Red Reddington hangs up his hat.
NBC said on Wednesday that the upcoming 10th season of The Blacklist will be the show’s last. The final season of the James Spader-directed drama is set to premiere on February 26.
“It’s not often that a series resonates so deeply with an audience that it lasts 10 seasons, but The Blacklist proved to be the perfect combination of highly talented producers, outstanding scripts, a cast that never failed, and a crew who have always been able to rise to the occasion,” said Lisa Katz, president of scripted content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, in a statement. “A huge thank you to our partners at Sony, all over the past decade for making this show an integral part of NBC’s history, and of course a special nod to James Spader, whose performance remains nothing short of spectacular.”
There has been speculation for a number of years that the series is nearing its end, particularly since Spader’s original co-star Megan Boone and creator and co-showrunner Jon Bokenkamp left The Blacklist at the end of season eight. However, the show remained a reliable cast member for its final season and was renewed for a 10th episode in February 2022. It’s also one of the most popular library titles on Netflix, according to Nielsen’s streaming ratings.
“We thank our wonderful partners at NBC for an amazing 10 seasons of The Blacklist, the series that introduced the world to Raymond Reddington, brilliantly portrayed by James Spader,” said Jason Clodfelter, Co-President of Sony Pictures Television Studios. “James led a multi-talented and diverse cast that also included legendary guest stars and hundreds of blacklisters, all leading us to support this anti-hero. We tip our Reddington hats to the dedicated production staff, hard working crew and talented writers. The unpredictable plot twists have made for an iconic TV show that has served to entertain a worldwide audience, and as we enter its final season we can’t wait for viewers to see how Raymond Reddington finally transforms himself bowed.”
Showrunner John Eisendrath added, “After 10 years, hundreds of blacklisted cases and more than 200 episodes produced, we are honored to come to our conclusion. It was incredibly fun creating the weird, devious, and adorable Blacklisters to challenge Raymond Reddington and our FBI task force each week. We want to thank everyone at NBC and Sony, our extraordinary crew who make the impossible possible every day, our endlessly inventive writers and producers, and our remarkable cast who brought these characters to life. We appreciate our dedicated fanbase who have come to this wonderful ride and are excited to share this final season with them.”
In the final season of The Blacklist, Reddington’s (Spader) covert role as an FBI informant is revealed. Former Blacklisters will unite against him in their deadly desire for vengeance, testing Red and the FBI task force like never before. Other leading roles are played by Diego Klattenhoff, Hisham Tawfiq, Anya Banerjee and Harry Lennix.
Sony and Universal Television are producing The Blacklist. Executive Producers are Eisendrath, Bokenkamp, Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox, Spader, Lukas Reiter, Laura A. Benson, Daniel Cerone, Sean Hennen, Allison Glock-Cooper and T Cooper.
A teaser for the final season is below.