The Blacklist said goodbye to one of its own Wednesday night. Just a week after it was confirmed that Megan Boone, who has starred as Elizabeth “Liz” Keen, the female lead of the beloved NBC crime thriller series, for the past eight seasons, would be exiting the series, The Blacklist Season 8 finale bid her an emotional farewell. Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Blacklist Season 8, Episode “Konets.”
Picking up where “Nachalo” left off, “Konets” began in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the home base of Raymond “Red” Reddington’s spy operation in Latvia. With Neville Townsend now dead, a power struggle is unleashed. Worried about the numerous other crime lords who would vie for control of Townsend’s empire, Red wants to install Liz as his heir to protect her. To prove to everyone that she is “a force to be reckoned with,” however, she must first kill Red, who revealed in the episode that he has a terminal illness and is already dying. Doing so would mean that Liz “did what no one else could… you found and executed Raymond Reddington.” Red also promises that Liz will get a letter from her mother, which contains Red’s true identity and other answers Liz has been searching for, after he is dead.
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After much debate, Liz eventually agreed to Red’s plan, which would involve her shooting Red in front of his restaurant the next night, allowing the killing to be captured on CCTV cameras. Red tells her, “What I do know is that, whether it’s chance or karma, DNA, faith, or just bad luck, this is who you are now, this is who you’ve become — a criminal, a fugitive — and taking my life is a way forward.” However, when it came time for Liz to pull the trigger, she was unable to do so. As she tearfully says, “I can’t do it. And I don’t want to,” a gunshot rings out, and it is revealed that Liz was shot in the chest by Neville’s henchman Vandyke, fulfilling Townsend’s promise to make Red watch Liz die. As Liz collapses to the ground, her life flashes before her eyes, with Liz recalling memories with Tom, Agnes, Dembe, Aram, Cooper and Ressler. Those memories later flashed to memories of Red and her mother. The episode ends with Red kissing her forehead as he holds her lifeless body.
While the tragic Season 8 finale left many fans in tears, they can perhaps find a little joy in the fact that more The Blacklist is promised. NBC has already picked the series up for Season 9, which will mark the first without Boone.
