Megan Boone was a figure on broadcast television for the better part of a decade thanks to her role as Liz Keen on The Blacklist, but that ended back in June 2021 when Liz was shockingly killed off in the Season 8 finale. Now, the actress has said goodbye to last year with a post that seemingly nodded to her departure from the NBC show.
Boone took to Instagram to post a photo that doesn’t actually feature her at all, but said a “Goodbye” to 2021, with a list of names and more that were important to her over that year. Among those names? “Liz.” Take a look:
Megan Boone didn’t explicitly say that she was talking about Elizabeth Keen in her mention of “Liz,” but it would make sense for her to bid a farewell to her longtime Blacklist character as she looks ahead to 2022 in her life and career. She also used the caption to pay small tributes to some who passed away in 2022, including (presumably) Desmond Tutu, Cicely Tyson, Michael K. Williams, and Betty White, who died at the age of 99 on December 31.
She has also been an advocate for climate legislation, as she mentioned in her goodbye to 2021. While her mentions of people who passed away and “majesty” being lost weren’t exactly the happiest sentiments for ringing in the new year, I think plenty of people can echo her hope that we find majesty "again" in 2022.
Whatever 2022 holds for Megan Boone, it probably won’t include The Blacklist. Her departure from the show was actually revealed before the Season 8 finale aired, giving fans some time to speculate about how the show could write out the leading lady after nearly ten years. If Liz had just been sent away somewhere or gone on a mission, fans could have held out hope for Boone to reprise the role someday.
Liz’s death in the final moments of Season 8 definitely ruled out the character coming back alive, but perhaps she could make an appearance via flashback or hallucination if Boone is ever available and the show needs her. Ryan Eggold managed to reprise his role as Tom after being killed off and going on to star in New Amsterdam, after all!
The show is going on without Liz, although it hasn’t been crushing in the ratings in what could have been a pretty great time slot on NBC on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET, leading into the Law & Order block comprised of SVU at 9 p.m. and Organized Crime at 10 p.m. The Blacklist will move back to its old Friday night slot in February, however, so maybe it will thrive once more even without Liz. To revisit Megan Boone's time as Blacklist leading lady, you can find the first eight seasons streaming on Netflix now.
