James Spader in “The Blacklist”.Photo:Will Hart/NBC
Will Hart/NBC
This post contains spoilers for Thursday’s series finale ofThe Blacklist.
The Blacklisthas reached the end of its run.
Diego Klattenhoff and Derrick Williams in “The Blacklist”.Will Hart/NBC
Still, Red’s close personal ties to some individuals on the Task Force, including his former bodyguard-turned-FBI Special Agent Dembe Zuma (Hisham Tawfiq), made the committee’s movements fraught.
“Don’t do me any more favors,” Red demanded in a secret phone call to Zuma in the two-part finale’s opening scene. “I won’t. I’m going to bring you in, Raymond,” Zuma answered.
While the Task Force may have captured Red’s license plate and were tracking down the car, they quickly learned that Red had multiple cars driving as a diversion. Their standard techniques simply wouldn’t work in hunting down Red.
“You may want to think of Raymond as an ordinary criminal,” Zuma told the committee. “That would be a mistake.” He then reminded them that “it’s his mind we should be worried about.”
As Red camped out, he called real estate agent Andrea Athens (Krista Braun). The agents were able to track down his temporary safehouse, primarily through Zuma’s reasoning. “You’ve got a hunch, don’t you?” agent Siya Malik (Anya Banerjee) asked. “It’s not on that list, is it?"
Still, the agents just missed Red, but learned of his new destination: a beat-down house that he was supposedly purchasing. When they arrived, the house was on fire.
“Raymond’s using the fire,” Zuma realized. “That’s how he’s getting out.”
Ever ahead of the curve, Red left the fire truck and drove off in a cab.
The disarray of the Task Force raged on, as Congressman Hudson became more paranoid of his team’s intentions. “How many times do we have to fail before we admit there’s a reason he’s always one step ahead?” he questioned.
Eventually, Hudson learned that a call was made to a burner phone before the chase, confirming his suspicion that Red was tipped off.
Hisham Tawfiq and Anya Banerjee in “The Blacklist”.Will Hart/NBC
After reaching the wharf, Zuma learned that Red had taken out the Great Shirley. Before they could track the boat down, though, Zuma was arrested for aiding and abetting a fugitive. “Hope he washed his hands,” the Congressman spouted off.
Meanwhile, Red got off a smaller boat, proclaiming that he “sunk” the Great Shirley, and drove off unscathed.
Cooper demanded to speak with Zuma, bursting his way into the questioning room and quickly admitting to tipping Red off. “Raymond is gone,” he said. “Someone on this Task Force will be held accountable. It should be me.”
And he was right: Red was currently in the process of leaving the country, though he had gotten word of Zuma’s arrest.
Zuma was eventually dragged off for questioning, with Hudson’s paranoia coming to a head: “I don’t trust you, I don’t trust him, and I certainly don’t trust this place.” Agent Donald Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) quickly joined them.
Wracked with guilt, Red crashed his car into the FBI and attempted to save Zuma. Still, Zuma told Red that he wouldn’t go with him. Just then, Hudson and Ressler got out of the car and raised their weapons. Hudson shot Zuma in the neck, at which point Red shot Hudson and Ressler. While Ressler survived, the Congressman was left dead on the ground, closing out the first episode of the finale.
James Spader in “The Blacklist”.Fernando Marrero/ SONY/ NBC
Fernando Marrero/ SONY/ NBC
Hudson’s right-hand man Jordan Nixon (Derrick Williams) declared that when he finds Red, he doesn’t just want to capture him; he’ll “put him down.” This caused some agents to jump ship, while Cooper confronted Nixon over the claim, leading to a physical altercation.
Cooper and Malik headed to the bathhouse that Red resided in before his flight, but found nothing. Nixon soon arrived, having followed them with his own crew. Once they left, Malik had a realization: the bull skull that Red kept had gone missing. This clued them to his location in Spain.
Sure enough, the episode then cut to Red living in Seville, attempting to contact his granddaughter.
Ressler arrived at the house in Seville, while Red called Zuma and Cooper, keeping his cool. When Ressler searched the house, he was unable to find Red. Minutes later, Red learned of Ressler’s visit, and planed his trip to drop the skull off at the Miura Bull Ranch.
While Red hobbled away from the house in Seville, Zuma and Cooper reflected on the finality of their journey. “It’s hard to believe this is how it ends,” Cooper said, to which Zuma tearfully added, “Our time with him, our time together, it was never about how it ended.”
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All ten seasons ofThe Blacklistare now available to stream in full on Peacock.
source: people.com
