The Blacklist star Megan Boone is leaving the series after season 8 is done. Boone serves as the series lead of The Blacklist, Elizabeth Keen, opposite James Spader’s Raymond “Red” Reddington. Boone has been with The Blacklist since it premiered in 2013, and the show was definitely a major breakout for her acting career. According to reports, the decision to end Elizabeth Keen’s run on The Blacklist was made “early on” in the development of season 8, which allowed the creative team to shape the season around the concept of it being Liz’s final arc. And what a final arc it is shaping up to be (more on that below).
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It’s stated in the report from Deadline that Boone and the Blacklist creators are parting on mutual terms, and that Boone is already “plotting her next move.” Fans have been speculating that Boone could be departing the show for some time, since Liz was absent for eight episodes of season 8, as Liz was “in hiding” from her former teammates in the FBI task force. It’s explained that Boone’s absence was “in part due to personal reasons,” so take from that what you will.
Warning: The Blacklist Season 8 Spoilers Follow!
The series revolved around Red being Liz’s mentor in infiltrating the underworld and hunting down the notorious evildoers on the infamous Blacklist of most wanted criminals. However, when Liz finally started to uncover major revelations from her past, as well as Red’s secrets, things quickly took a drastic turn.
Final Major Spoiler Warning!
When Liz and her mother Katarina united against Reddington, they sought out Liz’s grandfather Dom to get Reddington’s secrets. Reddington ended up killing Katarina in the showdown over that incident, which pushed Liz to abandon her duties as an FBI agent and go rogue to get revenge on Reddington. Red made the move of putting Liz on the Blacklist, and turning the task force against her; Liz countered by going on a mission to unite Reddington’s associates against him.
The game of cat-and-mouse between Liz and Red will finally come to a head in the upcoming final two episodes of The Blacklist season 8, “Nachalo” and “Konets”. The promos for the final showdown between Red and Liz have ominous dialogue like Red saying “There is only you , me, and the truth,” while Liz is heard asking the one question about Red that Blacklist fans have since the first episode: “Tell me, who are you?”
The final two episodes of The Blacklist season 8 will air on Wednesday night for the next two weeks on NBC.
