After 10 seasons, The Blacklist comes to a close not with a bang but a whimper. The two-part finale involves the FBI hunting down their former confidential informant Raymond Reddington (James Spader) while others including Congressman Arthur Hudson (Toby Leonard Moore) continue to throw shade at the task force unintentionally allowing Red to escape. We get the arrest, and shooting, of Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) along with the misdirection of Red in the first episode. Derrick Williams is added to the mix as the new person to not listen to the team and go off half-cocked, although his character has no resolution and is simply forgotten by the final half-hour.
Other than playing on Red’s connection to Dembe, the finale does little to connect to the wider series or even events of the the final season. We don’t get even a mention of Elizabeth Keen by name and no Megan Boone in flashback or impossible twist. The series ends with Reddington’s identity intact as well as the truth about Red alluded to at the end of Season Eight isn’t further explored in any way other than one off-hand remark Pinky makes to Agnes (Sami Bray) for fans to take as they like.
Like Red, limping through an open field to his inevitable fate at the end of the episode, The Blacklist comes to a close without having anything more to say about the character or offering thoughts on the show’s run and his effect on those left behind (other than a single monologue from Dembe and some members of the task force mentioning they won’t help the FBI kill Red). Given the end of the series was planned, it’s an underwhelming choice for a show that has seen numerous ups and downs over ten years.
