloss over them both pretty quickly once it was personal for Mac.

I wasn't sold on the villain right away in this one, I mean "Grave Digger"? Initially he came off as more of an embittered asthmatic with a screen name borrowed from some 12 year old's Halo Online account, instead of a psychotic health care advocate with a mean voyeuristic streak. Thankfully he was a LOT more fleshed by the end of the show.

And here's a question about Kim (the nurse/practioner?).When we first see her getting off work she looks visibly shaken about getting into the elevator and soon it's revealed that she's hugely claustrophobic... so I'm not at all claustrophobic, but I have to wonder, if you were THAT terrified of getting in an elevator would you not consider the stairs? Maybe? Just sayin'....

Don, Danny, even Stella didn't get a lot of screen time this episode, and I'm still unsure as to whether Danny is officially back at work, or if that's even possible in the realm of Real Life, but that stretch of the imagination is just beans compared what they've expected me to swallow in other eps, so I'm trying to shrug it off. Honestly.

It was a little anticlimactic on their part to give us an update on Danny's condition without even including him in that scene, and instead writing it off as a conversation in passing between Lindsay and Stella. I'd rather they just didn't bring it up in this ep at all and devoted more time to exploring Danny's tribulations another time. In the same vein, the band tee thing really seemed like it was given a lame excuse to go altering Lindsay's image. Am I supposed to believe she's a big 80's glam rock fan in her off time? That maybe she teases out her hair for RATT concerts on the weekend? It felt like a weak shot at making her feel cool young and hip now that she's half way to being a soccer mom.

Danny, when he did make an appearance, looked tidier tonight, even with the beard and the hair, both of which I am partial to by the way, but I did notice that lately when Adam is sitting, at a glance, I've confused him for Danny more than once now. Just thought it was kinda funny.

On the plus side we got a lot of prime backstory about Mac here. Actually seeing his parents and hearing them talk about Claire no less is probably more than we've ever had on the topic of Mac Taylor since God knows when and it stirred up some dormant excitement in me! This interesting relationship he had with this father that even as a grown up he referred to him as Sir, and even more interesting --provided they don't flounce on this and forget it ever happened-- how they've set Mac up as being at risk for developing small cell lung cancer (or some form of cancer perhaps) in the future. I'm glad most of the Taylor chronicles that played out in tonight's ep took place through flashback because I've had enough of learning interesting factoids about Mac through the mouths of lunatic strangers, and stalkery criminals. Honestly, Mac must have like an incredible fan-page or massively in-depth wikipedia document for this many people to be pulling up all that info on him all the damn time.

So what did we learn from this episode? That closed circuit security systems can somehow be hacked via GPS satellites, health care reformers are maniacs, and the appropriate usage of the term "skillage" (Thanks Adam). That aside this was a much better showing than last week. Keep it up.


B+
 
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Damn some of you see it early :(
Just starting now :)
That must be terrifying to be trapped in a car like that w/ no way out :eek:

EDIT: Okay, so the baddie went after the CEO because he shut down the chemo, but why go after the Dr. and technician? Not their fault.
About 15 minutes left, and I'm liking this ep :)

EDIT 2: Why not just let him die? And sanctimonious Mac at the end bumps this down to a B-
 
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geicoeyeballmoney2.jpg

I always feel like - somebody's watching meeeeeeee!

BTW, the 'Grave Digger' sounded a bit like Zach Quinto to me. It was bugging me whose voice he reminded me of, and I looked up the actor to see if I recognized his voice from something. Then it dawned on me that he sounds like Quinto. :p That's totally irrelevant, but I just thought I'd share. (The actual actor was Greg Germann, BTW.)

All of the boys were pretty, and I want to have all of Stella's babies. I totally saw Stella touch Adam's shoulder, by the way. ;)

The story was interesting, and I enjoyed the lab scenes with everybody - it's nice to get a case every so often that really deals with high tech stuff. Every episode doesn't have to be filled with shiny tech toys, but it's cool when they use them like this. And it makes you more aware of how many surveillance cameras and whatnot that we encounter every day - not to mention computers in general! Maybe I won't ride an elevator for a while. ;)

The background on Mac was nice. Continuity and backstory so early in the season? It's like Christmas came early! :p

I liked the choice of Hawkes to be with Mac in the car when Grave Digger called - Hawkes is the one Mac told about his father before, plus he's a doctor. I like the friendship between the two, and I'd like to see more of that. (But didn't Mac say in "And Here's to You, Mrs Azrael" that his father asked him to help him die? Now he's saying his father faced death courageously - the two ideas aren't mutually exclusive, but I just thought I'd point that out. It's possible for both to be true.)

So yeah, interesting story for Mac, some good scenes in the lab, a bit of excitement - overall, I enjoyed it. I would have liked it more if I didn't read spoilers. :shifty:

ETA: BTW, why did they name the episode "Blacklist (Featuring Hangman)" when the character was called "Grave Digger"? The original spoilers indicated that it would be named with "Grave Digger" in it instead, I believe. Irrelevant, but I thought I'd mention it.

The preview for next week looked interesting.

Next week is the start of Skeet Ulrich's serial killer arc. I'm looking forward to it! :D
 
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During commercials I'm going to give updates of what I think so far.
So far, pretty good.
Current grade: B-.

I loved Flack's line: Now one for the jackass of the year award.
This episode is getting more exciting as it goes. Just hope it continues.
Current grade: B.

Who is that guy Mac was talking to on the phone?
Current grade: A-.

I have a feeling Mac and Hawkes are gonna find that lady in the elevator dead when they get to her.
Like I said earlier "This episode is getting more exciting as it goes."
Current grade: A.

Glad I was wrong about the lady in the elevator.
Final grade: A+.


(But didn't Mac say in "And Here's to You, Mrs Azrael" that his father asked him to help him die? Now he's saying his father faced death courageously - the two ideas aren't mutually exclusive, but I just thought I'd point that out. It's possible for both to be true.)
^That's^ proof that great minds DO think alike. I was thinking the exact same thing.
 
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Mac showed emotion, and I damn near showed it with him. :(
I loved seeing Mac in uniform, I do love me a man in uniform :adore:

Lindsay wearing a Whitesnake T-shirt :lol:

Flack, poor baby needs some sleep. He is haunted by his girlfriends murder. The poor guy is falling apart, he needs me. I mean he needs some help :lol:

Stella touched Adam's shoulder, :cardie: I am still not over last weeks whatever it was

I yelled out awkward when Mac, Stella & Adam were in the scene together :lol:

I gave it an A, only because Mac was in uniform :D

Next week looks good!
 
I heard grave digger, I thought of Bones... again.

But, it was an okay episode, it's definitely not at the top of my list.

Once again an episode that was Mac-centric, but we all knew that was going to happen.
 
All aboard the failboat!

What a "craptastic" episode this was! There were some good character moments with Flack flashing back to Jess' murder, Lindsay and Stella sharing information about Danny with Stella showing her support for Lindsay and Hawkes and Lindsay discussing her wardobe all being earped on by Lucy, but that wasn't enough to save this episode.

The fact that it was yet another ALL ABOUT MAC! even though it really wasn't was just lame. And the fact that we were supposed to buy Gail O'Grady as Mac's mother when Gary Sinese was playing young Mac was just . . . :guffaw::rolleyes: :wtf:.

The story just didn't leave me invested in the killer or the victims and I could have cared less about the "Mac connection." We learned more about his past, but really why am I supposed to care when the only connection it had to the plot was that Mac's father died of the same disease the perp was dying from? I'd rather get information about the characters' private lives/past when there's a real investment for that character and for me as a viewer. I'm a person who gets sick of all of the technology on the show so the fact that this guy was SuperdyDuperdyHacker!Criminal just bored the hell out of me. And the actress who played Kim made me :guffaw: and :rolleyes:. I know she's supposed to be SuperdyDuperdyClostrophopic!Vic but her acting was just horrifically bad.

Dear actress who played Kim,
You're appearing in a Prime Time procedural show, not a third rate slasher flick.
No love,
PA

And while I'm at it:

Dear Vics,
When the person you're calling for help sounds like Darth Vader you've got big problems, but not as big as the people who have to watch such utter crap.
No love,
PA

I hope next week is better. Having the second episode of the season feel like pointless, mid season filler does not give me hope for upcoming episodes.

ETA: I totally saw Stella touch Adam's shoulder too! And I'm glad they're showing Adam and Stella acting normal on the job, but I'm really going to be disappointed if they just drop what happened in the premiere. There's too much potential to just put it in as ZOMG!STELLAANDADAMDIDIT!LOLZ! shock factor for the premiere and never metion it again.
 
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Not the most exciting episode on record, but the amount of back story given on Mac, not a bad episode. Disappointed about the lack of...pretty much everyone besides Mac and Adam. Poor Sid didn't even appear! :(

Flack: Back in his suit, unfortunately. ;) The man looks good in anything, but I was liking the casual look.

Danny: Not too much of him this time around, which is probably making up for his over abundance last week. As far as "is he/isn't he" back at work, it looks like he's restricted to the lab. The only reason he worked the scene in 'Epilogue' is because he was already there. Liked the scene with him and Adam in the A/V lab. It almost seemed like Adam was teaching him how to do his (Adam's) job.

Lindsay: Like Danny, lack this week is evening out last week. Love the comment about the sitter and her clothes. Baby spit-up is not the easiest thing to get out of clothes. ;)

Stella: As a Smackie, I was hoping for some kind of moment with her and Mac discussing his father. It's understandable why it wasn't there, but still wish it was. Also wishing for an...explanation, continuation, something about her and Adam. Seriously, if they're (TPTB) gonna throw us a curve ball like that, I'd like some closure on the matter.

Hawkes: Like someone above me said, I was happy that he was in the car with Mac when Benton was talking about Mac's dad. Great action scene with him in the elevator, it's about time he got a scene like that.

Adam: Yay for the geeking out! Very happy Adam got to show off his mad "skillage" :guffaw:. Making up for his lack last week, which is a good thing. And this time no Haylen threating his job.

Mac: For once, a episode about Mac that doesn't contain a villian that is out to get him! Loved the flash back sequence with him and his parents, especially his dad. I'm glad we got to find out things about his military career, why he joined the NYPD, and his marriage to Claire. One inconsistency though. Taylor Sr. said that Claire was from New York. But in 'Taxi' Mac said that Reed was from Chicago. So I guess Claire lived in Chicago before she and Mac met...which would make sense I guess. *shrug*

Faylinn, what you said about the inconsistency about Mac's father asking him to 'pull the plug' (for lack of a better term), that could have come after the flash backs we saw tonight. Just saying.

Also, love the Geico money! So true!!

Benton: Not especially dangerous or scary in person, but creepy as hell when you start to realize just how much our lives are monitored and dependent on technology. :eek:

Overall, good episode. B+.

~Sarah~ I thought the same thing! :lol:
 
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Gave it the same grade as last week (B+), even though it was very different in terms of what it concentrated on. Meh, I like the "thriller" type cases, and this was definitely one of the more interesting ones. The hacker on the phone (don't remember his name) ...that voice was seriously creepy, had me freaked out when he started speaking through the GPS device in the first vic's car :lol:

This villain got bonus points for not only having a slightly-sympathetic motivation, but also because he didn't purposely set himself up as one of Mac's numerous enemies. Which I have to admit I was worried about. It was more like he had a mission to accomplish, and if he managed to irritate Mac along the way, so much the better. Even though he made it personal by bringing up Mac's father, I never got the sense that he intended Mac to be his next victim or whatever.

Flack! Aw, I'm torn on this -- I loved the flashback to Angell's shooting at the beginning of the episode, but was somewhat disappointed when it didn't appear to go anywhere. Flack was even back at work in the impeccable suit and tie in the next few scenes (although he was in casual-dress during the flashback and when they processed the first vic's car). Maybe he's trying extra hard with the "I'm-okay" front? At least his snark is intact :D "Jackass of the year award" and "TYAIJ = Throw your ass in jail" -- so much love :luvlove:

I love Lindsay's "Whitesnake" tee, and the idea that she might either be a fan of the band, or have gotten it at a concert -- only got that it was supposed to be a rock-band shirt on the second re-watch :lol: They keep finding excuses, though, for this season's casual-dress wardrobe for a lot of the characters. Was sooo glad to see the moments between Lindsay/Hawkes and Lindsay/Stella too, although I think they could've done the latter better...I mean, why does Stella keep asking other people about Danny's condition? (Hawkes last week, Lindsay in "Blacklist") Why not just ask him herself? And on Danny, I liked that little moment near the beginning where Adam reached up to give Danny a high-five, and then that tiny moment where they both realized he was reaching too high above Danny's head... it was a small but very effective way to show how no one has quite adjusted to Danny's being in a wheelchair.

If I can think of more to comment on, I'll be back!

ETA: Watching it for the third time, and I totally forgot about having to suspend my disbelief when Mac cracked that mop over his knee before they pried open the elevator :lol: Seriously, those things feel like steel sometimes, how the hell did he manage that?
 
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I also thought about Bones hehe...glad I wasn't alone.

I also thought about what Mac said about being asked to help his dad die...obviously the villain wouldn't know that. But I'd love to see where it all fits in.

Flack does need a hug. But he looks sexy in the t-shirts *g* So does Mac in uniform.

Overall a good ep tonight and very relevant too, although I'll stay away from discussing it here.
 
I actually liked the show. Overall, the angle of knowing a bit more about Mac and his past makes me want to know even more.

Two things did get me though. Are TPTB waiting to expand on the Stella/Adam thing? Did Danny make any progress from last week? By the looks of things, they want to keep us guessing for the season.

The start of the show, where Don was having flashbacks to the diner really got me, that was something that hooked me in from the start.

Overall, it got a B- from me. Can't wait for next week. :)
 
I really wanted to like this episode, but overall it was just kind of.....meh. It wasn't a bad episode, necessarily, it just wasn't very good either.
I agree with a couple other posters that the whole "everyone's out to get Mac" thing is getting kind of tired. Maybe it's time for TPTB to take the money that they saved from Angel's salary and spend it on a new writer or two. Just to bring in some fresh ideas. The ones that are doing the writing currently are starting to get a bit lazy, IMO.
On a higher note, Flack was awesome everytime he was on screen. Eddie is really gearing up for his big storyline...very excited to see where they go from here. And, as usual, he had the best lines of the episode. :lol:
I also liked the fact that Danny and Lindsay didn't have any scenes together (if I recall correctly). I was good to have them interacting with everyone except each other. Bodes well for their story arc, I think.
Overall, the good points and the bad points were pretty much neck-and-neck.
Grade C
 
Faylinn, what you said about the inconsistency about Mac's father asking him to 'pull the plug' (for lack of a better term), that could have come after the flash backs we saw tonight. Just saying
The thing that made me think about what Mac said in "Azrael" wasn't the flashback so much as when he told the 'Grave Digger' guy that his father was 'courageous' in the face of death - as I said, the idea of him being courageous and wanting to end his life on his own terms (with dignity) are not mutually exclusive, but that's just something that stuck out to me. I don't know if it was an intentional choice or a case of forgotten continuity (we can't expect them to be perfect :p) - it's always possible that Mac simply wouldn't say anything to this guy because, well, he's a murderer.

Sometimes it's just...I dunno, like Mac has to be 100% perfect and honorable, and therefore his family should be as well.

ETA: Watching it for the third time, and I totally forgot about having to suspend my disbelief when Mac cracked that mop over his knee before they pried open the elevator :lol: Seriously, those things feel like steel sometimes, how the hell did he manage that?
Haha, at that part I was like, "Oh snaps! You go Mac!" (Out loud, of course.) :lol: Never underestimate the Mad Marine Skills™.

ETA: Random question - was Sid in the episode? I wasn't watching very closely, and I can't remember seeing him...
 
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Did anyone else notice the lighting on the Empire State Building? It was Red/Yellow/Red; I noticed this because it has been in the news lately (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,557823,00.html). According to this list, the only other time the Empire State Building was in those colors was on 01/23/2009 - 01/26/2009 so I've got to think that they put that scene in there on purpose. I just thought it was a neat little extra to make it seem like the things in the episode actually happened "today".
 
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