It's been quite a few years since The Blacklist has delivered what anyone would call a normal season of television, and Season 8 was no exception. Everything ended with some gamechanging shockers, of course, with the biggest being longtime star fMegan Boone's permanent exit, as her character Liz died in the finale after being shot in the back. Add to that the surprising exit of showrunner Jon Bokenkamp, and it's clear that fans are in for uncharted waters with Season 9. Which is exactly what's happening with the newest teaser trailer, which manages to pack in quite a few details at just under half-a-blink.
Check out The Blacklist's promo below, as shared on its Instagram page.
According to James Spader's Red Reddington, there's nothing left after Liz's death, and we can all assume he was at least indirectly referring to the show's task force, which has been disbanded in the aftermath. Season 9 will indeed pick up after a two-year time jump, with the characters all scattered about. Even though we see familiar faces such as Laura Sohn's Agent Park and Harry Lennix's Harold Cooper, we don't actually see any of these faces together in the same room. Save for the flashback shot of Red and Liz. But how long can that last?
The out and about character set includes the aforementioned Red, who is currently back in fugitive mode. As everyone can tell from the video itself, Red went into complete disguise mode by apparently shaving the rest of his head. Or losing the rest of his hair naturally, which feels less like a disguise, I guess. I'm hoping that he dons at two (hundred) wigs in the duration of Season 9, causing him to shave the rest. I also hope there's a point where he wears two different pairs of sunglasses at once, but I know that's pushing it.
When it comes to characters who grew new hair during the time jump, we have Diego Klattenhoff parting ways from his clean-shaven look of seasons past and sporting a face full of hair.
Understandably, Ressler's still trying to make a difference out there, and it sounds like he might be responsible for trying to pull the task force back together, so that Liz's death won't have been in vain. For anyone worried that the show might be slowing down with someone new running the creative side of things, the Season 9 synopsis does not hold back on the exclamation mark-worthy set-up.
Finding themselves each at a crossroads, a common purpose compels them to renew their original mission: to take down dangerous, vicious and eccentric Blacklisters. In the process, they begin to uncover lethal adversaries, unimaginable conspiracies and surprising betrayals that will threaten alliances and spur vengeance for the past, led by the most devious criminal of them all – Raymond Reddington.
It sounds like the makings of a final season, but let's not be hasty about such thoughts while it's still so early. Let's just count our blessings, and Ressler's beard hairs, and be thankful that Season 9 is on the way. Now airing on Thursdays, The Blacklist will premiere on NBC on October 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET, just before the 500th episode of Law & Order: SVU.
