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The NBC series The Blacklist is in its ninth season and has been on the air for almost a decade. The series gets pretty violent and graphic at times. With all the fight scenes and gun violence, it’s easy to wonder if a real person could survive what the characters in The Blacklist go through. Eagle-eyed fans have noticed a mistake in The Blacklist Season 1 that could have caused Red to kill agent Ressler.

Diego Klattenhoff as Ressler and James Spader as Red in The Blacklist Season 1. Ressler lays on a table and Red holds Ressler's head in his hands.
Diego Klattenhoff as Ressler and James Spader as Red in ‘The Blacklist’ Season 1 | David Giesbrecht/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Ressler nearly died in ‘The Blacklist’ episode “Anslo Garrick”

In The Blacklist Season 1 Episode 9 “Anslo Garrick,” the FBI is under attack from a terrorist determined to kill Red. Ressler gets shot in the leg and severely injured, so Red pulls him into a bulletproof cell to protect him. While inside, Red works quickly to keep Ressler from dying and delivers a speech about why they will survive.

Eventually, Garrick begins threatening to kill people Red cares about. Garrick also points out that Ressler can’t live long without getting to a real doctor. Eventually, Red agrees to come out when Liz’s life is threatened. Red later escapes Anslo and Ressler is rushed to the hospital. He survives the incident, but would that have been the case in reality?

‘The Blacklist’ fans noticed this season 1 mistake

The Blacklist isn’t always medically accurate. In “Anslo Garrick,” Red makes a tourniquet for Ressler and uses his own blood to give Ressler a transfusion. Some fans don’t believe the life-saving methods Red employed to save Ressler would have worked.

“As Reddington sets up the blood transfer between himself and Ressler he inserts the intravenous line in Ressler’s arm first and then in his own arm. This way the remaining air inside the line gets into the recipient’s body and could very well kill him. Judging the expert way he handles the set up he should know to first insert the IV in his own arm, let the line fill with blood, and then insert the IV in Ressler’s arm,” a fan pointed out on moviemistakes.com.

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However, another fan believes “that amount of air would probably not cause any problem. It actually takes quite a lot of air to cause any issue.” Still, it seems remarkable that Red was able to use such make-shift methods to save Ressler’s life. The FBI agent did not even lose a leg or seem to have any lasting damage from the injury.

Other injuries disappear in ‘The Blacklist’

The Blacklist also has some continuity errors in terms of injuries. For example, in the episode “Ivan” a young teen steals a revolutionary cyberwarfare weapon. Agent Keen pursues him, bursting through the window of a train in pursuit and cutting her face.

“Her two cuts alternate throughout the following scenes on the train from dripping blood to barely scratches,” a fan noticed on moviemistakes.com. “That evening at home with her husband her face is practically clear and at Reddington’s home later that evening her skin is perfect.” Maybe it’s possible that Ressler could have survived his ordeal, but there’s no way the scratches on Liz’s face could have disappeared.

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