(1): TV show review: The Blacklist; an extreme love circle.

As experience taught us, even rainfall comes with a loud and scaring rumblings of thunder. The same way anyone aiming to regain one's physical sharpness knows that hurtful workouts have to be practiced to burn the fat that has been lying comfortably beneath one's skin, cuddling with one's flesh, sleeping for only God knows how many years. But all the loudness and severity of those natural and human conditions do not make people lose hope, for they know light would triumph over darkness, peace would overtake violence and happiness would drive away every sad energy around. The same way the sorrow the rumblings of thunder comes with never make one forget that rain is coming. Or the severity of workouts never would make an overweight forget that he'll be in shape again. That's how promising man's intuition is. But what if I tell you a certain complex and artistic tale that defy the intuitive lens with which man view cause and effect, see correlation and variation, and predict the everything predictable within man's environment. When I say tale, I mean a masterpiece of a thriller that sends man's intuitive ability to exploit accuracy and precision to an absolute wrong way. That, despite every sense of humility, is an artistic tale.

Its a tale of a notorious crime pin named Raymond Reddington who has proven to be a genius in every endeavor human being could lay his hands on. Reddington just wake up one day and decided to come up with a formidable list of what before the surfacing of his decision should be considered only-God-can-deal-with criminals called "The blacklist". He surrendered in a bid to serve as an undercover informant to the FBI, hoping to take down the people on that Blacklist, on a condition that a young profiler by the name Elizabeth Keen, must be introduced into the task force and work closely alongside him. Reddington's motive was unclear. If one assumes the best, one could say he aims to work with the bureau to save humanity, by taking down the untouchables - which will prove so unbecoming of a wanted fugitive whose end always justify the means, in the process, sabotaging both domestic and foreign Intel. Assuming the worst, one could say its to eliminate his competitors in the arena of crime - to turn market monopolistic for his own benefit, which is very doable for him even without the help of FBI. So it makes everyone involved with the secret task force nervous. But its only right to be nervous about a man with profile of Reddington. And his hidden motive, which would later be found out, defied even the richest of imaginations, and has caught both the best and the worst assumptions off guard, for it is what I call the most decent application of dominant strategy in recent times. Through Reddington's help, great number of sociopaths, psychopaths, sadists and antisocials have been eliminated. Likewise several biochemical, Bio-tech, physiurgical and technological innovators-turned terrorists have been taken down. In the process, good FBI agents have fallen. So many innocent people have found their own way to the grave with or without their consent or knowledge. United States have shaken; several governmental and non-governmental organisations and multinational corporations have danced to the tune of Raymond Reddington. And never forget, with his close accomplice, Dembe Zuma. And his idiotic team of Marvin Gerrard, among others. 

I don't want to go so deep, but I can agree that Raymond's competitive strategies explain the concept of Nash equilibrium better than the mathematical functions of  Dr. John Nash, and has put it up for application better than the Cournot's oligopolistic quantity determining model of August Cournot. Raymond is the wisest of talkers with the sharpest of tongues, certainly better than the eloquent big boys in RR Martin's game of thrones, Tyrion lannister and king of spices. He is an information digger with ears beneath the surface of hell, Varys the spider could may be have the honour of cleaning his shoes. He is cold-hearted and violent, making anyone in his surrounding  that has a decent understanding of zero-sum game into believing that he's a danger in one's life. Which Indeed he is. But why?

The loudspeaker in the plot of blacklist says its a crime thriller. But the philosophy behind it says its a deep love story. The pace of rendition at which the blacklist harness the deep interrelated romantic relationships between the characters has sabotaged our hunger towards wanting to know who is the next blacklister on the line to be taken down, or who has performed better than whom. We're consumed by the tenacity of the idea that's surrounding what's related to what, when and how. The viscosity of such emotional fiction has made us underrate the hilarious genius of Aram mojtabai, the arrogance in the righteousness of Donald Restler, the charming counter-intelligence of Samar Navabi, and leadership and professionalism of Harold Cooper. Plus the fickleness and professional pettiness of Tom Keen.

All of which were put on by Reddington to mess up the entire world simply to complete his incomplete love story. The actions of Reddington, which despite them been well crafted and contingent, have in the process brought many players into that extreme love circle. Elizabeth keen was brought into contact with Tom Keen, a man she eventually fall madly in love with. Everyone within that circle was brought into contact with love. Some were unearthing, elucidation of how their actions and inactions were motivated by the demands of their romantic fantasy, especially among the Blacklisters. Playing in his head, Reddington was like one of two thieves caught in a crime scene, and each being interrogated separately and being offered guarantees if he confesses. His evaluation elucidate the totality of effective prisoners dilemma. So contingent and enormous, capable of bringing others inside or outside with a single decision. Blacklist has produced elite and unique criminal intercourse, but not as elite and unique as the depth of emotional holes it digs in our hearts. In fact, the entire adversities in the show came into being because Raymond fall in love with Katarina Rostova, a Russian spy.

The one which touched me more is the calculus of love and professionalism between Samar and Mojtabai. Samar Navabi was replaying how Malik died in Natalie's arms after he got shot while trying to save her from the corporation that wanted to use her to develop a biological weapon. How Malik, as a PhD holder in biochemistry wasted his peak trying to discover how he could infect himself with a disease similar to Natalie's, the love of his life, so that he'll be immune and they'll have the chance to touch and kiss each other for the first time. Samar called that one of the most romantic things she's ever seen, and told Aram, her colleague, about how sorry she felt for herself that she didn't have anyone like that.

Then she started thinking about her pay raise, and how she complained to Aram about how could she be earning 32% less than he earns, despite having PhD from the London school of economics, and being at recieving end of gunshots while on duty while he always works from the safe house. Then again she thought about the time Harold cooper, their director, called her to offer a 16% raise, which she declined, because it was still 16% adrift of Aram's salary. But then she thought about how could Cooper knew, and asked the accountants if they had spoken to Cooper about her wanting a pay rise, but she discovered they hadn't. 

Then she thought about the romance of Malik and Natalie, which makes her understand that the 16% she was offered is exactly half of the difference between her salary and Aram's, which means it was Aram that spoke to Cooper, and offered to divide and share his 32% with her, to make their payrolls equal. That's how she got the 16% raise, so she won't feel bad or insecure or unworthy anymore. Nobody could ever do that for her she believes. She doesn't have to feel sorry for herself anymore, for if she's Natalie, she's found her Malik in Aram.

Then Elizabeth keen, after everything Tom Keen did, decided to forgive him and embrace him, the man she couldn't spend a without. She faked her death, got away from her few days old daughter, just to find a world suitable for her and her beloved Tom. Such energy can only be harnessed from love.

In short, Blacklist is a calculus of love and adversity, a mixture of emotion and professionalism, an equation of individual ability and impossible strings, and a major case study for game theory. Blacklist is a myth, but so is the independence of human actions and inactions which thoroughly depend and correspond to one constant variable; which is love. Blacklist is a tale of people who believe in love, but do not believe its the death of their duty. Some of us are lucky we didn't get carried away by the scintillating dialectical artistry, plus the densely weighted criminal affair that we've forgotten about the real plot, thanks to our strong intuitions and sensitivity towards love. For it notify us, just like it usually does so that we won't get carried away by the rumblings of thunder forgetting that rain is coming. But for quiet a big number of watchers, the plot has rightly slipped away from their lens, thanks to Reddignton and his undoables. However, they are not to blame, its all worth it, for Reddington is an artist, just like every aspect of Blacklist is an art.

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