7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Former government agent Raymond "Red" Reddington has eluded capture for decades. But he suddenly surrenders to the FBI with an offer to help catch a terrorist under the condition that he speaks only to Elizabeth "Liz" Keen, a young FBI profiler who's just barely out of Quantico.
Starring: James Spader, Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff, Harry Lennix, Hisham TawfiqMystery | 100% |
Crime | 82% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English, English SDH, French
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Five-disc set (5 BDs)
UV digital copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Ever since Lucille Ball gave birth at the same time as her fictional counterpart on I
Love Lucy,
producers of episodic TV have had their imaginations challenged by the pregnancy of a female
lead. When the creators of NBC's The Blacklist learned that star Megan Boone was expecting,
they concocted one of the riskiest solutions since The X-Files had Dana Scully abducted by aliens
(thereby giving actress Gillian Anderson a break for motherhood). The arc of Boone's tormented
FBI agent in Season Three kept fan sites buzzing for weeks, but rest assured that it will not be
revealed here.
As if Boone's pregnancy weren't enough of a storytelling challenge for an action heroine, The
Blacklist's producers upped their degree of difficulty by undertaking the creation of a spinoff
series, for which the final episodes of Season Three serve as a covert pilot. Centering on Tom
Keen (Ryan Eggold), the duplicitous husband of Boone's character, The Blacklist: Redemption is
set to debut later this year. But between preparing for an imminent birth and laying the
groundwork for a new series, The Blacklist may have taken on too much in Season Three. While
the production values and acting flair remain undiminished, the series seemed to be idling by
mid-season, without the propulsive forward momentum that fuels its suspension of disbelief.
Even James Spader's Raymond Reddington seemed to be losing his edge, although he regained it
by the season conclusion.
Spoiler alert: While the key developments of Season Three are not revealed below, events from
prior seasons are freely discussed. If you aren't caught up with the first two seasons of The
Blacklist (reviewed here
and here), proceed at
your
own risk.
The five 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-rays over which Sony has spread The Blacklist's twenty-three Season Three episodes continue the studio's first-rate presentation of the show's digital photography (captured with Sony CineAlta F-55, according to IMDb). The series' stylish cinematography has once again been rendered with impeccable black levels and a richly varied palette that extends from sterile meeting rooms to grimy street scenes—and everything in between. Fine detail is equally good in both dim and brightly lit scenes. As in the series' previous Blu-ray sets, there are no artifacts or anomalies in sight, which is no doubt at least partly attributable to Sony's generous allocation of digital real estate and the discs' healthy average bitrate (for digitally originated material) of around 22 Mbps.
The Blacklist's sound engineers continue to set a high standard for immersive mixes, with a 5.1 soundtrack (encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA) that supplies the series' far-flung locales with distinctive sonic signatures, some subtly environmental and others loud and boisterous. Broad dynamic range gives punch to weapons fire and explosions, while dialogue remains consistently clear and properly localized. Dave Porter (Better Call Saul) continues his scoring duties, but the show's soundtrack also makes heavy use of thematically appropriate songs from an array of artists, e.g., Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" and James Brown's "The Payback", both of which charge up the soundtrack for the mid-season climax in episode 10.
The Blacklist's inventive premise, slick writing and talented cast led by James Spader have
allowed the series to bank a sizeable reserve of goodwill with its fans. Season Three drew down
on that reserve, as the show's creative team labored in service of multiple goals that often appeared to be
incompatible, but by season's end, the show seemed to have regained its equilibrium, and I
eagerly await both Season Four and Redemption, if only to see what's next. Highly recommended
on its technical merits, but be prepared for a different kind of Blacklist.
2013-2014
Red Edition with Villains Dossier
2013-2014
with T-Shirt
2013-2014
2014-2015
Red Edition | includes Exclusive Villains Dossier
2014
The Red Edition
2015-2016
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1944
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Män som hatar kvinnor
2009
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1995
Flickan som lekte med elden
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2014