‘The Blacklist’ season 4, episode 9 spoilers: Is Alexander Kirk really gone?

Last night, we saw the strange-but-compelling conclusion of the Alexander Kirk saga on “The Blacklist,” as Raymond Reddington whispered something into his ear that was enough to ensure that he didn’t get killed by the guy. Yet, at the same time we don’t know what exactly that whisper really was. To make matters all the more complicated, we also don’t know exactly what happened to the guy. Is he dead? All Red was willing to tell Liz was that he was “gone,” and that seemingly was enough for her to be satisfied. Maybe sometimes ignorance is bliss when you’re close to one of the world’s most-notorious criminals, even to the point where you are willing to let him hold your daughter.

For those who liked Kirk, one way or another he does seem to be gone. Executive producer Jon Bokenkamp confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that his story is over, but that there is going to be something else coming up shortly — and that it may still have its roots within the past:

“You’ll see a new, really compelling story start to bubble up very shortly … Actually, when I think about it, maybe the seeds for this new story were planted some time ago.”

If that’s not a tease, then what is? We do hope that this is something that will be memorable to fans the moment that they see it, given that we do love the concept of mixing things up in this sort of way. One of the most-frustrating things about “The Blacklist” format-wise is that we tend to get accustomed to the same sort of arcs featuring new villains who are destined to show up for a batch of episodes and then disappear. At least in the case of Kirk we can at least think it’s possible that he made it out of the show alive.

(Photo: NBC.)