The Blacklist season 8 episode 5: Is Elizabeth Keen really new Big Bad?

We’re awaiting now the arrival of The Blacklist season 8 episode 5 on NBC this Friday, and there is a lot to discuss from a villain point of view. At this point, it’s been set up that Elizabeth Keen of all people is brought into the role of Big Bad, and get that. She tried to kill Reddington! She’s murdered before, and she is using all of her time under Reddington to try and now defeat him.

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Yet, it may be a little bit too soon to say, for sure, that she is our chief adversary. Remember, after all, that there is a season 9 coming down the road — and typically, Big Bads on this show don’t last more than a year. She’s either an unconventional foe brought on by the significance of the story, or it’s possible that someone else could emerge.

Is there a villain so nefarious that they could cause Liz and Reddington to team up again? It wouldn’t be easy for them to do this, but it is what we’re left to wonder about right now. It makes sense that another large enemy could be out there, and it could be someone that threatens both characters in an interesting way.

For the time being, the best bet for new Big Bad is the mysterious man we saw at the end of the episode, someone who was more than fine acting as though he was Reddington’s boss. Clearly, this man thinks that he can get James Spader’s character to tamper with the US government. He holds at least some power over Raymond, but they haven’t been around each other in years.

So why is he a threat to Reddington? There is a chance that he could expose some of his secrets, depending on how much he knows. With that, there is also a chance that he could harm Liz. Remember that this man only said that Liz was safe “for now.” Despite all she has done, that may not fly in Reddington’s book. If he can level with her and tell her of the danger this man brings, there could be something there that leads to a temporary truce … at least if the answers as to why he killed Katarina make some sense. If the two can’t get past that, there really is no future at all.

Who do you think is the true Big Bad on The Blacklist season 8?

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