The third season of the American crime thriller television series The Blacklist premiered on NBC on October 1, 2015, and concluded on May 19, 2016. The season consisted of 23 episodes. The season was produced by Davis Entertainment, Universal Television, and Sony Pictures Television, and the executive producers were Jon Bokenkamp, John Davis, John Eisendrath, John Fox, and Joe Carnahan.
Premise The third season sees Liz and Reddington on the run from the government and the Task Force. The first part of the season explores The Cabal's efforts to capture Liz and Reddington and their efforts to clear Liz's name. The Cabal is represented by the ruthless Director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service Peter Kotsiopulos (David Strathairn). The season also introduces private intelligence contractor Susan "Scottie" Hargrave (Famke Janssen), the mother of secret agent Tom Keen, mercenary Mattias Solomon (Edi Gathegi) and ex-United States Navy officer Nez Rowan (Tawny Cypress), key characters for the spin-off series The Blacklist: Redemption, focusing on Tom and Scottie Hargrave. The final episodes of the season also introduce a new series antagonist Alexander Kirk, AKA Konstantin Rostov, a businessman with aplastic anaemia, who claims to be Liz's father and will stop at nothing to protect her and win her loyalty. An important subplot for the season is Liz's pregnancy and Reddington's cleaner Mr. Kaplan's (Susan Blommaert) efforts to protect Liz and Tom's daughter from Reddington.
Cast
Main James Spader as Raymond Reddington Megan Boone as Elizabeth Keen Diego Klattenhoff as Donald Ressler Ryan Eggold as Tom Keen Harry Lennix as Harold Cooper Amir Arison as Aram Mojtabai Mozhan Marnò as Samar Navabi Hisham Tawfiq as Dembe Zuma
Recurring Susan Blommaert as Mr. Kaplan. Deirdre Lovejoy as Cynthia Panabaker. David Strathairn as Peter Kotsiopulos, the Director of the National Clandestine Service. Edi Gathegi as Matias Solomon, a Cabal operative sent to hunt down Reddington. Adriane Lenox as Deputy Attorney General Reven Wright, the Department of Justice liaison to the Task Force. Christine Lahti as Laurel Hitchin, National Security Advisor and chairman of the commission tasked with investigating the OREA bombing. Margarita Levieva as Gina Zanetakos, a corporate terrorist turned master criminal who recruits Tom for a heist. Andrew Divoff as Karakurt, a Russian assassin responsible for the OREA bombing and killing of Senator Hawkins. Fisher Stevens as Marvin Gerard, Reddington's lawyer. Peter Vack as Asher Sutton, a socialite whom Tom Keen exploits to track Karakurt. Paul Reubens as Mr. Vargas, Reddington's double agent. Tony Plana as Mr. Diaz, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister whom Reddington asks for help. Conor Leslie as Gwen Hollander, Asher Sutton's girlfriend. Clark Middleton as Glen Carter, a DMV employee occasionally employed by Reddington. Ned van Zandt as Leonard Caul, an operative of Reddington's and an expert on computer security. Tawny Cypress as Nez Rowan, a mercenary. Famke Janssen as Susan "Scottie" Hargrave and the mother of Tom Keen. Ulrich Thomsen as Alexander Kirk/Konstantin Rostov, the man claiming to be Liz's father. Benito Martinez as Senator Robert Diaz, a presidential candidate being supported by Alexander Kirk. Murphy Guyer as The Eye in the Sky. Piter Marek as Nik, Liz's former boyfriend and Reddington's emergency doctor. Raoul Trujillo as Mato, a hitman employed by Alexander Kirk.
Episodes
Production Hisham Tawfiq, who plays Red's body man, Dembe Zuma, was promoted to series regular beginning with Season 3.
Spin-off Episode 22 was written by Bokenkamp and Eisendrath and directed by Michael Dinner as a potential spin-off of the series. That spin-off, titled The Blacklist: Redemption, was announced shortly after the airing of Episode 22, and was aired on NBC from February to April 2017 before it was cancelled with only 8 episodes due to low ratings.
Reception The third season of The Blacklist received positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 93% approval score based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The consensus reads: "The Blacklist is back in top form with fresh dangers that put Red on the ropes while giving James Spader room to shine".
Ratings No. Title Air date Time slot (EST) Ratings/Share(18–49) Viewers(millions) DVR18–49 DVR Viewers(millions) Total18–49 Total viewers(millions) 1 "The Troll Farmer (No. 38)" Thursdays9:00 pm 1.8/6 7.76 1.7 5.479 3.5 13.244 2 "Marvin Gerard (No. 80)" 1.5/5 7.02 1.5 4.892 3.0 11.911 3 "Eli Matchett (No. 72)" 1.4/4 6.93 1.6 5.049 3.0 11.978 4 "The Djinn (No. 43)" 1.4/5 6.68 1.5 5.157 2.9 11.836 5 "Arioch Cain (No. 50)" 1.5/5 7.03 1.4 4.632 2.9 11.661 6 "Sir Crispin Crandall (No. 86)" 1.4/4 6.44 1.5 5.018 2.9 11.454 7 "Zal Bin Hasaan (No. 31)" 1.5/5 6.75 1.4 4.809 2.9 11.563 8 "Kings of the Highway (No. 108)" 1.5/5 6.91 1.3 4.485 2.8 11.398 9 "The Director (No. 24)" 1.6/5 7.52 1.4 4.601 3.0 12.123 10 "The Director, Conclusion (No. 24)" 1.6/5 7.47 1.4 4.880 3.0 12.352 11 "Mr. Gregory Devry (No. 95)" 1.6/5 7.42 1.4 5.082 3.0 12.506 12 "The Vehm (No. 132)" 1.6/5 7.16 1.4 4.579 3.0 11.743 13 "Alistair Pitt (No. 103)" 1.5/5 6.49 1.4 4.846 2.9 11.375 14 "Lady Ambrosia (No. 77)" 1.4/4 6.43 1.5 5.061 2.9 11.498 15 "Drexel (No. 113)" 1.3/4 6.02 1.4 4.985 2.7 11.008 16 "The Caretaker (No. 78)" 1.3/4 5.97 1.3 4.613 2.6 10.565 17 "Mr. Solomon (No. 32)" 1.2/4 6.42 1.3 4.629 2.5 11.044 18 "Mr. Solomon: Conclusion (No. 32)" 1.4/5 6.74 1.1 4.325 2.5 11.062 19 "Cape May" 1.3/4 7.02 1.3 4.171 2.6 11.188 20 "The Artax Network (No. 41)" 1.2/4 6.70 1.3 4.502 2.5 11.206 21 "Susan Hargrave (No. 18)" 1.2/4 6.65 1.4 4.493 2.6 11.144 22 "Alexander Kirk (No. 14)" 1.3/4 6.62 1.2 4.284 2.5 10.900 23 "Alexander Kirk: Conclusion (No. 14)" 1.3/4 6.88 1.2 4.446 2.5 11.323
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