Absentia (Emily & Nick) vs. The Blacklist (Liz & Ressler) – Crime Dynamic Duos 2019
For today’s battle, we have a pair of compelling duos featuring characters who do have some morally-skewed views on the law — they often do want what’s best for everyone, but some of their methods range from “a little sketchy” to downright questionable. In one corner, you’ve got Emily & Nick from Absentia. In the other, you have Liz & Ressler from The Blacklist. One duo will advance, and that ball will be in your court!
If you’ve been around for past editions of Crime Dynamic Duos, then you know a thing or two about how this works — at the bottom of this article is a poll to vote for who you want to see advance! One duo will, and at the end of the month, we’ll officially crown the champion in all of their glory.
How voting works – Vote however often you would like! (Technical instructions for multiple voting can be found right above the poll.) We will keep this poll open until Monday, April 15 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time. The winner here is going to take on either Benson & Rollins of Law & Order: SVU or Magnum & Higgins of Magnum PI. Either way, it feels like some fun times are ahead on the horizon!
You can see the full bracket (including start dates for each individual round) in the graphic at the top of this article.
The competitors
Emily & Nick, Absentia (#3 seed) – It’s obviously tough to really get too in-depth about these characters, given that season 2 is in different spots in different countries and we don’t want to give anything away as to the up coming story for the people who haven’t seen it yet.
With that being said, let’s speak mostly about Emily & Nick in season 1 terms. They’re dynamic in part because they’ve got this deep, elaborate personal history that is always going to equate to throwing heavily emotional stakes on top of just about anything and everything that they do. Beyond that though, they’ve also got this added layer to them where they excel at their job and taking big risks when the situation calls for it. Their risky way of taking on problems is probably one of the reasons why the two worked so well together. They understood where the other was coming from in a way that many others never could.
Liz & Ressler, The Blacklist (#6 seed) – Liz Keen is the only character within Dynamic Duos this year who is actively featured on a pair of different lists. What’s the reason for that? It’s really as simple as the show’s overall sense of mystery and Megan Boone’s ability to cultivate chemistry with different performers.
With Liz and Ressler, what makes them compelling is that the two of them do have these parts of their personalities where they want to be good agents and they want to do the right thing for the sake of the Bureau. Yet, they’re at different stages of listening to that part of themselves. Ressler still wears the Boy Scout part of himself on the sleeve a little bit more, while Liz really abandoned most traditional rules years ago. There are weeks when you think that these characters are actually inching closer to being a romantic item, but then you’ve also got weeks in here where it feels more like they’re going to blow up on each other and never talk again. There’s a fun, unpredictable nature to these characters!
Photo: NBC