About The Blacklist
Overview
The Blacklist is an American drama series created by Sony Pictures Television and Davis Entertainment on NBC. The “Pilot” debuted on September 23, 2013.
On October 4 2013 NBC placed a back nine order, bringing the series up to 22 episodes.
After the first 10 episodes, on the 2nd of December 2013, the series took a mid-season break with the the 11th episode airing on 13th January 2014.
On December 3rd 2013 a second season of 22 episodes was ordered for the 2014/2015 season.
After three more episodes the series took another break, for the Winter Olympics, between the 27th of January and the 24th February 2014.
On May 11, 2014, NBC announced that the show would move timeslot in February 2015 to Thursdays - and also be their choice of show to air after the Super Bowl.
The season 1 finale, “Berlin: Conclusion”, was shown on May 12, 2014.
On August 25 The Blacklist won the Emmy Award for Stunt coordination for a drama series, miniseries or movie.
The second season première. “Lord Baltimore”, was first broadcast on 22 September 2014 on NBC.
After “The Decembrist”, on November 10 2014 the show took a midseason break, with the next episode airing on 1 February 2015 (after the Superbowl)
On February 5, 2015 it was announced that NBC had renewed The Blacklist for a third season.
The season 2 finale, “Tom Connolly”, was shown on May 14, 2015.
On June 22, 2015 NBC announced that the première of season 3 would be on September 24, 2015.
After “Kings of the Highway” on November 19, 2015, the show took a midseason break, with the next episode scheduled to air on January 7, 2016.
The series creator, Jon Bokenkamp, revealed during a December 4, 2015, interview on podcast The Blacklist Exposed that NBC had renewed The Blacklist for a fourth season.
On December 9 2015, it was announced that The Blacklist had been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series.
On May 14, 2016, NBC ordered a spin-off series of The Blacklist called The Blacklist: Redemption. The backdoor pilot was aired as an episode of The Blacklist. The spin-off focused on the relationship between Tom Keen and Susan Scott Hargrave. NBC announced that in the spin-off series Edi Gathegi, Tawny Cypress and Adrian Martinez will reprise their roles as Matias Solomon, Nez Rowan and Dumont. However, the show was cancelled on May 12, 2017, after its 8-episode season.
Synopsis
For decades, ex-United States Navy Office of Naval Intelligence officer Raymond Reddington (James Spader) has been one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives. Brokering shadowy deals for criminals across the globe, Red was referred to by the media as “The Concierge of Crime.”
Now, he's mysteriously surrendered to the FBI with an explosive offer: he will help catch a long thought dead terrorist, Ranko Zamani, under the condition that he speaks only to FBI special agent Elizabeth “Liz” Keen, an FBI profiler fresh out of Quantico. For Liz, it's going to be one hell of a first day on the job.
What follows is a twisting series of events as the race to stop a terrorist begins. What are Red's true intentions? Why has he chosen Liz, a woman with whom he seemingly has no connection? Does Liz have secrets of her own?
Ranko Zamani, we come to find out, is only the first of many on The Blacklist: a list of politicians, mobsters, spies, and international terrorists. He will help catch them all... with the caveat that Liz continues to work as his partner. Red will teach Liz to think like a criminal and “see the bigger picture”... whether she wants to or not.
Main Characters
Raymond "Red" Reddington
Raymond Reddington is a main character in the NBC series The Blacklist. Reddington is a criminal mastermind, making it to #4 and later to #1 on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, who suddenly turns himself in after 20+ years of evading the FBI.
Special Agent Elizabeth Keen
Elizabeth Keen has been with the FBI for 6 years and was head of the mobile emergency psych unit in New York. In “Pilot”, the first episode of "The Blacklsit" series she was asked to profile herself by Harold Cooper and revealed that her subordinates in New York called her “sir” and thought her to be a “bitch”. She is also revealed to have a degree in forensic psychology and graduated from Quantico a month before the series begins.
Elizabeth is brought on to the task force by the request of the dangerous criminal, Raymond "Red" Reddington.
Special Agent Donald Ressler
A special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Donald Ressler was the lead agent on the Raymond Reddington case until Elizabeth Keen was specifically requested by Reddington during the process of cooperating with Assistant Director Harold Cooper. He's a veteran field agent who has been tracking Raymond Reddington for 5 years – the bulk of his career. Ressler's greatest asset is his single-minded, almost obsessive devotion to his work. Despite his by-the-book methodology, he has always been one step behind Reddington.
Assistant Director Harold Cooper
Harold Cooper is the Assistant Director of Counter-Terrorism at the FBI. He's in charge of the Reddington Special Task Force.
He was a former officer of the U.S. Navy prior to joining the FBI, before climbing the ranks to senior FBI Agent in his time in Afghanistan.
Agent Alina Park
Alina Park is a FBI agent on the Post Office task force.
Agent Aram Mojtabai
Aram Mojtabai worked for the NSA for 14 years before being hired by Harold Cooper for his diverse skill set. Aram Mojtabai is skilled in hacking and data analytics, and has helped the task force significantly from his position behind the computer.
Dembe Zumba
Dembe Zuma is a main character in The Blacklist. He is Raymond Reddington's sworn bodyguard and one of his closest friends, having been rescued by Red from human trafficking as a child.
The Blacklist & Covid
The Blacklist got crafty in response to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down production.
To close out its seventh season, the NBC crime drama employed a combination of live-action footage from the partially filmed 19th episode and graphic-novel-style animation. The hybrid episode, titled "The Kazanijan Brothers," served as the finale for the shortened season, which was originally intended to run 22 episodes.
To complete the episode, stars James Spader (Raymond Reddington), Megan Boone (Elizabeth Keen), and their castmates recorded audio at home, with the rest of the episode also being animated and edited remotely.
The Blacklist After Covid
In the two years following the death of Elizabeth Keen, Raymond Reddington and the members of the FBI Task Force have disbanded – their lives now changed in unexpected ways and with Reddington’s whereabouts unknown. Finding themselves each at a crossroads, a common purpose compels them to renew their original mission: to take down dangerous, vicious and eccentric Blacklisters. In the process, they begin to uncover lethal adversaries, unimaginable conspiracies and surprising betrayals that will threaten alliances and spur vengeance for the past, led by the most devious criminal of them all – Raymond Reddington.