Questions don’t stop piling up in the new series “The Blacklist,” and I can’t wait to hear the answers.

“The Blacklist” is an NBC drama about one of the FBI’s most-wanted criminals who decides he wants to help them take down wrongdoers. James Spader plays criminal mastermind Raymond “Red” Reddington. He turns himself in with a plan to assist in taking out the FBI’s top targets. The biggest question on everyone’s mind is why would he turn himself in.

Spader is becoming one of my favorite television actors. Although he has been acting for a long time, I didn’t fall in love with him until “The Office” and the movie “Lincoln.” Spader’s acting chops make him the most powerful man in the room.

This show was able to grab my attention in the first minute with alarms blaring and guns drawn. Spader refuses to let go of my interest until the credits roll. Whether the tone is serious or hilarious, Spader rolls with the punches.

It only gets better with the introduction of FBI agent Elizabeth Keen, played by Megan Boone. Keen is the new girl on the force and the only person Red will talk to. No one in the FBI knows why she is special to him.

Boone shows herself to be a very capable actress, especially when paired with Spader. These two quickly take on a relationship eerily similar to Clarice and Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs.” It is rare when television shows take on such a strenuous yet peculiar relationship between characters.

Bringing together the familiar crime serial feeling with the unique relationship of Red and Keen makes this show very interesting. “The Blacklist” has potential to turn into a must-watch.

Since Sept. 23 was only the pilot episode, there is no telling where the series will progress. The program has shown a lot of promise and certainly has the cast to stay entertaining. Writing a show like this always runs the risk of a quick down spiral. Hopefully all the questions it raises will be answered.