As the adage says, everything with a beginning must also have an end. And the end is here for The Blacklist.
The Blacklist Season 10 spent most of its time setting up Raymond’s exit as he, as carefully as ever, used the Task Force to end his decades-spanning enterprise consisting of shipping and intelligence networks.
He also gave up some of his most prized possessions to people who found great value in them and finally rewarded some of his most loyal people on The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 20.
In the same episode, the fate of the Task Force and Raymond Reddington was revealed.
Congressman Hudson knew where to squeeze, and it hurt the most when he did.
Things finally settled with The Attorney General giving Harold and his people an ultimatum in which the choices were unfavorable. They must capture Raymond Reddington, or he will prosecute them.
It was a threat the Attorney General was willing to follow through because, like Panabaker, the whole affair was a huge headache to him, and it would be easier if he were to throw them in jail.
On visiting Harold, he confirmed to Raymond that the Task Force will hunt him down. But without mincing words, he dared them to catch him.
Reddington: Don’t look so glum, Harold. It’s just cops and robbers. It has been all these years. Is Ressler on the chase? Let’s have fun on the way out.
Cooper: What would you have me do?
Reddington: Catch me if you can.
And that’s precisely what spoilers for The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 21 and The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 22 tease. The hunt for Raymond Reddington is on.
There is one person who has ever been ahead of Reddington and not for long. It was not anyone in the Task Force. It was Marvin Gerard.
Raymond has always been ahead of the Task Force, and more times than not, they are always playing catch up. Sometimes they never catch up, and other times when they do, it’s too late.
The two-hour series finale will be split into two episodes, and The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 21 sees the Task Force try to anticipate Red’s next move.
But really, how do you anticipate the moves of someone who is usually multiple steps ahead?
Will their years of working together have taught them something about Raymond and how he thinks?
Pressure will be coming from all sides, especially with Hudson following along closely on the actions of the Task Force. I mean, seriously, does this man not have anything else he can be doing instead of playing cops and robbers without any experience?
Before Red surrendered himself to the FBI on The Blacklist Season 1 Episode 1, Ressler had spent years of his career studying Reddington, how and where he operates, and what crimes he’d committed in the hopes of ambushing him one day.
After the Task Force was formed, those aspirations had taken the backseat, but Ressler and Red were never best friends. Ressler tolerated Red for the greater good, and Red didn’t care about Ressler.
Being directed at Reddington and permitted to pursue, the Ressler from ten years ago is reborn, and he goes after Red with everything he’s got.
He is also fuelled by something else.
Unfortunately, Jonathan Pritchard died of a drug overdose from the guilt of betraying the man who saved his life. Ressler was the one who found him.
But before his death, Jonathan had blabbered about how Hudson had used him to spy on Ressler, and if anyone is to blame, it must be Hudson. He used a drug addict to do an act that might lead to his relapse.
Relapsing would have been the best-case scenario, but sadly, the worst happened.
Ressler is usually calm and composed to a robotic extent, but losing Jonathan is too painful for him. He confronts Hudson, and you would not believe that Donald Ressler — a stickler for the rules and protocol — punches a whole congressman.
He might also associate Red with everything leading to the past few months’ events. With that and his anger, he goes after Red with passion.
It’s unclear who else joins the hunt, but Dembe is seen in the promo images being handcuffed, so maybe he refuses to cooperate.
Raymond blew his private jet up, leaving him no reliable means to get around.
With law enforcement looking for him, he is disadvantaged because nowadays, it’s easy for cops to find you anywhere.
But if you’re Raymond Reddington, escaping the police is like a talent to you.
Without the jet and knowing very well that police protocol dictates that a BOLO be sent out on all traffic stops, he also can’t drive. So he takes a boat.
He circumnavigates DC police by riding his boat from Washington DC, to Virginia. In Virginia, he finds Weecha waiting for him, and together they take an analog car without GPS, and the rest is history.
The Blacklist featured scenes from all over the world, but none of those scenes have ever been filmed on location.
Through the science and art of television production, everything was filmed in New York.
The series seems to be going out with a bang because The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 22 features scenes from Spain, and for the first time, those scenes are filmed on location in Spain.
Promo images for the episode suggest that Reddington escaped to Spain and has been living there.
But like it was over ten years ago, Ressler is also hot in pursuit.
Ressler goes to Spain to track Reddington down and has to ask around using the original Wanted image from The Blacklist Season 1.
He has been working with Agent Nixon to find Reddington, but their partnership has not been the smoothest.
The episode will confirm the fate of Raymond Reddington and his FBI Task Force.
Shockingly, Raymond reveals that the last name on the list is his. Had he prepared for this for a long time?
We expect this episode to provide some fantastic The Blacklist quotes because if there is one thing about Raymond, you can count on, he will find the perfect words for every situation.
He has done that for a long time, and if you need a reminder, check out the YouTube video above with some of the best The Blacklist quotes by the one and only Raymond Reddington.
Catch the series finale this Thursday from 8 to 10 p.m. on NBC. The network won’t provide screeners for the episodes for advance review, so our review will drop later than usual.
Denis Kimathi is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on Twitter.