Once again bookended by new hours, NBC’s scheduling remains a formidable test of the show’s appeal, and while there’s still plenty of delayed viewing, what’s been lost isn’t entirely offset by DVR time-shifting.Ĭertainly, the Liz-on-the-run thread has admirably toyed with the program’s dynamic, at a point where the writers appeared to be exhausting options, or at least becoming a bit repetitive in tracking down bad guys with colorful nicknames like (in this latest case) “The Troll Farmer.” The question now is how long this plot can be sustained before bringing its spy in from the cold, lest the entire enterprise begin to lose some of its heat. Also: Red and Liz try to flee the city with help from a Blacklister called the Troll Farmer and Dembe is put in a perilous situation. In more pragmatic terms, “The Blacklist” has clearly lost some ratings steam since being relocated to Thursday night, not only sacrificing its lead-in from “The Voice” but airing opposite ABC’s popular Shonda Rhimes dramas and Thursday-night football. The FBI hunts for Liz for the murder of an attorney general in the Season 3 premiere. The Blacklist is back in top form with fresh dangers that put Red on the ropes while giving James Spader room to shine. It’s also hard not to notice that the focus on Liz’s mother, who turns out to have been a Russian spy, bears at least a passing resemblance to the later seasons of “Alias,” where the espionage gene passed from mom to daughter. Season 3 The Blacklist Critics Consensus. Still, the program largely remains somewhat schizophrenic, alternating between the familiar trappings of a procedural and something more lively, funny and unpredictable whenever Spader occupies center stage. To its credit, the series, under showrunner Jon Bokenkamp, has deftly kept incorporating such twists, enabling it to keep Reddington’s motives shrouded. (Red’s dumbstruck reaction upon seeing Liz with blonde hair, apparently reminded of her mother, was another one of those nicely played if rather creepy moments.) Beyond that, there’s the little matter of the ruthless conspiracy whose operatives are bold enough to tell the powerful head of a shadowy government agency (played by David Strathairn, terrific as always) that “every breath you draw is at our discretion.”Īs played in the premiere, though (and SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t watched), the hairpin escapes and dealings with shady characters felt like killing time until that final, clever moment when Liz took refuge at the Russian embassy, capitalizing upon a birth mother she didn’t even know about until Red came into her life. Putting Liz on the run – and having partner Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) charged with tracking her down – theoretically sets up a nifty game of cat and mouse.

The blacklist season 3 complete