I finally got the chance to finish Season 5 of The Blacklist. The last episode, of course, was the Incredible incredible (not) Cliffhanger, in which it was revealed that Red Reddington is not Red Reddington. Or more properly, that James Spader is not Red Reddington.
It won't work. It's a very transparent attempt to shift the emphasis away from Spader and onto Boone . She now will hunt Spader and make him reveal The Truth in front of Tom's ghost, just before gunning Spader down and bursting into her own rendition of "I am Woman." Then she will beat her chest, emit a Tarzan yell, and the screen will fade to Black, ending The Blacklist. But by then, nobody will be watching her triumph over perpetual victimhood. Nobody will be watching because Boone is no Spader, and some of us are getting very tired of her character. But this is not Boone's fault. She has been dealt the worst hand by the atrocious writing that has come to characterize this once-brilliant series. Indeed, Boone has been reduced to staggering around, bloodied and on the point of utter collapse, as she mumbles that the duffel bag is hers and she wants the Truth. Dembe is turning out to be the most substantial member of the supporting cast, probably because he doesn't have to say much of anything.
i doubt that even Spader can hold this constant foray into PC Victimhood together much longer, especially if forced to be a cartoon male villain. So what's needed? In a word, some decent writing. Since nobody on The Task Force can act, writers should deemphasize them and turn to Spader himself finally as the main focus, (a position he co-opted anyway in Season 1), rather than try to get more out of Boone's Victimization storyline. Fresh writing would provide insights into Red's past, and give possible impetus to a wealth of new possible characters that might bring new legs to this old dog. Everyone tunes in to see Spader perform. So let Red perform once again by having him execute all of The Blacklist screenwriters in a grand Season 6 ending finale.
in short, give us Spader, or give us nothing at all.
