‘The Blacklist’: James Spader Explains Why the Show Is Ending With Season 10
NBC is finally saying goodbye to the James Spader series The Blacklist after season 10. The series has taken a number of twists and turns, introducing a slew of exciting criminals and adventures. Now after the departure of so many characters, Spader explains why this is the perfect time for The Blacklist’s swan song.
‘The Blacklist’ star James Spader says the show has been ‘creating an ending’
James Spader has been the heart and soul of The Blacklist since the beginning, and it doesn’t surprise him that the show has lasted this long. “When I first read the pilot, I said, ‘I can see the next 10 years.’ But the getting there is complicated,” Spader said during an NBC sneak peek video.
In the exciting final season of The Blacklist, Wujing gathers former criminals to take down Raymond Reddington once and for all. “We’ve been creating an ending,” Spader added. “So we’re on borrowed time — and so is Red.”
Spader explains why ‘The Blacklist’ had to end with season 10
The Blacklist has undoubtedly changed over the years. For a long time, the show focused on Liz and Red’s relationship and the mystery surrounding Red’s identity. Many fans believe that this mystery was revealed in season 8.
Furthermore, Liz Keen died in the season 8 finale, creating a shift in the series. While season 9 focused on Red’s quest for revenge, season 10 brings together an army of blacklisters Red helped put away as they try to take down Raymond Reddington once and for all.
“I think if the show went beyond this year, it would turn into a very different show,” Spader said while speaking to Hollywood Outbreak. “The thing that has been nice about the show is — we’ve never really had a clear paradigm for the show.”
“Tonally, the show shifts a lot from episode to episode,” he continued. “And I think that 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.”
‘The Blacklist’ is part procedural, part serialized
While Spader didn’t explain how The Blacklist might become unrecognizable after season 10, it’s easy to speculate. Perhaps the show, if it continued further, would shift into a purely procedural drama, and that’s never been what The Blacklist is about.
“I look at our series as strange bedfellows in that it’s this serialized story that’s married to a procedural,” Spader told Variety in 2018.
“Sometimes they are wonderful bedfellows, and sometimes they are strange bedfellows. I think it’s one of the secrets to the success of the show. The procedural aspect of the show allows for the serialized aspect to take a rest, take a breath for a while.”
New episodes of The Blacklist Season 10 air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
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