‘The Blacklist’ season 1, episode 3 review: The flaws in NBC’s series start to show

When we first watched the pilot for “The Blacklist,” it was riveting, James Spader was fantastic, and while there were similarities between it and every other case-solving show out there, it was so well-done that we did not mind.

Well, we are to a certain extent starting to mind it more now. When you have a show that is this action-heavy, you eventually see so much gunfire and people in danger that it eventually makes you numb to the entire story. It’s hard to feel anything about the characters when they are in a near-death situation every week; it almost makes the next one not matter, and we need to care and be afraid for our characters when they are put in danger.

Also, there is a certain need here in time to care more about the supporting cast; while Liz and Red are interesting to watch, the other people need to be fascinating to watch in their own right. It was hard to really care at all about any of the other agents, since we barely know them and they have not even been that kind at all to Liz.

Now, there are still some highlights to the show. We almost thought Red was going to admit to her a connection to her father during a tense confrontation, but that did not quite happen. Instead, what we had was just another scene reminding us about what a lonely man he really is. There is no explanation yet as to who Red really is or how he knows Liz’s father, but she herself is clearly being watched, and there is so much more to her story than what we know right now. While having 22 episodes is nice, we’d almost prefer 13 of a story that was more focused around her, Red, and their connections than what made up the middle half of this episode. The start and the finish were excellent, but you need some good filling for any TV sandwich.

What was your take on “The Blacklist” episode 3? Be sure to share below.

Photo: NBC