Celebrate ‘The Blacklist’ Anniversary with Our Seven Favorite Episodes From All Seven Seasons!

Kailey
9 Min Read
Courtesy of NBC.

7 years ago the world was changed forever as audiences were introduced to Raymond Reddington, Liz Keen, the Taskforce, and of course, the famed “blacklist.” The Blacklist premiered on September 23, 2014. To commemorate this occasion, we’ve selected our favorite episode from each of the 7 seasons!

Warning: SPOILERS BELOW, proceed at your own risk!

Season 1: “Pilot”

Number 1 on our list is of course, the pilot. This was the episode that started it all. From the first five minutes where Reddington turned himself in, to Tom Keen getting stabbed and critically injured, to the end where Reddington reveals that Ranko Zamani was only the first name on the “blacklist.” There was so much to unpack from this exhilarating episode and it piqued our mystery interest. We were instantly hooked (still are) and craved more episodes of the team and their mission to find more names on the “blacklist.” It was also an introduction into Red and Elizabeth’s eerie and curious dynamic. Who is Red to Liz? Is he her father? Who is Red? All questions that many fans have today. Check out the first scene of the pilot episode below!

Season 2: “Tom Connolly”

The finale of season 2 changed Liz, and the show, forever. This is our favorite episode of season 2 because it’s intense and thrilling until the very end. In this episode, Liz is being framed for poisoning Senator Hawkins. Liz became infected in a fight with Karakurt and is immune to the virus. In an attempt to save Senator Hawkins from Karakurt, she unknowingly infected Hawkins. This episode is also the aftermath of Liz showing the Fulcrum, a device with incriminating information stored on it and the team’s fight against the Cabal. Liz has to go on the run with the help of Reddington, Tom, Cooper, and Mr. Kaplan. At the end, it comes to a showdown with Cooper confronting Tom Connolly about lying about Cooper’s illness that never existed, and Liz confronts Tom about his involvement with the Cabal, which she takes into her own hands. Check out the most shocking moment of season 2 below!

Season 3: “Mr. Solomon: The Conclusion”

Season 3 is one of our favorite seasons because it shows a different dynamic between Liz and Red and their journey on the run. It also features Liz becoming pregnant with her and Tom’s child and them navigating their new life as expectant parents. In this specific episode, Mr. Solomon is on Liz’s tail and crashes her second wedding to Tom to capture her, but she is able to escape with Tom by her side. While escaping, a car accident causes a 9-months-pregnant Liz to need surgery and deliver her baby. Things take a turn for the worst and it affects the team, Tom, his new daughter, and Reddington. We have to admit, this episode had us crying. Check out this clip from episode 18 of season 3 below!

Season 4: “Mr. Kaplan: Conclusion”

Never did we think in a million years that the loyal, trustworthy Mr. Kaplan would take a go at Reddington and become his undoing. We discover that Mr. Kaplan was instructed by Liz’s mother to protect her, since Kaplan was Liz’s nanny as a child. Mr. Kaplan feels that she needs to take Reddington down in order to maintain Liz’s safety. “If you get out of the car, you choose Raymond. If you stay, you choose the truth.” The confrontation between Reddington, Liz, and Mr. Kaplan on the bridge ends with a splash. Although Kaplan chose to take her life, her plan to defeat Red was already in motion. Another huge revelation reveals Liz’s father is none other than Raymond Reddington himself! (Honestly, we yelled at our TV screens)! A suitcase is taken out of a bus station locker by the always mysterious Tom Keen, and the episode ends with a disturbing discovery and question, “Whose bones are they?” Check out a clip from the episode below!

Season 5: “Sutton Ross”

As fans saw in the episode entitled, “Ian Garvey,” Tom has died, Liz was left in a coma for almost a year and had to rehabilitate herself back to strength, and Agent Samar Navabi is in a coma after an accident. In this season finale episode, Liz and Red race to retrieve the duffle bag with the bones concealed inside. While interviewing Sutton Ross, Liz is attacked by Ross and taken to an undisclosed location. Red makes a deal with Ross to trade his life for Liz’s. Ross puts Red in a compromising position. Just as Red is about to reveal the truth, the FBI comes to save the day. Little did anyone know, Liz was never in danger. It was all a ruse. And now, she knows the truth of the identity of the bones: the real Raymond Reddington. “I am going to figure all that out, and then I’m going to destroy him.”

Season 6: “Bastien Moreau”

Time is of the essence in this season 6 episode. Previously in season 6, Red has been arrested and is facing the death penalty, thanks to Liz and her half sister Jennifer. The Task Force is racing against the clock to save Reddington and postpone his execution. Cooper goes all the way to President Diaz to give Reddington a stay of execution so that they may use Reddington’s intel on Ava Ziegler’s assassin. This is one of our favorites because it shows a side of vulnerability we haven’t seen before with Reddington. Reddington and Liz also share a tender moment when Red talks about his childhood. The episode ends with Dembe and Liz sitting in the witness room, Cooper scrambling to the White House, and Red looking through the glass at the ones who mean the most to him. “Do you have any final words?” In the video below, we see Red’s last meal and his conversation with Elizabeth.

Season 7: “Katarina Rostova”

The mother-daughter battle we never thought would come. That’s right! Katarina Rostova is alive and well. In this episode, Liz figures out that her neighbor who has so graciously watched over Agnes, is the infamous KGB agent and her mother. Katarina tells Liz that she has returned because the Townsend Directive are after her and that she needed Liz’s help to find Ilya Koslov, who was revealed to be the former identity of the Reddington we know now. Katarina kidnaps Liz (literally just across the hall), and shows Liz that Reddington continues to lie to her. She shows Liz that she has been keeping the real Ilya Koslov hostage for some time. As Liz grows closer to her mother, the Task Force figures out that the woman from Paris is Liz’s neighbor, under the name Maddy Tolliver. Liz decides to help Katarina escape so she can get the answers she is so desperately looking for. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to end well for Katarina. She is shot and killed by the Kazanjian Brothers. At the end of the episode, Liz visits her grandfather, who is in a coma due to an attack by Rostova. Reddington meets her at the undisclosed location and informs Liz that the woman from Paris is dead. Or is she?

Thanks for reading! Did your favorite episode make the list? Let us know in the comments below!

The Blacklist returns with the season 8 premiere on Friday, November 13 on NBC.

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By Kailey
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Kailey has been a writer for Nerds and Beyond since 2018. She received her bachelors degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders in May of 2020. Some of her favorite TV shows are The Blacklist, Supernatural, and Prodigal Son, to name a few. She also loves all things Disney! You can check her out on social media @kaileygross.
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