I certainly am hooked on The Blacklist which stars the fantastic James Spader. You remember James Spader? He used to play the shameless and yet adorable lawyer Alan Shore first on The Practice and then took the character to new heights on Boston Legal. Boston Legal is one of my absolute favorite series of all time. James Spader and William Shatner made that show. But then again Spader makes all the series he is involved in – like The Blacklist. He excels in playing shameless and shady characters like Red in The Blacklist. There is no doubt that this character is a bad person, but yet Spader plays him – like all his characters – in a way that makes you think ‘aaww, he cannot be THAT bad’ or ‘He has changed and has new-found respect for the law and basic values’. But they always have their own agenda and will spare no one who gets in their way.
So what’s The Blacklist all about? James Spader is Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington – an ex-government agent who after going rogue has been on FBI’s Most Wanted List for decades. Now suddenly Red turns himself in to the FBI and wants to broker a deal with the feds. He will help them to catch all the evil baddies that they are not even aware of (the truly bad of the bad), but he has one non-negotiable condition – he will only speak to a rookie agent Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Keen. The day Red surrenders himself to the FBI is Liz’s first day on the job. Coincidence? I think not…
The Key Players
Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington (James Spader of The Office and Boston Legal)
Ex-government – now a criminal mastermind with ties to all the master criminals
Not sure if he is a baddie with a plan or baddie trying to help? But very, very sure he is a BADDIE with capital letters
He wants it = he gets it. You don’t want to give it to him = he will either charm you or he will kill you
Has an unhealthy obsession about Lizzie. Either he is using her to gain something or he is her dad. Just cannot figure it out…
Has ‘The Blacklist’ which is his list of politicians, mobsters, spies and international terrorists who must be ‘brought to justice’, which in Red’s case usually means get rid of them
Truly an international man of mystery
Elizabeth “Liz” Keen (Megan Boone of Law & Order: Los Angeles)
A rookie Special Agent for the FBI who has had a bad first day which turns to worse
A criminal profiler
Wants to find out why Red chose her
Tries to profile Red while trying not to give in to the ‘Clarice and Dr. Lecter‘ mind game with him
Just wants to find out the truth
Wants to serve and protect without killing anybody thus interferes with Red’s vision
Seems that most of her days are bad borderlining worse
Donald Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff of Homeland)
The FBI Case Agent on Raymond Reddington
Veteran agent
Not a huge fan of Liz
Is suspicious of Red and also of Liz
Definitely knows more than he is saying
Meera Malik (Parminder Nagra of Bend It Like Beckham and ER)
CIA Agent
Looks like a doll, but fights dirty
Will go the extra mile to get her suspects to talk
Do not mess with this lady!
Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix of 24 and Emily Owens MD)
The assistant director of the FBI
Man with the steely stare
A man not to be messed with
Has perfected posing with a concerned look to an art
Tom Keene (Ryan Eggold of 90210, Dirt and Entourage)
Elizabeth’s husband
Looks like a teddy bear, but might be a cold-hearted killer
Might have been set up by Red
What’s really going on with Tom? He just sounds too good to be true
If he is innocent then he is really having the worst day, week, month, year of his life
It’s all about the relationship between Red and Liz. Is Red her father? Is he just playing her in his grand scheme for world domination of the criminal world (or what ever that is called)? Should you love or loathe Red? Should Liz run and hide or trust Red? All I have is questions and that’s what makes The Blacklist so compelling watching! I am hooked!
You can catch The Blacklist on Mondays on NBC if you are in the US and on Fridays on Sky here is the UK.
Want to find out more about Boston Legal? Check out TV.com
Want to find out more about The Practice? Check out TV Guide
Photos: The Blacklist, NBC
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