Watched the premier last night. Could be good. James Spader can play the evil/charming criminal very well! The story line seemed "Silence of the Lambish" the way his character knows so much about the rookie agent (Megan Boone) and uses that to manipulate her. (Quid pro quo, Clarice!)

Megan Boone surprised me! At first I thought she would be a little "namby pamby" for the role when they first portrayed her as a young wife all giggly over adopting a baby and nervous about her new gig. However, she became a hard-assed agent when at work. I like it!

This could be very, very good. The James Spader character has a "Blacklist" of criminals he's accrued over 20 years and he wants to help the FBI catch them........but will only deal with Agent Keen (Megan). They haven't revealed his obsession with her yet. He surrendered to the FBI the day she started as a profiler at this office, so he's been monitoring her.

She also discovers, after a terrorist tortures and stabs her hubby, that her hubby has a secret stash of money, passports etc. That should be interesting too.

Lots of interesting twists, which I love!

Watched the second episode and I'm a little disappointed. It seemed a little more disjointed. I think they are trying to make Spader's character a little too enigmatic and the scenes jumbled.

I think it still has potential, but it needs some refining.

Episode 3 much, much better. It's going to be something we watch regularly.

I have to admit that we are addicted to this show. So much so, that when they announced last night that the next episode won't be on until April 16th, we both groaned. It's riveting, with a dark main character who can make you snicker every now and then, and with a slice of his past revealed becomes a source of begrudging sympathy even as he murders. The plot lines (usually two different ones each episode) are great and the throw a good twist in every now and then.

The female lead surprises. She can, on one hand, appear very vulnerable and on the other hand a hard-nosed agent. Her personal life is coming unraveled (the continuing story line) and instead of falling apart, you can almost physically see her "gird her loin" so to speak as she investigates the love of her life, her husband.

Unfortunately, like many of these types of shows, if you haven't watched it from the beginning you would be lost. The one story line about the female lead is always "to be continued", leaving you waiting for the next development. Even watching it religiously, we sometimes get confused until the next episode when a key piece of the puzzle is revealed. I think that it's the way they want it to be.

Excellent, brilliant writing!

Is that about Stephen Harper?

We are obsessed too Rose. Its the one show my wife and I watch religiously (the only other one, for me, is QI). In fact its a family ritual. My stepson comes over Thursday nights, we feed him mounds of food, and he shows us "The Blacklist". We don't get it on our satellite channels.

Spader is brilliant. After "Boston Legal" its a revelation.

But one thing does get me, is the FBI really that incompetent?

9/11 should be proof enough of the incompetence of all the US "security"/law enforcement agencies. The competition between them is fierce, so they tend to sit on information rather than allow another agency to get credit. That is why so many operations are bungled. Short answer is "yes".

When I would think about guest stars appearing on The Blacklist, Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) never came to mind, yet there he was tonight. LOL!