The last episode of “Blacklist” aired this Thursday, July 13 in the United States. Did the writers take advantage of this finale to lift the veil on the true identity of Red?
Warning, the following paragraphs contain spoilers for the latest episode of Blacklist. If you don’t want to know anything, go your way!
After 10 years on the air, Blacklist bowed out on Thursday July 13 in the United States. It was on the occasion of the double final episode, which saw Red flee the FBI agents alongside whom he worked for 10 seasons, that the detective series carried by James Spader ended. Has Red managed to evade the authorities once again? Answer in the following paragraphs.
Red facing his fate
FBI agents spent much of the first episode wondering if they really wanted to work on Red’s arrest, given their complicated relationship with the criminal. But the Task Force finally decides to do its job and hunt him down.
For his part, Arthur Hudson discovers thanks to the CCTV images that it was Dembe who warned Red that his plane was about to be located. A discovery that leads to the arrest of the agent.
But while the latter and Ressler are transported to FBI headquarters for questioning, Red and his men intercept the transfer by hitting their vehicles with their cars.
Disoriented by the accident, Hudson points a gun at Dembe, and shoots him, critically wounding him in the throat. Enraged, Red shoots Hudson in the head, killing him instantly. He then transports his friend to a retirement home for treatment.
Luckily Dembe survives his injuries, but by the time Cooper and his teammates arrive to see him, Red has already fled. Following Hudson’s death, Agent Nixon sets off in pursuit, announcing that he will shoot him on sight.
But Red is already far away. The criminal indeed flew to Spain, near Villa Lobo in Andalusia (a first for the detective series which for the first time was filmed in another country), where a friend named Angela helped him to recover. But he suffers from an unknown illness and seems to have only a few months left to live.
After a peaceful walk on a ranch, Red comes face to face with a wild bull. As the animal rushes at him, he decides not to move and chooses the ultimate escape: death.
Moments later, Ressler arrives on the scene by helicopter, but he can only note the death of Red, who is lying on the ground, trampled by the bull. As for the Task Force, we assume that it has been disbanded. The attorney general decided not to press charges against Dembe for helping Red get away, but he was fired from the FBI.
Red’s true identity revealed?
This is the mystery that has punctuated Blacklist since the launch of the series: who is really Red? If the end of the series did not necessarily give a clear answer to this question, it still provided a final clue that tipped the scales.
For several seasons now, fans have been convinced that Raymond Reddington is actually Katarina Rostova, the mother of Liz (Megan Boone). Becoming a man would indeed have been the only chance for Katarina to hide, build a powerful empire and be close to her daughter again.
Over the seasons, many allusions to this theory have slipped into the episodes, especially in the finale, as director Christine Gee revealed last May.
While Red is on the phone with Agnes (Sami Bray), she tells her grandfather: “You are a real mom!”, to which he replies: “You know I can’t help it.” A line that probably refers to the feminine side of Red.
A confirmation in halftone which greatly disappointed the fans of the first hour. Many suspect that those in charge did not want to reveal that a trans character had been at the helm of such a popular series, at the risk of alienating a good part of their ratings. It is therefore now up to viewers to choose which theory they prefer to favor.
The first nine seasons of Blacklist are already available on Netflix. No broadcast date for season 10 has yet been announced.