'The Blacklist' Season 5: Enrique Murciano Announces Exit from Series
Enrique Murciano will no longer return for the upcoming fifth season of NBC's "The Blacklist."
On Monday, the actor announced via his Twitter account that he will not be back to reprise his role as Julian Gale in the famed action drama. "Hi guys sorry but @JonBokenkamp just told me I won't be coming back to @NBCBlacklist .... see you all very soon," he wrote.
TV Guide pointed out that Murciano's exit might not have been his decision entirely. It's likely that series creator Jon Bokenkamp was the one who gave Murciano the axe. After all, who stays and who leaves is often the creator's prerogative. Since Julian was first introduced in a four-episode arc that began near the end of season 4, Murciano's departure will not affect the series that much.
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Initially known for his role in "Without a Trace," Murciano played the role of FBI investigator Gale on the NBC show. He was a former colleague of Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff), an agent who has obsessive tendencies that make him both an asset and possible liability to the team. While he was brought to "The Blacklist" with an option of becoming a series regular next season, the show seemed to have taken a different course and declined.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed in May that Ryan Eggold will return as Tom Keen in season 5. Fans can recall that Eggold was tapped to join the spinoff, "The Blacklist: Redemption," but it was cancelled just after one season.
Season 4 left off with the series finally revealing that Raymond Reddington aka Red (James Spader) is the real father of Liz Keen (Megan Boone). However, the finale offered more questions than answers when Mr. Kaplan (Susan Blommaert) was seen unearthing mysterious bones that could belong to Liz's mother.
"The Blacklist" season 5 premieres sometime next year on NBC.
