Does The Blacklist season 5 episode 9 make Megan Boone awards contender?
There’s no denying that most of the story of The Blacklist is the story of Elizabeth Keen. Without her presence the story of Raymond Reddington would go very differently; she’s the key cog in what makes the world around her move. Yet, in “Ruin” she was more than just the cog. She was the catalyst, the engine, or any other metaphor you want to use. This was her story, bar none and it was a story of sadness, of introspection, of recovery, and of rage.
As an actor, Boone had a lot to draw from in her performance this week. For one, she was playing Liz during different time periods. She had to take on the confusion and pain of the character after waking up and realizing after ten months that her husband was dead. After that, she needed to figure out what her future would hold. Put that into contrast with the quiet version of Liz in the woods in Alaska, thinking that she had found some sort of escape from her demons — or at least an opportunity to cope with them. This side of Liz can be juxtaposed again with the version of her who takes down an entire crew of bad guys to ensure her safety. This is where some of the rage came out as she showed that following the murder of the man she loves, she is not somebody to be trifled with. She is someone to be feared and someone who will change the world around her in a different way.
For CarterMatt, “Ruin” is Boone’s finest performance on the show. While we know that she can achieve success in some of the bigger action set-pieces (and we love seeing her with Reddington), this was a chance for her to do some softer, more intimate work alongside some of the most vengeful stuff she’s ever done. It was an opportunity to pull out different tools from the arsenal that she doesn’t always get a chance to use.
So will this performance allow Boone some awards consideration? It really should, but we’re not going to be so presumptuous to assume what Emmy or Golden Globes voters are going to do. Actress in a Drama series is a hyper-competitive field, and the unfortunate thing about “Ruin” is that it airs at a time that is so early in the year that many voters could forget about it down the road. We certainly hope that this doesn’t happen though, given that this is one of her most unforgettable performances of the entire series to date. We have made some comparisons out there to James Spader and “Cape May” and those are very much valid.
Do you think Megan Boone’s performance on The Blacklist tonight merits some awards consideration? Sound off with your thoughts below!
(Photo: NBC.)