The Blacklist spoilers follow.
As fans may well have expected, The Blacklist's eighth season ended in tragedy, following confirmation of Megan Boone's departure from the series.
Earlier this month, The Blacklist revealed that its central character FBI agent Liz Keen would make her final appearance in the season eight finale, setting up James Spader's Raymond Reddington as the new lead.
In yesterday's [June 23] season finale, fans watched on in horror as Liz was shot in the back by one of Neville Townsend's henchman while meeting with Red. Liz fell into Red's arms as she bled out from her injury, only for him to walk away.
Sony Pictures / SkyNBC Universal
Related: The Blacklist losing leading star ahead of season 9
Hopes of Liz moving on and starting a new life with her daughter were dashed, although the show did hint at the former agent finally discovering the identity of serial killer-turned-profiler Red, as memories of her mother were juxtaposed with images of Red as Liz died.
In an emotional Instagram post, Megan Boone bid farewell to her character, paying tribute to the cast, crew, and fans.
"This experience, for me, has been an entire life inside of my own life. These eight years playing Liz Keen have helped me better define the world and myself, as she set out to do the same," the actress wrote.
NBC Universal
Related: The Blacklist season 9: Release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know
"Liz sought incorruptible familial bonds, and collided with powerful forces to reveal the boundaries where a cruel, indifferent world ended and she began.
"As her story ends I am grateful, most of all for the people I shared this time with: my fellow cast members present and past, our incredible crew who carried every single day for all involved, and those of you we entertained."
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She continued: "The dreams inside this little life are the memories I still have of the guest stars passing through, however briefly – of their faces, their voices, their idiosyncrasies and talents.
"There have been such an astounding abundance of you over my 150+ episodes that, ironically, I could not list you all here, but… What a list. What a dream. Thank you all."
The Blacklist airs on NBC. In the UK, viewers can find it on Sky One.
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Undoubtedly, it is impossible to be not thinking about “KONETS,” the Season 8 Finale of the Blacklist. The long-running NBC TV series ended the last episode of the most recent season on a huge cliffhanger. I bet many of you must be still trying to understand what even happened. But was it a fitting series finale? Let us help you out with that by explaining the end of the Season 8 Finale of the Blacklist. The announcement that the 8th season of Blacklist will come was done on 20th February 2020. The first episode was released on 13th November, and the TV series ended on 23rd June 2021. The Blacklist is a crime thriller created by J. Bokenkamp and produced by Universal Television, Sony Pictures, and Davis Ent. The first season premiered back in 2013.
While, thankfully, the 9th season has been announced. The show has been moved to Thursdays. It will be released on October 21st, 2020. NBC renewed the show even before the 8th season hit the screens in early 2021. Fortunately for us, we won’t have to deal with the ending cliffhanger for much longer.
Also Read: Preview: The Blacklist Season 8 Episode 22
The Blacklist: Premise of the Whole Show
If you haven’t watched the show yet, we can let you in on the basic plot of the show. The Blacklist is about a former US Naval Intelligence Officer, Raymond Reddington, called Red. He had vanished into thin air 20 years ago and becomes one of the 10 most Wanted criminals of the FBI. Red surrenders himself to the Assistant Director of the FBI and claims he wants to help the FBI to track down the enemies, the existence of whom even the government of the US is unaware of. But he has 2 conditions. Immunity, and that he will only work with a rookie profiler, Elizabeth Keen. He never gives a reason as to why he chose her, only that she is special.
As the story progresses, Liz’s and Red’s mysteries are brought to light. Each episode also shows the team tracking down one of the criminals from Red’s blacklist. At the beginning of the episode, the criminal’s ranking, name, alias etc are shown.
Also Read: Top 10 Shows Like The Blacklist That You Should Watch
When the finale came, all of us were wondering the same thing. Will Liz kill Reddington and take over his empire? Liz was definitely not quite in on that plan. But a teen she saved in the pilot encouraged her to continue doing what she was doing: making the world better. If Red’s empire is under Liz, then Liz can continue rooting out criminals. Although Liz liked the idea of taking over Red, she didn’t want to kill him to secure her position as the new queen of Red’s empire. But while in the process of killing Red, she got shot and subsequently died. She had her gun pointed at Red, but she claimed she couldn’t shoot her. But Neville’s henchman, Vandyke, could. And he did.
Red was terminally ill, and even though he was so close to death, he continuously refused Liz when the latter asked him about their truth. Although he had promised to tell her about their connection after he had died – that chance was taken from her. She would never know the truth about Red.
The final episode of Season 8 begins with Red finding Liz, severely wounded, from Townsend’s destruction. Two episodes before, Liz didn’t even entertain the thought of killing Red. But when Red explains to her that this is his way of making sure the world sees Liz as someone who did what nobody could – killed Red. He promises Liz that after he dies, he will give Liz a letter which her mother Katarina had written. Because if Liz knew who Red was, she would never kill him. Red knows that killing Townsend will result in chaos. Even though Red was recovering from his sickness, his decision was set in stone.
Also Read: Why is Megan Boone Leaving The Blacklist after Season 8?
Liz agrees with Red’s idea. Reddington extracts a promise from Harold that he will watch after her after Red’s death. Subsequently, Red gives the fabled letter to Dembe under strict instructions that it is to be given to Elizabeth only after his death. Meanwhile. Ressler and Cooper talk on the phone about Liz’s conversation with Aram, where she is asking for his forgiveness. At Pascal’s, Red gets his drinks for the final time and gives Dembe a long and sweet hug. But the Task Force is on its way to save Red.
Liz Gets Shot:
Liz aims her gun at Red and at that very moment, comes in terms to the fact that she can’t kill him. She doesn’t want to kill him. Red consoles her, saying that he understands, but at that very moment, Liz is shot. Before dying, she goes through a whole flashback of her life. Her memories with her daughter, Agnes, her time with Cooper, Ressler, and Aram as an FBI officer, and most notably, her time with Red. This is where things get interesting. Red’s face begins to get mashed up with her memories from her childhood. And most importantly, how her mother’s face converts into Red’s face. This is important because it gives voice to the many fan theories which claim that Red IS Liz’s mother.
Dembe makes Red leave before the task force arrives. We don’t know where they go. But the task force arrives only with Liz’s body on the scene.
Major Take-Aways from Konets:
First things first, Liz is gone for real. In fact, Megan Boone who has played her role for 8 seasons, posted on Instagram about her leaving the show. So now one thing that’s for sure is Reddington is going to be out for blood in the 9th season. After all, he doesn’t have anything to lose anymore.
Also Read: The Blacklist Season 9 Premiere Has Been Announced!