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WARNING: Only spoilers from the current season (Season 4) are whited out.
The Cabal
NCS Director
NCS Director/Peter Kotsiopulos
Played By: David Strathairn
The current director of the CIA's National Clandestine Services. He appears to be familiar with Alan Fitch and Reddington alike.
- Big Bad: After the death of Fitch and Berlin, the Director steps out of the shadows to emerge as the main antagonist.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: He himself doesn't do much fighting, but his team was able to take out most of Reddington's men in "Leonard Caul" without much difficulty.
- Diabolical Mastermind: He's an absurdly powerful, nigh-untouchable and ruthless man who is walking the world toward another Cold War for his own benefit.
- Evil Old Folks: He's in his older years, and is very evil indeed.
- Faux Affably Evil: The Director is able to feign politeness, but is unable to hide his contempt and condescension for long.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He might be a psychotic megalomaniac, but he's a psychotic megalomaniac with eyesight problems.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Despite his power and influence, nobody else in the Cabal seems to care much for him. Hobbs jumps at the chance to side with Red over the Director, Solomon seems to have some distaste for him despite his outward politeness, and he was at odds with Fitch. And now that his actions led to Reddington going after their entire organization there has been multiple statements that they are all too eager at this time to cut their losses (ie him) just to save what little they have left.
- Lean and Mean: Due to being played by David Strathairn, he has a very slender frame.
- No Name Given: He was known only as the NCS Director until Season 3, when his name was revealed as Peter Kotsiopulos.
- Oh, Crap!:
- A mild one when he sees Kenneth's tongue at the end of "Quon Zhang".
- A bigger one when he discovers that Reddington just stole his "retirement fund".
- Praetorian Guard: He has a team of agents at his call, being responsible for the events of "Leonard Caul".
- Smug Snake: He oozes smugness in every single scene he's in.
- Villainous Breakdown: Every successful strike against him by Red seems to push him closer to the edge of a nervous breakdown. He's become increasingly desperate, and with good reason; he's in deep trouble with the rest of the Cabal and needs to settle his business with Red to save his own skin.
- We Have Reserves/Zerg Rush: The main tactic his team employs to even the odds against them.
Connolly
Thomas "Smiling Tommy" Connolly
Played By: Reed Birney
The US Attorney General, who is a good friend and colleague of Harold Cooper.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: To try and save his own life, he makes it very clear to Liz and Cooper that he has plans for everyone in their lives.You're going to prison, Agent Keen. Donald Ressler— his little oxy addiction will get him drummed out of the Bureau. Samar Navabi will be extradited to Iran, where she will stand trial for the murder of one of their top nuclear scientists. Charlene, Harold, even Agent Mojtabai. We have a little something in mind for all of you, including treason charges and the death penalty for Reddington. So are we finished here? Because I think it's cocktail hour.
- Amoral Attorney: Slowly becomes one after he joins the Alliance. He was one earlier when he had Alan Rifkin beaten into confessing (while Rifkin WAS guilty Cooper expresses regret that they had to resort to it, while Connolly is unrepentant).
- Character Death: Keen kills him after he reveals that he manipulated some of the events in the 2nd season, such as arranging Cooper's medical trials for his own benefits since they weren't real.
- The Corrupter: To Cooper; he's been corrupting him with subtle manipulations so that the Cabal can easily interfere with his actions.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has a quick wit that is apparent in all his scenes.
- Even Evil Has Standards: "Leonard Caul" suggests that he didn't like the idea of leaking information to the Director of National Clandestine Services.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Connolly acted like a jerk towards Richard Denner, the judge prosecuting the case against Cooper and Liz, he has a point when he told him that there are special courts that can take on cases that are related to national security. Connolly also mentions that Denner's position does not allow him to take on the case forwarded by Detective Wilcox. Later when he demands to Cooper to arrest Liz on the spot, he reminds him that Reddington has taken advantage of his informant status to help his underworld empire gain an advantage over his enemies/rivals.
- Manipulative Bastard: Credit where it's due; Connolly manipulates the entire Task Force (and especially Cooper) to guarantee his own entry into the Cabal, and succeeds.
- The Reveal: The events of "Leonard Caul" took place because of him so that he can join the Cabal.
- Toxic Friend Influence: For Cooper and the task force; he keeps them safe from indictment in an utterly slimy matter that sinks them further and further under his own influence.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Plans to kill Reddington even though Red saved him from the Judge.
- Villain with Good Publicity: He's a quickly-ascending and respected Attorney General.
Solomon
Matias Solomon
See The Blacklist: Blacklist Names — Matias Solomon
Fitch
Alan Fitch
Played By: Alan Alda
A mysterious individual from Reddington's past, apparently connected to a larger organization of some kind. He is on a Senate committee investigating the task force in the aftermath of the Garrick attack (which he was ultimately behind), and Fowler secretly reports to him.
- Affably Evil: Fitch is a very civil guy, even when he has you tied up on the verge of death.
- Anti-Villain: He seems to regard all of his actions as ultimately being for the good of his country; he has a cordial if uneasy friendship-of-sorts with Reddington and although he claims responsibility for over 700 deaths in his role as Assistant Director of National Intelligence he appears to regard all of them as necessary and generally does not condone needless violence. His final act is to save the life of the bomb disposal expert trying to disarm the explosive around his neck, and to give advice to Reddington on how to deal with the rest of his group, many of whom he regards as dangerous extremists. Overall, a pretty decent guy who happens to have a lot of blood on his hands.
- Death by Irony: Fitch had ruined Berlin's life by killing the man's fellow Soviet hardliners with a bomb. Berlin makes sure to return the favor when they finally meet up by securing his own bomb around Fitch's neck.
- Due to the Dead: Has sent 763 US operatives to their deaths over the course of his career, and made a point of visiting the families of every single one of them afterwards.
- Face Death with Dignity: He tells the bomb disposal expert trying to save his life to leave and save himself rather than die with him needlessly; he also has a final friendly talk with Reddington and gives him warnings about how his group will react to his death as a last favour to him.
- Friendly Enemy: Fitch says himself he actually likes Reddington, despite everything. Even in his dying moments, Fitch still leaves behind useful information for Reddington. He mentions two members of the group, Mitchum and Hobbes, who might be convinced to be allies to Red. Fitch also tells Reddington the existence of a safe in St. Petersburg, with the combination being his wife's birthday, 8/30/44.
- Gambit Pileup: Pretty much the entire first season and the first half of Season 2 occurred because of a bombing he orchestrated decades ago to prevent a coup in the then-collapsing Soviet Union, framing Red for the "murder" of Berlin's daughter to pit the two against each other (and Berlin was apparently just one of many such pawns), deciding that working with Red was better than fighting him, then having to hide the fact that the whole reason Red was fighting Berlin was his fault in the first place while still keeping Red as an ally. And that's all before the events of the show even started! Goes up to eleven when you realize that he sent Anslo Garrick to abduct Red in revenge for Red turning FBI informant, only to discover that the reason Red turned informant was because Berlin was too formidable an enemy for Red to face alone, and Red later turns to Fitch himself for help to fight Berlin and Fitch agrees; in other words, Fitch has spent this entire show playing a chess match against himself!
- Genre Savvy: He's quite knowledgeable regarding Reddington's M.O.
- Go Out With A Bang: He's killed by an explosive device around his neck placed there by Berlin.
- Hazy Feel Revolving Door: Despite the events of Anslo Garrick, Fitch even seems to be a pseudo-ally to Red at times.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Is unapologetic for setting Berlin on Red on the grounds that Red was and is a dangerous criminal who stole some extremely sensitive intel and tried to blackmail Fitch's group with it, although he accepts the consequences when Berlin finds out he was played and turns against him. Also his attitude to all the operations he has masterminded and people he has had killed in the name of defending his country (it should be noted that he takes his job seriously enough to have kept count of every man who died on his watch and so only kills when he feels it is necessary).
- The Man Behind the Man: To Garrick. Also turns out that he played Berlin like a fiddle.
- Mole in Charge: Fowler answers to him both in public (his role being the Assistant Director of National Intelligence) and as part of their criminal conspiracy.
- Nebulous Evil Organization: Represents one.
- Pet the Dog: While detained in a box in an attempt to defuse the bomb on his neck, Fitch reflects on all the agents he has sent to die over the years, agents that were "good people who died in the service of their country". He knows the FBI bomb tech in the box with him cannot disarm the bomb. He tells the man to leave because he does not want to have another death on his hands.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Due to his professional capacity, he's always impeccably dressed.
- We Are Everywhere: States such. He seems to be right. Fowler reports to him in his public persona.
Martin
Walter Gary Martin
Played By: Jason Butler Harner
An official in the Department of Justice, he manned the black ops task force between the 1st and 2nd seasons. He is also in league with Fitch.
- Dirty Cop: It's revealed he's working for Alan Fitch, and helps break Red out of custody.
- Jerkass: Martin is a condescending asshole when interacting with just about anyone.
- Smug Snake: He's very pleased with himself for no discernible reason.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: After Cooper is injured, Martin takes over the task force.
Fowler
Diane Fowler
Played By: Jane Alexander
An official at the Department of Justice, she's the head of its Criminal Division and is in charge of making sure that the FBI's secret task forces does it duty of apprehending the names of individuals Reddington supplies through his blacklist. She also recruits retired CIA agent Meera Malik to make sure that task force does its job.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She was an Obstructive Bureaucrat at worst for most of her appearances, until we find out that she's actually the one who orchestrated the attack on the Post Office and thus murdered several of her own people, to cover up a criminal conspiracy she is involved in.
- Character Death: Killed off by Red in the 13th episode.
- Evil All Along: She's The Mole everyone was looking for.
- Jerkass: While her reasons for being a Obstructive Bureaucrat are more or less justified, she could at least try to be less abrasive and disrespectful about it. Justified because she's actually a villain.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Applies to her, but only because she's skeptical of Reddington's condition for a possible pardon for all his crimes.
- Mole in Charge: She's the head of the Criminal Division, and also responsible for providing the information on the black site to Garrick's team.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: Not entirely, but has some shades of it due her treatment of Cooper and his team.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Became this after being informed that Fitch's party was covertly doing surveillance on her. Later on, it turns out she and Fitch were working together from the start.
- Smug Snake: Revealed as this after her secret is uncovered. She massively overestimates how valuable she is, and ends up on the wrong end of Reddington's gun for this.
Goodson
Kat Goodson
Played By Janel Moloney
The Director's assistant. She is a liaison between the NCS and FBI.
- The Mole: For the Director.
Hobbs
Roger Hobbs
Played By: Ralph Brown
The CEO of the Longevity Initiative, who asks Reddington to hunt down a fellow scientist who conducts experiments behind his back. He is revealed to be a member of the Cabal, and assists Reddington in his war with them.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: A well-respected CEO with a sideline in murder, conspiracy and illegal experimentation.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Compared to the other Cabal members, he's practically a saint.
- Named Like My Name: With the (now deceased) short-time crime author
of the same name.
Jasper
Kenneth Jasper
Played By: James A. Stephens
An assistant to the NCS Director whom Red sought out to join his cause with the promise that he would lead the Cabal himself.
- Undying Loyalty: To the Director; Red is unable to turn him and he only reveals vital information due to trickery.
Vargas
Mr. Vargas
Played By: Paul Reubens
One of Berlin's arms dealers operating in the eastern coast of the United States. He's also secretly in league with Reddington's group as his Double Agent/The Mole on the inside. He's revealed to be in league with the Cabal.
- Afraid of Blood: Vargas is actually so scared of blood that he could possibly faint. Red knows this, and honestly tries to keep him away from violent situations. The one time it couldn't be helped, Red clearly felt terrible and told his men to help Vargas out of area and get him into a chair.
- Double Agent/The Mole: He works for Reddington as his agent in Berlin's group as one of the man's arms dealers. A case of irony when it's revealed in Season 3 that he's a double agent for both Reddington and the Cabal.
- Hollywood Silencer: He uses a silenced Walther PPK. Red takes it from him and blasts one of his traitorous subordinates with it.
- Serious Business: When he's threatening the woman having an affair with Frank, Vargas gets very upset over her lack of treatment in taking care of her dog.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: How he tricks Dembe when the two of them are locked up and beaten by Solomon's people.
