The Blacklist season 8 episode 16 promo: Reddington’s new recruit

The Blacklist season 8 episode 16 will be airing on NBC this coming Friday! So are we going to get a new wrinkle in the N-13 mystery? We wish we had clarity on this; at the very least, it does seem like a “new recruit” is going to enter the fray.

The new promo below teases that very thing, alongside the suggestion that this person is very much Team Reddington. Is this Nicholas Obenrader, the title Blacklister? We think it’s possible, and we have a theory as to what their role could be…

For some more The Blacklist coverage in video form, be sure to watch our most-recent review at the bottom of this article! After you do that, remember to subscribe to Matt & Jess on YouTube — we’ll have more previews and theories coming before long.

Think about it like this — over the course of this episode, you’re going to see Reddington work to try and infiltrate Neville Townsend’s organization. The problem? He can’t exactly do it himself. He also can’t use anyone who is a longtime member of the team, since Townsend would be able to recognize them in the blink of an eye. This is where a newcomer makes sense. Townsend would have no reason to expect anything from them, and Reddington would be able to extract valuable intel.

Here is the big mystery at the center of all of this: Can Reddington really trust this person? What’s stopping them from pulling the wool over his eyes and flipping/joining Team Townsend? This is a risky move, but at this point, it’s clear that James Spader’s character just needs this problem to go away. We know that he’s working on a massive 30-year project, and in theory, we are nearing the end of that. Desperate times do call for some desperate measures.

What do you most want to see on The Blacklist season 8 episode 16?

Share some of your early thoughts and hopes on the subject below! After you do that, be sure to also come back around to ensure you don’t miss any additional updates. (Photo: NBC.)