The Blacklist Gets a Gold Star
I don't know how the rest of the blogosphere will react to
the premiere of this new drama, but I, for one, loved it. Fast-paced and suspenseful, The Blacklist keeps viewers on the edge of their seat.
Two important questions stick out as critical plot points as the season develops:
1) What is the relation between Elizabeth, an FBI profiler who just started her new job, and Raymond Reddington, a former naval officer who disappeared and is labeled as a mercenary for hire?
2)What is Elizabeth's husband, Tom, hiding?
With any luck (or perhaps skill, but with NBC it's probably just luck), the answers to these questions will only come after many twists and turns. Personally, I think the hints in this pilot point to Elizabeth being Raymond's daughter, but as for who her husband is, I am completely in the dark. And I like it.
I would be remiss if I didn't point out one major issue that this episode embedded into the plot: the question of whether a woman can have a great career and a great family life. Reality shows that this simply isn't possible. You can have one or the other, maybe you can have a middling family life and a middling career, but you can't have the best of both worlds. Men can't do it; women can't do it. The lie that a woman can successfully have both is the most scurrilous aspect of feminism.
To The Blacklist's credit, it did a good job of portraying the tension between Elizabeth's career and her desire to adopt a child with her husband. We shall see if they sugar coat the tension or continue to stay true to reality, but either way, I know that I, for one, will be watching.
