I think I know what happened here.
The writing staff from Blacklist was really stressed out one day. They knew their lead female was leaving due to pregnancy and knew that the chemistry between her and the male lead really powered the whole thing. They were upset and looking for something new. They all got together and decided to have a fun night out to clear their heads. They wound up in a vintage drive in that was playing the first few Ocean’s movies. The next morning everyone came back refreshed and full of ideas.
That same played out pre-shadowrun, pre-ronin, pre-heat idea. Then they did that–even going so far as to add the fun musical score to the heists. In that process they tossed out everything they’d built up in the blacklist for a cheesy homage piece.
I don’t know what the gain is in this ruse, but it feels like a violent shove in the wrong direction enroute to pushing us essentially into the same conflict we were in before this string of Ocean’s episodes began. The stakes haven’t been raised at all and what we learned is that the Reddington bureau of the FBI basically has no scruples but is really tight nit–kinda like Ocean’s gang.
Like Ocean’s gang they’ll all go away soon too, only to be back with more hijinks in the fall.
Some Thoughts:
- And then people started quoting Taylor Swift in graduation speeches.