The Blacklist will end its 10 year run this TV season, says NBC.
The long-running crime drama series will see James Spader’s Raymond Reddington finally hanging up his fedora after the upcoming tenth season. The show will begin its final seasonal run starting Sunday, Feb. 26 at 10 p.m. on NBC, with the 200th episode, a milestone for the long-running drama, airing Sunday, March 19.
“We thank our wonderful partners at NBC for a remarkable 10 seasons of The Blacklist, the series that introduced the world to Raymond Reddington, brilliantly portrayed by James Spader,” said Jason Clodfelter, Co-President, Sony Pictures Television Studios in a statement to press.
“James has led a multi-talented and diverse cast that also featured legendary guest stars and hundreds of Blacklisters who made us all root for this anti-hero. We tip our Reddington hat to the dedicated production staff, hard-working crew and talented writers. The unpredictable plot twists have produced a legacy TV show that served to entertain a worldwide audience and as we enter the final season, we can’t wait for audiences to see how Raymond Reddington takes a final bow.”
“After 10 years, hundreds of ‘Blacklist’ cases and more than 200 episodes produced, we’re honored to reach our conclusion,” added showrunner and executive producer John Eisendrath.
“It’s been incredibly fun to create the strange, devious and delightful Blacklisters to challenge Raymond Reddington and our FBI Task Force each week. We would like to thank everyone at NBC and Sony, our extraordinary crew who make the impossible happen every day, our endlessly inventive writers and producers, and our remarkable cast who brought life to these characters. We appreciate our dedicated fanbase who came along for this wonderful ride and are excited to share this final season with them.”
The Blacklist also stars Diego Klattenhoff, Hisham Tawfiq, Anya Banerjee and Harry Lennix. Series star Megan Boone left the show following the 8th season finale, when her character Elizabeth Keen was murdered by an associate of Reddington’s. Season 9 saw Red tracking Liz’s killer, only to be thwarted from his revenge by an act of suicide by a cornered but repentant villain.
However, the show drew criticism from fans in recent seasons regarding a plot line that seemed to suggest Reddington’s secret identity may be that of Elizabeth Keen’s biological mother. However, after Keen’s death, the storyline was not revisited, and any new explanations regarding Reddington’s true identity (hinted and alluded to over the course of the show’s long run), including the real reason for his interference in Elizabeth’s life, were never given.
According to NBC, Season 10 will see Reddington confront “unparalleled danger” as his covert role as an FBI informant faces renewed exposure, and “former Blacklisters will unite against him in their lethal desire for revenge – testing Red and the FBI Task Force as never before.”
Speculation is mounting regarding to a possible return for Keen this season, and perhaps a satisfying end for fans tormented by the show’s many unanswered questions.
John Eisendrath, Jon Bokenkamp, John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment, James Spader, Lukas Reiter, Laura A. Benson, Daniel Cerone, Sean Hennen, Allison Glock-Cooper, T Cooper all serve as executive producers on The Blacklist.
The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television Studios and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
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