One of the bigger sins a TV show can commit is when it continues on too long after it should have been canceled. For example, “The Office” probably should have called it quits once Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) left the series, and “Grey’s Anatomy” should have done the same after the departure of its lead, Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo). According to a recent interview by NBC with “The Blacklist” star James Spader, he believes the series is ending after ten seasons to avoid that very mistake.
“I think if the show went beyond this year, it would turn into a very different show,” the “Avengers: Age of Ultron” actor said. “And I think that the thing that has been nice about this show was that we’ve never really had a really clear paradigm for the show. Tonally, the show shifts a lot from episode to episode, and I think that even the show has taken strange turns, and I suspect that the show, if it went much further, would just become something that would be less recognizable to me.”
Since the series first aired, Spader’s Reddington has assisted the FBI in taking down 200 of the worst criminals the world has to offer. While the series has understandably evolved over the last 10 seasons, Spader clearly thinks the series has run its course and the tenth and final season is the right time to bring it to an end. And they may be doing it by taking the end back to the beginning, by bringing the story full circle.
The series changed its identity multiple times
When the series began, Raymond Reddington (Spader) turned himself in and became the kind of source of information an ambitious law enforcement agent dreams of. While he entered the series as one of the United States Government’s most wanted criminals, his ability to help the newly formed task force navigate the dark underbelly of crime rendered him much more valuable as an ally.
From the beginning of the first season, the main character was presented as FBI Agent Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone). Still, after her untimely death, the series switched over to focus on the fan-favorite character, the enigmatic and charismatic Red. Writers realized that there was more story to tell even though the original series lead had departed. When you have someone like Spader ready and willing to keep going, you find a way to make it happen.
However, even a superb talent like Spader playing a dynamic character like Red can’t avoid it when their series starts to get dry. So the team of writers and showrunners is flipping the series on its head and taking us all the way back to the beginning by bringing the series full circle to where we originally started.
Red has gone from ally to target
While Red has been able to come out on top of all his nefarious adversaries, it was only a matter of time before one of them could turn the tables on him for good. Congressman Hudson (Toby Leonard Moore) was able to gather enough evidence to turn the team Red has worked with for a decade against him. With his past as a criminal and as one of the most wanted criminals, it shouldn’t have been hard to find.
One of the more compelling aspects of the newest season is that while Red has been able to take himself from enemy number one to the team’s strongest ally, the final season will see him return to his former status as their primary target. What makes it even more dangerous is that he has spent the last decade burning every contact he collected in the underworld, leaving him on an island all alone against an enemy he essentially trained himself.
James Spader may be finished with the character, and the series may be coming to a close, but what fans have in store for them is the possibility of being the most dynamic and intense season to date. With a veteran like Spader telling us that it is time to hang up the dapper fedora, it is wise of the showrunner and writers to listen and bring “The Blacklist” to a close on their own terms instead of waiting for the eventual ratings to plummet.
