Megan Boone Leaves ‘The Blacklist’ After 8 Seasons
Well, this is a bit of a shock, although, if you’ve been watching Season 8 of ‘The Blacklist‘, this news might make a little more sense. Co-lead Megan Boone, who plays Elizabeth Keen opposite James Spader’s Raymond Reddington, will be leaving the show at the end of the current season it has been revealed.
‘The Blacklist’, which was renewed for a 9th Season back in January, stars Spader as criminal mastermind Raymond “Red” Reddington and Boone as Elizabeth Keen, the FBI agent who is part of the Reddington task force, a group designed to take down Red’s “Blacklist” – individuals so dangerous and devious that the US government is unaware of their very existence.
Boone’s departure from the show has been planned since very early on in the season, and prior to the renewal, so the writers had a long time to craft a satisfying exit for the main character of Keen. That goes some way to explaining the current Season 8 plotline, which (SPOILER WARNING) sees Keen turn from FBI agent to criminal after she witnesses Red shoot her mother, which leads her to attempt to bring down his criminal empire, and trying to kill him in revenge. The Season 8 finale promises to answer one of the longstanding questions of the show – why Red came into Keen’s life in the first place.
Given the relationship between Keen and Reddington has been a central point of the story from the beginning, that would suggest the 9th Season will be something of a soft reset for the drama. However, the report from Deadline does say that Boone makes her “last appearance as a series regular” in the Season 8 finale, suggesting Keen could potentially pop back up at some point in the future.
Interestingly, a large section of Season 8 saw Keen go on the run, removing Boone from the show for eight episodes. Absences like that usually only happen when an actor is seriously ill or pregnant, but Boone’s disappearance was never explained off-screen. It does make me wonder if that was a trial run to see if the show could still work without Keen in the mix as the lead character. Whether that was the case or just a useful coincidence, it seems they decided it worked.
‘The Blacklist‘ Season 8 is currently airing on Sky One in the UK, and NBC in the USA.
6 comments
I’m glad she is leaving!
I have been tired of her for a long time, with her gone maybe they can get back to some good story lines
I miss the old relationship Red had with her; maybe she was raised to be a sleeper of sorts, though I’ve thought she was #1 for a couple years now. And I still want to know what happened to our Red’s own family, and where the burns on his back came from.
The last year has had a way of making many re-evaluate ways to spend time with family. Hopefully she just wants to be home more, rather than anyone in her family having Long-Haulers.
Long overdue, her character had quickly become the weak link in the storyline, dragging the whole season 8 down to her level. Plot-holes, invisible nannies, storylines that are fit for a kindergarten audience. Surprised that Dembe didn’t just shoot her in the face to get the whole drawn out dull ‘I want the truth’ saga out of the way…
And don’t start me on her complete lack of acting ability….
I thought something was happening based on her absence & storyline, in S8. Prior to this season I would have said I would miss her, but I haven’t like the storyline this season, so I’m happy to move in. I hope we just get back to the individual stories that ran through all the previous seasons.
I won’t miss who she became ,I loved the two with love hate relationship.
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