The Blacklist season 9 premiere: Final ‘The Skinner’ expectations

Tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on NBC, the big moment is finally here with The Blacklist season 9 premiere! We’ve got a feeling that “The Skinner” could be a successful launch for a number of different reasons. For starters, this is almost a revamp of the show following the death of Liz Keen; we think there’s a real emphasis now on trying to put a fresh coat of paint on this story. Also, it’s airing right before the 500th episode of Law & Order: SVU, and we tend to think that this is going to be quite a benefit for it in the ratings

So what can you expect to see over the course of this hour? We’ve got a lot of that info for you within this piece, so prepare to dive in!

New The Blacklist video! Be sure to check out some of our early predictions and Dembe thoughts below. We will be back tonight to break down the first episode in full, so SUBSCRIBE to Matt & Jess on YouTube! There are going to be all sorts of big discussions on the season there moving forward and we don’t want you to miss them.

For those who are unaware, the events of “The Skinner” are going to kick off a couple of years following the death of Liz, and that leads to everyone being in new places. Reddington has separated himself from much of the Task Force, which is now by and large dissolved. The status of Liz’s daughter Agnes is currently unclear.

So what brings the gang back together again? It has to do with an injury from one of their own (seemingly Dembe) out in the field; it causes Reddington to consider the value of resuming his old life, even without Liz being around to protect. Prepare yourself for a very different show this season, but one with familiar faces and hopefully still a little bit of humor. The premiere tonight is the first of a two-parter, so nothing is necessarily going to be wrapped up in full.

What do you most want to see on tonight’s The Blacklist season 9 premiere?

Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! After you do that, stick around — there are some more updates on the way that you don’t want to miss. (Photo: NBC.)