#the blacklist 8x03

[codewordpumpkin]

a very optimistic view of tbl 8x03

*long, heavy sigh* 

where do I begin...

- "I know how you feel about Elizabeth... How could you do that to someone you love?” (Cooper to Red) + “Whatever happens, he loves you. You know that, right?” (Marvin to Liz) = literally everyone knows Liz and Red are married, and they are frustrated by how goddamn stubborn/blind/stupid they are (as they should)

- this little exchange between Red and Marvin: 

“You want to know if I still intend to leave most everything of mine to Elizabeth?” 

“You don’t want me to change your will? Even after she took sides against you?” 

“Okay, so, today she opposes me - maybe, tomorrow. But not forever. Look at Dom and I... In the end, we found our way to each other.”

Also, Marvin asking Red if he still wants to leave most of his assets to Liz even after she betrayed him: if Liz was Red’s daughter (which we know she’s not) or biologically related to him in any way, I don’t believe this question would be asked because in the end, family is family, and it’s usually standard to pass on inheritance to family. But because Liz isn’t related to Red, Red has no real obligation to pass his assets to her, which is why it makes sense for Marvin to ask Red this question.

- “Not until we talk.”

Despite what a crazy bitch Liz has been/is being/will be for the foreseeable future, Red still loves her unconditionally and wants to do whatever he can to hang onto her and Agnes (*cough*agnesgate*cough*)

He made it sound like he would let her go if that’s what she ultimately wants, but we can tell that Red will in no way let her go that easily:

“It may feel, at times, like the end, but our story isn’t over yet.”

+

“And if after our talk, you still feel the same, you can say goodbye to us both.”

Red seemed pretty confident that after their talk, Liz would change her mind/heart about where she stands with him. This implies that whatever unsaid truths that Red has up his sleeve is extremely significant (which is why tptb had Red cough up blood on Liz’s car window and prevented their talk from happening... *sighhhhhh*)

- About Liz suddenly caring more about Ressler than Red + going to his apartment at the end: 

Remember what Red said to Ressler in the infamous mannequin-kiss ep? “Boy, she played you.” (yes, I know he was distracting him so Dembe could place the bug, but doesn’t make what he said any less true). 

I’m not saying Liz doesn’t care about Ressler - it’s obvious she does have love for him as a friend/partner. But she’s not in love with him - not by a long shot. And if Tom (sorry to bring him up) wasn’t her relationship endgame, then Ressler sure as hell isn’t. 

Also, I’m actually glad they’re dipping into Keenler waters right now and in this way. By “this way” I mean they’re getting “close/intimate” scenes every time Liz is in trouble and needs him for something. It hasn’t been a gradual build-up over the years like lizzington. It’s too sudden + Liz reverts to her cold demeanour every time she’s done using Ressler (before cozying up to him when she needs him again).

Also Also, Liz and Ressler just really wouldn’t work. Ressler is Captain America. Liz has crossed too many lines that she can’t uncross. She’s not that green, naive FBI agent who might’ve had a chance with Ressler back in the day. 

And to be honest, Ressler deserves way better than Liz at this point (Park did call him hot...). Just like the FBI Task Force deserves better. Just like Agnes deserves better. 

(I’m starting to get mad again, so let’s leave it at that for now...)

- I’ve always believed that Red and Liz’s relationship had to be completely destroyed in order to be rebuilt in the direction (lizzington) that we want - especially after tptb acted like Red was her father for a (dreadfully long, nightmarish) couple seasons. They have to destroy that foundation in order to create a new one. 

This is all I have to say for now. I mostly wrote this post for me, as I needed it for my own mental/emotional well-being, but I hope this manages to shed some positive light on the episode that pissed us off like no other. 

And remember, if everything truly does go down the drain one day... we’ll always have fanfiction. 

[whumpypepsigal]

The Blacklist s08e03: Liz tries to kill Reddington at the hospital. She didn’t know Ressler was with Reddington when she set the bomb off. It almost killed them both — they survived. Liz goes to speak to Ressler, and check if he is okay.

“I'm sorry.”

“Well, you should be. You nearly killed me.”

“I know. And when I thought I had—nothing else mattered.”

[beauitful-paradise]

[resslersprentiss]

[sea-sands]

Liz in Season 1: My colleagues call me “sir.”

Liz in Season 8: I don’t care who Reddington is or what I mean to him! He’s sick, and he’s old, and I’m going to put him out of his misery once and for all.

The Blacklist fandom:

[the-most-handsome-ginger]

Ressler: Parker, I need a bomb squad.

Also Ressler throwing the bomb out of the window: Damn, I am the bomb squad.

[justedepassage]

Where is that man ? I miss him. Badly.

[love-is-fiction]

THIS AGED SO FUCKING WELL

Can y’all imagine the sheer panic Liz would feel NOW if Ress got taken. In season TWO she was terrified of losing him (“must have been terrifying” “it was”), of course we got her confession in ‘Brothers’ - her risking jail for him & literally telling him she can’t live without him - but in season EIGHT?? After everything?? The thought of him being physically harmed would drive her crazy; she would be relentless and in complete panic mode. She literally admitted to needing him to function - if that was directly threatened in a life-or-death context she would lose it.

The angst would be delicious

[cowboybuckleys]

Did i hallucinate or did you post a blacklist gifset yesterday and it’s gone now?? 🤔

i don’t think i had one in my queue for yesterday?? i'm almost certain there’s at least one in my queue right now from 8x03. but nothing that i can think of other than that one. by chance do you remember what you thought it was about?? cos maybe i did and i’m just spacing on it and tumblr did delete it xD

fwiw, i haven’t made any for 8x04 cos my wifi has been extra slow the last few days so the episode didn’t finish downloading until today.

[codewordpumpkin]

Genuine question, zero sarcasm

... Is elizabeth seriously FUCKED IN THE HEAD??? Did Krilov mess with her that badly????

Even ignoring everything from the past seasons and focusing solely on the most recent ep: Liz betrays Red, Dembe, her friends and family in the Task Force + abandons her daughter all for... WHAT?

A WOMAN SHE KNEW FOR ABOUT TWO MINUTES??? ALL BECAUSE SHE’S HER BIOLOGICAL MOTHER??? GIRL, WHAT ABOUT YOUR OWN BIOLOGICAL DAUGHTER??? AND AFTER BEING RAISED BY SAM, SHE SHOULD KNOW THAT MERE BIOLOGICAL TIES DO NOT COMPARE TO THE FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT ACTUALLY LOVE YOU AND CARE FOR YOU AND SUPPORT YOU!!!!

Sorry for this sort of delayed, sort of random rant, but I really just can’t stop thinking about this

[rissa-rey]

Edited: I’ve added a keep reading because I’m tired of y’all messaging me.  Blacklist your tags, friends, cause I’m not dragging my laptop out just to add a cut for you assholes again.  Since this dropped early, you get one freebie.  One.  I tagged properly the first time.  Don’t @ me. 

Spoilers for 8x02...

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

I can’t believe NO ONE rightly pointed out to Daenerys that she was spouting that nonsense bullshit about her trash father in the hall of the man said piece of garbage father murdered. Like bitch you’re really going to run your mouth about the greatest deed of Jaime’s life while sitting in Rickard Stark’s hall? STFU. Book Daenerys is legitimately one of my favorite characters but the D&D version...I just want someone to punch her in the face everytime she unhinges her jaw to spew more asinine horseshit.

I loved Brienne speaking up for Jaime. And Sansa’s reaction—I want more Sansa and Brienne.

Is there trouble in ✨paradise✨? Looks like there is...where are you running off to, Jonathan Snowflake?

Why is she attacking Tyrion? God why is she so fucking stupid. I lose IQ points everytime she opens her damn mouth.

I feel like they’re setting us up for disillusioned Jorah...

I’ve never been a proponent of political!Jon but uh...

Sansa has not come to play with these hoes. What about the North, Daenerys? What you think because you “bonded” over the fact that you both have a vajayjay, and men think that makes you dumb, that means that Sansa is suddenly going to forget all about her own house and family and people for the sake of your dumbass crown?

Give ST all the Emmys already for that scene though...you can see the moment she goes from “I’m going to cut a bitch” to “Joffrey is my one true love...” Her face is so expressive, I can’t deal with it.

Theon!!!! I know everyone keeps talking about Dany’s face when Theon pledges to fight for the Starks but who the fuck cares about the Empress of Entitlement when Theon and Sansa are looking at each other like THAT?!

Pretty sure that little girl in the yard with Davos was supposed to ~trigger~ thoughts of Shireen. Down to the scars on the side of her face and everything. Also, could we give Gilly more than three lines please? Thanks.

TORMUND AND FRIENDS HAVE ARRIVED!!

The council meeting was...they all are probably going to die. I’d say half of that room will be dead by the end of 8x03. But don’t quote me because who the fuck knows? I sure as shit don’t...

Jonathan? Jonathan Snowflake? Where are you running off to, Jonathan? There is definitely trouble in paradise...

The best part of this whole episode was Tyrion, Jaime, Brienne, Podrick and Davos sitting around the fire. And it only got BETTER when Tormund showed up. I’d legit just watch a show with those six sitting around a fire riffing off each other and shooting the shit.

And Jaime knighting Brienne...my Braime heart. 😍❤️

Gendrya...ick. Do. Not. Want. Look, I love Gendrya but if I never have to see a half-naked Maisie Williams again it will be too soon. Not because she’s not beautiful (she is) but because I remember when she was TWELEVE on THIS show and...nope. Sorry, but nope. Also, it was kind of out of left field so...🤷🏽‍♀️

The ending montage was nice, I thought. I didn’t pick up on the shipper vibes like everyone else between Sansa and Theon. But let me talk about that for a minute...if they were to get together? GOOD FOR THEM! Not because I want to keep Sansa away from another ship (side-eyeing the dumbass Jonerice stans...and btw, y’all got your own mess to worry about hooooly shit) but because he’s the only person to ever straight up offer to fight FOR HER (not counting Brienne, but if we got Sansa/Brienne for real, I’d probably literally die my life would be complete).

I don’t think Theonsa is going to be a thing though. Cause I think Theon is gonna be wight food 😩😭

And finally the parentage reveal...wow. Sings aaaaaaalmooooost paaaaaradiiiiiiseeeee...but not quite. All I got to say is, Jonsa may very well not happen (I’ve never thought it would, personally, just thought it was possible) but all the same in The Who’s Been Right and Who’s Been Wrong stakes, I think we’re up to Jonsa 134224, Jonerys 0. So sad. Sorry, not sorry.

[adreamofspring-archive]

anyways I’ll be watching all the game of thrones episodes live and will be tagging my posts with leah watches got, got spoilers, and more specifically got 8x01 spoilers, got 8x02 spoilers, got 8x03 spoilers and so on. Please blacklist those tags if you don’t want to be spoiled!

[alyblacklist]

Hey Aly! Ready for tonight's episode?

I would like to ask you something - I'm not sure if you know, but if you have a general idea that would already help. Back when 8.01 aired, was 8.22 already written, or do they write the episodes as they shoot them? If so, which episode do you think was airing (approximately obviously) by the time they were writing 8.22? Have they already started working on season 9 or is it just a general idea for now? I'm really clueless and I know these things are pretty hard to predict, but assuming they do it the same way they did for the previous seasons, what are your thoughts on this?

I will give you my general thoughts and invite @friendshiptothemax to chime in if she chooses to do so on anything she feels able to share or correct.

My understanding (bear in mind this is based on a normal year) is that the writers room generally opens for the upcoming season at some point in June. At that point, the Jo(h)ns and the other writers get together and map out the overall story arc of the entire season. I don't know the timing of how and when individual writers get assigned to particular episodes but I would assume that out of necessity, they start writing the eps that will air earlier in the season first and then continue. I also know from things Sam has said in the past that the staff writers get to pitch their ideas for Blacklisters to the Jo(h)ns and those get worked into the overall plan for the season as episodes are assigned. I don't know whether the whole season gets planned in advance in terms of who is doing what or whether decisions are adjusted throughout the season.

Bear in mind for this year that 8x01 to 8x03 were already basically written to be the final eps of season 7 before production shut down so they knew how how the season would start right off the bat. I do not think 8x22 was fully written when 8x01 aired back in November, but I do think it is likely that the core of the story was planned out and they knew what the ending of the season would be even if the final words hadn't hit the page yet.

I have no idea what sort of timetable they are on for finishing eps but from watching the process, there is of course a substantial amount of pre-planning that goes into an episode from the multiple drafts, to finding a director, choosing locations, planning sets, casting, costuming, etc. so I assume the bulk of an episode has to be in pretty close to final form many weeks ahead of when it is filmed even if minor adjustments still occur as they get closer to filming. In a normal year when the season finale ends in mid-May, I think the writers have hiatus before the show finishes production (late March to early April strikes a bell). I don't know what the schedule was this year with the extended production schedule or what their schedule will be for S9 but I would assume it will resemble past years.

I would also assume the Jo(h)ns have a general plan in mind for Season 9 that they will be kicking into gear over these next several weeks in anticipation of production starting later this summer. Jon B has said many times that they know where the story is going and are writing towards that end. The details of specific episodes and Blacklisters will be worked out once they officially open the S9 room (which may have happened already, I just don't know).

[resslersprentiss]

[cainc3]

Arrow Tuesday...

Want to remain unspoiled please blacklist the following

arrow

arrow spoilers

arrow season 8

arrow the final season

arrow 8x03 leap of faith

[nightqueendany]

I’m seeing people already post that they’ve read leaks for 8x03 and I...actually don’t want to know them. We know it’s going to be the battle. We know many of our faves are going to die. We know the living are going to lose. We know it’s going to be sad. And I kind of just...want to watch that all in real time. I think I’m going to blacklist “got spoilers” for this week. Maybe after the Episode airs, I’ll be open to 8x04 spoilers. But for this one, idk this one is special. It’s like the finale but not. Like the midseason finale. And I want to enjoy that when I can see it all.

So yeah, TL;DR - No asks this week about spoilers guys! I don’t want them! I want to be shocked! Will be open to spoilers for 8x04 and 8x05 though after 8x03 airs. Thanks!