With Reddington as a great television character, and Reddington's story was further elevated by the cast of characters surrounding him.

Reddington's relationship with FBI agent Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) was at the heart of the show, and Reddington also had intriguing dynamics with his friend and right-hand man, Dembe Zuma (Hisham Tawfiq), FBI Assistant Director Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix), and FBI agent Donald Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff). The show's long run meant that major characters eventually left the series, including The Blacklist's best episodes were in the earlier seasons, before Boone and other key actors exited the show.

10 Season 9

October 21, 2021-May 27, 2022

After Elizabeth's death in the season 8 finale, The Blacklist season 9 was the show's first season without her. Her death, a two-year time jump, and changes like Dembe now being an FBI agent made season 9 feel like a soft reboot. While this approach had potential, it ultimately did not work, as Reddington's relationship with Elizabeth had always been at the center of the show.

Much of the season did end up being about who was really behind Elizabeth's death, but the truth was needlessly convoluted, and it was not the same as having the character in the show. Elizabeth's absence also meant that the show further abandoned the overarching mystery of Reddington's real identity, which had been built up since season 1. There was merit to the show's new direction, but it felt unsatisfying, especially for those who had been watching The Blacklist since it first began.

9 Season 10

February 26, 2023-July 13, 2023

Season 10 began with a promising premise as Wujing (Chin Han) and other memorable Blacklisters returned and worked together to try and take Reddington down. A compelling start made the final season stronger than season 9. The execution of the storyline involving Wujing and other Blacklisters did not live up to its full potential, though. However, the missteps with this storyline paled in comparison to The Blacklist's series finale.

Being killed by a bull was an anticlimactic and disappointing way for Reddington's story to end. Many major questions were left unanswered as well, including the matter of Reddington's identity and the truth of his relationship with Elizabeth. The finale contained a hint of him being Elizabeth's mother, Katarina Rostova, all along, but after all the buildup and exploration over the course of 10 seasons, this mystery required more exploration in the finale.

8 Season 8

November 13, 2020-June 23, 2021

The Blacklist season 8 began with Elizabeth and the woman that she believed to be her mother, ing forces against Reddington. Their efforts were short-lived, as the woman, who was later revealed to be Tatiana Petrova (Laila Robins), was killed by Reddington in season 8, episode 2. In the aftermath of Elizabeth believing Reddington killed her mother, she became largely absent from the show, and waged a war against Reddington. This made for good conflict, but the impact was diminished by Elizabeth's absence for the majority of the season.

The season 8 finale made matters worse, when Reddington prepared to hand his criminal empire over to Elizabeth, only for her to die, which made everything that she and Reddington had gone through feel pointless.

One of the individuals Elizabeth aligned with, Neville Townsend (Reg Rogers), was an entertaining, formidable, and unhinged villain, and was one of the best parts of the season. The final episodes of season 8 made it significantly weaker, though. Reddington finally seemed to be revealing the answers to the show's greatest mysteries, but once again, the full story remained untold. The season 8 finale made matters worse, when Reddington prepared to hand his criminal empire over to Elizabeth, only for her to die, which made everything that she and Reddington had gone through feel pointless.

7 Season 7

October 4, 2019-May 15, 2020

After seemingly introducing the adult Katarina at the end of season 6, she became a recurring character in season 7. She pretended to be a friendly neighbor to Elizabeth and would even look after Elizabeth's daughter, Agnes. Robins brought a unique presence to the show and effective tension was created as the audience waited to see when Elizabeth would learn the truth and when Reddington would learn how she had embedded herself into Elizabeth's life.

After the exit of Samar Navabi (Mozhan Marnò) in season 6, a new character, Alina Park (Laura Sohn), was brought into the FBI task force to take Samar's place. Park was nowhere near as compelling as Samar, though, partly because she did not have the shared history that the rest of the task force had. Season 7 also struggled with its abrupt ending that happened due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Not all the planned episodes were able to air, and the finale was a combination of filmed scenes and rough animation for the other scenes.

6 Season 6

January 3, 2019-May 17, 2019

After revealing that the bones belonged to the real Reddington in the season 5 finale, season 6 started off in a strong place, with Elizabeth determined to find out the actual identity of Spader's The Blacklist character. Despite the game-changing bones reveal and the narrative momentum it created, Elizabeth's efforts fizzled out, as she and the audience were once again left without answers, and the lore surrounding Reddington and Katarina became more convoluted.

Season 6 did go on to have one of the show's all-time best episodes with season 6, episode 14, "The Osterman Umbrella Company." The storyline with Samar and Aram Mojtabai (Amir Arison) was incredibly emotional and culminated in a heartbreaking scene that served as Samar's exit from the show. As for the ending of season 6, the introduction of Laila Robins' character was exciting, but it is not as effective in hindsight when knowing that she is not the real Katarina.

5 Season 5

September 27, 2017-May 16, 2018

The Blacklist season 5 largely revolved around the mysterious bones that were introduced toward the end of season 4. Ian Garvey (Jonny Coyne) was an intimidating villain who abused his power as a United States Marshal and went to significant lengths to acquire the bones. The mystery of why Garvey wanted the bones so badly was almost as intriguing as why the bones were so important in the first place.

Season 5 made the consequences of the bones' mystery feel real, especially when it led to the death of Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold), who had been a main character since season 1. The ultimate reveal of the bones belonging to the real Reddington was substantial and shocking enough to feel as though it was worth the wait and to merit the major character deaths that happened along the way. That being said, the lack of payoff in the following seasons made the reveal and all of season 5 feel weaker in retrospect.

4 Season 2

September 22, 2014-May 14, 2015

The Blacklist season 2 featured some of the best villains in the entire show. The beginning of season 1 continued the conflict with Milos Kirchoff, also known as Berlin (Peter Stormare) and concluded his story in satisfying fashion. No time was wasted after Berlin's death, with the next episode introducing Ron Perlman as Luther Braxton, who took over a CIA blacksite in the Bering Sea and was hired to acquire a blackmail file known as the Fulcrum.

With Berlin out of the story, Braxton was the key to introducing The Blacklist's next major antagonist, a shadow government known as the Cabal, which included high-ranking government officials from across the globe. Meanwhile, the show dug deeper into the secret life of Tom Keen, which led to surprising developments between him and Elizabeth. Season 2 was a strong season overall, even though it did not reach the same highs as seasons 1, 3, and 4.

3 Season 3

October 1, 2015-May 19, 2016

After Liz killed the United States Attorney General and Cabal member Tom Connolly at the end of season 2, The Blacklist season 3 opened with her as a fugitive on the run with Reddington. This provided a fascinating shift in her relationship with Reddington and added more urgency to taking down the Cabal so she could stop being a hunted criminal. The season later took a shocking turn when Elizabeth and Tom were about to be married, only to be attacked, and for Elizabeth to seemingly die while giving birth.

This led to some of The Blacklist's best character-driven episodes as Reddington grappled with his grief and temporarily stepped away from the task force. These episodes also introduced a younger Katarina (Lotte Verbeek) and Elizabeth's maternal grandfather, Dom (Brian Dennehy), who were vital moving forward. The plot twist that Elizabeth was actually alive, and that Reddington's ally, Mr. Kaplan/Kathryn Nemec (Susan Blommaert) helped fake her death was among the show's best twists, and it set up an even better story for season 4.

2 Season 4

September 22, 2016-May 18, 2017

Mr. Kaplan had always been one of The Blacklist's most intriguing characters, and season 4 was when she was brought to the forefront of the story. Early in the season, Reddington tried to kill Mr. Kaplan for betraying him in the matter of faking Elizabeth's death. However, Reddington did not successfully kill her, and she returned with an intricate plan to get revenge against him and dismantle his criminal empire. Mr. Kaplan being Reddington's "cleaner" was used brilliantly as she unearthed 86 bodies she disposed of for Reddington and left them for the authorities to find.

An old colleague of Ressler's, Julian Gale (Enrique Murciano), was brought in to investigate after the bodies were revealed.

Season 4, episode 17, "Requiem," was one of the show's best, and not only because of the ending where it revealed the 86 bodies laid out on an ice rink. Much of the episode focused on flashbacks with a younger Mr. Kaplan (Joanne Adler), which explained her past with Katarina, why she was so protective of Elizabeth, provided a heartbreaking origin for the name Mr. Kaplan, and added more weight to her war against Reddington. Mr. Kaplan was an empathetic antagonist whose past made her uniquely formidable, and only one season was able to deliver a better story.

1 Season 1

September 23, 2013-May 12, 2014

While many of the seasons that followed were strong, none of them could top The Blacklist season 1. From the moment Reddington surrendered himself, it was impossible not to get hooked by the show, and to find out why one of the most wanted fugitives had turned himself over to the FBI's Harold Cooper. The concept of a criminal mastermind working with the FBI to stop criminals they did not know about was fascinating, as was Reddington's mysterious interest in Elizabeth.

The show's intrigue deepened with the reveal that Elizabeth's husband, Tom, was living a double life, along with how this tied into the Blacklisters that Reddington and the task force were hunting. Season 1 balanced the show's procedural feel while planting the seeds for long-term storylines. This balance led to the satisfying payoff of the season's various Blacklisters tying into the larger threat of Berlin. The Blacklist season 1 was great when it was released, and its many strengths mean that it also has the best rewatch value out of all the seasons.