BWW Recap: Thoughts on THE BLACKLIST Season Three Finale

All righty then! THE BLACKLIST is now on summer vacation, giving the writers time to write their way out of whatever they've done to themselves and us this season, and the season finale certainly gives lots of food for thought - or for backpedaling one way or another, or for dropping plot points that are best left dangling for a while.

Did anyone really think that Elizabeth Keen was dead? Did anyone possibly doubt that Mr. Kaplan (Susan Blommaert) was behind it? Many viewers speculated that Raymond Reddington must have known about the fake death. He didn't, and it was always clear that he didn't, because Red's a great poker player but he's not an infallible poker face. He wears his heart on his sleeve and in his words. If he'd known Liz was alive, he wouldn't have been able to keep up the sustained distress that we saw. And as we predicted here in an earlier piece, Liz showed up for the finale.

But we wonder: how will Red punish Mr. Kaplan? This is the sort of thing for which he normally executes employees - does anyone else remember Newton Phillips from the first season? Red personally strangled him for selling out, after making suitable provisions for Phillips' family. Kate Kaplan, on the other hand, did it for Liz, as did Dr. Nate, so will Red let them live? If he kills them, will he have a suitable supply of top-rate cleaners and surgeons available to replace them? These are deep, deep problems.

Now we really have to wonder about Kaplan's connections to Red and to Liz. It's apparent that Kaplan is as close to Red as Dembe is. How far do they go back, and how? Some fans insist that they served together in the Navy, based on the fallacious argument that warrant officers are addressed as "Mr." - sorry, military regs specify that female warrant officers are "ma'am." Still others think that she's Red's mother, and at least one has suggested that Kate is a diminutive of Katerina, so she's possibly Katerina Rostova, Liz's mother. She seems as if she'd be a little old for that, especially if Alexander Kirk is indeed Konstantin Rostov.

Oh, yeah, what about Konstantin Rostov? Is Alexander Kirk really Konstantin Rostov, and is Konstantin Rostov really Liz's father? And what's with all the IVs? Does he have a fascinating disease? Does he just want to know his family? Is he out to harvest organs, blood, or stem cells to rescue himself? He's not a nice person. Anything is possible. Except that Tom Keen is dead, because even though Kirk has him, there's possibly a spinoff coming.

Speaking of spinoff... is Red telling the truth when he tells Tom that Scottie Hargrave (Famke Janssen) is his mother? Are they going to continue the unresolved sexual tension on her cougarish behalf, if this is true? Will Mr. Solomon spend the spinoff trying to get revenge on Tom for shooting him in the druggist's? And how are the writers going to come up with plots that will make us care that much about Scottie? She may be the female Red Reddington, but she hasn't been made that interesting to us.

The Ford commercials starring Samar have wound up sending her on a blind date with Aram. Is this going to tie into the show next season? Please? Because Samar and Aram are seriously cute together, and they're secondary enough not to destroy the show if there's a romance. And because Aram deserves to be happy about something. Because fans love Aram, who is the greatest computer geek ever. (We suppose his counterpart at Scottie's firm will be the geek for the spinoff.)

Speaking of task force members, there's Ressler. Is he stupid, a wuss, or both? This episode was far from his best showing - in fact, it was an embarrassment. So was his threat to kill Red, the man who killed Audrey's murderer for Ressler and delivered the bastard's head in a lovely ornamental box. Then he had angst that he really wanted Red to kill the man responsible for Liz's presumed death. Of course he did. Everyone did. Please, Ressler, just admit that you're not the paragon of virtue you want everyone to think you are. You'll feel better.

If Alexander Kirk is speaking truth, then we've finally established what's seemed clear since the beginning, that Red is not in fact Liz Keen's father. If he's lying, why is he lying? What is Kirk's game plan? And if it is true, we have to confront the second question of just why Red is obsessed with Liz. It seems that Red knew Katarina Rostova, that he was probably her American handler - was she a double agent? - and that he was in love with her. He's said, apparently to his dream Katerina a few episodes ago, that he had to choose between saving her and saving her daughter Masha - Liz. Will we have more clarity about that in Season Four? And is this the root of his long-standing feud with Kirk?

Red's said that criminals are liars, and he's a criminal. But in the first episode, he spoke of Liz having a father who was a criminal, and a mother who died of grief and shame. It's been presumed that was a lie of some sort, but Kirk, if he is Konstantin and if Konstantin is Liz's father, is a criminal. And Katarina committed suicide, why? And who started the fire? Was it to cover up that Rostov got away?

And wait just a minute, world, haven't we forgotten something? Doesn't Liz remember killing her father? Or did she just wing him? It's kind of hard to be sure of your shooting when you're four years old. Did Rostov start a fire to hide his escape? Did Red start it to destroy evidence?

And please, BLACKLIST, you're getting repetitive, and repetitively sexist at that. Liz Keen is turning into a Perils of Pauline heroine. Thist season the entire first half was "Red must keep Liz alive while on the run." The seond half was "protect Liz and the baby from Solomon." Next season is "Red must save Liz from Kirk." Wasn't there a time when Elizabeth Keen was a competent, intelligent FBI agent and not a creature in constant need of rescue? Red, Tom, Cooper, Ressler - they're fathers, a lover, and a brother all busy protecting the fragile flower that is Poor Liz.

This was once a show that passed the Bechdel test. Two women, Liz and other female agents, could have a sustained conversation that was not about men. Now all Liz can talk about is Tom, babies, and being mad at one of her father figures who has to rescue her yet again. Liz Keen once kicked ass; now she's a weak, whining thing that just wants what she wants, which is to get away from daddy. She's become a passive-aggressive teenager. What are the chances we can get back to Liz having skills, training, and an IQ over 75? This is not the Liz who picked locks, pocketed priceless antiquities, shot the Attorney General, and profiled Red over cocktails. This is a soap opera diva. What are the chances of restoring some dignity to her character?

So, Bokenkamp and company, you've got your plates full. The spinoff could be fun, sure, but maybe you need to settle some of your problems here first. Could you rescue Liz promptly in Season Four, find her some decent babysitters (Mr. Kaplan and Scottie Hargrave seem willing to volunteer), and give her a spinal transplant so she can get back to a non-humiliating adult life?

Oh, and could you please let Red kill Alexander Kirk? Up close and personal? Because Ressler, as well as the audience, would like that very much. Thank you.

Photo Credit: NBC Universal