Blacklist cast Dominic Season 8

After Red's [James Spader] latest case led to Agent Keen's mother, Katarina Rostova [Laila Robins], planning to kidnap Dom [Ron Raines] Liz's own grandfather Liz decided to double-cross Red and the task force to get to the truth. The choice to help Katarina brought Liz a step closer to discovering what Red is hiding, but she crossed a line in the process, something she can't take back.

EW spoke to The Blacklist bosses Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath about how this choice will affect Liz's relationship with the task force, how they decided to tell Dom's story in the wake of actor Brian Dennehy's death, and what's next on the NBC thriller.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Liz is in a very tough spot by the end of the premiere. What's going through her mind after driving off with Dom?

JOHN EISENDRATH: What is she thinking about? She's thinking, "I don't care what the consequences are, I'm going to do what I have to do to get what I need. If that's a problem for other people, tough." Liz is going to do what she has to do.

JON BOKENKAMP: She also realizes in that moment specifically, the one you're talking about where she's driving off with Dom, that she's not turning back from this. There's a clear line that has been crossed and that in aligning with her mom, stealing Dom, she's breaking laws. And she's realizing that she can't undo this, and she's moving forward at all costs.

Everyone's looking for Liz, who is determined to get answers and promising to keep Dom safe from Katarina. A lot is going on, and a lot that can go wrong. What's next?

BOKENKAMP: In a weird way, things have gotten worse, and yet they haven't gotten as bad as they could get. There are moves on the chessboard that Liz has not anticipated. Everyone is going to have clearly defined roles; even as conflicted as they all feel, the direction of the season is going to snap into place very quickly because decisions will be made that none of these characters can walk back from. It's different than any other season. This is really uncharted waters for all of these characters. They are evolving and changing in ways that we haven't seen before.

I need to ask about Ressler [Diego Klattenhoff] and Liz's kiss. While it's done so Liz can disarm him, it's still an emotional moment. So what's next for them? Also, this is Liz's first potential romance since Tom Keen [Ryan Eggold] do you think she's ready?

EISENDRATH: Given everything that's going on in her life, it's not like she's on an online dating service. She's kind of busy. But emotionally, I think yes. She's able to contemplate whatever the next opportunity might be in her life, and with everything that's going on, she's not actively looking for anything.

Yet with Ressler, what I hope people feel about that moment is that it only works because it was genuine. She was only able to disarm him because she was actually real in her emotions. That makes the moment, which is representative of the good and difficult situations they will find themselves moving forward during the season, one of genuine affection and deep feeling. But, in that moment, they are on opposite sides, [and] hopefully, a really fun dynamic for viewers.