The Blacklist season 4 spoilers: James Spader on Dembe Zuma betrayal

Thursday night, The Blacklist is returning to NBC, and with that, you’re finally going to get a chance to see where the story picks up with one Raymond Reddington. Based on how the first part of the season ended with Dembe Zuma’s apparent betrayal, we know already that we’re certainly going to see the story go in some interesting directions!

In preparation for the final part of the season airing, James Spader made an appearance on The Today Show earlier this week to discuss specifically where the story picks up in the “Dembe Zuma” episode, which begins at a special time in 9:00 p.m. Eastern:

“[Reddington’s] searching for [Dembe]. I think that [his] relationship with Dembe is so [intertwined] … All fingers point towards [him] as the [guilty] party. But, I think Reddington wants to find him just because he can’t fathom how [he could be responsible].”

Spader also set up some of the first information worth noting about “Requiem,” the second episode airing on Thursday and one that is going to be incredibly important in establishing the mythology. You’re going to see a younger version of not only Liz and Reddington, but also Mr. Kaplan in the process:

“The second half of the two-hour episode probably delves into the past more than any other episode we’ve shot on the show. Even though it relates to other episodes that have been … This is [similar to last season’s ‘Cape May’] in that this is a very cathartic time in terms of what’s happening in Reddington’s life … In this episode, you start to see, and it starts to make sense, some of the things about the past.”

In terms of pure Spader performances, “Cape May” is the best episode of The Blacklist through the entire series so far. That has us excited to see some of what could be coming in this episode. We’ll learn more about who Reddington really is, and in the process what he’s hoping to get out of his partnership with Liz Keen now.

(Photo: NBC.)