Megan Boone is leaving The Blacklist after eight seasons. Her character, Elizabeth Keen, has been one of the main characters of the story from the very first episode, but Boone is set to leave the show after this current season ends next week.
The Blacklist, which was renewed for season 9 in January, stars James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington, an internationally renowned criminal mastermind who surrendered himself to the FBI. He brings the FBI criminals that they don’t even know exist as part of his blacklist. One of the biggest rules he set for working with the FBI was that he would only work with Special Agent Elizabeth Keen.
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Over the course of eight seasons, the show has explored the relationship between Reddington and Keen, although the show has always seemed to stop just short of answering what their relationship actually is. With just one episode left before Boone exits the series, maybe we will finally get some of those answers.
With Megan Boone leaving, only Spader, Harry Lennix and Diego Klattenhoff remain as original cast members of the show, although Amir Arinson has been there almost since the beginning as well.
Megan Boone will leave The Blacklist having appeared in over 170 episodes of the show, marking it as her biggest role to date. She has made appearances in Blue Bloods, Law and Order: LA, and Sex and the City 2. She also appeared as Keen in the short lived spin-off The Blacklist: Redemption, a one season series that focused on Keen’s husband, played by Ryan Eggold. She also recently made an appearance in the Amazon Prime Video series The Underground Railroad in episode 2 as Miss Lucy.
There had been speculations early on in filming of the current season of The Blacklist that it would be Boone’s last. Her husband, Dan Estabrook, teased that it would be her last season as Elizabeth Keen in an Instagram post as filming began. In the caption to the linked photo, Estabrook used the hashtags #LizKeenForeva and #OrLikeOneMoreYear leading many to speculate that this would either be the last year of The Blacklist or the final season with Elizabeth Keen as a part of the show.
Boone has made no comments about what her next role will be after exiting The Blacklist and IMDB shows no upcoming projects for the actress. Additionally, no comments have been issued by NBC or the producers of The Blacklist on Boone’s exit.
Spader, John Eisendrath, Jon Bokenkamp, John Davis, John Fox, Lukas Reiter, Laura A. Benson, Daniel Cerone and Sean Hennen serve as executive producers on the series. Davis Entertainment produces in association with Sony Pictures Television Studios and Universal Television. Bokenkamp created the series and serves as co-showrunner with Eisendrath.
Boone’s last episode as a series regular airs on June 23. The Blacklist will return for Season 9 in the fall. There is speculation that Season 9 will be the final season, taking one final year to wrap all the story lines up. This news arrives from The Hollywood Reporter.
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