Warning: BIG SPOILERS AHEAD for the Season 8 finale of The Blacklist on NBC, called "Konets."
The Blacklist delivered on last week's reports of Megan Boone's departure with the Season 8 finale, which said what seemed to be quite a final farewell to Liz Keen. Still, even though fans knew that Boone was leaving the series, few could have guessed that Liz's final bow would go down the way that it did, leaving her dead without ever getting the answers she so wanted. That said, Boone has a touching message for fans that is likely a lot more emotionally satisfying than Liz's death.
Megan Boone took to Instagram while the Season 8 finale was airing to post a picture of her alongside longtime costar James Spader, who of course has played Raymond Reddington from the very beginning, along with a message to say goodbye and honor the journey. Boone wrote:
This experience, for me, has been an entire life inside of my own life. These eight years playing Liz Keen have helped me better define the world and myself, as she set out to do the same. Liz sought incorruptible familial bonds, and collided with powerful forces to reveal the boundaries where a cruel, indifferent world ended and she began. As her story ends I am grateful, most of all for the people I shared this time with: my fellow cast members present and past, our incredible crew who carried every single day for all involved, and those of you we entertained.
In her message, Megan Boone expressed her gratitude not only for those she shared the screen with, but for the people who helped make the show happen behind-the-scenes and for the fans who tuned in. Those fans have seen Liz go on quite a wild ride, as the Blacklist leading lady has swung back and forth on the moral spectrum during her pursuit of the truth about Red, with more than a little vengeance along the way.
In "Konets," Liz was finally back on good terms with Red, and really, the upbeat scenes between Liz and Agnes (with Red – or "Pinky," as Agnes dubbed him – in the mix as well) should have clued viewers into the fact that tragedy had to be on the way to make up for all the happiness.
Liz found herself unable to pull the trigger on Red despite their carefully-laid plans, and that was pretty much the last thing she ever did before the flashback montage of the people she cared about and dying as the culmination of more than a hundred episodes of development. Boone continued saying goodbye by noting the long run of the series:
The dreams inside this little life are the memories I still have of the guest stars passing through, however briefly— of their faces, their voices, their idiosyncrasies and talents. There have been such an astounding abundance of you over my 150+ episodes that, ironically, I could not list you all here, but… What a list. What a dream.
There is clearly no bad blood between Megan Boone and the people at The Blacklist that she's leaving behind, although sadly the manner of Liz's exit pretty much rules out Boone returning in any kind of regular capacity. Characters have certainly managed to reappear on the show following their deaths, even including Ryan Eggold's Tom Keen after Tom's untimely demise, but more Liz is probably out barring flashbacks, dream sequences, and/or hallucinations. Take a look at Boone's farewell message after what could very well be her final appearance on The Blacklist:
If you're already in the market to revisit Liz's earlier days on The Blacklist before she got to the point of her death in the Season 8 finale, you can find the first seven seasons of the series streaming on Netflix. The show will also be back on NBC in the fall with the ninth season, which will also be the first in Blacklist history without Megan Boone as a series regular. For some viewing options during the wait to see how The Blacklist will carry on from Liz's death, be sure to swing by our 2021 summer TV premiere schedule for some ideas!
