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The Blacklist season 10, episode 1.The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath teased how FBI agent Donald Ressler’s long-time relationship with master criminal Red Reddington will come to a head by the end of season 10. Appearing on The Blacklist since season 1, Ressler spent the series as a key part of the FBI task force handling cases pertaining to Red’s “Blacklist” of criminals. Ressler suffered many losses throughout his time on the task force, including Audrey, his deceased fiancée.
Speaking with TVLine, Eisendrath hinted how Ressler is destined to play a major role in where Red ends up by The Blacklist’s conclusion. When asked about Ressler’s love interests dying, Eisendrath jokes about the idea before talking about the FBI agent’s importance in season 10. Check out what Eisendrath had to say below:
“Season 10, should we change things that worked so well so far? Oh, poor Ressler… What I would say about Ressler is he was on Red’s tail eight years before the pilot started, and he will be the last man standing when it comes time to determine Red’s fate at the end of this season.”
How The Blacklist Is Building To A Red & Ressler Confrontation
James Spader as Red in The Blacklist looking serious
With The Blacklist entering its final season, it’s no surprise that Ressler will play a major role in how Red’s final fate is decided by the end of season 10. Ressler spent five years prior to The Blacklist season 1 hunting Red, making it difficult at first for him to work with the mastermind in catching other high-profile criminals. However, he’s acknowledged throughout the years that Red manages to help them catch dangerous people, working with him more directly as the series has gone on.
The Blacklist season 10 premiere sees the pair come face to face for the first time since Red went on the run following an unresolved conflict with hacker and assassin Wujing in season 9. Red will seemingly continue to interact with the task force throughout the final season, though it’s unclear how much Ressler can trust him following his absence for half a year. Ressler may find himself at odds with Red in a way that is more final than any other conflict they’ve found themselves in before.
With The Blacklist set to end with season 10, the often fraught relationship between Red and Ressler may underscore Red not getting a happy ending to his story. While Wujing is being set up as the show’s final major antagonist, Red could still find himself at odds with Ressler moving forward. Time will tell just how big a role Ressler will contribute in The Blacklist’s final plan for Red, as well as what the end of Red’s story will be.
