The Blacklist is an American crime drama television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former government agent turned high-profile criminal, who had eluded capture for decades, voluntarily surrenders to the FBI, offering to cooperate on capturing a list of criminals who are virtually impossible to catch. He insists on working with a rookie profiler by the name of Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone). The show also stars Diego Klattenhoff, Ryan Eggold, and Harry Lennix. Executive producers for the series include Jon Bokenkamp, John Eisendrath, and John Davis for Sony Pictures Television, Universal Television, and Davis Entertainment.

Original main cast member Parminder Nagra left the cast at the end of the first season. In December 2013, the show was renewed for a second season, Amir Arison was promoted to the main cast and Mozhan Marnò joined the cast. In February 2015, The Blacklist was renewed for a third season with Hisham Tawfiq promoted to main cast. In May 2017, the show was renewed for the fifth season with Eggold leaving the show. In May 2018, the show was renewed for the sixth season with Marnò leaving on March 29, 2019. In March 2019, The Blacklist was renewed for its seventh season with Laura Sohn joining the cast as a recurring character. She was promoted to series regular on May 7, 2020.

On June 15, 2021, during season 8, Megan Boone reported that she was leaving the show. On May 27, 2022, after season 9, both Amir Arison and Laura Sohn announced they were also leaving the series. On October 7, 2022, Anya Banerjee joined the cast as Siya Malik.

Cast overview

ActorCharacterPositionThe BlacklistRedemption12345678910 James Spader Raymond Reddington Confidential informant, FBI colspan="10" Megan Boone Liz Keen FBI Special Agent (seasons 1–2, 4–8)FBI Special Consultant (seasons 3-4) colspan="8" colspan="2" Diego Klattenhoff Donald Ressler FBI Special AgentDirector, FBI Counterterrorism Division (season 3) colspan="10" Ryan Eggold Tom Keen Covert operative colspan="5" colspan="5" Parminder Nagra Meera Malik CIA Field Agent colspan="10" Nikita Tewani colspan="9" Harry Lennix Harold Cooper Director, FBI Counterterrorism DivisionFBI special agent (season 9) colspan="10" Amir Arison Aram Mojtabai FBI Special Agent & Strategic and Tactical Technician (seasons 1–9)Director, FBI Counterterrorism Division (season 9) colspan="8" Mozhan Marnò Samar Navabi FBI Special AgentFormer Mossad agent colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="2" Hisham Tawfiq Dembe Zuma Reddington's bodyguard (seasons 1–8)FBI Special Agent (seasons 9–10) colspan="2" colspan="8" Laura Sohn Alina Park FBI Special Agent colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="2" Anya Banerjee Siya Malik MI6 Special Agent and Intelligence Officer colspan="9" Famke Janssen Scottie Hargrave Head of Halcyon Aegis' Grey Matters branch colspan="2" colspan="5" Edi Gathegi Matias Solomon Mercenary colspan="2" colspan="7" Tawny Cypress Nez Rowan Mercenary colspan="2" colspan="7" Adrian Martinez Dumont Computer hacker colspan="2" colspan="7"

Main characters featured in The Blacklist

Raymond Reddington

Portrayed by James Spader

Raymond "Red" Reddington is an ex-United States Navy officer, presumed to be an officer of the Office of Naval Intelligence, and number three on the FBI's Most Wanted List. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, he worked in US counterintelligence and was being groomed for admiral when something happened on his way home for the Christmas holidays. Reddington was later revealed to have been accused of committing treason by leaking information to the Soviet Union that led to the death of several American naval officers. Nicknamed "the concierge of crime", Reddington is known for brokering deals between criminals.

Elizabeth Keen

Portrayed by Megan Boone

Elizabeth Scott Keen (Blacklister No. 1) is an FBI profiler. According to Reddington and the FBI, her birth name is Masha Rostova, and she was born in Moscow to Katarina Rostova, a Russian intelligence agent whom everyone regards as a "myth". Elizabeth has a mysterious and traumatic past: Her wrist bears a large scar from a fire she was trapped in as a child, and her only memory of her biological father is of him rescuing her from the fire. Reddington admits to blocking her memories of the fire, and she eventually regains her memory of the event, when she killed her father to protect her mother. Reddington had been trying to protect her from the knowledge when he blocked her memories.

She is the only person with whom Reddington is willing to work. She had yet to learn why, but he has told her that it has something to do with her missing father. While her adoptive father lay dying in the hospital, he insists to Red that Liz "deserves to know", but his death is hastened by Red to prevent Liz from "knowing". She develops a bond with Reddington as they continue to work together. The Director indicates a close personal connection exists between Liz and Red, but refuses to tell her what it is. Her once-idyllic marriage to Tom Keen unravels when she discovers evidence that he is not the man he appears to be. After she finds out he was an agent hired by Berlin to keep her under surveillance, she has the marriage annulled. She keeps Tom imprisoned on an abandoned ship for several months, interrogating him. Eventually, she is forced to let him go in exchange for Berlin's location after he murders a harbormaster, Eugene Ames.

Local police investigate Ames's murder and have enough evidence to arrest Liz for her involvement, but she is saved by the intervention of Reddington, Cooper, then-assistant AG Connolly, and Tom himself. She also learns that she is the key to unlocking the mysteries of the Fulcrum and that she has unknowingly had the Fulcrum itself in her possession since childhood. With the help of Leonard Caul, she deciphers the Fulcrum's contents and confronts the Director with them. She is then unknowingly infected with a customized biological weapon by the cabal and tricked into infecting their target, Senator Hawkins. The cabal then frames her for Hawkins's assassination and for being a Russian spy. After shooting Tom Connolly upon learning of his involvement with the faking of Cooper's cancer and the cabal's sinister intentions for the other agents on the task force, Elizabeth is now a fugitive on the FBI's most-wanted list. To evade capture by the FBI, she seeks asylum at the Russian embassy, identifying herself as "Masha Rostova" and pretending to be a Russian spy.

In "Marvin Gerard", as Liz is being escorted to the airport, the convoy is attacked by Ressler, forcing Liz to run on foot. At a diner, she confronts Red for preventing her asylum until she learns he did this to save her from being killed by the cabal. While holding everyone in the diner hostage, Liz attacks a hostage's abusive boyfriend, nearly killing him, until Red stops her. In "Eli Matchett", Liz realizes that even if her name is cleared, she cannot go back to the life she once knew, and must rely on Red to help her survive as a criminal. In "Arioch Cain", Liz and Red fake her death after a bounty is put on her head.

In "Kings of the Highway", Liz tracks down Reddington after he is kidnapped and ransoms him using a valuable object that Dembe claims is needed to clear her name. While Liz and Dembe are making the exchange for Reddington, the FBI arrives and Ressler arrests Liz.

In "The Director", Liz is locked in the task force's cell as Ressler tries to protect her until she can testify. The Director and Laurel Hitchin attempt to prevent this by transferring Liz to an undisclosed location due to her supposedly having terrorist connections and then nearly suffocating her when Aram changes the box's door code. Liz is nearly transferred, but the White House counsel prevents it, and Ressler returns to transfer her to the courthouse. In "The Director: Conclusion", Liz spends the night in a cell protected by Ressler that keeps the cabal from reaching her, but Laurel plots to have her assassinated as she is moved. Liz is later taken before a judge, where she faces multiple charges that each come with a death sentence, including 16 counts of murder. Laurel tries to have Liz assassinated, but is forced to call off her attempt by Red, who captures the Director and threatens to turn him over to the World Court. With the help of Marvin Gerard, Red makes a deal with Laurel for her to publicly exonerate Liz on all but Tom Connolly's murder. In that case, Liz has to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and will get three years' probation. Though she would be free, Liz could never return to the FBI. Liz reluctantly takes the deal in the end since Red ensures she will remain part of the task force as an asset like him. Laurel publicly exonerates her while Karakurt is taken into custody and exposed as the man who had committed the terrorist acts Liz had been framed for. That night, Liz emerges from the courthouse a free woman and hugs Red, who is waiting for her.

Liz has difficulty adjusting to no longer being an FBI agent. After being beaten up by a man who thought she was a traitor, she is hospitalized and discovers she is pregnant. She accepts Tom's marriage proposal, hoping to start a family with him.

Liz and Tom's wedding ceremony is interrupted by Mr. Solomon, who pursues them relentlessly. Liz is injured during the chase, forcing Reddington's doctor to perform an emergency caesarian section to save her baby. Liz dies due to complications with the C-section and the inability to reach a hospital on time. Matias Solomon blocks the vehicle containing Liz from continuing to the hospital, and Liz dies with Reddington holding her hand. Red is shown to be completely devastated by her death, as is the rest of the task force, and Tom is left to raise their daughter, Agnes, alone. In "Cape May", Red tells of a time he had to make a Hobson's choice: To save a child and lose her mother or lose both, saying it was the hardest choice he made by far in his life. While he initially seems to be referring to Liz's recent death, a later conversation reveals that the allusion was toward saving Liz (née Masha) as a child and losing her mother, Katarina.

In "Alexander Kirk: Conclusion", Liz is shown to be alive. The shootout at the wedding led her, Reddington's doctor, Tom, and Kaplan to fake her death so Tom and she could flee and protect Agnes. Liz secretly escapes to Cuba, and is reunited with Tom days later, but is captured by Alexander Kirk's men. Tied to a chair, Liz meets with Kirk, who reveals he is in fact her father, Constantin Rostov.

In "Esteban", Liz does not believe Kirk and demands to know what he is planning to do with Tom, Agnes, and her. Kirk claims that her daughter will be fine and that he just needs to get rid of the rat. Kirk plans to take her back to the house where she grew up so she can see the truth for herself. In "Mato", Liz gets a clue from her past when she sees her mother, Katarina, putting a few toys and a ribbon bracelet in a coffee can to be used as a time capsule. Liz digs the can up and discovers some truth in Kirk's words. When she is rescued by the FBI, Liz is reunited with Tom. In "Miles McGrath", Liz reads through her mother's journal and comes up with an important clue involving rare cancer plaguing the males of the Rostov family. Only then does Red reveal the truth in Kirk's plans to use Liz for a blood transfusion, since her blood contains vital blood cells needed to help him replenish his own, and without her, he will keep Agnes hostage.

In "The Lindquist Concerns", Liz discovers a DNA test done by Kirk that claims her to be his daughter and briefly mistrusts Red for it. In "The Thrushes", Liz helps Red talk Kirk out of committing suicide by begging him to give Agnes back to her. He does give her back to Liz, which leads to his arrest.