My Favorite Scene: 'Blacklist' Creator On The Moment The NBC Crime Thriller Became More

My wife and I enjoy The Blacklist, a clever and often amusing TV crime thriller.

Mostly, we enjoy James Spader (seen in the above photo), an actor that I had not much cared for in his previous roles.

Etonline.com offers a piece on series creator Jon Bokenkamp's favorite scene.

No one loves a great scene more than the person who first dreamed it up: the writer. We're asking shows' creators and writers to tell ET all about getting to see their most cherished moment from their series make it from script to screen.

For Jon Bokenkamp, creator of NBC’s The Blacklist, the scene that catapulted the crime thriller into more than a procedural came early in the first season. By the first few episodes, the drama starring James Spader and Megan Boone was already considered a breakout hit.

It was a moment in the 11th episode, titled “The Good Samaritan,” in which Spader’s Raymond “Red” Reddington -- one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives -- established himself as an unexpected and charming anti-hero that viewers rooted for. Here, Bokenkamp explains why an insignificant scene turned the tide for The Blacklist.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.etonline.com/features/202446_my_favorite_scene_blacklist_creator_jon_bokenkamp/

'The Blacklist' Star Megan Boone: 'A New Liz Is Born' In The Season 2 Finale

My wife and I have been watching the The Blacklist since the first episode and we enjoyed the season 2 finale this week.

Jason Evans at the Wall Street Journal interviewed actress Megan Boone on her character's changing role.

As “The Blacklist” heads into the end of season two, the show has become less and less about James Spader’s Raymond Reddington character, and more and more about Elizabeth Keene, played by Megan Boone. The story, at this point, is largely focused on Liz’s past and the mystery surrounding her parents, especially her KGB-agent mother.   

It is extremely rare for the show to spend more than a minute or two on a scene that does not feature Liz. So, with the season finale only hours away, I spoke to Boone about how season two is going and where Liz is headed next. You will also see I got a surprising answer to the biggest question that has been asked about ”The Blacklist” since the show first debuted.

I want to start with where we are on the show. Liz has been framed for being a Russian spy and appears to be on the run. How will she handle this latest setback, especially not having her FBI buddies to help her out?

Liz is really working in a different realm now. She is no longer working within the law. But she’s still going to approach it in the same way. She’s tenacious and able and facile and somehow she tends to find a way out of it. That’s what makes her an everyman kind of superhero. But, she’s transitioning into an anti-hero. It’s a very interesting character in that way. She certainly didn’t start off as an anti-hero, but that’s what they are developing, that’s her arc.

Are you referring to where she is right now or where she will go in season three?

You’ll see it start to happen in the finale. A very dark side of her is revealed and she begins to regain memories of her past and what happened in the fire. A new Liz is born.

Wow, that’s quite a tease. I can’t wait to see that. Last week, my favorite scene was Red and Liz having parallel conversations. Liz saying to him, “Tell me about my mother, tell me the truth about the fire, I need to know what is going on here” and Red was saying back to her, “There’s a terrorist who is about to attack America,” and Liz almost seemed to not care about that.

You can read the rest of the interview via the below link:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/05/14/the-blacklist-star-megan-boone-a-new-liz-is-born-in-the-season-2-finale/

"The Blacklist" Season Finale Leaves Plenty Of Unanswered Questions

 

Michael Starr at the New York Post offers a piece on the season finale of the clever and interesting crime drama The Blacklist. (Spoiler Alert).

 

‘The Blacklist” closed out its freshman season Monday night with some huge question marks — perfectly setting the dramatic table for Season 2.

If fans of NBC’s hit drama were looking for closure vis-a-vis key plot points, they’ll have to wait until next season.

It’s still unclear whether Red (James Spader) is really Liz’s (Megan Boone) father — he denied this yet again — but his scarred, skin-grafted back, revealed in the final scene, might give the lie to his denials (he told Liz her real father died in a house fire).

And if Liz really did kill her creepy husband Tom (Ryan Eggold), where was his body when cops descended on the scene?

Questions remain.  

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2014/05/12/blacklist-finale-leaves-plenty-of-unanswered-questions/ 

Note: My wife and I are huge fans of The Blacklist. I did not care much for actor James Spader until this show, but I truly like his portrayal of the intelligent and stylish criminal. I also like his hats.