By Price Zimmer ’14 | Entertainment Editor

Boasting a tremendous performance by James Spader and some delectable miscreants, NBC’s new pulpy crime drama “The Blacklist” overcomes its flaws and has the potential to remain a staple of television for the foreseeable future.

The clear star of the show is Spader,  three-time Emmy Winner of “Boston Legal,” who portrays Raymond “Red” Reddington, a charismatic sociopathic crime broker who has given himself up to the FBI. The role allows Spader to craft a character of extraordinary arrogance with a  sinister nature similar to Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lector. The amount of fun Spader has on screen is almost palpable, he can make the audience crave for him to just have one more line or a little more screen time.

Another extremely well done aspect of the show is the quality of the villains. Not only are they monstrous, but they are varied and unique, something similar television crime dramas have struggled with recently. Some are more layered than others, but all are memorable and the actors have done an admirable job of being all kinds of evil, creepy and egotistical.

There are however, some significant issues with how the FBI and other law enforcement units are portrayed. Megan Boone who plays the newly-minted FBI Special Agent and newly-wed Elizabeth Keen, is the best of the bunch, though she can be a bit non-expressive. But Diego Klattenhoff and Harry Lennix, who play leading FBI Agents Donald Ressler and Harold Cooper respectively, are usually some combination of wooden, stereotypical, boring and one-dimensional. It is not a good sign when the audience has to labor through their performances to get to Spader having one of his villainous romps.

These poor performances can be partially attributed to the writing staff headed by John Bokenkamp, which seems to know that Spader and the villain of the week are the strengths of the show, and the G-Men are really screen filler. Aside from Boone, none of the FBI have had any character development, not even some exposition to explain their motives or pasts or even any hints to a larger picture like with the two leads, Spader and Boone.

However, the show is still a ton of fun, with plenty of twists and unexpected turns of events to keep the audience engaged and keep their attentions away from the sometimes poor writing. While the plot twists are usually well done, they can be inconsistent, and it is the strength of Spader’s performance that will carry this series.

Grade: B-