30 Days of Fangirl-ism - Day 13: Another freebie

Since the prompt for today is "The best cosplayers of your fandom that you’ve seen; the ones you consider to be real-life versions of your favorite characters, OTP, etc." I've decided to do a freebie as I don't really follow anyone who does cosplay. It's a cool part of fandoms, sure, but just not my thing.


So I'm just going to sit here and gush about one of my favorite actors on one of my fravorite shows - Ryan Eggold as Tom Keen in The Blacklist. This comes from basically me watching and fangirling over him in Sons of Liberty where he plays the mild-mannered Bostonian Doctor, Joseph Warren. It just gave me more appreciation for an actor I've enjoyed watching over the last year play an incredibly complex and mysterious character.

gif by dirtyfootballangel on tumblr.

Tom Keen was introduced to us as Elizabeth Keen's somewhat nerdy, but overly adorable and adoring, husband. He is a teacher by day, and a double agent by night... but we didn't know that at first. We just thought he was Lizzie's hubby who got caught in an impossible situation (dude was attacked and nearly died!)... but all that changed as Red gives Lizzie a heads up that Tom is not who he appears to be. We spent all of Season 1 watching Liz deal with the emotions of trying to figure out who and what to believe. We spend ALL seasons trying to figure out just what and who Tom Keen is. I love and hate that last fact all at the same time.

I want to know, so badly, who Tom Keen is. WHAT IS HIS STORY?! We won't get any answers to that when The Blacklist returns Superbowl Sunday. But Tom will be back in the picture at some point in the second season, and I can't wait.  

Ryan Eggold is a great, nuanced actor. He can say more with a look than most actors say in an entire script. As Joseph Warren he's compassionate, quiet, and trustworthy with a moral center. As Tom Keen he plays both sides of the coin to a T... and I'm convinced that he truly loves Lizzie even when he tries to convince her he doesn't. There are so many layers to that onion, and Eggold plays each one as good if not better than the last. 

Like I said, I can't wait to see him come back to The Blacklist...

30 Days of Fangirl-ism - Day 10: Favorite scene/moment from a favorite fandom

Again, I won't choose a Neal centric scene from Once Upon A Time as I did that in a previous blog post. (Also amusing is I whined about Michael Raymond-James not giving details quick enough for his "new project" in that blog post - and this weekend said project is premiering on The History Channel. I am so excited, and I really truly hope that he is right that this project IS special and his career is blessed by it! He deserves it, great guy and actor.)

So I will choose to feature MRJ's Sons of Liberty costar to feature. Ryan Eggold as Tom Keen has been such an interesting persona in The Blacklist, and the scene that is one of my favorites from the series was the one where Lizzie confronts Tom and he goads her into making a crucial mistake. NBC is stupid and won't let people post clips on youtube, I wish they did because I'd love to just rewatch the fight sequence again. It was quick and fast and I remember being on the edge of my seat during the entire back and forth they had.

The relationship of Tom and Lizzie Keen is what keeps my interest in the show. Just who hired Tom when to do what where she's concerned. And, was it just a job? To me it seems Tom does love Lizzie and is torn by his "mission" (whatever it is) and how he's grown to care for her. Is it a healthy/safe relationship, heck no, so I don't see the show having them end up together, but I want to know who Tom Keen really is and what his whole story is.

And I doubt highly Lizzie or Tom is done with each other.