"The Blacklist" The Forecaster (No. 163) (TV Episode 2017) Poster

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8/10
Hypnotized Assasins
ZegMaarJus28 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This episode begins with someone who is playing with clay and makes a little doll. Liz gets a threatment from an anonymous person. A women drowns in a swimming pool. Her name is Trisha Cullpepper, a federal judge. Tom gets another threatment from The Forecaster. The next assasination is planned at the old post office. Liz saved the man who almost got killed by the motor biker. Maggie, the girl who makes these clay figures has been ubducted by Ben, Liz and Ressler found Maggie at the bus stop. Iniko killed Geoffrey, after a short conversation Red killed Iniko. Ressler shot down Ben he died instantly. Liz saved Beckner from the death. Dembe tells Liz that Red killed Mr Kaplan. Solid episode of The Blacklist Season 4, James Spader was so good this episode he fits this role so nicely and so smoothly.
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6/10
A weaker episode in an otherwise great series
foamythefearsome30 September 2022
The Blacklist has given us a lot of good episodes, storylines, plots, turns - everything. Not all episodes can be great, and this one is an example of that.

While the premise of a "psychic-but-not-really-psychic" is an interesting one, I feel like it completely misses the target audience, and I do not believe it fits well with the other Blacklisters we have seen so far, nor any of the overarching storylines.

One of the things the series generally do well is walk the fine line between being realistic enough whilst still telling a fictional and interesting story. Not everything needs to be 100% factual, accurate, or even possible in real life (e.g. Exaggerated diseases, weapons and/or technology that does not exist but theoretically could), but I think this one went a bit too far beyond what I would consider plausible, even within its universe. The dioramas were cute, very creative even, but getting that much information from radio transmissions you can pick up on is too much of a stretch.

For the longest time, I thought the girl was actually the Blacklister, because the actual guy gets so little attention during the episode that you almost forget he exists. I guess his story matches the Blacklist much better than the subplot with the girl, but because it does not get any spotlight in the episode it kinda falls at the end when they get to it.

When I look at the season's story arc, I feel like this had little to no benefit to the overall story, so it just felt out of place on all fronts. It was entertaining nonetheless, so it gets a sufficient rating, but it was a bit disappointing compared to the great episodes I had gotten used to this season, even for a filler episode.
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10/10
Bringing awareness to Congenital Rubella Syndrome
jamie-0779310 February 2020
As a #CongenitalRubellaSyndromeSurvivor I really appreciate that they brought some awareness of Congenital Rubella Syndrome ( which the little girl was supposed to have) to the viewers of the show. I really appreciated it.
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4/10
The Forecaster Calling for Cloudy Skies
insideout09815 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Whatever is happening over in Blacklist land is definitely on life support. I'll start with a few bullet points: 1] While Liz is reinstated as an agent, her character did little to make the move exciting. She was just there, kind of over it all. 2] She has also acquired a house-husband in Tom who can't seem to find a place in any of this worth mentioning. Then there's Reddington, obviously bored out of his mind now that Liz and the baby are safe, making deals that no one could possibly find in any way interesting or relevant to the perpetuity of a traditionally Blacklist level plot structure. 4] It's gotten so bad that Dembe consults with Liz about Reddington's deteriorating state of mind, in spite of the fact that, like I said, he's just plain bored, not insane...probably due to the lackluster scripting. 5] And I'm sorry but an episode about a handicapped young girl able to hear transmissions from a hit man in an adjacent apartment that everyone assumes is some sort of clairvoyance was just preposterous. And 6] Zero money was spent shooting this episode, which paints a rather grim portrait of the show's future. Oh, and one more...7] The petty filler subplot involving "negotiations" with the cobalt mine owner was about as interesting as waiting in line at the DMV. As a once die-hard Blacklist fan, I can see the writing on the walls, which is looking more and more like "How do we get this monkey off our backs?" I'm sorry. I hate to write a review like this about one o my all time favorite shows, but it is what it is. Maybe next week things will begin to turn around. It would be helpful to get Tom back to work, possibly for Reddington. I could go on.
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3/10
Insults the viewer!
kristinatoddy29 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I love this show - but seriously. As another reviewer mentioned, creating detailed dioramas based on over hearing conversations .. is so preposterous. I overlook so much implausibility - but this crosses the line.
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5/10
Such a dumb plot
Boris-Sh20 October 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Even if you hear a future plan (and come on - how many details of a murder plan would really get discussed over the phone?) - how can you create an exact diorama of a location you are not familiar with, how can you know the colors of the clothes which will be worn, how can you know where the victim's body will be, how can you know the surroundings, when you're just sitting at home? And how can you have all the materials in advance to create such a future-seeing diorama?And how can a small child grasp such evil plots and portray themso quickly? Really disappointing... an insult to the intelligence of the viewers.
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4/10
Why would the man take the girl?
johanwilde-4891213 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
This episode was probably the worst of this season so far (I'm currently rewatching the series) Redington doing other business the entire season and Tom having no purpose is just odd.

But what annoyed me the most is when the guy took the little girl, what was the point? Their safe house was compromised so they would have to move anyway, and even if they didn't they could just change the frequency or way of communicating so that she wouldn't know. It's a waste of time and only makes the killer more vulnerable than he had to be.

Also, as others have pointed out, there is WAY to much details in the clay sculptures than would be reasonable for over hearing a conversation about a murder...
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2/10
The worst episode this season
nfire-2974130 December 2020
I truly enjoy this series. But, this episode is laughable. I hope that the episodes get back on track with what made this series successful
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4/10
Preposterous
Hitchcoc19 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I can't go beyond the ridiculousness of a brain damaged child putting together dioramas from messages received in her head. They precede horrendous murders. She hears some guy and heads to her work table with her glue sticks and construction paper, and shows a man floating in a swimming pool. If that were the whole show, I would have rated it a one. But there are a couple other things here. First of all, we have Red cooking up business with cobalt mines and some shady characters who control the market. He sets up the guys and then summarily blows them away. He calls in some cleaners (to do what Mr. Kaplan used to do). We have seen the depression consuming Dembe after Red shot Kate in the head. He goes to see Liz and Tom to point out that Red has become virtually inhuman and then tells the story of the shooting.
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