Right from season three when I saw the things that innocent Liz was capable of doing, I became so much more invested in The Blacklist, and in this season five, a lot actually happened because Raymond moved from being this powerful manipulative man to someone who was making sure that his criminal record didn't fall completely after everything Mr. Kaplan started doing. Because he literally went broke, he had to say he doesn't like using the word "broke," but "illiquid." And to be honest, I like some of these parts because they revealed that Raymond was able to keep doing all those things because he had a lot of money and access, but almost everything was gone now. And Raymond was open to hustling with Liz just to raise some cash because he started sleeping in a small hotel, and this time, Dembe, a loyal servant, was not with him.
I will admit that I like how Liz kept evolving because she was not the same person in the previous seasons. And she has also learned that Raymond was her supposed father, thinking that that has already answered some questions she was searching for. But knowing that opened a doorway to another question in her life. And Safe was also so desperate to want to know what was inside those suitcases and why Raymond didn't want her to discover what was inside.
And after the death of her husband, her determination grew widely darker, and I must commend what the writer did here because instead of returning to her FBI profiler job after she had been removed from the wanted list, her grief completely changed her. And in the Ruin episode, I saw how far she is willing and desperate to go when she is pushed beyond her limits. And one thing I noticed, she was already moving with Raymond, knows some of his secrets, and now she has been thinking like him.
And before Tom's death, after so many warnings, I felt sorry for him because he went after the suitcase for more investigation because he knew it was important to his wife, Liz. But he was not strong enough, ignored the warning, and overlooked how many dangerous people were involved with that secret. Though I didn't expect him to die, his death opened another emotional stage for Liz, which changed the direction of this season. But the whole situation became very worse while watching because Tom had investigated the content of the suitcase to an extent; he had already gotten the DNA and was preparing to tell Liz when he was attacked by Ian Garvey's men.
I love the introduction of Garvey because he did just want to eliminate Raymond; he knew exactly how valuable the suitcase was and was planning to use what was inside to get rid of Raymond to gain access to his criminal network. And all these started connecting because others also came up and wanted to stake a claim for different reasons.
And moving to the task force agents. I like how the connection between Aram and Samer was going, they were falling in love slowly even though they didn't want people around to know. And with the whole situation of things around the task force, Agent Ressler's problem started becoming more personal. And as a servant and partner, Dembe still remains one of my favorites because he was one of the few people who truly understood Raymond and could easily confront him with being intimidated. Even though I have not talked much about Dembe and he doesn't speak too much, he just smiles and carries out orders. But his loyalty stands strong, and I like how he's not blindly loyal.
In this season, unlike other seasons where the mystery is always around humans. This time, it's way beyond the suitcase. And it was another big suspense and anticipation for me because I was also looking ahead to know what was inside the case and who really was Raymond. All these questions were coming across my mind, and why did Liz's grandfather keep himself from her?
And the season finale gave me the answer I was anticipating in a suitable way I like. Liz got to discover that the real bones in the suitcase were those of the real Raymond Reddington, meaning the man she has been calling her supposed father was just an imposter. And now again, Liz's mind shifted, and she was trying to discover who her real father was. And at the same time, trying to figure out who the imposter actually is.
Do I like how unnecessary they stretched the whole suitcase issue? No. Because I just feel they need need to deliberately withhold the information that long just to keep the whole mystery alive.
But still, season 5 was absolutely a top notch for me because I got to see how a lot of things were changing right from season 4 when I wanted to know why Raymond was trying to keep the suitcase safe, and now, what I'm after is to know who Red actually was now that I already know the real Raymond Reddington died years ago.
For me, 9.6/10.
imdb images
Other images are screenshots from my movie player
Rating: 96/100
