NBC's The Blacklist came to an end after ten seasons of mysteries, misdirects, and clues that fans could only hope would lead to a two-hour finale with some long-awaited answers. The two-parter ultimately didn't answer every question lingering from those ten seasons, and it gave James Spader's Reddington a very definitive ending. It wasn't death from sickness, despite plenty of foreshadowing that he was terminally ill, and he wasn't killed by an enemy. No, Red was killed by a bull in a field in Spain, and the result is that there are plenty of fans with different ideas of how Red's story should have ended.
The show did go above and beyond to make sure that Reddington got a pretty epic death, insofar as The Blacklist went to Spain to film the finale, which marked the first time that the show filmed outside of New York. While James Spader himself was full of compliments for how the show wrapped, the same can't be said for many fans on Reddit, who filled the post-episode discussion with ideas about how the ending could be better. User teh_maxh wrote:
I liked the ending before the last commercial break. Dembe gives his speech about Red's take on death, then Red faces down a bull. Does it kill him? Does he get away? Leave that as the unanswerable question. Use the last ten minutes to show the rest of the cast (including Park and Aram) talking about their future and the questions that still haven't been answered. (I'd prefer if they actually had answers, but that would require changing more than just the last ten minutes. At least this way the show would be saying that there are answers.)
I have to agree with this Reddit poster to a certain extent, as my immediate reaction to the finale on the night was that Dembe's emotional speech about Red was the key to setting up Red's farewelll... and really the only thing that reconciled me to Raymond Reddington's death happening after ten seasons because he was gored by a bull in a random field in Spain.
Of course, open-ended finales aren't always received well by fans – just look at The Sopranos' ending – so this commenter's idea might not have been a hit with everybody, but it would have been nice to see Park and Aram again after their series regular exits at the end of Season 9. User thehornedlamb had an idea of their own:
It would be okay if this bull thing was a motif of the entirety of the show, but cmon. This is the laziest writing I’ve seen in a while. Why not just end it with red dying and trading his life for Dembe’s to die in prison. He’s been sick since Liz died , there was no need to make this short thought ending that was supported by a 30 second scene earlier in th season and a 2 minute dembe dialogue. Give me a break.
Dembe's speech wasn't enough to reconcile this commenter to the ending, and they certainly have a point that the bull motif was a recent addition to the show rather than something that would bring Red's story full circle. I also can relate to wishing that there was some payoff to all the clues about his illness. Plus, after reading what The Blacklist cast members said about losing Megan Boone's Liz, it would have been nice to get a throwback or two to her. On Reddit, Sea_Voice_404 shared their two cents:
That was a garbage ending. Loved everything about both episodes until we got to that part with the bull. I would’ve preferred him coughing up blood, then sitting against the fence and Ressler finding him dead with a peaceful smile. This was just weird.
Ressler certainly would have discovered a less gruesome site if Red had died of natural causes instead of being gored by a bull! NBC didn't get too gruesome with what was left of Reddington, and Ressler got a poignant moment of putting Red's hat back on his head. As somebody who initially thought that Red was hallucinating the bull because he was finally on death's door due to his health issues, I wouldn't have minded him dying more peacefully! Reddit user Outrageous-Pizza-470 had a different take:
They really should have copied the ending of Red Dead Redemption 2. Have him climb the hill, finish the wine, and then start coughing up blood and pass away. Then Ressler finds the body and its over. A bull doing it is completely random and an insulting way for Red to go. He survived hundreds of people gunning for him, but it is a bull that does him in. I almost feel like it was first mentioned as a joke in the planning and they just never changed the ending.
An ending similar to what happens in the video game Red Dead Redemption 2 – which released back in 2018 – sounded better to that particular Reddit user. I certainly hope that Red's final bow didn't originate as a joke among the writers! Commenter kattahn shared similar thoughts on how the bull just came out of nowhere in Season 10, writing:
honestly if this were some grand plan, it could’ve been great. If red’s story about the bull was in season 2, and over the next 8 seasons we get some allusions to bullfighting. red mentioning the bull here and there. make us believe that this was part of the mythology from day 1, and theres a way for this to not be one of the worst series finales in TV history. But instead we have all of the entire emotional payoff of the 10 year season be about a theme they introduced like 6 episodes prior. It had no emotional weight at all
For better or worse, Red's ending has been decided, and his death means that fans won't get a Red death do-over even if the day comes when The Blacklist gets a spinoff. I can imagine myself rewatching the finale up until the end of Dembe's touching speech; whether I'd watch to the end with Reddington vs. Spanish bull is a whole other question.
You can revisit the series finale of The Blacklist streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription, as well as the first nine seasons of the series streaming via Netflix subscription.
