My review on The Blacklist — Season 8

I've been following The Blacklist for a while now, and it's a series that I so much like due to the character. I started season 8 knowing that the shared relationship between Liz and Raymond had already reached a very difficult stage, but I still wasn't fully prepared for the next tension that will come up between both of them and even in this season.

And I like how this season began because they didn't continue the old routine of Raymond always giving the FBI criminals and those who should be on the blacklist while they solve the case. Though all the cases are still there. But the story has shifted from that, and it is now focused on Liz, how how she's ready to do anything and go any length just to unsolve and know her true identity, her parents, and what Raymond, who claimed to be her father, has been hiding from her all these while.

One thing that I could not but pay full attention to was how Liz was so different in this season. She was no longer the naive Liz. I saw some seasons ago always running to Raymond to ask questions and wait for the answers he will give. This time, she has made up her mind and is determined to go beyond her limit, and that decision alone has changed the face of her relationship with the task force, which becomes uncomfortable to watch. Right from the time, I've always said I didn't like how Liz always behaved, and I don't support most of her decisions, but still, I understand why she has been behaving like that because she seems so consumed by what she believed she has lost. And I got to see how her anger was so personal in this season that the previous...

Raymond, on the other hand, still got my heart as my favorite character, and I enjoy watching the man in the hat. And he is still in the game of making simple things feel dangerous. And in this season, I still saw how his usual confidence that has always been protecting him made him vulnerable. And I always enjoy all his scenes, especially when he's with Dembe, the only man who can look at him and not get intimidated by his actions. And they are one of the few people with a strong and lasting bonding and friendship.

The task force also has some new faces and their special moments too, as Cooper continued to keep his team alive after an attempted murder on his life and also dealing with his problem that goes way back before he became an assistant director of the FBI.

And also, agent Ressler became emotionally involved with Liz so much that they had sex together. While Aram stayed the innocent and naive computer guru that kept bringing life to the team. And Alima Park, the new FBI agent, also contributed her own path while she also suffered from her past.

And what is the whole season without the usual threat? In this season, Townsend was the usual threat, and he is not just another criminal on Raymond's list. He's so obsessed with Raymond that it created lots of dangers, while he also hated him personally. And some episodes that involved the Russians, like Ivan Stepanov and Rakitin, also made the show look more enjoyable as I watched. And those parts also made me realize that Raymond's criminal organization is so much larger than me wherever is going on, I the FBI black site.

And another this season, I like how they were taking me back to Raymond's past with making it complicated or giving everything immediately. Elizabeth Keen was searching for answers, while Raymond was trying to still control what she had access to, and in a way, those around them were caught up in-between what was going on.

And at some point, some of Liz's decisions, because sometimes I couldn't just accept, and some of the things felt stretched more than normal, and some things should have naturally unfolded instead of what they did, though not all. And I keep getting questions upon questions when I should have gotten their answers, which was tiring. Though it wasn't boring at all.

This season 8 was on another level, and it was like I just watched a major change. Like something new is about to happen in the next season because Liz made it look darker and more personal, while Raymond was just still himself but with a bit of composure lost. It was a good watch, and I'll still recommend you watch it if you have.

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