The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 1 Review: The Night Owl

We kicked off our beloved show’s tenth and final season on a high note.

Former victims of Raymond’s infamous blacklist started to band together to figure out how to take him down on The Blacklist Season 10 Episode 1.

Now down three members, the task force was looking to recruit two more members who saw the return of an unexpected relative of an OG member of the task force and a former associate of the Raymond.

The premise for the final season had been set towards the end of The Blacklist Season 9 after Marvin Gerard fed a list of people Raymond had helped put behind bars to Wujing.

We expected the season to deal with how Raymond would be looking to protect himself from this genuine threat, but when we met him, he wasn’t as we had left him.

First, he had thrown all caution to the wind and appeared in public in a way he had never been before.

Apparently, Raymond’s back. And probably connected to an explosion that happened minutes ago in a townhouse on the Upper East Side.

Harlod

He didn’t seem to have his regular security team, which left us wondering what had transpired between him, Weecha, and Mierce in the six months past.

But knowing Raymond, he never leaves anything to chance. He must have had a plan, but we can’t see the plan for now.

The random sightings must have been a way to lure whoever had been hunting him out. It’d be unreasonable to think that he didn’t know someone was hunting him down six months down the line. He is always ahead of the task force and everyone else.

It was great to see Aram, and for a moment, I hoped that he would return, this being the final season and all. We will have to do without him since the team found a replacement. Tadashi had been absent so much that I forgot he ever existed.

Unlike Aram, Tadashi is not an FBI agent, at least not in the traditional sense. He learned his trade informally, giving him the leeway to learn unorthodox means. He doesn’t have the rigid morality that angered Raymond regarding Aram.

He was ready to ignore the court order barring them from snooping inside the laptop.

His loyalty is in question, with past affiliation with Raymond being known.

There seemed to be a huge conspiracy between the Chinese Government and Wujing.

Ressler: The body we recovered from the Chinese Consulate is Jennifer Morris
Harlod: Morris. How do I know that name?
Dembe: Jennifer Morris was once on the blacklist. She was part of a heist crew that specialized in robbing criminals.

Being a fugitive, Wujing’s reach was limited until he reached out to a sizeable number of former Blacklisters. Using the diplomatic cover of a foreign power was the best bet on his part.

Many of the Blacklisters had faded from our memory, and Wujing wasn’t any different, but the flashback reminded us of his smartness.

The freelancer was still fresh in our minds, given that Liz had had him released a few years prior, and I doubt anyone can forget how ruthless he was.

To murder one person, he set up a huge mass casualty accident that passed for a regular accident and is undoubtedly one of the worst Blacklisters.

Wujing had been working hard for six months because, apart from the Chinese government, he had infiltrated the CIA and found a Blacklister who would find The Freelancer for him.

What’s a former blacklister out on parole doing in a Chinese consulate?

Harlod

It was impressive how the CIA hid disguised as a museum in plain sight.

Raymond didn’t look shaken when he visited the Post Office to update the team on his findings. It could be because he was prepared for what was coming or very good at hiding his fear. Either way, he should have been concerned.

This was not one criminal looking for him. He wasn’t protected by the anonymity he had come to enjoy when taking down his rivals.

This was a growing group of the best criminals in the world who had reach and means beyond measure. His FBI Confidential Informant label was not as confidential anymore.

The Blacklisters may forgive anything but not snitching to law enforcement and, even worse, doing so severally.

Ressler: He doesn’t just wanna kill you. He wants to expose your relationship with the FBI.
Raymond: Our former targets are now his targets. You should increase their security. This is only the beginning. That’s all I have for you.

The team met Meera’s daughter, Siya, who was just like her mother.

She begged to join the task force to learn more about her mother, and while that might be true, it can also be a ruse to try and get close to the task force to end it.

Anyone who has lost a loved one due to Raymond’s shenanigans has a right to feel a certain way. Chief among those feelings is the feeling of being used and blaming Raymond for losing their loved one.

Siya knew little about what her mother did and who she was. Joining MI6 might have been her way of trying to understand who her mother was, and if she had found out anything, it’s that her mother would not have died were it not for Raymond.

Ultimately, Harold will have to agree to have her on the task force because they need her, and he feels guilty for how things went down with Meera. Siya pushed the emotions angle to try and get Harold to have her on the team.

Wujing was able to rescue The Freelancer from CIA custody, and it is a fair assumption that he has big things planned.

‘The Night Owl’ was a great season premiere episode as it didn’t waste any time setting up the conflict for the rest of the season. It was full of surprising twists and action, which we always expect from The Blacklist.

There are still many secrets, including what Raymond has been up to apart from trying to deal with the threat and what exactly Wujing is planning, so it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

What did you think of the season premiere? Are you ready for the final season?

We love hearing your thoughts, so don’t hesitate to comment.

As always, you can watch The Blacklist online right here on TV Fanatic.

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Denis Kimathi is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on Twitter.

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