The Blacklist (season 10)

The Blacklist (season 10)
The tenth and final season of the American crime thriller television series The Blacklist was ordered on February 22, 2022, and premiered on February 26, 2023, on NBC. The season concluded the series on July 13, 2023, with the final two episodes.
James Spader, Diego Klattenhoff, Hisham Tawfiq, and Harry Lennix returned for the season, while Anya Banerjee debuted in a new main role. It is the only season of the series not to star Amir Arison and Laura Sohn after their promotion to main cast, although Arison makes a guest appearance. It is also the second and final season without Megan Boone.
The season is produced by Davis Entertainment, Universal Television, and Sony Pictures Television. John Eisendrath, John Davis, Joe Carnahan, and John Fox continue to serve as executive producers of the series, while series creator Jon Bokenkamp returned as an executive producer.
Cast and characters
Main
James Spader as Raymond "Red" Reddington
Diego Klattenhoff as Donald Ressler
Hisham Tawfiq as Dembe Zuma
Anya Banerjee as Siya Malik
Harry Lennix as Harold Cooper
Recurring
Sami Bray as Agnes Keen, the daughter of Elizabeth Keen who is now in Cooper's care and is frequently visited by Reddington.
Chin Han as Wujing, a Chinese assassin and the second Blacklister to be put in prison. He escaped custody in season 9 and now gathers released Blacklisters for his campaign to take down Red.
Kenneth Lee as Zhang Wei, Wujing's right-hand man.
Deirdre Lovejoy as Cynthia Panabaker, a United States Senator in charge of Cooper's Task Force.
Jonathan Holtzman as Chuck, Reddington's helper.
Stacy Keach as Robert Vesco, a fictionalized version of the criminal financier, who accompanies Reddington on his escapades.
Alex Brightman as Herbie Hambright, the latest member of the Task Force who hopes to escape household routine and his baby daughter. He uses his versatile knowledge to assist the Task Force.
Mackenzie Astin as Jonathan Pritchard, an doubtful FBI agent whom Ressler helps to overcome drug addiction, later a key figure in Hudson's investigation.
Toby Leonard Moore as Arthur Hudson, a purposeful United States House of Representatives member who conducts a partly legal investigation against Task Force after noting the government's significant expenses on it.
Diany Rodriguez as Weecha Xiu, a former bodyguard of Reddington and his new girlfriend.
Derrick Williams as Jordan Nixon, Hudson's former colleague and asset within the FBI. He supervises the Task Force as they attempt to capture Reddington.
Guest starring
Amir Arison as Aram Mojtabai, a former member of the Task Force who is settling in New York.
Daniel Sauli as Alban Veseli / The Freelancer, a serial killer and the first Blacklister to be arrested.
Chris L. McKenna as Richard Deever, Wujing's associate and a former colleague to Siya at MI-6.
Teddy Coluca as Teddy Brimley, a private animal-loving torturer of Reddington.
Alex Shimizu as Tadashi Ito, Reddington's cyber specialist.
Anzu Lawson as Mariko Ito, Tadashi's mother worrying for his criminal connections.
Laverne Cox as Dr. Laken Perillos, a chemotherapy torturer and former Blacklister who is obsessed with Dembe.
Aaron Yoo as Bo Chang / The Troll Farmer, a former Blacklister specializing in creating viral social media incidents.
Nikita Tewani as young Meera Malik. Malik has been one of Cooper's Task Force member in season 1.
Wayne Duvall as Clayton Dorf, a United States Senator who helps Hudson on his investigation.
Francie Swift as Blair Foster, a fixer and Washington's crime concierge.
Marylouise Burke as Paula Carter, Reddington's associate and mother to late Glen Carter.
Aida Turturro as Heddie Hawkins, Reddington's money launderer who has helped him since the fifth season.
Andrew McCarthy as Red's pilot Edward. He was mentioned and voiced multiple times previously but was never seen on camera. McCarthy also directed three episodes of the season.
Episodes
Production
Development
On February 22, 2022, James Spader announced the renewal of the series while making his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, with the NBC press release coming out shortly after.
On February 1, 2023, NBC officially announced that the season would serve as the last of the series. The same day, the poster and the trailer for the season were released. James Spader later revealed that the season was planned as final before the filming so as to finish the series properly. He also noted that for him the series would shift from its original conception if it went beyond this season.
Casting
On May 27, 2022, it was revealed that original cast member Amir Arison and another main actress, Laura Sohn, would depart the series following the finale of season 9. However, Arison stated that he and producers had been discussing his potential return to the series after The Kite Runner, the play he left the series for, ends its run on Broadway. Later, on October 6, he was invited to a 200 episode celebration, where in a series of posts he made another hint on his potential return. On February 22, 2023, an exclusive preview of the season premiere revealed the return of Arison to the series.
On August 9, 2022, it was revealed that casting was in process for the role of Siya Malik, an MI6 intelligence officer, who was a daughter to Meera Malik, the character introduced in the first season. On October 6 celebration, it was disclosed that Anya Banerjee had accepted the role.
In September 2022, Chin Han, Jonathan Holtzman and Teddy Coluca announced their respective returns. Deirdre Lovejoy and Sami Bray who portrayed United States Senator Cynthia Panabaker and Agnes Keen in the ninth season, respectively, returned for the season. Stacy Keach who previously played true criminal Robert Vesco, returned for four episodes of the season, although the storyline surrounding his character since season 6 was never resolved. Aaron Yoo was also previewed to return in the season, reprising his role from the third season.
On November 23, Chris McKenna wrote that he would be joining the series in an unknown recurring role, later revealed as one of Wujing's contract associates. On March 9, 2023, it was revealed that Alex Brightman would recur in the season as Red's forensic scientist.
Filming and release
Filming for the season started in September 2022. On October 6, filming for the 4th episode in the season, which is also 200th overall, was finished and celebrated with a special event at their set in Chelsea Piers, in which the Task Force headquarters are located. Filming for the final episode started on April 24, 2023 and concluded on May 1, with the closing ceremony held the same day. Filming for the series was finished hours before the beginning of 2023 writers strike which could have affected the show's further production.
With the release of NBC’s fall schedule on May 26, 2022, it was revealed that the series would not air until midseason. Such move had only been implemented to season 6 before. On November 7, it was set that the series would premiere on Sunday, February 26, 2023, on 8:00 p.m.. However, due to the network's increased interest to Found, a new drama originally set to air following The Blacklist, subsequent corrections to the midseason schedule were performed by NBC. The season's regular timeslot would be 10:00 p.m., following season 5 of the revived Magnum P.I.. Starting with June 1, the series would be moving to Thursdays 8:00 p.m. timeslot while the series finale would air for two hours on July, 13, 2023. Each episode would be available to stream on Peacock the next week after its initial release on NBC.
While announcing the renewal of the series in February 2022, Spader noted that a 22-episode season is expected to be produced, which was later confirmed by TVLine on November 18, 2022.
Spader was set for an appearance on The Tonight Show to promote the series on February 16, 2023, but failed to show up. Instead, the episode featured Travis Kelce, an American football player for Kansas City Chiefs. He initially appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers to promote the 200th episode of the series on March 15, 2023.
References
External links
2023 American television seasons
10