The Blacklist
NBC | Release Date: September 23, 2013
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
TimeSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: To the extent that Reddington is compelling, it’s because Spader is doing all the work. He gets little help from the pilot script, which feeds him some sharp lines but imagines him as a generically debauched mastermind. Read full review
58
Uncle BarkyEd BarkSep 18, 2013
Season 1 Review: The Blacklist is watchable but patently unbelievable and increasingly unpalatable. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: The Blacklist doesn’t waste time making sense, as the focus zooms all over Washington, D.C. Too often, it seems more like a blueprint for a show than a show. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubPhil Dyess-NugentSep 23, 2013
Season 1 Review: Spader is fun to watch in a shallow, ornamental way, but he’d be worth caring about if there were some limits to his character’s abilities. Instead, he’s not just brilliant, but also practically unbound by the laws of time and space. Read full review
50
Washington PostHank StueverSep 19, 2013
Season 1 Review: The pilot episode is stylish and swiftly paced, but that’s all it is, and despite some intriguing plot twists, there’s not a lot of motivation to keep coming back. Read full review
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