Claire Conrad Taylor

Minor Character: New York

Name	Claire Conrad Taylor
Gender	Female
Birth Date	1969
Family	Reed Garrett (son) Mac Taylor (husband)
City	New York
Status	Deceased
Portrayed By	Jaime Ray Newman
First Appearance	Sweet 16 (pictures)

Claire Conrad Taylor was the wife of NYPD Detective Mac Taylor.

Background

At a fairly young adult age, she gave birth to Reed Garrett, and gave him up for adoption. She later married Mac, but did not have children. We know that, due to Mac mentioning Claire to his father right before discharge from the Marines (6x02 'Blacklist featuring Gravedigger') that they must have met during his time of service. It's also revealed that she and Mac were both friends with Christine Whitney and her brother, Stan, and they once all went on vacation together. Christine asks Mac if he recalls an incident where they all got drunk and something embarrassing happened, but though Mac remembers, he won't talk about it.

She was killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as she was in the World Trade Center at the time. She may have been killed on the street when the second plane hit, or she may have gone back inside the tower and died while trying to help others. She told Mac during their phone call that she was out of her tower and safe, but that she wanted to go back in. Mac tells her to stay out where it's safe, and then the call is cut off. Even years later, Mac still mourns the loss of his wife, frequently visiting the site of the former World Trade Center, as well as keeping pictures of her, and kept a beachball, which she blew up. He also held onto the opera tickets they were to have used on the night of 9/11, eventually releasing them into the ocean in 8x1 'Indelible' as a symbolic goodbye.

Claire was portrayed in the flashbacks in the season eight premiere "Indelible" by Jaime Ray Newman. Note that when Mac gave Reed the pictures of Claire in season 4's 'Some Buried Bones', the pictures show a different woman, that's likely due to the person in the photos not being an actor or being unavailable and no one being able to know at the time that Claire would have to appear onscreen later.