Season two started off so well, and when I saw the writers knock it out of the park with 'The Decemberist' and the 'Luther Braxton' episodes, I could hardly wait to see where the rest of the season would go. How my expectations have fallen....
After 'Luther Braxton: Conclusion', we received what is, in my opinion, the worst episode of the series to date, namely 'Ruslan Denisov.' Since then, we've had some good, but not great, episodes, and now this. 'The Major' is really only a partial episode, largely punctuated by quick clips of previous episodes, sometimes set to a song. It really brings down the tension from the modern story line, and it's abundantly obvious that this was done to stretch plot points. Judging by the preview for the next episode, we would have greatly benefited from having the two episodes merged as one.
The real shame of it is that the premise really is interesting. Certainly much more interesting than Ruslan Denisov and the Kenyon Family. A well-meaning detective going after Keen for the murder of an innocent man. His good intentions threatening to expose the Bureau's entire deal with Reddington. Said murder victim was executed by 'Tom Keen', Elizabeth's sort-of husband. And Tom's story is coming to the forefront, more interesting than it's ever been. If only the writers had kept the focus on these elements, instead of prolonging Elizabeth's interview with the judge to a ridiculous length.
For the record, I have no problem with a network series having 20+ episodes, but at the same time, I can not stress this enough: If you are going to have that many episodes, then they all need to maintain quality. Clearly, this is a series capable of grand things. But episodes like 'Ruslan Denisov' and 'The Major' are signs of a series that isn't even trying.
After 'Luther Braxton: Conclusion', we received what is, in my opinion, the worst episode of the series to date, namely 'Ruslan Denisov.' Since then, we've had some good, but not great, episodes, and now this. 'The Major' is really only a partial episode, largely punctuated by quick clips of previous episodes, sometimes set to a song. It really brings down the tension from the modern story line, and it's abundantly obvious that this was done to stretch plot points. Judging by the preview for the next episode, we would have greatly benefited from having the two episodes merged as one.
The real shame of it is that the premise really is interesting. Certainly much more interesting than Ruslan Denisov and the Kenyon Family. A well-meaning detective going after Keen for the murder of an innocent man. His good intentions threatening to expose the Bureau's entire deal with Reddington. Said murder victim was executed by 'Tom Keen', Elizabeth's sort-of husband. And Tom's story is coming to the forefront, more interesting than it's ever been. If only the writers had kept the focus on these elements, instead of prolonging Elizabeth's interview with the judge to a ridiculous length.
For the record, I have no problem with a network series having 20+ episodes, but at the same time, I can not stress this enough: If you are going to have that many episodes, then they all need to maintain quality. Clearly, this is a series capable of grand things. But episodes like 'Ruslan Denisov' and 'The Major' are signs of a series that isn't even trying.