Despite losing some ratings steam as it was moved around the NBC schedule, The Blacklist has remains a solid performer, and through its off-network deal with Netflix, the show has reached a global audience.

The character-driven procedural was an instant, massive hit, turning Boone into a TV star overnight. (Boone was actually cast first, with NBC going down to the wire on the role of Red, ultimately getting Spader for it.) The young actress had done one show as a series regular, NBC’s short-lived Law & Order: LA, when she was cast as the female lead opposite three-time Emmy winner Spader in the pilot. The Blacklist was a career-defining moment for Boone. Boone returned in the April 23 episode as Liz emerged from hiding. The series will now finally explain why Red entered Liz’s life eight years ago.Īs part of the Liz-as-a-fugitive storyline (and in part due to personal reasons), Boone did not appear in eight episodes this season, raising questions about her future on the show. In a recent interview with TVInsider, The Blacklist creator Jon Bokenkamp teased that in “Nachalo,” “we’re going to go back to the very beginning and unpack answers to eight years worth of questions.” In the dramatic NBC promo, Spader’s Red says, “There is only you, me and the truth,” and Boone’s Liz is heard asking, “Tell me, who are you?” (which has been one of The Blacklist‘s biggest mysteries, especially after the bombshell several seasons ago that he is not the real Red Reddington.) At the end of the most recent episode, Red revealed to Liz that he’s N-13, the elusive spy she’s been hunting for. Their tumultuous relationship will come to a head in the final two episodes of Season 8, aptly titled “Nachalo” and “Konets,” Russian for “Beginning” (Начало) and “End” (Конец). After watching Raymond “Red” Reddington (Spader) kill her mother, Katarina, Liz turned the tables on her former mentor who now became her target. Season 8 has completed Liz’s transformation from a wide-eyed rookie FBI agent to a criminal on the run who has embraced her dark side. With Boone’s departure, Spader, Diego Klattenhoff and Harry Lennix remain the only original cast members on the show. Reps for NBC and Sony Pictures TV, which produces The Blacklist with Universal TV, had no comment. I hear the decision was mutual, and Boone already is plotting her next move. That allowed the writers to craft the arc for her character, Elizabeth “Liz”” Keen, this season as her final chapter.

The decision about Boone’s exit was made early on, well ahead of The Blacklist‘s Season 9 renewal in January.

The blacklist season 3 complete