The Blacklist: Lord Baltimore (No. 104)
September 23, 2014 2:20 PM - Season 2, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Some months after the plane crash, Elizabeth is living in a hotel room with a conspiracy board about Tom on the ceiling, and Red is in Cameroon extracting information from a warlord employing child soldiers. Back in the US, Berlin hires Lord Baltimore, a legendary data miner, to find and kidnap Red's ex-wife. Also Red gets detained by Mossad for some reason.
Also I wish they'd cast almost anyone but Parker as the ex-wife. She's so Nancy from Weeds and there's not a lot of screen time for her to establish a different stronger role.
posted by viggorlijah at 6:23 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by viggorlijah at 6:23 PM on September 23, 2014
Okay, I know that this is the Blacklist, which does not, let us say, hew to a studied realism, but that whole "She's a split personality to hide her crimes from herself!" thing was patently stupid.
Also, didn't Elizabeth ask nice-Krysten-Ritter about "Raymond Redding," but nice-Krysten-Ritter replied "I don't know any Raymond Reddington"? I thought that was a clumsy way for Elizabeth to figure out she was Lord Baltimore, but they never referred to it again.
posted by Etrigan at 6:53 PM on September 23, 2014
Also, didn't Elizabeth ask nice-Krysten-Ritter about "Raymond Redding," but nice-Krysten-Ritter replied "I don't know any Raymond Reddington"? I thought that was a clumsy way for Elizabeth to figure out she was Lord Baltimore, but they never referred to it again.
posted by Etrigan at 6:53 PM on September 23, 2014
Also, didn't Elizabeth ask nice-Krysten-Ritter about "Raymond Redding," but nice-Krysten-Ritter replied "I don't know any Raymond Reddington"?
Not as far as I could tell.
She's so Nancy from Weeds
Amy Gardner is setting up a PAC to recall you as we speak.
Where is Harold's family?
Also, I'm of the opinion that Berlin is Keen's father, and that Reddington was faced with killing her, and couldn't.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:44 PM on September 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
Not as far as I could tell.
She's so Nancy from Weeds
Amy Gardner is setting up a PAC to recall you as we speak.
Where is Harold's family?
Also, I'm of the opinion that Berlin is Keen's father, and that Reddington was faced with killing her, and couldn't.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:44 PM on September 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
The ages don't match - Elizabeth was very young when her house burned down and the girl in Berlin's locket is a young woman or teenager. My guess is that she is Berlin's unknown granddaughter, raised for a few years by Reddington after he lost his daughter by NotNancy.
posted by viggorlijah at 11:00 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by viggorlijah at 11:00 PM on September 23, 2014
I was disappointed. I guess I expected the season opener to have a certain energy and it seemed very lackluster. Also, I noticed a very subtle uptick in the sexification of Liz. What was the deal with the camera doing a slow pan over her cleavage for no apparent reason? That was kind of ooky.
posted by the webmistress at 9:42 PM on September 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by the webmistress at 9:42 PM on September 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
that whole "She's a split personality to hide her crimes from herself!" thing was patently stupid.
Yeah, I rolled my eyes as soon as that guy walked into the room with the record player. That was a disappointing gimmick for a season opener. I expect (and get) that kind of dumbness from Criminal Minds. And it's too bad, because I thought that character was a waste of a good actress.
Call me a crazy optimist, but given the telephone conversation between Red and Berlin to close this episode, I assume next week we will learn the history of Berlin's beef with Red. It has always been dancingly implausible that Red was totally mystified, but now it would seem difficult to keep up that charade with even the viewers. So...cool. I've been curious. Next week, then.
On the other hand, I don't expect to learn the truth about Liz for awhile. With Netflix paying $2 million an episode, the series is basically guaranteed a third season. That gives the writers a lot of leeway. They could drop the big reveal this season and then go a different direction next year, but it seems equally likely they'll just stretch it out. I hope it's not anticlimactic when it happens. I'm afraid that becomes more likely the longer they go, but we'll see.
I like the new haircut. And I liked how chummy she was, applauding for Cooper's return. Boone scored quite a coup being cast across from Spader, and she's done a fantastic job of holding her own. I'm impressed.
posted by cribcage at 9:57 PM on September 24, 2014
Yeah, I rolled my eyes as soon as that guy walked into the room with the record player. That was a disappointing gimmick for a season opener. I expect (and get) that kind of dumbness from Criminal Minds. And it's too bad, because I thought that character was a waste of a good actress.
Call me a crazy optimist, but given the telephone conversation between Red and Berlin to close this episode, I assume next week we will learn the history of Berlin's beef with Red. It has always been dancingly implausible that Red was totally mystified, but now it would seem difficult to keep up that charade with even the viewers. So...cool. I've been curious. Next week, then.
On the other hand, I don't expect to learn the truth about Liz for awhile. With Netflix paying $2 million an episode, the series is basically guaranteed a third season. That gives the writers a lot of leeway. They could drop the big reveal this season and then go a different direction next year, but it seems equally likely they'll just stretch it out. I hope it's not anticlimactic when it happens. I'm afraid that becomes more likely the longer they go, but we'll see.
I like the new haircut. And I liked how chummy she was, applauding for Cooper's return. Boone scored quite a coup being cast across from Spader, and she's done a fantastic job of holding her own. I'm impressed.
posted by cribcage at 9:57 PM on September 24, 2014
On the other hand, I don't expect to learn the truth about Liz for awhile.... I hope it's not anticlimactic when it happens.
All I know is that if they try to give us "Red is really her father!" after all the teasing and pulling away in the first season, I will BURN THEM DOWN.
posted by Etrigan at 7:14 AM on September 25, 2014 [2 favorites]
All I know is that if they try to give us "Red is really her father!" after all the teasing and pulling away in the first season, I will BURN THEM DOWN.
posted by Etrigan at 7:14 AM on September 25, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also, I noticed a very subtle uptick in the sexification of Liz. What was the deal with the camera doing a slow pan over her cleavage for no apparent reason? That was kind of ooky.
Yeah, that was pretty gratuitous and WTF. Hoping it doesn't become a trend, as I really like this show.
posted by spinturtle at 7:36 PM on October 1, 2014
Yeah, that was pretty gratuitous and WTF. Hoping it doesn't become a trend, as I really like this show.
posted by spinturtle at 7:36 PM on October 1, 2014
"All I know is that if they try to give us "Red is really her father!" after all the teasing and pulling away in the first season, I will BURN THEM DOWN"
I think they are in a huge conundrum with this thing because logically there is really no other remotely reasonable, justifiable reason for a hardened criminal to pal up with "the enemy" unless he's a relative or desperately wants to fuck her, and I'm pretty sure Red's not into her pants. He is Papa Bearing all up in that shit and doing anything for her. And there's no remotely reasonable thing the showfolks can come up with that ISN'T that. What else would they do? "I was...your boyfriend's brother's sister's high school friend's roommate?" Come on.
I do think it's weaksauce that they try to hedge and be mysterious about this shit, especially after he offed her adoptive dad and all that shiz. It either looks lame if he is or really hard to justify if he's not.
Back to the episode: I did enjoy Krysten Ritter (always do) as a girl with DID. I did wonder why they cast her as a doe-eyed innocent...and then you know. Still wondering why "Lord Baltimore" and where that came from, though.
I think it's ridiculous that Liz wouldn't change her last name, though. Sure, it's not "HIS" name, but it wasn't what she came with either and it's a reminder of the douche every day. It smacked of "show is too lazy to change it."
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:26 PM on October 2, 2014
I think they are in a huge conundrum with this thing because logically there is really no other remotely reasonable, justifiable reason for a hardened criminal to pal up with "the enemy" unless he's a relative or desperately wants to fuck her, and I'm pretty sure Red's not into her pants. He is Papa Bearing all up in that shit and doing anything for her. And there's no remotely reasonable thing the showfolks can come up with that ISN'T that. What else would they do? "I was...your boyfriend's brother's sister's high school friend's roommate?" Come on.
I do think it's weaksauce that they try to hedge and be mysterious about this shit, especially after he offed her adoptive dad and all that shiz. It either looks lame if he is or really hard to justify if he's not.
Back to the episode: I did enjoy Krysten Ritter (always do) as a girl with DID. I did wonder why they cast her as a doe-eyed innocent...and then you know. Still wondering why "Lord Baltimore" and where that came from, though.
I think it's ridiculous that Liz wouldn't change her last name, though. Sure, it's not "HIS" name, but it wasn't what she came with either and it's a reminder of the douche every day. It smacked of "show is too lazy to change it."
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:26 PM on October 2, 2014
All I know is "Lord Baltimore" sounded way to close to "Lord Voldemort" and I giggled every time I heard it.
posted by mmoncur at 8:19 PM on October 11, 2017
posted by mmoncur at 8:19 PM on October 11, 2017
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posted by viggorlijah at 6:21 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]