‘The Blacklist’ Season 9: Episode 7 Adds More Confusion to the Series’ Timeline
Like most shows that have been on the air for a long time, The Blacklist has some plot inconsistencies and things that just don’t add up. Fans have spotted plenty of little mistakes over the years. However, The Blacklist Season 9 is making it harder and harder to ignore inconsistencies in the show’s timeline. Episode 7, “Between Sleep & Awake” only added more confusion for fans.
‘The Blacklist’ Season 9 features a two-year time jump
The Blacklist Season 9 began two years after the death of Liz Keen at the end of season 8. Some fans disliked the time jump, but something else really bugged them. At the beginning of season 9, Cooper states that Agnes is 11 years old. Thirteen-year-old Sami Bray was brought in to portray Agnes. However, that timeline doesn’t add up with the birth of Agnes in season 3.
It’s generally assumed that seasons 1-8 of The Blacklist took place over the course of around eight years. This would make Agnes around 5 or 6 years old by the time of the season 8 finale. Agnes appears to be around that age at the time of Liz’s death. This would make Anges 7 or 8 years old at the start of The Blacklist Season 9, not 11.
Episode 7 adds more confusion to the show’s timeline
The Blacklist Season 9, Episode 7 focuses on Donald Ressler and tells the story of his time in the aftermath of Liz Keen’s death. In the present day, Ressler visits Liz’s grave for the first time in 2 years. The tombstone marks Liz’s birth year as 1985 and death year as 2021, confusing fans even further.
“Liz’ headstone says 2021 as year of death. We had a 2-year time jump since then. Is Season 9 in 2023 then?” a fan wondered on Reddit. “The 2021 on the tombstone is screwed up,” wrote another. “They have the show back to real time, not accounting for the time jump of the 10-month coma plus Liz’s trip to Alaska.”
“In the beginning of season 8, Aram makes the comment that Agnes is 6 years old,” this fan continued. “She was born in 2016, which would put the timeline in 2022. Adding two years for the 2nd time jump brings us to 2024, but I guess none of that matters anymore. Especially now that Agnes is 11. I’m just happy they were consistent with the year Liz was born.”
While it’s possible that The Blacklist Season 9 could take place a few years in the future, Agnes’ age is an inconsistency that many fans can’t look past.
‘The Blacklist’ has made other mistakes in the past
The inconsistent timeline in The Blacklist Season 9 isn’t the only mistake fans have noticed in the series. Liz was buried next to her husband Tom. A fan on moviemistakes.com noted a slight inconsistency with Tom’s age based on his tombstone.
“Tom’s toe tag says that he was 33 at the time of death. In the next episode, “Ruin,” his Tombstone says he lived from 1985 to 2017, making him 32 at the time of death.” Although this mistake isn’t as big of a reach as Agnes’ age, it’s hard not to note that timeline inconsistencies continue to add up in The Blacklist.
New episodes of The Blacklist premiere Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
