The Blacklist had so much potential.

I feel like it could have been in the same lines as The Shield/ Breaking bad if the showrunners just played it a little smart. James Spader is amazing as red, the criminal of the week are usually fantastic, and we see a glimpse into the larger picture at play. I do wish the creators did not rug pull and flip flop every other episode. Agent Keen should have died in Season 3, and the Task Force's gradual fall into the 'ends justify the means' should have come crashing down around them. Red should probably have revealed his backstory early on, and instead of useless twists (most notably with Tom - He's innocent/He's guilty/Berlin hired him/Red hired him - which is obviously a retcon/ He loves Liz/ He's a criminal cold blooded murderer but Liz is suddenly fine with him) they should have focused more on the conspiracies and underworld shenanigans. I feel like the potential of greatness is there. It's just that the fat often drags the meat. Mr Kaplan would have been the perfect opportunity for Red to collapse, he wrongly tried to kill someone who wanted to look after Liz, who had intimate knowledge of his workings, and at the crux of it, he was a criminal, and when it rains it pours. His empire should have been decimated after that saga. But alas, it just had to drag on.