‘The Blacklist’: 5 of the Most Unrealistic Parts of the Show, According to Dedicated Fans
It’ll be a minute before NBC’s The Blacklist resumes regularly-scheduled programming for season 8. In the meantime, fans of the show are re-watching old episodes to keep the love alive. That said, there are a few things about The Blacklist, fans say, are a little too unrealistic to believe.
Some ‘Blacklist’ fans can’t get over one character’s near-fatal situation
In season 5 of The Blacklist, the FBI Task Force team nearly lost Samar Navabi (Mozhan Marnò) when she was captured and handcuffed in the back of a van before the vehicle plunged to the bottom of a lake. While that alone doesn’t dignify fan mail, it’s the way it happened that did.
“The bear pushing the van with Samar in it down the hill,” one Redditor commented.
“Prior to the bear, it was Samar’s capture. We see a powerful, trained, lethal Mossad agent overcome by a middle-aged man with no apparent combat training. Multiple times,” another added.
“It was completely out of character and I’m disappointed in the writers for marginalizing her character this way. I also wasn’t a fan of the resulting story arc and would have preferred her final scene to be in the van.”
Marnò left the show in season 6 but many think there are better ways to write her character out rather than put her through that.
The villains struck a chord with others
Every week, The Blacklist reveals another villain the Task Force team will attempt to capture with the help (or interference) of criminal-turned-informant Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader).
Some, however, don’t like that many of the “bad guys” have a kooky nickname such as The Pharmacist, The Ethicist, The Cryptobanker, and Lady Luck to name a few.
Liz’s choice to marry Tom didn’t go over too well
Two years since The Blacklist alum Ryan Eggold left his character as Tom Keen and fans are still talking about his two marriages to FBI profiler Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone).
“Anyone else not supportive of this boring, unhealthy, seemingly forced relationship? It seems like they want to be in love but aren’t. Anyone else??” one fan posted to Reddit.
“I’ve always hated them together. I really was hoping her and Donald would end up as a couple. They certainly hinted at it for a while,” another added.
“Sometimes I think, “Wow just several years ago, they got into a brutal brawl, and she later kidnapped and tortured him,” another said.
Clearly there’s no love lost since Tom was killed off with no possibility of return.
Neither did faking her death
To be fair, fans have more of an issue with The Blacklist‘s overuse of fake deaths than only Liz’s. In fact, there’s an entire Reddit thread dedicated to listing all the fake deaths that have happened on the show.
The poster stated that there were nine fake deaths in season 1, upwards of 16 in season 2, a large but unknown amount in season 3, around seven in season 4 and three in season 5. For season 6, the fan lists two fake deaths and three in season 7.
“It is interesting there are real deaths covered up among the fake deaths. Often they come together. If Red is not Raymond Reddington, then there must be a record of the death of his previous identity at around the time he took over this one. Unless of course the delete order came and it is as if his previous life never existed,” another pointed out.
Viewers are hoping for less of this plot device and more creative writing in future episodes.
Minor details matter to those who know
Many more inconsistencies lie in the series as a whole, but some of the minor details are worth mentioning because they come up again and again. A common complaint is that Red is often recognized by some, but never by law enforcement in public.
Along with that comes the lack of media most of the “blacklisters” receive.
Some wonder how so many underground criminals can exist with such extensive resumes without alerting the media. Another fan posted a thread pointing to more discrepancies.
One to note is how often Red flies wherever he wants, whenever he wants which is unlikely for a criminal on the FBI’s Most-Wanted list.
And finally, one moment many still talk about is how Red was pardoned from execution seconds from being put to death. While the Red/Liz back and forth becomes bothersome seven seasons in for some, others find the big picture items a non-starter.
Hopefully, season 8 brings a little more creativity for the sake of all Blacklist fans.
