Posted on Sunday, 17 July 2022 Posted by aussieokie

(Translation: Hey Jeanette, I hope you’re doing well. I’ve known since season 1 that there was a connection between Reddington and Ressler. (Except for Liz) Reddington’s remarks and behavior are always mysterious. A lovely evening.)

Hey Anon :-) I think they wanted to imply there was a connection between Red and Ressler after they both had the same “rare” (it’s not really) blood type in Anslo Garrick.

And for a while I wondered if Red was in fact related to Ressler and not Liz. I wouldn’t have minded if Red and Ressler turned out to be family and Red no relation at all to Liz (which he wasn’t in the end). As long as they owned it and didn’t dance around like they did on Red’s relationship to Liz 🙄 But it was not to be.

In usual form, their shared blood type was something revealed in one episode that was never mentioned again. It became obvious that having the same blood type was nothing more than a plot device to enable the field blood transfusion.

In the end, their only “relationship” is one of hunter and hunted who found themselves having to work together, and then developed an amazing bond when Red saved Ressler’s life. One that Ressler begrudgingly acknowledged, and for years I loved their back and forth. I loved their snark with each other. I wrote TONS of fanfic scenes about this bond and Red saving Ressler numerous times. I loved it. Couldn’t get enough of it.

Their ignoring this bond in Season 9 was just one of the many things wrong with it. If we’d got some amazing Red and Ressler content throughout the season, it would have been much better. I don’t know why they dropped all of that just because Liz was no longer around. I barely remember any Red and Ressler scenes apart from Ressler on Red’s jet, and Red knowing that Liz wanted a life with Ressler. We should have got so much more out of their complicated relationship this season but (as usual) Ressler was mostly ignored after Between Sleep and Awake.

Maybe in Season 10? I won’t hold my breath though! Thanks for the ask!

Posted on Wednesday, 6 July 2022 Posted by aussieokie

(Translation: Hey Jeanette i watched season 9 And I’m hugely disappointed. Not only the absence of Liz, but also the extra role that Ressler was given. Only the episode with Theodor was very nice. Also as a result of 22 Ressler’s testimony about Keen was very nebulous. Klattenhoff deserves better.)

Hey anon, I 100000% agree with you. Season 9 just didn’t do it for me. So many things were not right with it.

It didn’t bode well that the opening scene of the season revealed that Dembe was now an FBI agent. (And not only an agent, but apparently an inept one who had his FBI badge on him while being undercover.) Ugh.

The entire season was lackluster. There were a few bright spots, as you said, with Ressler and Theo in Between Sleep and Awake. And while Ressler got some good moments early in the season in the immediate aftermath of Liz’s death, he was (AS USUAL) completely underused. Then, in the very end scene at Liz’s grave where Ressler was speaking of the woman he loved that almost drove him to destroy himself, all he said in memoriam was ‘she got to me’. Again -ugh.

The biggest problem I had with the entire season was that it was written to make Red smell like roses and be the innocent victim, instead of owning the fact he was the reason Liz died. His actions in 822 (and indeed, the entire show, really) caused her death, but no… instead we got a complete retcon and, 'hey, let’s make Marvin the bad guy, that will be a surprise, right?’ from the writers. Ridiculous.

Oh, that and 'let’s make bungling Aram leader of the task force instead of the senior agent, Ressler’ because Amir is leaving and we should completely man-up his character before he does. Which may be unkind, but that’s how it felt to me. Ugh. How many ughs is that?

So I’ve gone from loving this show, living and breathing it and writing tons of fanfics, making videos, running Ressler and Keenler online events, and going to NY twice because of the show to 'I’m not even sure why I’m still watching.’

But there is only one reason I’m still watching - Diego. As long as Diego is there, I’m there.

Thanks for the comment!