For the third consecutive season, the American television series Black List has been in the spotlight for moviegoers. The actors who play the main roles in it are famous throughout the world. The original plot, "fresh" faces, well-written characters - all this is the hallmark of the series, famous in dozens of countries.
What is the point?
If you are looking for an original show that would surprise you with its originality, be sure to check out the Black List. The series is built around the personality of Raymond Raddington, who previously held a high position in the US Department of Defense. It is he who possesses secret information that can help prevent the largest crimes planned by the enemies of the whole country.
Killers, maniacs, terrorists - all of them freely walk around the United States, which negatively affects the external and internal security of the state. Raddington voluntarily surrenders to the authorities and the FBI, but he has a condition: he is ready to transfer all information about upcoming crimes to only one person - the new FBI analyst Elizabeth Keane. Why to her? Why did Raddington voluntarily give up? What is his purpose? It is for these questions that viewers have been trying to find the answer for three consecutive seasons.
Cast
The producers and directors of the project managed to pick up a star team to create the Black List series, most of the actors passed the tests the first time and got to work. In total, six main characters are involved in the show, they are occasionally diluted with six more episodic ones. When asked why it is impossible to introduce a greater number of heroes, the writers of the project notice that they would not like to overload the viewer with characters and emotions.
The main roles in the series are played by James Spader (Raymond Raddington) and Megan Boone (Elizabeth Keane). The actors worked wonderfully with each other, in an interview, both note that a special “chemistry” has arisen between them, which allows us to hope for the further development of relations between their characters. Fans note that something similar can be seen in the movie “Silence of the Lambs” between the characters of Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.
Raymond Raddington
The character played by James Spader is mixed. Raddington's cynicism towards himself and others sometimes puts others at a standstill, from which it takes a long time to get out. A prudent and complex character, who always has a pair of "aces" in his sleeve - this is how the actor himself characterizes Raymond.
At the very beginning of the series, Raddington demonstrates an absolutely disregard for the FBI staff surrounding him, especially for agent Donald Rössler (Diego Clattenhoff). The hero is ready to cooperate only with Elizabeth, as an explanation of the reason for his choice, he only claims that she is different from all her colleagues in her mind and original thinking.
Elizabeth Keane
Megan Boone - Elizabeth Keane - is the central character of the series, in any case, this is what its creators expected. However, by the end of the first season, it became clear that Spader was the project leader. That is why the scriptwriters began to catch up and turned the new FBI analyst into a super agent, constantly saving his colleagues from certain death.
At first, viewers and critics were very wary of Megan, they felt that the girl was not very suitable for the role of a super agent. The actress admitted that she read reviews of the series on the Internet and even cried several times, having stumbled upon particularly vicious attacks on her. However, it was these reviews that helped Boone to more thoroughly work out his role and achieve recognition of fans of the television series.
Donald Ressler
Actor Diego Klattenhoff plays a stern colleague Elizabeth Keane - FBI agent Donald Ressler. This character, by his very existence, refers moviegoers to such masterpieces as Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Spy. An integral hero who knows what is good and what is evil, and strives to do everything for the victory of light forces.
Rössler had been “developing” Raddington for five years, and it seemed to the FBI agent that he knew absolutely everything about the criminal, but the situation radically changed after the capture of Raymond. And the very fact that the former civil servant wants to communicate only with Elizabeth, and not with Donald, who spent so much time and energy on the capture of Raddington, is very hurt by the character of Clattenhoff. Whether Donald will be able to cope with this kind of jealousy or not, you can find out only by watching the series.
Harold Cooper
Harry Lennix, the star of the Matrix, Titus and Man of Steel projects, plays a modest role here as the deputy director of the FBI in charge of countering terrorism. The hero of Lennix - Harold Cooper - leads Keane and Ressler, and it is he who gives permission for Elizabeth to spend as much time as possible with Raddington.
The actor admits that Cooper “did not succeed” right away, this role sometimes required him to achieve even excessive emotional calm and restraint. Harry notes that he enjoys sharing common scenes with Spader, because the actors have known each other for a long time, they are constantly joking in the frame. Therefore, the probability that after the release of the next season the fans of the series will be able to look at his unsuccessful doubles is very high.
Reviews and criticism
The Black List is a mixed series, if at first it was called a rather unfortunate parody of Silence of the Lambs, now critics have a completely different opinion about it. The project has collected all the best that went on screens over the past two to three decades. Here there is the killer’s thinking, shown in expanded form, and a naive girl morally growing up in a few months, and secrets that need to be guessed. In part, the series is similar to the famous "X-Files", because it has its own "monsters of the week", which do not allow others to sleep peacefully.
Of course, the main driving force of the project - Raddington and Keane, the first is practically invulnerable, his insight can only be envied. Having surrendered into the hands of the FBI, he literally took them “hooked”, and now he leads his game in such a way that the rest do not even know about it. Agent Keen in this case is in a losing position, because most often all the cones go to her, regardless of whether she is guilty or not.
The producers did not want to take up the Black List for a very long time. Actors who would have been able to do such a genre were not immediately found. Separately, it is worth mentioning the professional and personal growth of Agent Keen, which leaves all the illusions of a quiet life. In the end, she takes a place worthy of Reddington. The creators of the series do not exclude the possibility that sooner or later Elizabeth will take Raymond's place in the underworld.
Intrigues and riddles
If you watched The Black List, the actors who played the main roles in it definitely caused you certain questions and certain emotions. One of the main mysteries of the series - can Elizabeth Keane solve her personality drama? The husband of the new FBI agent is far from being as simple as it might seem, he has a whole crowd of skeletons in the closet that Elizabeth will have to bring to the light to figure it out.
The main mystery of the series is why Raddington voluntarily surrendered to the FBI, what is his goal? The scriptwriters do not give an answer to this question, preferring to maintain intrigue, because it is not known how many seasons the Black List will have. His relationship with Elizabeth, when he either praises her or blames her for lack of professionalism and absolute ignorance, also leaves many questions that need to be answered one way or another.
Prospects
Filming of the series began in May 2012, and in August 2013, NBC bought the "pilot" from the author of the series, John Bokenkampa and Sony Pictures. Over the course of four months, agreement was reached between the various divisions of the channel, expenses and potential profits were calculated. Finally, in January 2013, the channel gave permission to begin work on a pilot episode of the series.
Casting for the main roles was held in February 2013, with Boone getting the role first, and Spader joined the project in mid-March. In May 2013, NBC approved the filmed "pilot" and ordered the shooting of further episodes. The Black List, season 3 of which began to be released in October 2015, continues to triumph on the planet. On the NBC television channel, a prime time spot was allocated for his show, right after The Voice show (the Russian analogue is “Voice”). The project is very popular in the USA and European countries, when exactly it will be completed is still unknown.