S01.E10: Happily Ever After

[AnimeMania]

Season Finale

An escape plan goes haywire and old foes face off. Val learns a secret about Owen.

MONDAY, May 2, 2022      10:00PM     NBC

[paigow]

Elena is deadmeat if Doak is in charge of rescuing her....

[paigow]

This whole season is happening in about 2 -3 weeks of show time???  How many winter coats does Agent Val own????

[paigow]

So Elena Reddington  has a Blacklist of flash drives- Val will get one each week if she saves Elena & Sofiya

[Chaos Theory]

This show is not perfect by any means but (so far) it knows what it is and it has with its two female leads.    They are the draw.  And I also really like that the show has gone all in with turning Doak.    Yes this has Blacklist written all over it but Blacklist was a fun show for the first couple of seasons and I know people HATED Liz but when the show revolved around the relationship between Red and Liz it was often at its best.    Elena and Val are gold in this and I think the writers are at least smart enough to know keeping them in the same sphere is the smart thing to do and so far they aren't writing Val as an idiot so Elena can get away with some crazy big level thing that makes no sense anyway.  I think the story itself is an interesting one Elena is a gangster who wants her family back going up against Elon Musk level crime lords who own governments and the only person she can trust is Val who is honest enough to put her own husband in prison but smart enough to see the big picture when things go sideways. 

 

If this gets renewed I am in for another season.

Edited May 3, 2022 by Chaos Theory

[milkyaqua]

Well some of us were wondering how they would keep this show going.  So now Elena needs Val to help her get her daughter back from Belok.

NBC must have something for stabbing characters in the hand seeing as they pulled this same thing with Webb on L&O: OC recently.

Doak is still a twit but now he's got something on the president.  How he'll use it or if he uses it remains to be seen.  I think he's loyal to the country but he's not above climbing up as high as he can go.  As for what Real is up to, same thing applies although I think if given a choice, he'd prefer to take the president down.  Not sure what Agent Anthony is going to do.  Keep it to himself or tell Val what Real and Doak are up to?

I do hope it gets another season.

[paigow]

Doak reminds me of the Wayne Industries accountant who figured out that Bruce Wayne [Bale] is Batman. When he makes his blackmail pitch to Lucius Fox, he realizes what a dumb idea it was...

[babyrambo]

I think what I like the most about this show is that it knows exactly what it is and doesn’t try to be anything else. Makes watching that much better because I’m not being fed some fake prestige experience just some easy fun. 
 

And it is fun. What with Elena’s lush outfits and fantastical stories and Val’s suspicion and reluctance and their partnership; they’ve got better chemistry than some romantic leads I’ve seen and that’s not even what they’re going for  

I guessed a couple of things over the season but it held my interest the whole time and the final twist was pretty good. I’ve seen some comparisons to The Blacklist but that show lost me a few seasons in when it veered left instead of just ending, and I do think this is different enough to stand on its own. But, I don’t know of NBC will take the chance. The premise isn’t new but it’s a fun, fresh take and perhaps if it had come on a few ago(2015/2017)it would’ve had more success. As it is, there are so many more options with all the streamers and such, and NBC has never been shy about sniping shows so who knows if we’ll ever get to see Val and Elena’s team up. 

[babyrambo]

19 hours ago, paigow said:

This whole season is happening in about 2 -3 weeks of show time???  How many winter coats does Agent Val own????

I didn’t realize the time frame was so short. A couple of months is what I assumed I think but weeks makes sense too. And yes, Val does rack up quite the number of coats doesn’t she. They both have so many great outfits, I like the attention to detail on the costume department’s part in terms of what it says about their personalities. Also Elena just had really gorgeous pantsuits. 

[paigow]

If there is Season 2, hopefully, Agent Anthony gets promoted. The Director can only trust a few people right now...

[Dowel Jones]

I groaned all the way through this episode, looking for a shark to jump.  Everything was telegraphed and few things made sense.  Val takes off in pursuit of Elena but doesn't bother to request a hostage rescue team, or at least additional agents, for both her and Anthony?

I have to wonder how the Prez managed to smuggle in that much gold and melt it all down in a prison foundry.  Prisoners talk, even among themselves.  And then they smuggle it out as buttons in laundry carts.  Did anyone think to explain how much 3'x3'x3' of gold weighs? I don't think a canvas bag is going to hold it.

If Val and hubby's positions were reversed, would she be so quick to tell him all about the plan, knowing that she's up against an uber-powerful syndicate that seems to know what the entire world is doing at any given time?

Poor Sergei.  Elena didn't even blink at leaving him in the car.

10 hours ago, babyrambo said:

Also Elena just had really gorgeous pantsuits.

As does Lady Belok.  Next season will be the Battle of the Outfits.  The FBI will be merely a sideshow.

It occurs to me that the show would have been much more riveting if it had been written along the lines of The Usual Suspects, where the reveal would be that absolutely nothing was as we saw it, instead of being fed the whole story all the way through.

[paigow]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

It occurs to me that the show would have been much more riveting 

LOL... instead of being buttoned-down

[Tachi Rocinante]

• Sergei isn't dead
• I chuckled at "Brazilian princess"
• Hopefully Morena will practice her accent for next season.  Some was good, some was cringe.

[cathmed]

On 5/3/2022 at 8:27 AM, Chaos Theory said:

This show is not perfect by any means but (so far) it knows what it is and it has with its two female leads.    They are the draw.  And I also really like that the show has gone all in with turning Doak.    Yes this has Blacklist written all over it but Blacklist was a fun show for the first couple of seasons and I know people HATED Liz but when the show revolved around the relationship between Red and Liz it was often at its best.    Elena and Val are gold in this and I think the writers are at least smart enough to know keeping them in the same sphere is the smart thing to do and so far they aren't writing Val as an idiot so Elena can get away with some crazy big level thing that makes no sense anyway.  I think the story itself is an interesting one Elena is a gangster who wants her family back going up against Elon Musk level crime lords who own governments and the only person she can trust is Val who is honest enough to put her own husband in prison but smart enough to see the big picture when things go sideways. 

 

If this gets renewed I am in for another season.

 

18 hours ago, babyrambo said:

I think what I like the most about this show is that it knows exactly what it is and doesn’t try to be anything else. Makes watching that much better because I’m not being fed some fake prestige experience just some easy fun. 
 

And it is fun. What with Elena’s lush outfits and fantastical stories and Val’s suspicion and reluctance and their partnership; they’ve got better chemistry than some romantic leads I’ve seen and that’s not even what they’re going for  

I guessed a couple of things over the season but it held my interest the whole time and the final twist was pretty good. I’ve seen some comparisons to The Blacklist but that show lost me a few seasons in when it veered left instead of just ending, and I do think this is different enough to stand on its own. But, I don’t know of NBC will take the chance. The premise isn’t new but it’s a fun, fresh take and perhaps if it had come on a few ago(2015/2017)it would’ve had more success. As it is, there are so many more options with all the streamers and such, and NBC has never been shy about sniping shows so who knows if we’ll ever get to see Val and Elena’s team up. 

I enjoyed reading your comments.  I've heard comparisons to Blacklist (which I've not watched), although I watched Blacklist Redemption only because I watch Ryan Eggold in New Amsterdam.  So, I was curious of his role in Blacklist: Redemption (I hated they left that on a cliffhanger!).

As you both stated, I love the two female leads whose banter and intellect I appreciate (and Elena's clothes).   I don't want too become too invested as we know NBC (and other networks) will cancel shows without giving them a real chance.  I hope it is renewed for a S2.

[rr2911]

On 5/4/2022 at 9:26 AM, cathmed said:

 

I enjoyed reading your comments.  I've heard comparisons to Blacklist (which I've not watched), although I watched Blacklist Redemption only because I watch Ryan Eggold in New Amsterdam.  So, I was curious of his role in Blacklist: Redemption (I hated they left that on a cliffhanger!).

As you both stated, I love the two female leads whose banter and intellect I appreciate (and Elena's clothes).   I don't want too become too invested as we know NBC (and other networks) will cancel shows without giving them a real chance.  I hope it is renewed for a S2.

The Endgame has been canceled by NBC.  I just read it a while ago.