‘The Blacklist’s Main Characters Deserved So Much Better Than These Disappointing Endings

A large portion of the show’s premise rested not only on the FBI bringing in Ray, a criminal mastermind, to help them catch the criminals on the blacklist, but also on his intriguing relationship with FBI profiler Liz. From the very start, it was one of Ray’s conditions for working with the FBI that he would be able to work with Liz, leading the audience to wonder what connection he could possibly have to her and why he cared so much about her. Although the mystery of their connection was never definitively answered, the writers planted countless clues and hints about it throughout the 10 seasons.

Unfortunately, before Liz herself could unravel the truth of why Ray was so interested in her, she was killed by a hitman as revenge for someone Ray had killed earlier on. Her story came to a close at the end of Season 8, two seasons before the show itself would end. Dangerous criminals trying to use Liz to get revenge on Ray was something that audiences had seen happen frequently throughout the show, so the way she died wasn’t necessarily surprising – but the fact of a main character being killed off, especially one as significant to the story as Liz, was probably disappointing for a lot of fans. Liz’s death was what led to the task force that Ray had worked with disbanding

The End for Raymond “Red” Reddington

The last two seasons of The Blacklist take place two years after Liz’s death, with Ray being pulled back into the FBI and the Blacklist when his former bodyguard and current FBI agent, Dembe Zuma, contacts him in need of his help. Without Liz, Ray’s relationship with her and the questions of his identity took a backseat, and the focus became entirely about the task force in charge of capturing the criminals on the Blacklist and the list itself. A new threat emerges as well, in the form of a ruthless Congressman who wants to expose the task force for its unsanctioned and ethically questionable methods.

When an official investigation is launched against the agents in charge of hunting down the criminals on the Blacklist, Ray is arrested for his crimes and is essentially made to be a scapegoat for the team

What Happened to the rest of the Task Force?

Tom Keen, Liz’s husband and fellow agent, was only a part of the main cast for the first half of the show. In the 5th season, he met his end when he was stabbed in the stomach by Ian Garvey, who planned to not only kill Tom, but also Liz. Even with his injury, Tom manages to fight Garvey off until Ray and Dembe are able to arrive, ensuring that she will at least survive.

Dembe Zuma, who started the show as Ray’s bodyguard and went on to become an FBI agent and a member of the task force separate from his dealings with Ray, was a popular and central character throughout the series. Dembe is another character who is arrested and essentially sacrificed in order to save the team as a whole, but Ray’s first order of business upon escaping is to also get Dembe out. He succeeds, but Dembe ends up being shot in the neck. Though his injuries are severe, Ray gets him to a nursing home, and Dembe is saved by a blood transfusion from Ray. In the end, though he is stripped of his status as an active agent, he isn’t arrested for his work with Ray, and he looks forward to a future free from dealing with criminals.

Finally, Harold Cooper, the head of the task force in charge of the Blacklist, is seen at the end of the 10th season reminiscing with Dembe over their time with Ray. Although his future is unsure at the end, it’s clear that the task force is over, and though he may continue to work at the FBI, he’s not likely to ever get another assignment like the one of working with Ray or hunting down the Blacklist criminals.