I've always liked James Spader's off-center performances (although ridiculously over the top in Mannequin) and I have seen this episode ("The Djinn") and it’s a difficult issue. (Also difficult to keep the names straight!)

As I understand it, the character Nasim was originally Nasir, the first-born son of the patriarch of a financial dynasty, and was gay. His father, out of twisted love, forced the gender surgery out of fear for a gay child’s safety in their particular Islamic culture. However, it may have been also to avoid public shame as the father of a gay son.

The son Nasir grew into the woman Nasim and was the secret head of a criminal organization that took money from clients who desired revenge on their enemies, involving torture and death. In other words, countless deaths are on Nasim’s hands, including the torture/death of her own father. When Red brings down organization, he cuts a deal with Nasim to obtain the client list he wants, but double-crosses her, leaving her to the authorities.

So, to the matter at hand … the forced feminization by the father was cowardly and cruel, even though he may have convinced himself it was done as a protective, loving parent. Since Nasir was “now female”, Nasim would always be second-class—if thought of at all—by her father, who doted on the younger son, promoted to heir and unaware of the older sibling’s existence or change.

Nasim’s hatred for her father was two-fold, of birth gender and of birthright. First and foremost was the betrayal by the father. Nasir, though gay, was quite happily male, and had his maleness forcibly taken and was relegated to the lower status of a woman. Oddly enough, she truly was the reverse of the Jerry Springer cliche--that is, "a man trapped in a woman's body"--and every day must have been agony for her. Second, as the first-born, Nasir should have been heir to vast riches; instead, as a woman, Nasim had no control over the family's wealth and was dependent on the men in her family. This is why she started her own secret organization--Nasim was fueled by rage; wildly successful financially by capitalizing on other people’s desire for revenge, but blinded by her own vengeance.

Since the basic setup for The Blacklist is Red “cleaning house” of criminals, it was right that he left Nasim to the authorities. Yes, Nasir had been a victim but Nasim was murderous, leaving countless victims, including the families of her targets.