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Everything to Know About The Blacklist Season 10
Get ready, Blacklisters: The end is here.
With 10 exciting seasons and over 200 Blacklisters put behind bars, it's difficult to image a world without Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader) at the helm of The Blacklist.
But sadly, all good things come to an end, and the curtain has closed after fans witnessed the explosive series finale. Red did everything he could to prevent the vengeful lineup of former Blacklisters from blowing his cover as a criminal informant, but his efforts were wasted after a nosy politician got involved. Red’s role as a criminal informant was shockingly revealed, forcing him to flee from the government. The Season 10 cast, featuring the endlessly entertaining Spader, Diego Klattenhoff, Hisham Tawfiq, Harry Lennix, and newcomer Anya Banerjee, had viewers on the edge of their seats as the curtain closed on a nail-biting era.
Here's everything that happened during Season 10 of The Blacklist:
Numerous former Blacklisters had a bone to pick with Red
For years, Red worked with his Task Force to track and apprehend an infamous "blacklist" of nefarious criminals. These investigations led to hundreds of successful arrests, but their operation became compromised after the events of Season 9, when Red’s former lawyer revealed his role as an informant to Wujing (Chin Han), one of the first Blacklisters Red ever put behind bars.
Season 10 kicked off with Wujing on a revenge tour to find Red and prove his role as an FBI informant to other scorned members of The Blacklist. As a result, the Task Force has brushed shoulders with familiar faces like Dr. Perillos (Laverne Cox), The Freelancer (Daniel Sauli), Robert Vesco (Stacy Keach), and the Troll Farmer (Aaron Yoo). Wujing’s army was only growing until Red managed to trap and kill him with the help of the Troll Farmer in Episode 9 ("The Troll Farmer Pt. 2”).
Siya Malek unveiled hidden secrets from her mother’s past
The Reddington Task Force got a bit of a remix with the new addition of Siya Malek, an incredibly talented and driven MI-6 agent. Siya has some personal ties to the Task Force, as her mother, Meera Malek, was killed during an operation for Red in the Season 1 finale. Siya joins Cooper’s Task Force to learn more about the confidential circumstances surrounding her mother’s death, but what she unveiled was far more shocking than what she anticipated.
While looking at Meera’s FBI file, Siya learned that she's adopted. Not only is she adopted, but the listed adoption agency doesn’t actually exist. Knowing he did his own background checks on Meera when she was recruited in Season 1, Siya became closer to Red to try to learn more about her mother – and the shocking twists and turns just kept coming. Siya learned that while her mother was on a mission, Meera saved and adopted Siya after finding her abandoned as a newborn. However, the identity of Siya's birth parents remains a mystery. Siya discovered that despite Meera's many hidden secrets, she loved Siya above all else.
Reddington and Agnes have grown closer than ever
As the daughter of the person Red loved most in this world, Red and Agnes Keen have become quite close over time — she basically views the Concierge of Crime like a sweet grandfather. Cooper originally demanded that Red keep his distance from Agnes to keep her safe, but as fans are well aware, Red isn’t one to accept direction gracefully.
It’s been refreshing to see a softer side of Red as he slows down from his criminal lifestyle to check in on Agnes. He even gifted Liz Keen's FBI badge to Agnes as a token of her mother's bravery and determination.
Red's solution for vengeful Blacklisters compromised the Task Force
Red’s method of getting Wujing to stop recruiting angry Blacklisters for revenge was quite simple: kill him. OK, so it actually wasn’t simple at all: Red built a full-scale replica of the Task Force HQ to pull it off and kept Cooper and the Task Force in the dark because it wasn't exactly legal. Not only did Red kill Wujing on government property, but he also destroyed all records of his role as an FBI informant, thus eliminating any justification for the Task Force.
Wujing’s murder created a flurry of political issues for Cooper; meanwhile, Red slowly and methodically began dismantling his criminal enterprise. The Task Force needed cases to justify their existence, so Red threw them the bones of his criminal network so that he could retire his operation in a mutually beneficial manner. Cooper wasn't pleased.
Congressman Hudson put the nail in the Task Force's coffin
It all came to a head after Congressman Arthur Hudson (Toby Leonard Moore) caught wind of the shady dealings transpiring within an elite highly-confidential FBI Task Force. Hudson's do-good nature was bad news for the Task Force, especially once he wiretapped Ressler's phone and heard Cooper admit to being a "partner in treason" with Red once they unveiled his intelligence network. Hudson had all of the evidence he needed to shut down the Task Force; just as he prepared to do so, Red wiretapped the FBI meeting and imploded the Task Force himself to assume legal blame for the fallout. Hudson was later killed during Red's run from the authorities, triggering a wild chain of events.
The Task Force was assigned their final Blacklister: #00 Raymond Reddington
After years of successful arrests, the Task Force was tragically shut down after Red's plan didn't exactly work. By dismantling his criminal network via the Task Force and deleting his history as a C.I., he placed himself back at square one as a renegade outlaw with no ties to the FBI.
Red fled from the authorities while the Task Force was reluctantly assigned one final Blacklister: Raymond Reddington. If the agents failed to arrest their longtime colleague, they were looking at hefty prison time themselves.
Red orchestrated a whirlwind escape to Spain
After encouraging Cooper to catch him if he could, Red pulled out every possible plot to divert the authorities and flee from the government. It wasn't simple: Red flooded the streets with identical getaway cars, bought a safe house just to burn down that safe house, and navigated around the police searching by commandeering a firetruck. Plus, before this, he blew up his beloved personal jet to buy himself time to set everything up.
Simply put, the series finale of The Blacklist didn't hold back when showing how far Red is willing to come out on top. Red's progress came to a halt after his biggest weakness was used against him. After learning Dembe was arrested for alerting Red to the authorities being on his tail, Red decided to intercept the arrest and bring Dembe with him. The resulting shootout between Red and the FBI was disastrous; Hudson shot Dembe in the neck, prompting Red to instantly shoot Hudson dead.
Red saved Dembe but paid a hefty price
Shooting a Congressman complicated Red fleeing from the country, especially as he rushed a dying Dembe to the nearest nursing home to get medical attention. After seeing his adoptive son on death's doorstep, Red insisted that he donate blood for the life-saving blood transfusion. Dembe was saved by the procedure, but Red was left worse for wear as he left the U.S. to take shelter in the stunning landscape of Spain.
Red's Spanish getaway provided him with much-needed rest, but his health quickly deteriorated. Weakened by his intense escape, Red was shocked to learn the Task Force tracked him down, sending Ressler to Spain to arrest him. Knowing a flurry of feds was on the horizon, a contemplative Red went on a walk and crossed paths with a massive bull staring at him in a field.
Reddington met his unlikely end
Red's entire inspiration for visiting Spain was to return the recovered horns of the Miura bull that killed the famed Spanish bullfighter Manolete, "a man who found it easier to risk his life than live his life without risk." Red related to the fallen bullfighter's lust for life, so he was amazed once he found himself staring at the same beast that killed the famed man. Red remained in awe even as the bull raged toward him.
Before the events of the series, Ressler was the FBI's go-to guy on all things Reddington, sparking a longtime friendly rivalry between the men once they teamed up within the Task Force. Ressler has wanted to see Red arrested for years. In the final moments of The Blacklist, Ressler finds Red, but like many of his close calls before, it's just too late. Ressler finds Red's dead body in the field, killed by a raging beast, just like the legend he so adored.
This story was originally published on September 27, 2022. It was updated on July 14, 2023.
