The Blacklist season 9: Is this Donald Ressler’s time to shine?

As we prepare for The Blacklist season 9, should we also be preparing for great stuff for Donald Ressler? Or, at the very least, should we hope for it?

Let’s start this piece by noting the following: Diego Klattenhoff is a great actor. When he’s had opportunities to shine on this show, he has — think back to the “Anslo Garrick” arc in season 1, or the episode “Brothers” back in season 7. The problem is that with so much often happening in this world, rarely does he ever get a spotlight. We’re wondering already if that will change next season.

Want to watch our new The Blacklist video discussion about Ressler? Take a look at it below! Once you do, remember to SUBSCRIBE to Matt & Jess on YouTube — there are other updates ahead and we don’t want you to miss them.

With Liz Keen dead, what now happens to Ressler? We’ve seen this character “break bad” before, but we could be at a point in which the boy-scout image goes away completely. If he blames Reddington for what happened to her, then he could be leading the charge against the character. Or, he could team up with Reddington to take down everyone tied to Neville Townsend who is somehow still out there. We love the idea of Diego getting to work more with James Spader, mostly because these two characters have such a longstanding history that even predates Liz entering the FBI.

Is the FBI even going to employ Donald moving forward? That’s another thing to consider, given that there was so much talk about shutting down the Task Force at the end of season 8. Panabaker has some big decisions to make now, and the same goes for the people on Harold Cooper’s team. We could explore what Ressler’s life is away from the FBI in season 9, at least if the writers go in that direction.

For the first time in years, we fully think that The Blacklist is looking at an uncertain future for the Ressler character — and that’s exciting! This is a place that we’ve needed to be with him for quite some time.

What do you most want to see from Ressler on The Blacklist season 9?

Be sure to share right away in the comments! After you do just that, stick around to get other updates. (Photo: NBC.)