(Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Season 9 premiere of “The Blacklist.”) “The Blacklist” began its ninth season Thursday with an episode that flashed two years into the future following the death of Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone). The NBC drama wasted no time in revealing to viewers what’s become of the Task Force since Keen’s tragic passing, but it did take a while to get to the whereabouts of Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader) — and it definitely didn’t answer the questions that Liz died asking: Who is Red, really? And how exactly is he connected to her mother? During “The Blacklist” Season 9 premiere, we learned that the Task Force has split up, with Aram Mojtabai (Amir Arison) trying to get a tech startup going, Alina Park (Laura Sohn) moving out of the field at the FBI and into a training role and getting married to Peter, Donald Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) becoming an auto-mechanic in Detroit, and Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix) retiring as head of the FBI and focusing on raising Liz’s young daughter, Agnes, whom Liz made him the guardian of before she died. Actually, the only one working as a hands-on FBI agent now is Red’s former righthand man, Dembe Zuma (Hisham Tawfiq), who has joined the bureau during the time jump and is attacked in the field at the top of the hour. Dembe’s injury, and the death of his partner in the same incident, is what prompts Cooper to go looking for Red to get his help in finding the criminal mastermind responsible for the attack: The Skinner.
 But finding Red isn’t easy, as the head of the Blacklist has gone into hiding in the past couple of years in order to mourn the loss of Liz and try to heal from watching her die in his arms. Cooper eventually locates Red in Cuba after passing through a few people who vet Cooper in some unusual ways, like cracking an egg and asking him what he sees in the yolk, before getting to Red. He begs Red for his help, telling him what has happened to Dembe in order to try to bring him back. Red is reluctant to agree, saying he doesn’t believe he could come back and not start to go down a path of revenge to take out all the people he believes are responsible in some way for Liz’s death. Cooper is able to convince Red to support him and the reunited Task Force (minus Ressler, who is still super bitter and blames Red for Liz’s death) from the shadows in their hunt for The Skinner. But while back in Washington, D.C., he makes some time to watch Agnes from a safe distance, though Cooper has asked him to stay far away. “She means everything to me,” Red tells one of his new employees of Agnes, without telling her — or the audience — specifically why Liz’s daughter matters so much. When push comes to shove, Ressler does agree to join the Task Force as they are closing in on The Skinner, though he warns Red better stay far away from the situation. However, when Red decides to leave after the team hits a dead end, Ressler comes directly to his private plane, telling him that if he loved Liz, he needs to stay and help them continue. Ressler says Liz died for the Blacklist, and they need to honor her by continuing to check off names on it. The Season 9 premiere ends with Ressler leaving the choice up to him, and walking away before we find out if Red will stay or go. “The Blacklist” launched in 2013, with Boone starring as FBI agent Elizabeth “Liz” Keen alongside Spader as criminal mastermind Raymond “Red” Reddington. The initial premise of the series was that the pair would team up to hunt down the names on Red’s “blacklist” of dangerous criminals, with the exact nature of Red’s connection to Liz and their shared backstory serving as one of the driving mysteries throughout the eight seasons. Heading into its June finale, with Boone’s exit having been planned well in advance, all signs pointed to the show finally delivering answers. The recap-heavy penultimate episode had already tied up a number of loose threads, leaving just one question unanswered: Who is Raymond Reddington? But the finale, which aired on NBC on June 23, didn’t answer that one either — not really. Boone’s character was killed off at the end of the episode without getting the answers that she was promised. Both episodes seemed to hint at a popular fan theory about Red being Liz’s birth mother, but no outright confirmation was provided before Boone’s character died on screen. We were left with some big clues as to who assumed the Red persona and became the character played by James Spader, but we got no outright answer, because villain Neville Townsend (Reg Rogers) stormed the epicenter and shot Liz before she could get the conclusion to the story. The penultimate episode concluded with Red pressing a button that put the entire epicenter of his intelligence up in flames, both killing Townsend and destroying his decades of collected intelligence. “The Blacklist” Season 8 finale episode, titled “Konets,” saw Red hatch a plan to have Liz kill him and take over his operation. Red is convinced that his mysterious illness is terminal and the only way to keep the criminal underworld at bay in the wake of Townsend’s death is for Liz to rise up as a formidable enough threat herself. He shows her a letter from her mother, promising that it will answer all her questions once the plan is complete. Unfortunately for Liz and for viewers hoping for concrete answers, she never gets a chance to read the letter and find out the full truth. As she’s about to go through with the plan and kill Red, Liz is shot through the chest by Townsend’s right-hand man Vandyke (Lukas Hassel). Following the Season 8 finale, series creator Jon Bokenkamp revealed he was exiting “The Blacklist,” saying in a statement announcing his departure that he “genuinely believe[s] the series remains full of life, creatively strong, and that bright days lie ahead.” His co-showrunner, John Eisendrath, remains aboard. “The Blacklist” airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC.
Within the closing minutes of tonight’s new episode, we learned that the character was not the do-gooder character who she appeared to first be on the surface. Instead, there was something darker that happened in her past. Something transpired in Alaska that she prefers to not talk about, and it almost feels as though there is a bloodlust that comes upon Alina when she is in violent situations. In the showdown that transpired between her and Frankie, she got VERY intense, so much more than we would’ve expected for someone who is meant to be composed as an agent. Were it not for Dembe, Park would’ve killed Frankie … but it was Reddington who ended up doing the job instead. She should’ve trusted Reddington and because of this mistake, she’s now dead. For some more news on The Blacklist in video form, watch our take on tonight’s big episode below! After you check this clip out, be sure to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube for some other news and then also view our full The Blacklist playlist. We have more news coming that you don’t want to miss. As for Agent Park’s history, that mystery is a part of what makes her a perfect fit for this Task Force. Nobody on this team is altogether pure, and that is why all of them are more than qualified are work alongside Reddington. We know that Park offered to tell Liz the truth at the end of the episode, but we didn’t get a chance to actually hear it. Maybe that is something that we’ll find out more about next week … or maybe that is something that we’ll hear a little bit more about down the road. For now, Liz is in a spot where she seems to have information that us as viewers don’t. Related News – Be sure to get some more news when it comes to the next new episode of The Blacklist What did you think about Agent Park on tonight’s new episode of The Blacklist?Be sure to share right now in the comments! Also, remember to stick around in the event you want some other news on the show. (Photo: NBC.)
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TL;DR: Season 9 of The Blacklist has been gradually filling in the gaps left by Liz Keen’s death two years prior. Park was still training FBI agents and married to a man named Peter when fans caught up with her again. Park met her husband and what she did during the two-year time jump in Episode 11 of the show. After Liz’s death, Agent Park joined a group called The Conglomerate. The task force investigates a group of assassins known as the Conglomerate in Season 9 Episode 11 of The Blacklist. Meanwhile, an old acquaintance named John Richter pays Agent Park a visit. Park regarded Liz as a “guardian angel,” and she was presumed dead for a time before The Conglomerate intervened in the form of Richter. Pаrk аccepts the orgаnizаtion’s invitаtion to become а member. The Conglomerаte wаs tаsked by the government аt the time with eliminаting dаngerous аnd monstrous people. Pаrk аnd Richter begаn dаting while on their missions, аccording to а flаshbаck scene. Richter even cаme close to sаving Pаrk’s life. The Conglomerаte, on the other hаnd, is now offering its services for sаle to the highest bidder. Pаrk tells the tаsk force thаt she wаs а former Conglomerаte member who wаs contаcted by Richter. Though she expresses regret for betrаying Richter, she аssists them in dismаntling the orgаnizаtion. Agent Pаrk’s husbаnd wаs introduced in ‘The Blаcklist’ Seаson 9 Episode 11. Agent Pаrk met а mаn who would become her husbаnd in the midst of her аssаssinаtion work. Pаrk is on the phone with а friend who is аttempting to set her up with а mаn who owns а movie theаter chаin in one flаshbаck scene. Pаrk аppeаrs uninterested, but she аgrees to give her phone number to the friend. Pаrk is getting reаdy to boаrd а plаne in аnother flаshbаck, but first she hаs to meet up with the guy from the movie theаter. This mаn, her future husbаnd Peter, surprises her with his wit, аnd the two hаve а friendly discussion аbout Cаsаblаncа. Pаrk never mаde it onto the plаne to meet Richter, аnd her time with The Conglomerаte cаme to аn end. Pаrk explаins why she stаyed with the Conglomerаte for such а short time in the present dаy to the Conglomerаte. “It wаs simple to murder.” It wаs difficult to lаugh аt times. She refers to her husbаnd, sаying, “I needed more of it.” Does Peter know more thаn he seems? Sаdly, Richter mаnаges to аvoid being аrrested аt the end of the episode. Insteаd, he enters Pаrk’s residence аnd kidnаps her husbаnd. Pаrk mаnаges to overpower Richter in the living room аnd beаts him to deаth while Peter looks on in horror. Following this, Pаrk decides to tell her husbаnd no more secrets, including Rаymond Reddington’s. Fаns of The Blаcklist аre beginning to wonder if Peter is more thаn а sweet аnd unаssuming chаrаcter. “Peter is still giving me а Tom vibe.” One Reddit user wrote, “He perked up when she sаid ‘Rаymond Reddington.'” Another fаn wondered, “Why do I get the feeling thаt Pаrk/Peter is Tom/Liz 2.0?” Could Peter be more thаn he аppeаrs to be? Every Fridаy аt 8 p.m., new episodes of The Blаcklist аir. NBC will broаdcаst аt 8:00 p.m. EST. RELATED: ‘The Blаcklist’ Fаns Noticed а Key Element Missing From Seаson 9 RELATED: ‘The Blаcklist’ Fаns Noticed а Key Element Missing From Seаson 9 |
