The popular crime thriller drama series created by Jon Koppelman, which stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, an ex-government official and now a rogue criminal working for a special task force to bring down fellow criminals and some business associates of his who are also criminals, was a big hit for NBC with good ratings from IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes.
The series ran for 10 seasons, but what made the series one of my favorites to watch was how the main character, Raymond Reddington, could remain in control and take charge in every given situation. His contingency plans were always intact for moments when things went bad or went off plan.
Then, when we move over the characters, the likes of Elizabeth, Ressler, Dembe, and the computer wizard Aram, they were all well played by their respective actors, all contributing to the plot development of the series, and do not even get me started on villainous characters, the likes of Mr Kaplan and Mr Solomon Lange, who both gave Raymond Reddington a run for his money.
To date, I cannot erase the scene of Elizabeth's white wedding when Mr Solomon Lange struck with his goons heavily loaded with machinery set for utmost destruction. They made it rain cats and dogs with bullets at the church while everyone ran for their dear lives or risk being executed. Or is it when Mr Kaplan began to review the places where all the bodies were buried and Raymond's secrets, while still trying to recruit Raymond's most prized jewel, Elizabeth Keen.
Mr Kaplan was one terror to keep shut as she served as Raymond's cleaner before the fallout with her boss, Raymond. Infact, it gives me goosebumps as I write about these scenes from memory because it has been a couple of years since I stopped watching the show.
Why I stopped watching The Blacklist
For those who are yet to watch it, those who have it on their watchlist, and those who haven't gotten to or crossed season 7, I would say heads up, because the reason why I stopped watching the show comes with a spoiler.
So buckle up for the spoiler alert.
After Elizabeth Keen died at the end of season 7, I felt that was the end of my Blacklist journey as there would not be any purpose in watching since Raymond's jewel and purpose of living was gone. Then what will be Raymond's mission? Since all along, it has been to protect Elizabeth while keeping a vital secret from her.
I was under the illusion the Blacklist revolved around Elizabeth finding out who Raymond Reddington truly is and what he had done in the past to get to where he is now. This illusion completely blinded me from seeing Raymond Reddington is the blacklist and the show revolves around him and him alone.
It took the production and completion of the remaining three seasons after season 7 before the scale was removed from my blind eyes. Even in the past, a friend whom I recommended the series to, completed the entire season and still gave me a heads-up that I was missing out on the remaining seasons I haven't watched. Still, I refused to watch.
Do I regret it? Yes, I do!
Fast forward to 2025, one late evening when I was scrolling through Netflix, looking for what to watch. Mistakenly I came across the Blacklist and the usual quick intro netflix provides automatically plays for you when you hover on a movie or series. I saw some new characters having a pretty captivating dialogue with one another, and immediately, I became interested.
So I began with watching The Blacklist once again. This time, I simply continued with season 8 out of curiosity to find out what the storyline will be after Elizabeth's death.
The suspense after her death was even more interesting. Now, Reddington is enraged with revenge as he sets out to find out who carried out the hit on his most prized jewel and bring them to their knees before putting them six feet under.
Initially, I thought a smart and well-calculated Raymond Reddington was deadly until I met the new Raymond Reddington 2.0, enraged with vengeance. He is even worse. Yes, there are changes after Elizabeth's death, but this only makes it even better, and that is not all for the remaining seasons.
A whole lot still happens to Raymond as he even goes broke. Imagine a well-known, wealthy criminal on the FBI's most wanted list goes broke, and he still has enemies. I am sure if my friend finally finds out I went back to watch the remaining seasons of the Blacklist, he will probably look at me with pity eyes.
You should check out The Blacklist on Netflix.
I am @samostically, I love to talk and write about chess because I benefited a lot from playing chess and I love writing about chess.
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