NBC’s Emmy Award winning series, The Blacklist, has been a smashing success since its 2013 debut, treading the thin line between serialized and procedural drama almost faultlessly for ten thrilling seasons. The show, which debuted to a record-breaking 14.95 million average viewership, stars James Spader as Raymond "Red" Reddington, a former U.S. Naval Intelligence officer turned high-profile criminal, who surrenders to the FBI with an offer to help catch some of the world’s most dangerous and elusive criminals.
For ten years, the show has kept viewers on the edge of their seats with its intricate plot lines, intense action sequences, and unexpected twists and turns. Tragically, season ten, which premiered on
NBC on February 26, will the show’s final season. With the long-awaited finale episode expected to air in the coming weeks, we take a look at all the reasons the series is wrapping up after ten seasons.
8 The Blacklist Will Be Closing Its Final Chapter In Season 10
After ten thrilling seasons, in which it underwent several dramatic plot twists and survived multiple near-fatal events, including the demise of one of its main protagonists, Elizabeth Keen, The Blacklist is finally closing its final chapter.
“After 10 years, hundreds of Blacklist cases and more than 200 episodes produced, we’re honored to reach our conclusion,” showrunner and executive producer, John Eisendrath said of the show in a statement. “It’s been incredibly fun to create the strange, devious, and delightful Blacklisters to challenge Raymond Reddington and our FBI Task Force each week.”
7 Season 10 Marks A Major Milestone For The Blacklist
The Blacklist has been a staple on NBC for the past decade, and the news of its conclusion has elicited mixed reactions from fans. However, for NBC, just getting to season ten is a remarkable achievement worth celebrating.
“It isn’t often that a series resonates so deeply with an audience that it airs for 10 seasons,” president of scripted content at NBC Universal Television and Streaming, Lisa Katz, said of the sow in a statement, “but The Blacklist proved to be a perfect combination of highly talented producers, stellar writing, a cast that never failed to deliver, and a crew that always rose to the occasion.”
6 The Blacklist’s Ratings Had Been Dipping Long Before Its Season Ten Finale
Over the years, The Blacklist has undergone several changes, with characters coming and going, and the storyline evolving in unexpected ways. Despite these changes, the show has remained one of NBC’s top-performing shows and maintained a loyal fan base.
However, viewership has been declining steadily in recent years, with season 9 accruing an average of 4.77 million viewers; a number that pales in comparison to season one’s 14.95 million. This ratings cascade is presumably one of the reasons the show is wrapping up after ten seasons.
5 The Blacklist Lost Many Of Its Major Characters Over Its Ten-Season Run
The Blacklist has undergone several cast changes through is decade-long run. One of the most significant departures was that of Megan Boone's character, Elizabeth Keen, who met her tragic demise at the end of season eight.
Boone's departure followed that of other major cast members, including Harry Lennix's Harold Cooper and Ryan Eggold's Tom Keen. These departures left a significant void in the show's ensemble cast, leaving some fans feeling like the series had lost some of its spark as a result.
4 The Blacklist Has Changed Considerably In Recent Seasons
Though it started out as a simple procedural drama, The Blacklist has become increasingly convoluted in recent years, with its character-driven story arcs becoming more prominent as the seasons progressed. As it turns out, these elongated storylines, particularly the unending deluge of family secrets, had begun to rub fans the wrong way.
“Dear showrunners and writers, please write about chasing worthy criminals again; I don’t care about the family secrets anymore,” one exasperated Redditor wrote in 2021. “Let the post office and Red chase worthy criminals again. (Liz being Number 1 on the list is ridiculous as she is neither worthy nor interesting.) Enough with the convoluted family secrets.”
3 What Would Happen If The Blacklist Continued?
Throughout its ten seasons, The Blacklist has undergone several major plot changes that, while quite adept at keeping viewers on the edge of their seats, have completely transformed the show. In fact, according to James Spader, who also serves as executive producer on the show, the show might become completely unrecognizable should it continue past season 10.
“I think if the show went beyond this year, it would turn into a very different show," he admitted to NBC in an interview, adding, “Tonally the show shifts a lot from episode to episode, and I think that even the show has taken strange turns, and I suspect that the show, if it went much further, would just become something that would be less recognizable to me."
2 Season Nine Of The Blacklist Set Up A Finale-Worthy Storyline
Season nine, which, with the death of Elizabeth Keen’s murderer, Marvin Gerard, brought Reddington’s quest for vengeance to an end, also saw the return of Wujing; an assassin whom Reddington helped take down in season one.
By the end of the season, Wujing is hatching a plan to eliminate Reddington once and for all, and has gathered a team of former blacklisters to help him in this pursuit. With such a set-up, fans can expect a thrilling final ride, with some of the show’s most formidable villains re-emerging from the shadows and Reddington facing one final comeuppance.
1 Is There A Blacklist Spinoff In The Works?
Unfortunately, there is no indication that The Blacklist will be getting a spinoff. In 2017, NBC greenlit the spinoff, The Blacklist: Redemption, which followed Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold) as he discovered more about his past. However, despite having the trappings of success, the show performed dismally, debuting to just 4.3 million viewers and an unimpressive 0.8 demo rating. With this in mind, it’s quite unlikely that NBC will be reviving any of the storylines or characters from The Blacklist after its finale.
Though a spinoff is unlikely, fans have been speculating on what kind of storylines might be ideal should NBC have a change of heart. “Could the show just go on and be about Red and Dembe doing criminal things,” one Redditor theorized in 2021. “It could literally go anywhere and do anything and not be tied to Katarina or keen or the FBI. Just be about the Reddington criminal organization and the wonderful assortment of characters.”
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