Here's a quick thing about me. I stumbled into some podcast called Dead Eyes. It's tremendously entertaining. I binge-listened to the whole shebang as quickly as was humanly possible. I ditched work and went without sleep. Whatever it took... all the classic symptoms and conditions of digital media addiction.
It's about an "Actor" named Connor Ratliff who was originally cast in a bit-part in Band of Brothers. But he more or less gets fired and replaced on the first day by America's dad, Tom Hanks because it was reported that Tom said that Connor had "dead eyes." Whatever that means, right? And so the podcast chronicles all of the misadventures that occur during the next two decades as a result.
It is exceedingly thorough. The interviews are incredible. And you'd think that he'd be bitter, vengeful, vindictive, right? No way. It's very difficult to explain but this poor fellow is stuck in a purgatory of discomfort and horror and apathy and bliss because of so many forces that were horribly beyond anyone's control as he struggles to make sense of his whole life.
Anyway, in one of the episodes, he spoke about auditioning for a bit part in the James Spader TV show, The Blacklist. I have a twisted history with Spader that goes all the way back to a movie called Less Than Zero. He terrified me in this film (I have a general dislike for coke dealers, I guess) and I've therefore mostly avoided all of his projects ever after. I even avoided his season of The Office. So I most definitely wasn't interested in watching this series during its original airing. Until I listened to Dead Eyes.
In this episode, Ratliff describes every role (all 8 of them) he was ever denied in The Blacklist and interviews all of the actors who eventually were cast in his place. Was I ever so entertained? So many questions! Like: Who is this Mr. Kaplan? Why is he an old lady? Why is Tony Soprano's sister in the show? Are the new cleaners brother and sister? Why were the actors never told this? Who even is Elizabeth Keen? And how many times do all the actors say the name "Raymond Reddington in the series? That's another big-cocked name, no? And so on.
Well, next thing you know, I am searching for this series on Netflix. Success! WTF? Seriously? It really is 9 seasons long? And still going? Apparently it paused only long enough to politely wait out the deadliest early stages of our most recent global pandemic?
So, weeks and weeks later, I am 5 seasons and 11 episodes deep into this thing. Yes. I'm still manifesting all the classic symptoms and conditions of digital media addiction. I can't seem to get enough of The Blacklist. I've even cried during more than a few episodes. It is, in the end, very compelling television. Well written. Well acted. Well cast. And although everything seems to happen just in the nick of time... you forgive this. You most willingly suspend your belief. You disregard time and space and physics. And you can't wait to watch the next one. I am 100% invested.
In the end, I think that my ultimate goal here is to watch the entire series and then go back and listen to The Blacklist episode of Dead Eyes again. So much effort. All because I desperately want to know what the hell he was talking about. I want to also be a part of this whole thing.
