History Trivia / TheBlacklist

* FakeRussian: Most of the Russian characters on the show are played by non-Russian actors. The young Katarina Rostova in flashbacks is played by Lotte Verbeek, while the sexagenerian present-day Katarina is played by Laila Robins. Katarina's father, the man known as Dominic Wilkinson, was played by Brian Dennehy (and by C.J. Wilson in the flashback episode "Rassvet"). The young Ilya Koslov was played in "Rassvet" by Gabriel Mann, and his present-day version by Creator/BrettCullen. The elderly restaurateur Anton Velov was played by Madison Arnold. All actors heretofore mentioned in this entry are American except Verbeek, who is Dutch. Possibly the only aversion is the young version of Velov from "Rassvet" who was played by Stass Klassen, who is indeed Russian.

* HollywoodHomely: In Season 4, Aram - played by a very good looking Indian/Middle-Eastern actor - is perplexed as to why his hot new girlfriend is with him, and speculates with Samar as to for what messed-up reasons she might be with a stereotypical IT geek like him. When she reassures him that she might like him for his many good qualities that don't include his looks, he says that he's a 4 on looks, or at best, a 6 on a good day.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://the-blacklist.wikia.com/wiki/The_Blacklist_Wiki Located here]].

* YouLookFamiliar: Lukas Hassel has a significant recurring role in season 8 as Elias VanDyke, a significant right-hand man to the season's overarching baddie Neville Townsend. He actually first appears in season 4 as a character names Vincent, a....significant right-hand man to that particular episode's baddie. [[spoiler:He goes down a lot easier the first time around.]]

* WrittenInInfirmity: Megan Boone announced she was expecting her first child around season 3; that season, Liz is heavily pregnant with Tom's baby.

** In "Frederick Barnes", the title criminal puts a briefcase full of a toxin on a train in the UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC Metrorail subway system (which in the background you can hear them announcing Washington subway stations over the Public Address system ["Woodley Park", "Dupont Circle"]) which kills dozens of people. Only thing is, the trains and stations are not from Washington. They're probably from Baltimore (the nearest city to Washington that also has a subway) or someplace else. The reason being is that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ("Metro"), which operates the D.C.-area system, has a policy that they will not permit filming of any program or movie that shows violence committed on a Metrorail train or in a station. Also, while train operators do announce their train and its destination on its internal speakers and the train's external loudspeakers when they arrive at a station, Metro does not announce train arrivals on a station's PA system, that's reserved for system-wide announcements like general train delays (when there is a big game or a major public gathering) or when there have been service disruptions due to train or track problems.
** It happens again in a courtroom in the courthouse in Arlington, Virginia (which is about 6 miles from Washington). The building used is not the Arlington County Courthouse, as it's more like a Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles or New York. The Arlington County Courthouse is on a plaza across from the county jail; the courthouse shown in the episode was approached by a long staircase similar to the New York City one seen in ''Series/LawAndOrder''.
* CastTheExpert: The actor playing Red's chief of security Baz also happens to be a former CIA officer and veteran US Marine who founded an NGO which rescues kidnapped Children in the sex slave trade.

* HollywoodHomely: In Season 4, Aram - played by a very good looking Indian/Middle-Eastern actor - is perplexed as to why his hot new girlfriend is with him, and speculates with Samar as to what messed up reasons she might be with a stereotypical IT geek like him. When she reassures him that she might like him for his many good qualities that don't include his looks, he says that he's a 4 on looks, or at best, a 6 on a good day.

* {{Jossed}}: Season 2 Episode 20 confirms that [[spoiler:Liz is not Red's daughter; her mother was a Russian woman associated with the KGB, who Red knew and he's watching over her in part because of that]]. So that theory is out... probably. It's hard to say for sure, and given Red's habit of lying even this might be the truth. The one thing we can be (almost) sure of is that [[spoiler:Liz isn't the daughter of Red who he left behind along with his wife when he went rogue.]]

** Brian Dennehy passed away due to sepsis in April 2020, which resulted in cardiac arrest. As such, Dominic Wilkinson will likely be shelved.

* WhatMightHaveBeen: Creator/FrankGrillo was one of the actors originally considered for the role of Reddington, but had to turn it down due to conflicts with ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''.

** Expect a similar fate for Glen, whose actor Clark Middleton passed away in October 2020. Rest in peace, Jellybean.

* WrittenInInfirmity: Megan Boone announced she was expecting her first child around season 3; that season, Liz is heavily pregnant with Tom's baby [[spoiler: and gives birth to a girl while being chased by Mr Solomon.]]

* FakeRussian: Most of the Russian characters on the show are played by non-Russian actors. The young Katarina Rostova in flashbacks is played by Lotte Verbeek, while the sexagenerian present-day Katarina is played by Laila Robins. Katarina's father, the man known as Dominic Wilkinson, was played by Brian Dennehy (and by C.J. Wilson in the flashback episode "Rassvet"). The young Ilya Koslov was played in "Rassvet" by Gabriel Mann, and his present-day version by Brett Cullen. The elderly restaurateur Anton Velov was played by Madison Arnold. All actors heretofore mentioned in this entry are American except Verbeek, who is Dutch. Possibly the only aversion is the young version of Velov from "Rassvet" who was played by Stass Klassen, who is indeed Russian.

* FakeRussian: Most if not all the Russian characters on the show are played by non-Russian actors. The young Katarina Rostova in flashbacks is played by Lotte Verbeek, while the sexagenerian present-day Katarina is played by Laila Robins. Katarina's father, the man known as Dominic Wilkinson, was played by Brian Dennehy (and by C.J. Wilson in the flashback episode "Rassvet"). The young Ilya Koslov was played in "Rassvet" by Gabriel Mann, and his present-day version by Brett Cullen. The elderly restaurateur Anton Velov was played by Madison Arnold. All actors heretofore mentioned in this entry are American except Verbeek, who is Dutch. Possibly the only aversion is the young version of Velov from "Rassvet" who was played by Stass Klassen, who is indeed Russian.

* FakeRussian: Most if not all the Russian characters on the show are played by non-Russian actors. The young Katarina Rostova in flashbacks is played by Lotte Verbeek, while the sexagenerian present-day Katarina is played by Laila Robins. Katarina's father, the man known as Dominic Wilkinson, was played by Brian Dennehy (and by C.J. Wilson in the flashback episode "Rassvet"). The young Ilya Koslov was played in "Rassvet" by Gabriel Mann, and his present-day version by Brett Cullen. All actors mentioned in this entry are American except Verbeek, who is Dutch.

* TheCharacterDiedWithHim: Brian Dennehy passed away due to sepsis in April 2020, which resulted in cardiac arrest. As such, Dominic Wilkinson will likely be shelved.

* TheCharacterDiedWithHim: Brian Dennehy passed away due to sepsis, which resulted in cardiac arrest. As such, Dominic Wilkinson will likely be shelved.

* ActorAllusion:
** In "Frederick Barnes", [[Series/{{House}} Robert Sean Leonard]] plays a medical researcher.
** Creator/DavidStrathairn has played [[Film/TheBourneUltimatum CIA officer Noah Voson]], who uses his position against the good guys.
** In "Mr. Kaplan Part I" a thief played by Aldis Hodge mentions the concept of "Series/{{Leverage}}".
** The Architect, who organizes a hacking contest, is played by Brent Spiner, who plays the aptly named Data on Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration.
** In Season 6 Episode 3, while defending himself in court, Red tells the Judge that he once stumbled upon Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia while on a fishing trip. This is a reference to the series finale of Series/BostonLegal, which Spader starred on as BunnyEarsLawyer Alan Shore.