Grade 'Blacklist'

[Faylinn]

Then, Mac, as the mouthpiece of the writers, took the complex issue of U.S. healthcare and reduced it to a smug, glib, privileged, pithy soundbyte.

That rubbed me wrong, and I couldn't shake why until I came across something on a different site that mentioned it, and now I understand my own feelings on the matter. I sure as heck don't want to turn a fun discussion thread into a bed of US healthcare wank, but...

I didn't like the implication that 'if you don't have adequate insurance, you should just accept your fate and die with dignity,' as if that's a person's patriotic duty as an American. It's a tough pill to swallow when a person could live a bit longer, perhaps in less pain, and still 'die with dignity' given the best medical care available (and don't we Americans like to crow that we have the best medical care in the ~world~?). It just bothers me that we're supposed to set our jaw and nod along with Mac that yes, indeed, if a person doesn't have adequate insurance they should just keep their mouth shut and die quietly - even though there are medical advances that could extend and improve what remains of their life. The Have-Nots clearly don't deserve access to those advances.

And as someone mentioned earlier in the thread (sorry, I can't remember who it was, and I don't have the time just now to look for the appropriate post), after he was arrested he was given medical care - as a murderer he had access to medical care he was denied as an average, dying American citizen?

Yeah, it rubs me wrong. It rubs me very wrong. :scream:

 

[PerfectAnomaly]

Then, Mac, as the mouthpiece of the writers, took the complex issue of U.S. healthcare and reduced it to a smug, glib, privileged, pithy soundbyte.

That rubbed me wrong, and I couldn't shake why until I came across something on a different site that mentioned it, and now I understand my own feelings on the matter. I sure as heck don't want to turn a fun discussion thread into a bed of US healthcare wank, but...

I didn't like the implication that 'if you don't have adequate insurance, you should just accept your fate and die with dignity,' as if that's a person's patriotic duty as an American. It's a tough pill to swallow when a person could live a bit longer, perhaps in less pain, and still 'die with dignity' given the best medical care available (and don't we Americans like to crow that we have the best medical care in the ~world~?). It just bothers me that we're supposed to set our jaw and nod along with Mac that yes, indeed, if a person doesn't have adequate insurance they should just keep their mouth shut and die quietly - even though there are medical advances that could extend and improve what remains of their life. The Have-Nots clearly don't deserve access to those advances.

And as someone mentioned earlier in the thread (sorry, I can't remember who it was, and I don't have the time just now to look for the appropriate post), after he was arrested he was given medical care - as a murderer he had access to medical care he was denied as an average, dying American citizen?

Yeah, it rubs me wrong. It rubs me very wrong. :scream:

I agree with both of you and I wanted to reach through the TV and punch Mac in the face when he said what he did. The guy obviously shouldn't have murdered anyone out of revenge or to make a statement about the state of healthcare in America or for any other reason, but to suggest he do nothing but "write his congressman" or just accept his fate quietly was just absurd and condescending. It just reeked of a "survival of the fittest" mentality and as someone who has a physical disability that is just really disturbing to me.

 

[talkingtocactus]

^ hell, even i agree with you all on that one! obviously i'm a mac fan generally and normally his sanctimony doesn't bother me at all (even though as i said somewhere it would if i met someone like that in real life!) but that speech (and that comment in particular) did make my jaw drop...

 

[MyMutantRomance]

This weeks episode I gave it an A+. The opening gave me chills, but then i ended up laughing because the guys voice reminded me of a phone sex operator. It was nice to be able to see into Mac's past.

 

[Maya316]

Originally Posted by Faylinn:
That rubbed me wrong, and I couldn't shake why until I came across something on a different site that mentioned it, and now I understand my own feelings on the matter. I sure as heck don't want to turn a fun discussion thread into a bed of US healthcare wank, but...

I didn't like the implication that 'if you don't have adequate insurance, you should just accept your fate and die with dignity,' as if that's a person's patriotic duty as an American. It's a tough pill to swallow when a person could live a bit longer, perhaps in less pain, and still 'die with dignity' given the best medical care available (and don't we Americans like to crow that we have the best medical care in the ~world~?). It just bothers me that we're supposed to set our jaw and nod along with Mac that yes, indeed, if a person doesn't have adequate insurance they should just keep their mouth shut and die quietly - even though there are medical advances that could extend and improve what remains of their life. The Have-Nots clearly don't deserve access to those advances.

And as someone mentioned earlier in the thread (sorry, I can't remember who it was, and I don't have the time just now to look for the appropriate post), after he was arrested he was given medical care - as a murderer he had access to medical care he was denied as an average, dying American citizen?

Yeah, it rubs me wrong. It rubs me very wrong. :scream:

There! I knew there was a reason I ended up sympathizing as much with "Gravedigger" as I did with the CSI team at the end of the episode, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it until this came up. I agreed he shouldn't have gone on the vengeance rampage, but none of the reasons Mac kept coming up with seemed good enough for why he shouldn't have gone on it. He was making a very pointed statement about the US healthcare system, and it's kind of sad how no one really seemed to notice or even pay attention (Mac was the only one who appeared to register the kind of statement "Grave Digger" was trying to make, and all he did was hold it up to the standards of the justice system ...Benton was wrong regardless of motive).

Yeah, the creepiest line to me in the episode was when Mac said how the state had to keep Benton alive because he was entitled to a fair trial...like taking on the killing spree was the only way he would've been able to get the medical care he needed. There obviously has to be other alternatives, but I didn't really see any that were brought up in this episode. So I think they could've done that better. Mac's dad doesn't count, because all he did was "die with dignity". I think that was supposed to be the relevance of the flashbacks -- contrast how comparatively-well Mac's dad dealt with his dilemma, with how badly Benton was dealing with his. But it came off wrong to me.


As for the whole Danny/Adam high-five thing, I personally viewed it in the same light as I did the "Pimp his ride" jokes in last week's episodes -- it was meant to be funny, Danny did seem to find it funny (though he most likely would've found it funnier in earlier seasons, when he wasn't the one in a wheelchair), but not really the best joke to make at the time. And I don't think Adam's really gotten that, because I don't think he's used to Danny being in a wheelchair, or how those jokes might make him feel. There were good points made earlier in the thread how we've seen other people kind of tiptoe around Danny lately...I did find it weird that Stella seemed to be asking everyone but Danny himself how Danny is; still do, actually (because even if she wasn't quite sure how to approach him, we've never really seen that stop her before). But I guess this is different from anything Danny (or anyone else on the team) has really gone through before.

 

[calleighspeedle]

I liked this episode. It gave us some insight to Mac's family and the reason why he became a police officer.

It wasn't as action packed as the weeks before but still good.

 

[talkingtocactus]

As for the whole Danny/Adam high-five thing, I personally viewed it in the same light as I did the "Pimp his ride" jokes in last week's episodes -- it was meant to be funny, Danny did seem to find it funny (though he most likely would've found it funnier in earlier seasons, when he wasn't the one in a wheelchair), but not really the best joke to make at the time. And I don't think Adam's really gotten that, because I don't think he's used to Danny being in a wheelchair, or how those jokes might make him feel.

yeah, having watched it again, i think that's right, i don't think it was meant to be insensitive and they were definitely both laughing about it but i do still wonder how much danny was actually laughing, and whether it might have got to him a little bit but he didn't show it.

oh one more thing - i loved adam's word inventions - i will definitely be using "skillage"

 

[Wolverine_Eagle]

I gave the episode a C+... mostly because it didn't hold my attention much. although i loved the high five scene. Stella was acting odd in my opinion, for i normally would expect her to ask Danny how he was doing, herself, not running around asking Lindsay.

 

[lowey]

Another Mac-centric episode?? I can't quite believe it! 'Cause there haven't been enough of those!!!! (Sorry...I'm very sarcastic.)

Anyone else LOVING Flack's aviators??? :lol:
I really liked the flashbacks to Pay Up, the writers actually haven't screwed up Flack's storyline...YET! I will live in hope!!

I was happy that there wasn't as much D/L shoved down our throats this ep. But Lindsay still irritates me? Whitesnake T-shirt? She had nothing else? (She called Lucy "the baby"? What, she hasn't got a name anymore??) Anyhoooo...also glad there was no Haylen.....

I actually gave it a A+? It was a really good idea for a story, I thought! But I think it's lacking that extra 'oomph' this season! But I will wait and see what happens!!!

 

[Ceindreadh]

But Lindsay still irritates me? Whitesnake T-shirt? She had nothing else?

I can totally believe that Lindsay was reduced to wearing old t-shirts to work. Come on, a new mother, working full time, and with an incapacitated husband to boot. Doing laundry for herself is not likely to be her top priority. So yeah, while I doubt that Lucy threw up on everything, I find it entirely plausible that all Lindsay's 'good' clothes are still in the wash.

 

[Maya316]

Originally Posted by lowey:
She called Lucy "the baby"? What, she hasn't got a name anymore??

I thought that was weird, too! But I figure it might be a tactical choice; Lucy hasn't actually been referred to by name since "Grounds for Deception". And new viewers who haven't watched that episode wouldn't have a clue who "Lucy" was if that's what Lindsay had called her, instead of "the baby". They might wonder why a grown woman would be throwing up over all of Lindsay's clothes.

 

[Messers fan]

Didn't Danny referred to Lucy in Epilogue when he says the wheelchair needs a sidecar ? and we saw Lindsay at the end whith a baby in her arms so viewers already know who Lucy is

 

[Maya316]

^^Right, I forgot about the sidecar joke in "Epilogue" :lol: But Lucy was actually shown in "Epilogue" as well as referred to by name, and it was pretty obvious that Danny and Lindsay were at least together; so you know who she is. Which isn't the case in "Blacklist". When I say new viewers, I mean the more casual viewers who don't tune in week after week, the ones who just watch an episode here and there, out of order (like I used to before S4 aired). It's actually really hard to know what's going on with the storylines when you're that kind of viewer and they don't explain things in the episodes you happen to catch. For example, I didn't watch "Heroes" until I think the same week "You Only Die Once" aired....it took me that long to figure out that Aiden had actually left the job, let alone died :alienblush: I knew she'd been replaced by Lindsay long before then, but I'd never been given an explanation for why. So any extra clues they throw into the episodes really do help.

 

[Robin]

Not a very memorable episode. I was extremely uncomfortable watching the beginning, though. I think being trapped in a car must be a phobia of mine or something.

I'm kind of surprised that Lindsay is a Whitesnake fan. Maybe she borrowed one of Danny's t-shirts.

Don't any of these offices have caller ID? The office that I work at displays the name and number of all incoming calls. Also, wouldn't *69 work if they wanted to reach the person?

 

[GoodLittle Wench]

I gave it a C. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Mac. But even I am getting a little bored with all the Mac centered episodes. You have an ensemble cast for a reason, they shouldn't be relegated to set dressing. And I felt like that is what happened in this episode.

I am glad to see that I was not the only one thrown off by Lindsay's Whitesnake shirt. I know that everyone tends to dress a little casually in the lab. But that was just too casual for me.

And I was sooooo distracted by the 'young' Mac. Instead of focusing on what was happening, all I could think about was how they got his skin so smooth and tight.

I am not even going to get into the whole debate about healthcare. I work in an emergency room, I see it everyday. But I will say that I was disturbed by Grave Digger going after the doctor, and even more so by him going after the tech. The tech couldn't have done anything differently; even had she wanted to.

All in all, I spent most of the episode bored.

~GLW