I love you guys. ❤️ @NBCBlacklist
— Ryan Eggold (@Ryan_Eggold) November 16, 2017
"I feel incredibly lucky to have played a role with such a uniquely dynamic evolution," Eggold said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm grateful for the time spent working with Megan, James and the entire cast. I'm thankful to the incredibly hard-working crew for consistently making the show better. Sony and NBC have both been deeply supportive, conscientious and adept in managing the show. Mostly I'm indebted to Jon Bokenkamp, John Eisendrath and the writers for continuing to elevate the show creatively and always impassioning me to further explore the true nature of this character. I will miss this TV family immensely and diligently look forward to the opportunity to embody new characters and tell new stories."
"I have such tremendous respect for Ryan and everything he brought to The Blacklist. The character of Tom Keen was a blast to write, and that’s only because we knew Ryan could pull off whatever we threw at him," said Bokenkamp. "That said, we always knew Tom’s exploits would one day get him killed — the Blacklist won’t be the same without him. Looking ahead, Tom’s death upends the show in a way we’re very excited about, and our next episode is unlike anything we’ve done before. But it won't be the same around here without Mr. Keen. As for Mr. Eggold, I think he’s gonna be just fine — he’s gonna have a long and rewarding career."
"I have such tremendous respect for Ryan and everything he brought to The Blacklist. The character of Tom Keen was a blast to write, and that’s only because we knew Ryan could pull off whatever we threw at him," said Bokenkamp. "That said, we always knew Tom’s exploits would one day get him killed — the Blacklist won’t be the same without him. Looking ahead, Tom’s death upends the show in a way we’re very excited about, and our next episode is unlike anything we’ve done before. But it won't be the same around here without Mr. Keen. As for Mr. Eggold, I think he’s gonna be just fine — he’s gonna have a long and rewarding career."
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Tom Keen was a character that was supposed to die in the pilot; why kill him now?
Eisendrath: There’s not any one particular answer. Yes, he was supposed to die in the pilot. We feel like we had given the character of Tom just so many different avenues to pursue: opportunities with Liz to love, to hate, to fight, to get divorced, to annul their marriage, to get remarried. Ultimately in the end the short answer is that, when the series ends, whenever it ends, it’s ultimately a parent-child story and Tom was the most important person in Liz, ‘the child’s’ life. His passing is going to change the dynamic of who Liz is, how she behaves, and what her relationship is with Red in ways that are a huge new engine for her going forward in the show.
Eisendrath: There’s not any one particular answer. Yes, he was supposed to die in the pilot. We feel like we had given the character of Tom just so many different avenues to pursue: opportunities with Liz to love, to hate, to fight, to get divorced, to annul their marriage, to get remarried. Ultimately in the end the short answer is that, when the series ends, whenever it ends, it’s ultimately a parent-child story and Tom was the most important person in Liz, ‘the child’s’ life. His passing is going to change the dynamic of who Liz is, how she behaves, and what her relationship is with Red in ways that are a huge new engine for her going forward in the show.
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Was that car scene where Liz and Tom are near death your final scene?
No, shooting-wise, it was shot fairly out of order, which was really hard with this episode, because there were different emotional states, but also because of the various states of blood, the various states of gunshot versus stab wounds versus beatings versus in the woods versus changing in the train station. It was a lot of change for Tom in this episode. The very last thing that I shot was sitting with James outside the farmhouse and talking about how this is a secret, not a lie. That was the last thing that I shot.
No, shooting-wise, it was shot fairly out of order, which was really hard with this episode, because there were different emotional states, but also because of the various states of blood, the various states of gunshot versus stab wounds versus beatings versus in the woods versus changing in the train station. It was a lot of change for Tom in this episode. The very last thing that I shot was sitting with James outside the farmhouse and talking about how this is a secret, not a lie. That was the last thing that I shot.
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Ian Garvey wanted to use the suitcase to control Red. How will Ian loom large in the second half of the season? What are his plans?
EISENDRATH: He is clearly the big bad of the back half, and he is obviously the quest story for both Red and Liz. What we think is interesting is that they are in the quest together, but for very different reasons. Liz is in the quest to find the man who murdered Tom, Red is in the quest to find the man who has the suitcase. During that quest, they are super close and yet, along the way, Liz will realize some of these secrets that we’ve talked about and wonder. She goes in thinking Red is helping her and maybe she comes to realize that maybe he’s actually just helping himself. Just in terms of Garvey’s role in the Liz/Red story, it is all about getting him, and he does have something very powerful that he will use in the future to try and get something from Red.
EISENDRATH: He is clearly the big bad of the back half, and he is obviously the quest story for both Red and Liz. What we think is interesting is that they are in the quest together, but for very different reasons. Liz is in the quest to find the man who murdered Tom, Red is in the quest to find the man who has the suitcase. During that quest, they are super close and yet, along the way, Liz will realize some of these secrets that we’ve talked about and wonder. She goes in thinking Red is helping her and maybe she comes to realize that maybe he’s actually just helping himself. Just in terms of Garvey’s role in the Liz/Red story, it is all about getting him, and he does have something very powerful that he will use in the future to try and get something from Red.
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