The TV gods have been smiting shows at a fast clip, and yet another new show in the primetime lineup is of the past. Spinoffs of popular shows have proven more or less a coin flip in recent years, and while some have thrived, others have fallen, and NBC has apparently cancelled The Blacklist: Redemption, which will not see a Season 2.
A freshman spinoff to The Blacklist, The Blacklist: Redemption was not able to impress audiences enough in its eight-episode run to keep NBC invested in the show, leading to its cancellation, as reported by TVLine. In terms of ratings, the series debuted to an audience of 4.3 million and a 0.8 rating, managing to mostly hold close to those numbers throughout its entire run. The series ran in the place of The Blacklist during its hiatus, battling Training Day and tying ABC's The Catch for a couple weeks; but once The Amazing Race returned to CBS, the twisty drama slipped away from any chance of securing the top spot at 10 p.m. ET. Considering the night switch of Training Day and the cancelation The Catch, I suppose we could've seen this latest announcement coming.
As for Ryan Eggold, it has been stated in the past that Tom Keen will return to The Blacklist. With The Blacklist: Redemption officially done, it will be interesting to see how the series attempts to tie in Tom's story from the canceled series and possibly incorporate some of the other characters. Or, perhaps, we'll see the flagship show attempting to quietly pretend as though this experiment never happened. That doesn't seem likely, considering Season 1 ended with Tom unwittingly putting his evil father in charge of Halcyon, and the receiving proof his father is evil. With the renewal of The Blacklist coming down yesterday, the odds are in favor of the writers having time to rework any ideas Season 5 had in place, as well as securing Eggold's role in the upcoming season.
The good news is, adding Terry O' Quinn as Tom Keen's father for a couple episodes of The Blacklist could provide a ratings boost. The bad news, though, is that Season 4 of The Blacklist is teasing a big reveal that could cause complications when trying to balance two different and increasingly complicated stories, should they try to come together in Season 5. Let's hope the writers do right by The Blacklist: Redemption fans while still doing what's best for The Blacklist.
While The Blacklist: Redemption is finished, The Blacklist has its two-hour finale lined up for Thursday, May 18th, at 10 p.m. ET. If you didn't know it was that soon, do yourself a favor and visit our finale guide so you have a handle on when all of your favorite shows are ending. If you're someone bummed out about losing one of your new shows, check out this guide and pick out another because there's a healthy handful of shows that you don't want to miss!
