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The Blacklist is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, a former US Naval Intelligence officer turned one of the Most Wanted fugitives who cooperates with the FBI in hunting down threatening criminals on a special list of his called the "Blacklist". The series also stars Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff, Ryan Eggold, Amir Arison, Hisham Tawfiq, and Harry Lennix. The Blacklist was produced by Sony Pictures Television, Universal Television and Davis Entertainment. John Eisendrath, John Davis and John Fox served as executive producers for the entire run of the series; its creator Jon Bokenkamp also executive produced the series for the first eight seasons. Other executive producers include director Joe Carnahan and Spader. It was given a series order in May 2013, and ran from September 23, 2013 to July 13, 2023 on NBC. The pilot episode garnered 12.6 million viewers in the United States. During its run, The Blacklist won a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award and was nominated for six more, as well as received nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Saturn Awards and two People's Choice Awards. The series spawned a tie-in media franchise, including comic series, standalone novels and a video game. A spin-off, The Blacklist: Redemption, also created and developed by Bokenkamp and Eisendrath, aired on NBC from February to April 2017. It shared the same fictional universe with the original series and was entirely focused on Ryan Eggold's character, Tom Keen. Plot With a few exceptions, each episode features one of the global criminals, and Raymond Reddington assists the task force in hunting down and capturing them. In every such episode, the rank and name or alias of the featured criminal on Red's blacklist are displayed at the close of the opening sequence. Otherwise, only the episode name is shown. The action takes place primarily in present-day Washington D.C., other locations around the world are featured occasionally. Original storyline (seasons 1–8) Raymond "Red" Reddington, an ex-US Naval Intelligence officer who had disappeared twenty years earlier to become number 4 on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, surrenders himself to FBI Assistant Director Harold Cooper at the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. Taken to an FBI "black site", Reddington declares he wishes to help the FBI track down and apprehend the criminals and terrorists he has spent the last twenty years associating with. They are the individuals who are so dangerous and devious that the United States government is unaware of their very existence. He offers Cooper his knowledge and assistance on two conditions: immunity from prosecution and cooperation only with FBI Special Agent Elizabeth Keen, a rookie criminal profiler recently assigned to Cooper's task force. Keen and Cooper are suspicious of Reddington's interest in her, but he will only say that she is "very special". After Cooper tests Reddington's offer in locating and neutralizing Serbian terrorist Ranko Zamani in the first episode, Reddington reveals that this man was only the first on the "blacklist" of global criminals that he has compiled over his criminal career and states that he and the FBI have a mutual interest in eliminating them. The mysteries of Reddington's and Liz's lives, and his interest in her, are an ongoing theme as the series progresses. She digs into her family past, the question of his real identity and their connection, while he desperately tries to hide them. Each season, the danger to Liz caused by his reemergence intensifies, and Reddington uses Cooper's task force to protect her. The storyline ends with season 8, when Liz is murdered by a hitman seeking revenge for Red's killing a crime lord at the end of the season. The explanation of Reddington's identity and his interference in Elizabeth's life are never formally given. Renewed storyline (seasons 9–10) Following Liz's death at the end of the eighth season, Cooper's task force has disbanded and Reddington has fled the country. For the next two years, the deal with Red and the FBI sits inactive. However, the world's criminals remain active, evolving in their methods. When a modern pirate named the "Skinner" explodes and nearly kills Dembe Zuma, Red's former bodyguard who has become an FBI Special Agent with the assistance of Cooper, Red is forced to return and help him. At first, Red promises to retire and move to Cuba with his girlfriend once the Skinner is neutralized. However, when Red begins to take over management of the remains of his empire, he breaks his promise and decides to stay in charge of what he can still control. Red and Cooper come to an agreement to resume his deal with the FBI and continue hunting down global criminals on his "blacklist" in honor of Liz's undertaking. Cooper manages to find the old task force members and re-create their division. The secret Red kept from Liz becomes irrelevant, and the story now centers on not only Red but also Cooper and the field agents Liz used to work with. Now, the task force must confront new criminals as well as familiar ones who have returned in order to take revenge on Red for his betrayal. After the threat of the former Blacklisters is neutralized, the task force faces a new threat in the form of ambitious Congressman Arthur Hudson who suspects them of rogue behavior and works tirelessly to uncover their many secrets. They also contend with Red making unexpected moves by using them to shut down several central parts of his criminal empire for unknown reasons. It all comes to the point of no return when Reddington closes his operations center responsible for the blacklist and after a legal investigation is launched against the task force, Cooper must arrest Red to avoid prosecution against him and his task force. Reddington is never caught by either of them but is fatally gored by a bull in Andalusia. Cast and characters Main cast James Spader as Raymond "Red" Reddington: an ex-US Naval Intelligence officer and a master criminal turned FBI confidential informant. During seasons 1–8, Elizabeth and the task force's effort to uncover his true identity is a major ongoing narrative. During season 9, his main concern is ferreting out a traitor within his organization. During the final season, he faces off against former Blacklisters looking for revenge for their downfalls, and an ambitious congressman looking to take down the task force and, by extension, him. Megan Boone as Elizabeth "Liz" Keen (seasons 1–8): Born Masha Rostova, Keen is an FBI special agent and profiler on Harold Cooper's task force. Her presence is part of Reddington's deal with Cooper for no apparent reason until her connection to Reddington becomes obvious. Diego Klattenhoff as Donald Ressler: an FBI special agent on Cooper's task force. Ryan Eggold as Tom Keen (seasons 1–5): Born Christopher Hargrave, la.... Discover the Tim Vesco popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Tim Vesco books.