The Blacklist Season 8 has taken Liz to some dark places in her pursuit of revenge after the murder of her mother, and she may have even passed a point of no return in joining forces with none other than Townsend as part of her mission to take down Red. In the next episode, Liz and Townsend will again be working together, but not without an intense confrontation, as seen in the clip above. Liz had to know that working with Townsend would come at a cost!
And in the case of this sneak peek at the May 14 episode, called "Ivan Stepanov," that cost was evidently her privacy, as Liz confronts Townsend about spying on her, including Ressler's phone. She even knocks the cup out of his hand and gets in his face, which is a bold move considering her surroundings.
For his part, Townsend doesn't exactly roll over and apologize, although he also doesn't get as worked up as Liz when he points out that she was in contact with the FBI and some people think she deserves to die for it. All things considered, the heated confrontation with Liz passionately declaring that they had an agreement ultimately cools down when Liz sees that Townsend has captured the mysterious Russian Ivan Stepanov, which viewers saw at the end of last week's episode.
It is clearly news to Liz in this clip from the next episode, and Townsend's suggestion that Liz join him to learn what Stepanov knows about Red and N-13 is a powerful temptation. She surely must know as well as viewers that Townsend's methods of getting that information are bound to be a lot dirtier and bloodier than Liz would have gone with in her FBI days, but those FBI days are behind her, at least for now.
As for what this confrontation between Liz and Townsend means for the grand scheme of the episode, check out the official description of what's to come:
Red tries desperately to rescue an old friend at all costs, while Liz and Townsend conduct an interrogation.
The interrogation in "Ivan Stepanov" will – quite fittingly – clearly be of Ivan Stepanov, and based on the promo for the episode, Red's desperate attempts to rescue him will have a deeper motivation than just protecting his own secrets. Despite everything that has happened between them this season, Red still wants to protect Liz. And for as capable as Liz is, she's playing with fire by working with Townsend.
The good news is that The Blacklist has already been renewed for Season 9, so no matter what happens in "Ivan Stepanov" and the remaining episodes of the eighth season, the show itself will be back. As for whether Liz will survive her alliance with Townsend after Megan Boone's long absence in Season 8, or Red will survive the effects of his mysterious illness... well, fans will just have to tune in to find out.
The "Ivan Stepanov" episode of The Blacklist airs Friday, May 14 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. There is still plenty of time left in Season 8 for things to change completely, as it's never easy to predict where The Blacklist is going to twist and turn, so don't miss an episode even as the finales of some of television's biggest shows are fast approaching.
