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Article Highlights:

  • John Eisendrath will lead The Blacklist Season 9 following the exit of creator Jon Bokenkamp.
  • Eisendrath teased “surprising” and “wide-ranging” events in the aftermath of Liz Keen’s death
  • Season 9 premieres on a new night —Thursday, Oct. 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
'The Blacklist' Season 9 logo in red lettering.
‘The Blacklist’ | NBC

The Blacklist Season 9 won’t come without a few fundamental changes. One of the show’s original stars, Megan Boone, left the longtime crime drama in pursuit of other ventures. Boone made the announcement hours before the season 8 finale. A day later, series creator Jon Bokenkamp announced his own exit.

“After eight years, I feel it’s time for me to step out of my comfort zone, try something new, and explore a few of the other characters and stories that have been crawling around in my head,” he wrote on Twitter.

Executive producer and showrunner John Eisendrath will take the reigns to lead the NBC series into its 9th season.

John Eisendrath says the aftermath of Liz Keen’s death is ‘surprising’

The Blacklist Season 9 will take off two years after Liz Keen’s death which came in the season 8 finale, “Konets.” With the task force disbanded and Raymond Reddington (James Spader) M.I.A., Eisendrath teases what’s become of everyone after Liz Keen’s death.

“That Liz’s death has had a profound effect on our characters is inevitable,” he told Entertainment Weekly, “but where they’ve landed in her absence is surprising and wide-ranging.”

He continues: “Even as they’ve scattered to the four winds, the criminal world has just kept ticking along, which at a certain point becomes impossible for our heroes to ignore. Red and the task force might find themselves in new surroundings, but rest assured: The Blacklisters are just as nasty as ever.”

‘The Blacklist’ Season 9 premieres on Oct. 21

Related

‘The Blacklist’ Season 9 Promo Is Missing an Important Character — and It’s Not Liz Keen

On its new night — Thursday, Oct. 21 — The Blacklist Season 9 begins again. Season 8 failed to provide a concrete answer about Reddington’s identity, but there’s plenty of room for season 9 to do so. The official synopsis says:

“In the two years following the death of Elizabeth Keen, Raymond Reddington (James Spader) and the members of the FBI Task Force have disbanded – their lives now changed in unexpected ways and with Reddington’s whereabouts unknown. 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.”

NBC

Only time will tell if Eisendrath can keep momentum to pull the story forward. But, we’re confident that, if nothing else, Spader’s new bald look means big things ahead.

The Blacklist Season 9 premieres on Oct. 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC.

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