Blacklist is a thrilling crime show. It features Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington, a former agent who gives himself up to FBI after years of dodging them. He offers to help catch dangerous criminals from his personal blacklist. With FBI profiler Elizabeth Keen, they tackle tricky cases. Reddington’s shadowy past unfolds bit by bit. Enjoy the ride!

Meet the characters from The Blacklist

Raymond Reddington

Oh man, Reddington is the kind of person who strolls into a room and rearranges everyone’s sense of danger and charm — old-school spy energy with a wink. He speaks in proverbs and anecdotes like he swallowed a library of secrets and sometimes snacks, probably always has a mint or a cigar but who even knows. He’s equal parts theatrical and terrifying, likes to play chess with people’s lives and then suddenly acts sentimental about a painting or a tiny trinket (totally inconsistent, I know). You can never be sure if he’s being sincere or conning you, which is half the fun and half the headache — and honestly, that voice!

Elizabeth Keen

Liz is the person who looks ordinary until you remember she’s been through literal war zones and also kept a ridiculous number of secrets in plain socks drawers. She’s tough but awkward in this very human, fumbling way — will elbow someone when she cares, and then apologize for it profusely five minutes later. There’s this intense moral compass that’s constantly bent by her past; like, she wants to do right but also will absolutely break the rules if kids or friends are at stake. Also, she has this habit of misplacing something crucial and then solving the problem at 2 a.m. with surprising calm.

Mr. Kaplan

Mr. Kaplan is terrifyingly practical, like a grandmother who can also dismantle a bomb and will judge your life choices while doing it. She’s fiercely loyal to principles that sometimes only she remembers and will clean your chaos literally and metaphorically — she’ll scrub blood out of carpets and then call you on your cowardice. There’s a soft, almost maternal side that sneaks out in tiny acts (tea, repaired sweaters), but don’t be fooled; she can turn into a grim strategist without blinking. She’s complicated, stubborn, and yet oddly tender about small rituals, which is confusing but perfect.

Dembe

Dembe is the human equivalent of a rock you can hug — calm, steady, and quietly terrifying when provoked. He speaks softly but carries an absolute moral clarity that makes him both comfort and consequence; he’ll listen to your problems and then make the bad guy regret ever existing. He’s also ridiculously warm to people he trusts, likes small jokes that appear once every season, and probably has a secret collection of old postcards or scarves? Honestly, you want him on your side, and you’d follow him into any absurd plan without question.

Aram

Aram is the lovable tech wizard who trips over his own feet but can exploit an encrypted server before breakfast — adorable and somehow deadly in the lab. He panics, then invents a gadget, then panics again, and you can literally watch him level up under pressure; awkward sparkle energy, basically. He’s got this soft, earnest hopefulness that makes him the moral heart, but also he hoards weird little souvenirs like a barcode sticker or a broken key — nerd klepto, maybe. Also, he cries at small movies and then writes brilliant code, so like, contradictions are his brand.

Katarina Rostova

Katarina is a walking mystery novel with lipstick that’s probably the wrong color for the era and a past so tangled it could be a conspiracy podcast. She’s elegant and icy but you can sense the earthquakes underneath — brilliant, slippery, and maybe a bit theatrical about her secrets (in a “leave breadcrumbs” way). She cares about intelligence and chess moves and will disappear for months and then reappear with a note that ruins everything, which is dramatic but also kind of her. Sometimes she seems cruel, sometimes vulnerable, and sometimes she drinks tea like everything is normal — hard to read and impossible to forget.

Ressler

Ressler is the textbook abrasive, practically a walking list of rules with a side of unresolved feelings and a surprisingly soft playlist. He’s law-and-order to the bone, hates chaos, and then secretly keeps a bunch of chaotic things because of emotional baggage — very human contradiction, love it. He’s intense, terrifyingly focused, and strangely sentimental about little routines (like alphabetizing things? maybe, yes). Honestly, he makes discipline look dramatic, and you kind of want to both apologize to him and high-five him.

Samar

Samar is sharp, fierce, and has this effortless “I have better things to do than your drama” vibe that somehow makes her magnetic. She’s competent to the point of being smug sometimes, but also quietly loyal and will show up with the perfect one-liner when it matters most. She has this cool confidence — like, she wears leather and also has a secret stash of sentimental postcards? — inconsistent but charming. Short on small talk, long on effectiveness; she cuts through nonsense and you feel both relieved and slightly chastised.