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S09.E01 The Skinner

preeya

By preeya
in The Blacklist

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preeya

preeya

In the two years following Elizabeth Keen's death, Reddington and the task force have disbanded, with Red's whereabouts unknown. But when one of their own is injured in the line of duty, they are drawn back together to bring down a global conspiracy.

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saber5055

saber5055

I can't believe this is coming back for a NINTH! season. I had forgotten Lizzie is dead, or maybe she's just partly or mostly dead. I wonder if Red's disease was a fake out to get another season. I am looking for a vast improvement with Lizzie gone though. And looking forward to the excellent snark here.

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milkyaqua

milkyaqua

23 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Wasn’t Red’s disease supposed to kill him in a year, year and a half? Miracle cure?

He's sick like most people in tv/movies, as long as it's in service to the storyline.  When it no longer is, bye bye disease/illness.

I am looking forward to a no-Liz show though.

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saber5055

saber5055

1 minute ago, Surrealist said:

So far I'm enjoying this show without Liz. I had almost forgotten about her.

Until Aram demanded a moment of silence, two years after the fact. Gag me.

Is that Diego under the red beard?

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saber5055

saber5055

Just now, Surrealist said:

That's what took me out too. 😂

Oh, but man, it got worse when everyone gathered around to wax poetic about the Golden Lizzie, Graceful Child of God who could do no wrong and was the epitome of an angel. If you ignore all the people she killed, the dogs she abandoned, the people she lied to, the people she tried to kill, the people she tortured, the people she robbed, yada yada yada. And now all of a sudden Ressler was the love of her life. Geesh, only so she could use him, and Aram too, to plot her crimes. What blackmail does that actress hold on Spader and this show? So far she's gone but please, let her be forgotten.

And nice job, not letting grandpa see his granddaughter. Harsh.

I could totally get behind Dembe rocking it as an FBI agent though. May I suggest a spinoff?

LOL that Ressler appears to now run an auto-repair shop. Way to put your skills to good use. Oh, wait ... what skills. I do think he's better looking with the beard though, which means he'll shave by next episode.

21 minutes ago, edhopper said:

A FBI training officer should have been able to hit that guy in the right eye without hurting the child.

You forget the skills of the people on that task force. Or rather, lack of skills.

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mxc90

mxc90

(edited)

Season 9! My goodness!!!! NBC please stop the torture. When Dembe described how his dead skin was snipped away with a tweezer, that is the same way if feel at times watching this show!

2 years later! Great! And they are still talking about "Saint" Liz!!!! 

When did Liz give Cooper custody of Agnes? I'm impressed Cooper found her in another country to take her away from the French lady. 2 years later in the TV world means we will see Agnes later this season in her 20s training to be an FBI agent.

Dembe is now in The FBI. I'm interested. Immediately he showed skill/courage to run and catch up to the truck. These are characteristics Ressler could only dream of doing! Ressler did bring up a good point: How did Dembe pass a background check?

"Former" FBI Director Cooper. I like the sound of that. I'm hoping the "former" means he was fired/demoted for his piss poor leadership and drinking too much Brandy on the job!

Appropriate to see Ressler working as a mechanic. What's with the terrible wig? At least Spader had the decency to shave off his hair. Follow his example Diego!. What competent mechanic has the news on in the garage? I wouldn't trust that jerk with my car!!!!!! Probably took him 3 days to do an oil change and then charge a ridiculous fee!

So Cooper puts an "X" on the mailbox and gets a text in 2 seconds from a bartender in Cuba??!!!!!!Huh!!! Then his "retired" ass gets on a plane just to be drugged and then has to listen to some babbling witch! All this bullshit to see Red (A man he supposedly called "friend" last season)!!!!???? Also, if the witch is impressed by Ressler ... that should be a warning to Red to fire her immediately.

Whose job is it to clean off the "X' every time?

Cooper is not in the FBI anymore! Why is he flying around rounding up Park the rusty, former field agent and Aram for microchips? Enjoy life, watch or go be a contestant on "The Price is Right" and raise Agnes you fool!

2 years later, Park gets married and didn't invite Cooper to her wedding? I don't blame her! Glad to hear her soon to be ex hubby is alive! So he hasn't done anything wrong yet to piss her off and be beaten to death by her. Only a matter of time!

I cursed Aram for asking: "What about Ressler?". Just let him be in Detroit!!!! 

Hey Ressler! I forgave Red one second after Liz was shot and killed! So you can too! 

At times I flop sweat when I watch this show! Sorry for the TMI!

Ah! Park and Ressler still haven't missed a beat. Cooper tells them to move in, and they just let the entire family get kidnapped. Bravo! Cooper you had some time to assemble a decent team and still settled for this mediocrity! What made you think their skills would have improved in 2 years????

These writers couldn't come up with a better plot to get the team back together? Couldn't some random FBI agent on any one of the three CBS shows come over here to tackle this weak case?

We've been saying Ressler looked a mess (inside and out) a long time ago! Nice to see these people have finally caught on!

I think Aram was ready to drop his pants. I wouldn't be surprised if it's revealed Aram made a lifestyle change in the 2 years.

I wonder what happened to the dead FBI agent's engagement ring! Red probably sent a team to retrieve and sell it!

Edited by mxc90
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ItCouldBeWorse

ItCouldBeWorse

(edited)
1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

And nice job, not letting grandpa see his granddaughter. Harsh.

But is he her grandfather?

Is she even his granddaughter?

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

I do think he's better looking with the beard though, which means he'll shave by next episode.

Yeah, what was everyone complaining about? It wasn't scraggly.

1 hour ago, mxc90 said:

So Cooper puts an "X" on the mailbox and immediately gets a text in 2 seconds from a bartender in Cuba??!!!!!!Huh!!!

He does have a person with magical skills working for him.

1 hour ago, mxc90 said:

Who's job is it to clean off the "X' every time?

Excellent question!

Edited by ItCouldBeWorse
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dwmarch

dwmarch

2 hours ago, mxc90 said:

When Dembe described how his dead skin was snipped away with a tweezer, that is the same way if feel at times watching this show!

When he was talking about that (and thank you show for not forgetting to be gross with the closeups) I was sure he was describing what it felt like to work with the team again.

However, I did take Aram's awkward moment of silence for Liz as a passive-aggressive admission that he hasn't actually given her any thought since she died.

I know I said this in the topic for last season's finale but it bears repeating here. This group of the FBI's Least Wanted is blaming Reddington for a death that they could have prevented themselves if they had rolled up to the intersection Lizzie died in with their bigass FBI SUV. But they take their cardio seriously or some shit and they decided to jog the last block! Yeah, totally Reddington's fault that the cavalry had to find a parking spot first!

Park was menacing the Skinner but she might have had better luck if she shot the driver instead. Or did she think the bad guys called an Uber? I bet she didn't even give the driver a bad rating! One star, Park!

Also, introducing the Skinner... who lights people on fire. But you know what, that's too messy. Just gonna hit em in the nuts with borrowed golf clubs instead. I guess each Skinner has to put their own spin on it.

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ottoDbusdriver

ottoDbusdriver

All this talk of Skinner in the episode I half expected to see Armin Tamzarian's name to show up in the credits.  :)

The travel shenanigans were strong again in the first episode of the season -- the Skinner went back and forth to Taiwan in about a day, Cooper went back and forth to Cuba -- and back and forth to Detroit -- in no time at all, and Reddington was everywhere.

How exactly did Cooper get custody of Agnes exactly ?  Was there a silent auction at Lizzie's funeral ?  Was that stipulated in Lizzie's will ?
Who am I kidding, Lizzie was too dumb to have a will.

Ressler's wig was pretty bad.

I'm still not buying that Dembe trained as an FBI agent and was already embedded in the field in two years.  Seems too quick.

Still no sign of the dogs, Robert Vesco's cat or Sierra the Cat.

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preeya

preeya

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1 hour ago, dwmarch said:

Also, introducing the Skinner... who lights people on fire. But you know what, that's too messy. Just gonna hit em in the nuts with borrowed golf clubs instead. I guess each Skinner has to put their own spin on it.

This was my first thoughts on The Skinner

 

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Dowel Jones

Dowel Jones

I would love to have been in on Dembe's psych and background checks at the FBI.  "What do you mean, interrogation methods?  Just shoot one, the other will talk."

If they're going to ask Reddington for any one thing, couldn't they at least get help from his past compadres and assistants?  That would at least give The B Team some credibility.

Since it is obvious that Skinner's guy got away with his kidnapping, are we going to follow that arc without a new Blacklister each week?

I liked Red's sedan last season much better than that boxy SUV.

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Such A Flirt

Such A Flirt

That was so bad, seriously. I was cringing the whole time. Damn you, Spader! Or I would have quit a long time ago.

The only parts I liked were the Vandyke flashback and Angel from "Dexter" as the barman.

So when exactly did Liz ever really care about Ressler? She was only using him. And the horrible wig, OMG!

And WTF was that with the witch and stuff?!? I thought Red had gone all Brando in "Apocalypse Now", especially with the shaved head.

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mxc90

mxc90

9 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

He does have a person with magical skills working for him.

Maybe the mailbox has the magic or there's someone in the mailbox (with a fan, some snacks and puzzle to keep busy) on the lookout for fools like Cooper looking to meet Red. An old school Tinder.

I was hoping a DC Police anti graffiti unit was on patrol, caught Cooper placing the "X" and gave him a ticket.

6 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

I'm still not buying that Dembe trained as an FBI agent and was already embedded in the field in two years.  Seems too quick.

I'm sure he was trained by Park to carry his FBI business card while undercover.

6 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

All this talk of Skinner in the episode I half expected to see Armin Tamzarian's name to show up in the credits. 

At this point, I'll take Walter Skinner from the X Files. The only explanation/path not used for all the crazy happenings on this show is "little green aliens". 

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milkyaqua

milkyaqua

Didn't miss Liz until folks started waxing poetic about how good she was, la, la, la....  So I guess we're so supposed to assume that Liz left a will giving Cooper custody?  Okayyyy.

Dembe as an FBI agent.  I went, "Huh?  How?"  Was this Red's gift to him before he left for his exile?

The X on the mailbox.  So Red has folks watching that mailbox 24/7?  What sucker signed up for that job?

Aram blows off a meeting with a potential investor to take a call from Cooper?  Dude, let it go.

Park is training agents, sure, but she can't take out someone attempting to escape with an entire family?  She's also got a significant other but doesn't want to tell him the truth.  That relationship has little to no chance of success.

Ressler is working in a garage.  Is he being paid for this or just tinkering around with cars because...  As for him being Liz's end game, sure show. 

I thought we'd get at least/hopefully tighter writing but apparently not.  I'll give it some time and hope they are just being rocky since the showrunners are trying to find their stride but really, I'm only in it for Red and him traveling around with his spiritual guide and the muscle/driver who seems to think Cooper is being mean to Red is a bit much.

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kirkola

kirkola

Honestly, I thought it was better without Liz, though it's not really a high bar.  I am okay with Ressler being in love with Liz and even the star crossed part, because it is star crossed.  For whatever it's worth, I usually hate star crossed lovers as a general rule.  But Ressler and Liz were two rather unlikable people, who found each other at the end.  And it leaves me open for my own "ship" of Ressler and Park.  Because if ever 2 people were exactly alike, it's these two.

What I did not like was my sweet Aram being an even bigger idiot that usual. 

As for the rest of the cast.  I still love Harold and Dembe.  And I'm perfectly willing to accept the absurdity of Dembe being FBI because he's a superhero.  Dembe can do and be whatever he wants. He is still the smartest one on this silly show.  well, him and Red.  But that's only because Red is the puppet master to end all puppet masters...even when it makes no sense.  Maybe Harold can start puppet mastering Red using Agnes as the bait.

But then, I don't watch Blacklist to see anything remotely realistic or well acted.  It's escapism fun.  Because logically nothing works on this show ever.  Just Red and his macinations...and speeches.

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tljgator

tljgator

On 10/21/2021 at 11:21 PM, preeya said:

David Zayas a bartender in Cuba. Last I saw him he was the governor of NY on Blue Bloods.

When he popped in for a two line part, I thought maybe he just needed to meet his union insurance minimum, but then I remembered he was in the final season of Pose not long ago (sadly playing someone's dad, not vogue-ing: The category is -- Cuban actors we can afford!). Maybe he can head upstate now that Dexter is coming back in an attempt avenge the literal worst finale in the history of TV. But I digress...

We asked for well-and-truly-dead-Liz and more Dembe and they gave us both. For that, I can't argue. Did they heap on the usual nonsense in buckets right along with it? Of course they did. I expect it at this point. *shrugs* We've made it this long, friends -- eh, might as well.

I'm with saber5055 -- I've missed the fabulous snark from all y'all...let's do this!

p.s. Does Harold just keep a random piece of chalk lying around in case there's a mailbox dead-drop he needs to mark, but not permanently so? Good thing the response was instantaneous, looked like rain later.

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NeenerNeener

NeenerNeener

(edited)
3 hours ago, tljgator said:

Maybe he can head upstate now that Dexter is coming back in an attempt avenge the literal worst finale in the history of TV.

It just barely edges out the finale of Medium for that "dis"honor. 

Anyway, I'm into this show until the bitter end, although I might have bailed if Liz was still alive and that horrible child actress from last season was still playing Agnes. Which reminds me...I should go over to the IMDB and see if that kid has any credits for this season.

ETA: that child actress is actually twins, and neither one has a credit for this season of Blacklist...yet.

Edited by NeenerNeener
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saber5055

saber5055

4 hours ago, tljgator said:

We asked for well-and-truly-dead-Liz and more Dembe and they gave us both. For that, I can't argue. Did they heap on the usual nonsense in buckets right along with it? Of course they did. I expect it at this point. *shrugs* We've made it this long, friends -- eh, might as well.

So much this. Best part of this episode, Liz didn't rise from the dead (although there's still the rest of the season) and Dembe ROCKED as he always does. I'm cool with Dembe being FBI because really, Liz and Ressler and Park et. al. made agent. Dembe is worth 10 times all of them put together. I'd be all about a Special Agent Dembe spin off.

Thinking about this -- don't ask me why, my brain just did it without permission -- I've always thought Cooper was a little (make that a lot) too much invested in Elizabeth to the point where I thought HE was her father but more likely, her lover, which would explain how Lizzie could do no wrong with him, AND the creepy way he talked to her. Now I think he's Agnes' father, which explains why he's her guardian now. I demand a DNA test! But then again, I know how those go on this show. So, never mind.

I've always thought of Ressler as eye candy, not a great agent. Although thinking back, he used to be the best agent, before Lizzie got on the team. Anyway, I'm kinda liking rough-out Ressler, but then I'm partial to gingers in jeans and boots.

So Lizzie is killed which means there's no reason for the task force anymore? Didn't they exist before Red "surrendered" to them eight seasons ago? Did they all quit their jobs (except Park, who wasn't invested all that much) because there was no Lizzie to keep them coming in to the Post Office every day? Makes no sense, although I guess I'd be surprised if it did.

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Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin

They better somehow get them all reinstated into the FBI, as otherwise, vigilantes flying around the world just arresting people? What the what? 

Also, Aram's plot, while not only stupid, also has extremely little drama involved in it when we all know Red can give them, like, $50 million at the drop of a hat any time he feels like it. 

Ressler's wig is truly a work of art. It's like, "How can I make this look as ridiculous as possible?" was the starting point. Or rather, "With Megan Boone off the show, we have to get our horrible wig work SOMEwhere, right?" I now imagine that the Blacklist has the worst wigmaker in the business, but they're a really nice person so that no one wants to fire them, but when Boone left, everyone freaked out, "What do we do? They're no more need for bad wigs!" and someone thought of the idea of having Ressler have a wig for...reasons. 

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saber5055

saber5055

13 hours ago, Brian Cronin said:

we all know Red can give them, like, $50 million at the drop of a hat any time he feels like it. 

Didn't Lizzie steal all Red's money last season? I wasn't paying that much attention but I thought Red was broke.

As for the wig thing, I imagine those people signed a contract so they have to produce hair every season. At the beginning of this episode I swore I saw Cooper had a ponytail. Now THAT would have been a wig worth it IMO.

13 hours ago, Brian Cronin said:

They better somehow get them all reinstated into the FBI, as otherwise, vigilantes flying around the world just arresting people? What the what? 

"Citizen's arrest! Citizen's arrest!" --Gomer Pyle, The Andy Griffith Show

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Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

Didn't Lizzie steal all Red's money last season? I wasn't paying that much attention but I thought Red was broke.

 

She got I think that exact total, $50 million, but it was more of an inconvenience than a real loss for him. And I think he got it back before she died. 

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KaveDweller

KaveDweller

On 10/23/2021 at 1:10 PM, saber5055 said:

So Lizzie is killed which means there's no reason for the task force anymore? Didn't they exist before Red "surrendered" to them eight seasons ago? Did they all quit their jobs (except Park, who wasn't invested all that much) because there was no Lizzie to keep them coming in to the Post Office every day? Makes no sense, although I guess I'd be surprised if it did.

I believe the task force was formed in the pilot to work with Reddington. They were all transferred from other FBI positions to work on it. I'm not sure why it couldn't exist without Liz though, as long as Red was still giving them blacklist names. Didn't it exist while Liz was in a coma after Tom died?

But if Red was no longer giving them Blacklisters, it actually does make sense that it would be disbanded.

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dwmarch

dwmarch

On 10/23/2021 at 10:10 AM, saber5055 said:

So Lizzie is killed which means there's no reason for the task force anymore?

If this show remembers its own continuity they will reveal that the task force was indeed disbanded as promised/threatened by Panabaker, who was the only person around not on Team Lizzie (and hence the only person possessing an ounce of common sense).

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saber5055

saber5055

25 minutes ago, dwmarch said:

If this show remembers its own continuity

I'm sorry, but that made me laugh.

Thanks for the reminder, it makes sense the task force was disbanded as threatened and everyone (almost) either quit or got fired or just forgot they were FBI agents and wandered off.

Obviously, I don't retain a lot of what happens on this show. (I kind of like it that way.)

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Dowel Jones

Dowel Jones

On 10/24/2021 at 11:41 AM, Brian Cronin said:

She got I think that exact total, $50 million, but it was more of an inconvenience than a real loss for him.

 

On 10/24/2021 at 1:02 PM, KaveDweller said:

But if Red was no longer giving them Blacklisters, it actually does make sense that it would be disbanded.

Maybe that is Red's new side game.  Instead of giving the team a Blacklister, he's now selling them a name each week.  That's why they had to get the band back together, so they could all pitch in whatever they could.

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seacliffsal

seacliffsal

Yes, I cringed with all of the "what Liz meant to us" comments and moments.  Otherwise?  So happy that the show is back WITHOUT Liz.  I kind of liked the 'get the gang back together' story line and even though they really are the gang that couldn't shot straight, they give Red a reason to develop his nefarious plans.  

I'm glad it's back.

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