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A Complete Recap of The Blacklist Season 10 Premiere—With Spoilers
Find out everything that happened in the first episode of the 10th and final season.
After months of waiting to see what’s next, fans can finally rejoice. The Blacklist Season 10 premiere is finally here. Yes, the 10th and final season aired on Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 10/9c on NBC.
Season 9 left off with Reddington (James Spader) finally figuring out who ordered the murder of Liz Keen. After spending the season hellbent on his investigation into her demise, it turned out that Marvin—who had actually been helping Red look into her death—was responsible. He promised revenge, but before we could find out exactly what that would look like, Marvin died by suicide out of paranoia for Red's wrath.
Before his death and while in prison, Marvin told former Season 1 Blacklister, Wujing, that Red was a part of a secret FBI Task Force to take down a special group of Blacklisters in exchange for immunity. We finished Season 9 with Wujing escaping from custody and vowing to "find and kill Raymond Reddington" with the help of "a list of others who will be glad to join the fight."
With that in mind, it's officially time to buckle up and see Red and the Task Force fight Wujing as he attempts to exact his revenge. We can also look forward to meeting a brand new character, Siya Malik, played by Anya Banerjee. She happens to be the daughter for Agent Meera Malik who worked with the Task Force and was killed in Season 1. So, what will Siya bring to the table? We'll just have to wait and see.
The Blacklist Season 10, Episode 1 spoilers are ahead!
Aram spots Red in New York City
The premiere begins in Manhattan, where an off-duty Aram (Amir Arison) spots Red—who’s also rocking a new beard—outside The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He calls out to him but is ignored despite Red clearly seeing him. Aram swiftly calls Cooper (Harry Lenix) to break the surprising news that Red is back in the U.S.
Ressler is in recovery
Though he’s still clearly grieving Liz Keen’s death, while in an NA meeting, Ressler reveals that he’s now 311 days sober since we last saw him in Season 9.
An explosion in the newest case is linked to the return of Season 1 Blacklister, Wujing
Right after Aram sees Red in front of The Met, he witnesses an explosion on the next block. Believing it’s linked to Red, the team travels to New York. It turns out the building is under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Consulate, who are extremely resistant to Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq) and Ressler’s investigation. Despite this, the two manage to infiltrate the crime scene and find a deceased woman, which triggers a homicide investigation.
The Chinese Consulate’s representative then answers a phone call from...Wujing, a fugitive and Blacklister fans last saw at the end of Season 9. It turns out the dead woman is an “associate” of his named Moores, and it was actually Wujing who did not want the FBI to have access to the scene. He believes that the explosion was caused by Red.
“He will do anything to keep me from proving the truth, but I will. And he will suffer for what he has done,” Wujing says ominously.
As the case unravels, it leads the team to Siya Malik
Back in D.C., the team discover that the deceased Moores was once a thief on the Blacklist. Now they have to figure out why and/or if Red wanted her dead, and why he’s cut off communication with them and didn’t let them know he was back. They also enlist the help of Chuck and Tadashi.
Tadashi hacks into a computer that was found with Moores, leading to the discovery that the thief was casing a company named Luxe International for a Picasso sculpture called “The Night Owl” that’s in its possession. Dembe and Ressler head to Luxe International in Montserrat where they meet the Head of Security, Richard Dever, and his “associate” Siya Malik (Anya Banerjee). They learn that Siya is the daughter of Meera Malik (Parminder Nagra). Meera was an agent who fans may remember from Season 1. She was killed in the finale.
It’s soon learned that Luxe International is a front for a black site that’s used by various international allied agencies. Richard is in the CIA, while Siya is with MI6. “The Night Owl” is a codename they use for their prisoner, an assassin named the Freelancer, who the team recognizes because he was the target of Red’s Blacklist in Season 1, Episode 2. This means that under the orders of Wujing, Moores was attempting to bail out the Freelancer.
Right as they discover what’s going on, Wujing ambushes Luxe International and a gunfight ensues. Siya and Richard attempt to transfer the Freelancer amongst the mayhem, but it turns out Richard is a double agent working for Wujing. He shoots Siya (thankfully, it hits her bullet proof vest) and escapes with the Freelancer.
Later, in an effort to learn more about her mother’s work, Siya proposes to Cooper that she temporarily join the Task Force and "continue what [Meera] started".
The Task Force learns that Red is in danger.
Back in D.C., as the team attempts to figure out Wujing’s motives, Red finally shows up. He tells them that he was in hiding in hopes of “containing the matter myself, but now unfortunately, that seems unlikely.”
It’s then that he tells them that while they were in prison, Marvin Gerard (who was responsible for Liz’s death) revealed to Wujing that Red was a confidential FBI informant and a part of a top secret Task Force targeting the world’s biggest criminals. Upon his release and dead set on revenge, Wujing is now assembling fellow Blacklisters in an attempt to kill Red and unveil his secret.
“Some of our former targets are now his,” says Red. “You should increase their security because this is only the beginning.”
The Blacklist airs every Sunday at 10/9c on NBC and later stream on Peacock.
