The Blacklist
This is a Must See
Season 1, Episodes 1 - 8 Impressions

11/25/2013

James Spader | © NBCUniversal Television

"I believe I will always do whatever I feel I have to do to keep you alive."
—Red to Liz

Who would you become if your entire world was taken away? That is how I sum up The Blacklist now, being a rabid fan, but that was not the impression I got from the previews. Wanted fugitive Raymond Reddington for an unknown reason turns himself in to help catch the most dangerous people he has crossed paths with in his decades-long criminal career. It seemed to be nothing more than a straightforward procedural with as many antagonists as they could dream up, the baddie-of-the-week format being an excuse to go on for years without having any real depth. The little twist of Red wanting to work only with one person, Elizabeth Keen, made it seem mildly interesting. Still, I only watched for James Spader as Reddington, but the pilot won me over and left me craving more. It turned out that Elizabeth was new to the job that day, someone Red waited for specifically, though she has no idea who he is.

Ript Apparel Headphones Coupon

11/21/2013

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So I entered a Ript Apparel content apparently. I didn't remember, and I didn't win. Darn. Anyway, contest entrants were given a code, head2013, for $10 off any pair of headphones from now until December 16 at 1:00 PM EST. That brings the price down to $30. I've never bought headphones from them, so I can't attest to the quality or comfort. I can assure, though, that you'll get a great design, because if you don't like today's choices, there will be a new pop culture reference or mash-up tomorrow. I know one day I'm going to break down and buy a hoodie. I love hoodies, but most of mine are so plain and boring.

Ript is also having another contest. This time for laptop sleeves. There will be seven daily winners each getting a laptop sleeve with that day's design, and one grand prize winner who can choose any past design from the graveyard. You can enter on Facebook.

The Blacklist
General Ludd
Season 1, Episode 8 ~ Emotional Brilliance in GIFs

11/20/2013

Red stroking Sam's hair gifRed kissing Sam 1 gif
Red kissing Sam 2 gifRed leaving Sam gif
James Spader and William Sadler | © NBC Universal

I am officially addicted to Tumblr, and I'm blaming The Blacklist and a little less so Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I love both shows tremendously, but The Blacklist came out of nowhere and took my breath away. James Spader is beyond perfect in the role of Raymond "Red" Reddington, the criminal mastermind with a broken heart and a secret worth killing to protect.

The Blacklist is Back Next Week

11/18/2013

Sadly, The Blacklist is not on tonight. It'll be back on November 25. Until then we'll have to console ourselves with promos for "Anslo Garrick" and the discussion of last week's "General Ludd." I saw a tweet saying that Red (the astounding James Spader) is far less redeemable now after a certain moment. I don't agree with that opinion at all. I understood immediately that it was an act borne of both mercy and the need to keep an important secret. It caused him a lot of pain to make that decision. As he made clear in "Wujing," Red will do whatever he feels he has to do to keep Liz safe. That makes for a compelling character and a stunningly emotional show.

For more videos, check out The Blacklist YouTube Playlist.

Almost Human is Here

11/17/2013

Almost Human premieres tonight at 8PM eastern before moving to its regular time on Monday. Finally! I've known about this show for what seems like forever now. I think it's been a year. It's a futuristic cop show about officers being paired with androids. One of these androids is special and his partner is a broken man with his own synthetic body parts that he is rejecting. I'm happy, excited...and nervous. I know it will be good, maybe great, but I have no idea how it will be received. The show was created by Fringe showrunner Joel Wyman, a really good guy with interesting ideas who can build an emotional storyline. I hope it does well for his sake. If you're a Fringie, pay attention to the easter eggs in the crawls in the latest promos. Fox disabled embedding for some reason. Guess they don't want people to share and get others interested in watching. Ugh.

A Man I Understand: James Spader in The Blacklist

11/10/2013


I didn't even know about The Blacklist until a few weeks before it premiered, probably because as of late I haven't watched all that much on NBC and didn't care to keep updated. I let four episodes pile up on the DVR before watching any of it. Castle is on at the same time and time just kept slipping away. But I was hooked after one episode and caught up quickly, and after "The Stewmaker" there was no going back. There is no way that this show will ever let me go, not with its terrific pacing, interesting cases, carefully chosen words and endlessly quotable and memorable lines, attention to detail, lovingly crafted scenes between Red and Liz, the mystery of his attachment to her, and James Spader's funny, charming, cool, enigmatic, and achingly poignant performance. I'm just now devouring interviews and other videos, but if I had known about this show, if I had seen the Comic Con panel, there would have been no question of letting even a day go by before watching the pilot, especially since I had loved Boston Legal so much, thanks in no small part to Spader being brilliant in that, too.

My favorite moments of the Comic Con panel in no particular order:

"I wasn't very kind and warm with you, though, was I?" ~ James Spader (to Klattenhoff)
"No. He was a prick." ~ Diego Klattenhoff (to audience)

"He brings out the best in everybody. It's very exciting." ~ Diego Klattenhoff (about Spader)

"The nice thing about shooting this pilot was that we were able to play the things - which you try and do anyway in anything that you're working on. You try and bring whatever it is, the baggage that you're bringing, your idiosyncrasies, your eccentricities, whatever the hell you're going through that specific day. As opposed to try and shoving them under the rug, play those things and let them live and so on, and let them inform what you're doing." ~ James Spader
What perfect advice for any actor, and what so many fail at. There are very few who you just believe every word and action and expression, who make you feel what they feel. You can tell that they really do feel whatever it is in that moment, because they are drawing on a relatable personal experience, especially when it's deeply rooted. These are innately talented people who just get it. Spader is one of those brilliant performers, because he opens his heart (ripping out ours in the process) instead of keeping everything on the surface. It's actually hard to explain or understand unless you've seen it, but trust me. People like John Noble, Robert Downey, Jr., David Tennant, Matt Smith, Bryan Cranston, and, most recently for me, Clark Gregg have this. When you experience it, you start noticing lackluster performances everywhere else.

I would so love to transcribe this man for work. The voice. I melt every time.

"Secrets are a great thing. You know, secrets are such a part of everyone's life, and that's allowed to live in this show is how you reckon with secrets in your own life and in others', and the secrets that others know about you, and your secrets that you hold very dear that someone, in the first time meeting them, they somehow are intuitive about the things that you hold very close to your heart. And I think that's an interesting aspect of this relationship between both Red and Elizabeth, from both sides. I think intuitively she responds to something in him, and the same thing happened with Megan and I, and I was glad for that." ~ James Spader
So Megan and James responded to something in each other's heart? Aww, that's the cutest thing. *blushing* Their chemistry is amazing, so I wouldn't doubt that.
"All right, let's get started. For any John who wants to answer this..." ~ Moderator
The executive producers are all named John/Jon. I knew of Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath, but there's also John Fox and John Davis. HA! Wow. John is very common, but what the...? Oh holy crap, I just checked IMDb and found out John Zinman and John Kelley are co-executive producers. Guess it's easy to remember names around the office.

Spader's interrupting answer of "Just watch the show" to the question "Is Liz Red's daughter?" was the best answer possible. People always want to know right now. I was never one to search for my Christmas presents. I loved the anticipation and that translates to my favorite shows. Why would anyone not want to savor all the little clues and fun and beautiful moments that lead up to the reveal of who they really are to each other? It's the big mystery, at least for now.

And now that I've spoiled the entire video for the one person who hasn't seen it yet...

And a few interviews you may not have seen. I sure didn't. Why did no one tell me he was on The View? It's on almost every day in this house and somehow I missed Spader! *grumble*

I Have Never Seen a Spaceballs Shirt, Except in Spaceballs

11/08/2013

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Awww, Dark Helmet! He's cuter than I remember. I think it's time to watch this again. What's that make us? is available today at RiptApparel for $10.

If you don't know this movie, here it is in a nutshell, emphasis on nut. I probably could write more about it, but it's a busy damn day here. Ooh, I should put it on my movies list. Later. Ugh, back to work, where I can hear people saying "hello" back and forth about a hundred times and getting nowhere. I guess Spaceballs is the perfect fit for the day.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
FZZT :: Coulson Opens Up
Season 1, Episode 6 Preview

11/05/2013

Clark Gregg, "FZZT," 1x6 | © ABC Studios and Marvel Studios

"Sir, you have to get out of there right now. He's going..."

Updated on June 10, 2020.

And Coulson takes the earpiece out. I love this about him. He doesn't run away when someone is in trouble. So far, we've seen that he does everything he can to save them, to talk them down, no matter how dangerous. We're quite familiar with his heartbreaking heroics from Avengers, but it's nice to see this smaller moment. Using personal examples is wonderful, giving us insight into his mindset. This lovely moment shows us he suspects more than just the muscle memory problem, which I wasn't expecting. This is back when the show hadn't yet revealed what "Tahiti" really was, when we still feared he could be an LMD and we were champing at the bit for the truth. Giving it a little more time, we found the truth staggering and Clark Gregg's performance when the time came was poignant.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Tahiti is a Magical Place
T-Shirt

11/04/2013

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Just a little while ago I woke up and saw my Coulson Lives shirt. Since my glasses weren't on, he looked like Red Reddington and I thought, "I really need James Spader's face on my chest. I hope there's not another Coulson shirt I have to get any time soon." Then as soon as I opened my email I saw this subtle beauty ($10 only today), which is actually basically what I wanted to draw a couple months ago!

No. No no no no no no no! Oh, well, alright. Yes. Damn it. No! I can't. I really can't right now. Ugh, I'm going to be kicking myself for this one. I'm already mad I didn't jump on this, draw it, and submit it as my first shirt. But I probably wouldn't have beat the designer to the punch anyway, because I would have fiddled and procrastinated. I also have to pass it over because of money problems. This one is a heartbreaker. I can't have one, but you can get yours as RiptApparel and if you see me one day on the street you'll know me. I'll be the one who recognizes the reference, smiles, maybe laughs, says "Great shirt" or "Coulson Lives," but there will be tears in my eyes. Although, considering tomorrow night's episode, there might be tears in my eyes for another reason.

By the way, when someone finally makes a Blacklist shirt, I don't care if I have less than no money. It is necessary to my life that I get one. Coulson I already have two of, so it's less painful to pass on. And I have a feeling that The Blacklist is going to somehow make its way into most of my posts, just like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fringe before that.

UPDATE
‪When a second chance to buy a new version of this shirt came around, I didn't hesitate to buy it.
VISIT TAHITI V2 is available in Faniseto's RedBubble store for $25.52.
VISIT TAHITI ORIGINAL is available in Alecxps's Neato store for $19.95.