The Blacklist seasons 9 and 10 divided followers like few different serial TV dramas ever have. Adjustments to staple characters and more and more weird plot twists within the present’s last two seasons garnered blended reactions from its core viewers, arguably undermining what got here earlier than them. Maybe probably the most outstanding instance of The Blacklist frightening the ire of longtime followers was its dramatic transformation of the character Dembe Zuma in seasons 9 and 10. Dembe had been a stalwart guardian to Raymond Reddington for a lot of the present’s run, however its last stretch of episodes turned him into one thing else completely.
In reality, The Blacklist’s ending did a lot harm to Dembe Zuma’s character arc that we’re higher off remembering him with out it. What set Dembe aside as a character in The Blacklist all through the present’s first eight seasons was his unwavering loyalty to a buddy he’d recognized for many of his life. Even when he was suspected of betraying Pink by making an attempt to kill him, it turned out that he was truly searching down the true wrongdoer behind Pink’s poisoning. But, in seasons 9 and 10, Dembe’s a long time standing by Pink’s aspect are abruptly reworked into one thing sinister.
The Blacklist Seasons 9 & 10 Ruined Dembe Zuma
Dembe Becoming a member of The FBI & Turning In opposition to Pink Was A Unhealthy Selection
The warning indicators that Dembe Zuma’s character arc was heading in a controversial course started with the very first episode of season 9, The Blacklist’s weakest season general, as Dembe was revealed to have turn out to be an FBI agent. This transfer ran opposite to his function as Raymond Reddington’s private bodyguard and confidant all through the earlier seasons, and it created a battle of curiosity between the 2 characters at a number of important factors in the course of the present’s final two outings.
Dembe’s eulogy of Pink within the present’s closing moments takes nothing away from his betrayal.
Issues come to a head in season 9, episode 5, “Benjamin T. Okara,” when Dembe lastly breaks his formal affiliation with Pink in The Blacklist. This twist wasn’t such a letdown in itself, as Dembe wavers in his help of the FBI process power towards Pink later within the season, and finally ends up returning to the aspect of his lifelong buddy. There was worse to come back in The Blacklist’s final season, nevertheless, with the present’s finale ruining Dembe Zuma’s character arc for good.
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The Blacklist’s double episode ending noticed Raymond Reddington save Dembe twice, first from jail, then from sure demise. But Dembe himself betrayed Pink and not using a second thought, pointing FBI Counterterrorism Director Harold Cooper and MI6 particular agent Siya Malik to Reddington’s location at his villa close to Carmona in Andalusia, Spain. Dembe’s eulogy of Pink within the present’s closing moments takes nothing away from his betrayal, which meant that James Spader’s central protagonist would have been apprehended by the FBI and placed on trial if he hadn’t been killed by a bull close to his villa.
Dembe Was Raymond Reddington’s Loyal Proper Hand For 8 Seasons Of The Blacklist
It Appeared As Although Nothing May Break Their Bond
Previous to Dembe’s resolution to show towards Pink in seasons 9 and 10 of The Blacklist, he was Reddington’s unshakable proper hand. It appeared Dembe would have completed something to guard Pink, and his loyal help for the grasp criminal-turned-informant was nearly by no means doubtful. It was solely within the season 4 episode “The Apothecary” that Dembe’s loyalty was briefly known as into query, when he was suspected of poisoning Reddington in one among The Blacklist’s most shocking moments. Nonetheless, it turned out that he was removed from accountable for the tried homicide — and was instrumental in bringing down the one that was.
Pink’s introduction of Dembe as a predominant character in The Blacklist’s season 2 episode “The Mombasa Cartel” revealed the premise for his or her particular, seemingly unbreakable, bond. Pink saved Dembe from a tortuous existence and imminent peril in a Nairobi brothel as a 14-year-old boy. From that second on, Pink mentored him into the grownup he turned, an inimitable power for good in Reddington’s life and his trustworthy protector, who rescued him from hazard numerous instances in the course of the course of The Blacklist.
Dembe Zuma was from Sierra Leone, however was trafficked to Kenya after the Mombasa Cartel killed his household.
As Pink later instructed Liz Eager, Dembe’s safety wasn’t compensation for Pink saving him. It was based mostly on the steadfast perception that someplace inside Reddington there was a greater individual than his crimes prompt. Proper till the very finish of The Blacklist season 8, when Dembe helped Pink escape the scene of Liz’s demise earlier than the FBI process power may catch him, he remained the one that stored him secure. Even when Dembe disagreed with Pink’s actions, which occurred on quite a few events all through The Blacklist, his help for him by no means wavered.
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It seems like the last word betrayal of Dembe Zuma’s character for The Blacklist to have negated his a long time of loyal service to Pink in its last two seasons. Dembe’s sudden change of coronary heart additionally is unnecessary. Pink was a cold-blooded killer working towards the U.S. state lengthy earlier than the occasions of The Blacklist, and none of his immoral actions in the course of the first eight seasons of the present led Dembe to show towards him. His sudden resolution to hitch the FBI, cease working with Pink, and finally betray him went towards all the things we thought we knew concerning the character.
What Occurred To Dembe Was Symptomatic Of The Blacklist’s Decline In Its Final Seasons
The Blacklist Utterly Misplaced Its Method In Seasons 9 & 10
Somewhat than being a regrettable anomaly in The Blacklist’s story, although, what occurred to Dembe Zuma was simply one of the outrageous examples of the present turning its again on longtime followers. The sequence started a decline following Liz Eager’s demise on the finish of season 8, which means that The Blacklist seasons 9 and 10 are nearly universally thought-about the least fashionable within the present’s historical past amongst audiences and critics alike. Viewers continued watching within the hope that Raymond Reddington’s real identity would be confirmed within the present’s finale, however even that climactic revelation by no means got here to go.
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As an alternative, The Blacklist continued undermining its personal character arcs and inside logic till an admittedly engrossing and shifting finale noticed Dembe Zuma precise the last word betrayal. Raymond Reddington was definitely no hero within the typical sense. A lesser right-hand than Dembe would have given up on him lengthy earlier than the present’s final two seasons. However one of many issues that made Reddington particular as a personality — that gave him a lot of his redeeming options — was the distinctive sense of kinship that he shared with Dembe. The Blacklist finally throwing this side of his character away is unforgivable.
