The Blacklist: The Complete Second Season

This high-concept conspiracy/espionage thriller starring James Spader as Red Reddington, a renegade agent and international criminal turned FBI secret informant, enters its second season with trust being even harder to establish. FBI profiler Liz Keen (Megan Boone), Red's official FBI contact, discovers that he's been keeping major secrets. Meanwhile, she keeps her own investigations under wraps, including the illegal imprisonment of an enemy agent and the killing of a civilian. And a government cabal (called, of course, The Cabal) makes her boss (Harry Lennix) a party to their plot, and a conspiracy targets Liz herself. The Blacklist continues the same formula established in the first season: each episode focuses on apprehending a different criminal on the blacklist provided by Red, while a larger plot plays out over the course of the season. Amidst the international intrigue is Liz's personal story, as she tries to unlock repressed memories that Red tries to keep suppressed, for reasons revealed in the final episodes. It's a slick series with lots of ambiguous characters and a fine roster of guest stars and villains (including Mary-Louise Parker, Ron Perlman, Paul Reubens, Peter Fonda, and Peter Stormare), and it features high-end production values and elaborate action scenes, but it remains Spader's show and he lifts it out of otherwise familiar patterns thanks to a terrifically entertaining performance. Compiling all 22 episodes from the 2014-15 second season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes (exclusive to the Blu-ray release are episode commentaries and additional featurettes). Recommended. (S. Axmaker)