Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment comes one of the best shows on television with Raymond Reddington and THE BLACKLIST: Season 7.

The season begins with Reddington (James Spader) being kidnapped by Katarina Rostova (Laila Robins) while in Paris. Liz Keene (Megan Boone) and Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) decide it is time to tell Cooper (Harry Lennix) and Aram (Amir Arison) who he really is as Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) goes off on his own to find him. In the meantime, the taskforce is looking into the man called “The Illusionist”.

Moving in next door to Liz, Rostova friends her and gets to know Liz’s daughter Agnes without revealing who she is. Reddington thought he had escaped but realizing that doing so put a target on Dom’s (Brian Dennehy) back. In the meantime, the taskforce has Aram go undercover looking for who is responsible for acts that seem to thrill the wealthy and finds a potential new relationship.

Cooper learns that a friend and officer in the Navy thought dead is actually alive. Redding helps to find out why this happened taking Cooper to Kuwait. Trying to find a nanny for her daughter, her nice neighbor offers to help. Next on the blacklist, Liz is investigating who wants to hurt kids at a boarding school.

Liz is looking for a new member of the team and investigating a scientist’s death linked to his A.I. work. If that is not hard enough, the group is trying to find out who is responsible for impregnating women and changing men.

Reddington is also still dealing with finding Rostova who is now trying to hurt a friend by forcing him to remember things he has been brainwashed to forget. Keeping her secret is getting harder as well when Agnus tells Liz things that send up red flags. The circle is beginning to close as Reddington and the task force get close to Rostova. Her way out is telling Liz that Reddington is lying again about who he is and confessing who she is.

Liz isn’t the only one figuring things out as Ressler comes clean about what he knows as well. It is Liz who decides to start her own files against Reddington. New to the team is Agent Alina Park (Laura Sohn) who has a past of her own that she doesn’t want to come to light.  Reddington is off to find Ilya Koslov known as Frank Bloom (Brett Cullen) and the situation is not good.

Dembe needs help when a close friend, an Imam, is in trouble and Reddington is there for him and a health issue follows him. Ressler’s brother Robby (Anthony Michael Hall) shows up to deal with something that happened to them in their younger years and is back to haunt them. A murder from 1995 is not everything Ressler remembers, and it is time to come clean on it all.

Liz comes to terms with everything that has happened in her life and makes a major decision about whether it would be Reddington or Rostova that gets her loyalty.

Spader as Reddington is nothing but spectacular. The other day I started watching episodes of BOSTON LEGAL and realize that his “Reddington” training came as early as 2004 as Alan Shore (and secretly I adore both characters equally). In THE BLACKLIST he gets a chance to be charming, a little evil, very open to retribution, loyal to his friends and has a dedication to Liz that goes beyond anything his character will let on to. As long as he keeps showing up on my screen weekly, he can be all of those things and more!

Boone as Liz is definetly a woman who is living a four-layer life. First she is an task force agent who leaves no stone unturned to get the bad guy, second she is the daughter of Russian spies and it keeps drawing her back, third she is the mother of a young daughter who is getting old enough to understand what is happening and finally – confused on all counts! As a viewer, I’m not thrilled when she turns on Reddington because, and let’s face it, no one messes with Red!

Lennix as Cooper has got to be the most patient man on the planet because if anyone else pulled the madness Keene and Reddington have – I think there would be firings and arrests everywhere! I enjoy Cooper’s stableness in the midst of his group’s ability to find themselves dealing with and there is something about his caring about everyone involved that is pretty darn cool.

Klattenhoff as Ressler seems like the straight arrow and the by-the-book guy but this season we find out a little more about his book. When his brother comes to town there is a history that has come back to call on them and gives us the first inside look to Ressler’s reason for the way he is. Arison as Aram has an interesting season and with Samara gone, the door is open for him to find a new relationship. The thing is – it isn’t the average relationship that even this character thought of. Arison’s characters brilliance comes with the tap of computer keys but when it comes to people, he needs more practice!

Tawfiq as Dembe is the other calm presence in the series. That isn’t to say there isn’t a big story behind the character of Dembe, it is just that Tawfiq has found a way to give him a quiet strength with a loyalty that is absolutely unquestionable, even if there is a moment that he does question it all. There is a connection between Dembe and Reddington that is unbreakable, and I love that about these two characters.

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The Bluray Exclusive Features include Uncharted Territory: A Season Cut Short, Deleted Scenes, Blooper Reel, Behind THE BLACKLIST: Season 7, Cast and Crew Episode Commentaries and Brian Dennehy Tribute.

There are a few things that I want to mention about Season 7 that I think are important. First, the passing of Brian Dennehy and it must be noted because this man is an actor that I have always followed. As Dom he brought life to the story of Liz, Rostova and Reddington and he will be missed. Secondly, with Covid-19 wreaking havoc in the real world, the last episode of THE BLACKLIST is amazing with its animation and comic book look which is true thinking on the show’s feet. Well done!

THE BLACKLIST is a sensational series, but it must be said that without James Spader, Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff, Harry Lennix, Amir Arison, Hisham Tawfiq and Brian Dennehy, it would just be a so-so series. These actors make it so much more than that, it is a mystery wrapped in an enigma that I would not miss for the world (even if Liz does make me want to scream).

On Bluray, you can revisit before the next season comes and see if there are clues we all have missed or, see the first seven seasons as a binge watch and catch up with the rest of us! You will quickly see why the series continues to be a fan favorite.

In the end – its time to make a decision!

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