The Blacklist has taken some intense twists and turns in Season 5, largely due to the death of Tom Keen back in the midseason finale. He was brutally killed in an attack that left Liz comatose for months and set her on a devastatingly dark path toward revenge. Her quest for vengeance has changed the dynamic between Liz and her dad; soon, we'll get to see her dynamic with another member of her family. Brian Dennehy will be back as her maternal grandfather Dom, and Liz will finally get to meet him. Blacklist executive producer Jon Bokenkamp explained why the time was right to introduce Liz to Dom, saying this:
In this week's episode, Liz's search for Tom's killer will bring her face to face with her biological grandfather -- but it's not the family reunion one might expect. Truth is, we love Brian Dennehy and this episode gives us a chance to dive deeper into his character's relationship with Red, and the deeper mythology of the show.
Liz won't meet Dom just because he felt it was time to meet his granddaughter or any other innocent reason. Instead, she'll cross paths with Dom while continuing her search for the person responsible for Tom's death. For Liz's sake, we can only hope that Dom didn't have anything to do with what happened to Tom. She already deals with enough family complications due to her connection to Red. The last thing she needs is to learn that her grandfather works with the person/people who murdered her husband. Jon Bokenkamp's comments about her meeting with Dom indicate that fans won't get the story they were counting on with the reunion.
By the look of things, Liz won't cross paths with her good old grandfather in the bowels of some secret lair or in a dark alley. Take a look at a shot of Brian Dennehy back as Dom:
Jon Bokenkamp's further comments to EW about Dom's relationship with Red may indicate that we'll see more of that not-so-dynamic duo in the next episode. Red has been the major connection to Dom over the series so far due to his relationship with Liz's mother Katarina, who may or may not be dead. Personally, I'm hoping we get to see Liz react to the realization that Red and Dom have had more of a relationship that she could have guessed. Her reaction in the second half of Season 5 would undoubtedly be a lot different than it would have been in earlier seasons.
Whatever happens, we can evidently count on some development of the mythology that has been building throughout The Blacklist to date. Only time will tell. New episodes of The Blacklist air on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. The February 7 episode will be the last for a couple of weeks due to the Olympics putting normal NBC programming on hold, so be sure to tune in the next episode. If you're still in the market for shows to watch in 2018, take a peek at our midseason TV premiere guide.
