The Blacklist: 5 Times We Felt Bad For Liz (& 5 Times We Hated Her)

Through this development, fans’ opinions about Liz have shifted. Sometimes her choices infuriate fans, inciting hate, and other times fans can’t help but feel sorry for her due to her circumstances. Here are 5 times we felt bad for Liz and 5 times we hated her!

10 Hated: Abandoning Her Daughter

Liz has done a number of questionable things throughout the show’s history. In most of these circumstances, Liz accredited the bad move to her need to protect her daughter. This explains why fans were so annoyed when she temporarily abandoned her daughter.

Though it’s a challenge for television shows to include young children as they grow too quickly, it’s still frustrating to have a child serve as a character’s main motivation only for them to then abandon said child.

9 Felt Bad: Misses Adoption Appointment

When Liz is adjusting to her new career she struggles to balance her home obligations with her work obligations. This leads to her missing an important adoption appointment she had promised Tom she would make.

She finds a video of Tom’s interview during the apartment and it is crushing for her to watch him speak so positively about her, especially knowing how upset he was at her during that moment. While it’s probably for the best that this adoption didn’t go through, watching her struggle to balance her career and personal life (a struggle many real women face) was still upsetting.

8 Hated: Helping Ressler Cover Up His Addiction

Following an accident, Ressler becomes addicted to drugs. Liz is one of the first to notice Ressler’s struggle. She tells him she is there for him but ultimately decides not to report his addiction. His condition continues to worsen, causing him to make crucial mistakes on the job that almost have fatal consequences.

While it’s understandable that she wants to protect her friend, she should have put his health above his career and reported his addiction to the proper authorities so that he could receive the help he desperately needed.

7 Felt Bad: Sam Dies

Sam raised Liz since she was a little girl and was the only family she had. When he becomes ill, he hides his declining health from Liz until he lands himself in the hospital – close to death. Elizabeth intends to go see him as soon as she finishes her case and Tom flies out to keep him company while waiting for Liz to arrive.

Before Elizabeth is given the chance to say goodbye, Reddington kills Sam to keep him from revealing his secret to Liz. This moment is a huge betrayal to Liz. Not only does she lose her father, but she also loses her opportunity to find out the truth and loses trust in Reddington.

6 Hated: Decides Not To Look At Reddington’s Past

Elizabeth’s quest to find out the truth about her past and her relationship with Reddington is the central mystery of the show. She goes through moments where she will do anything to learn the truth. This leads to her getting Raymond arrested so that she can investigate with Jennifer without his interference or suspicion. She isn’t successful in finding an answer during this time and becomes worried about Reddington as he faces the death penalty.

After Reddington is released, she decides that she doesn’t need to know the truth.  Many fans were already annoyed with Liz for being able to put Reddington’s life at risk to find her answers. For her to decide that she doesn’t need to know any more after she put Red at risk to find the answers is a huge slap in the face to fans.

5 Felt Bad: Find’s Tom Tied Up In Their Apartment

Before Elizabeth learns about her husband’s shady past, she believes him to be a normal average man. When she returns home to find him tied up and tortured, she is petrified. She believes she has put her husband in danger with her work and fears for his life.

She is forced to choose between saving her husband’s life or chasing the criminal who harmed him. She chooses to save Tom and watching her panic as Tom bleeds profusely onto the floor is tragic.

4 Hated: Trusts Katarina

Katarina is another character whose existence is a huge mystery. She seems sinister and moves in next door to Elizabeth. She is able to gain Elizabeth’s trust by lying about who she is and beginning to care for Liz’s daughter, Agnes.

When Liz discovers she is lying and that she has even murdered a man in front of Agnes, she still decides to trust Katarina. This stupidity is enough to make fans want to bang their heads against the wall.

3 Felt Bad: Finds Out Tom Is Lying

Elizabeth was deeply in love with Tom and didn’t want to believe that he was lying about who he was. When Reddington warned her, she refused to believe him. Even when she found information supporting Reddington’s claim, it took her a while to accept it.

The moment when she first realizes that she is married to a man she doesn’t even know is one of the most thrilling moments of the entire series. At the same time, this moment is heartbreaking for Liz.

2 Hated: Went Into Hiding

When Liz becomes pregnant, she decides the best option for her family is to go into hiding to peacefully and safely raise her child. The only way she can accomplish this is to fake her death.

While this move is understandable given her circumstances, it is pretty cruel to let everyone who cares about her think she is dead. Many of the fans’ favorite characters struggled with her supposed death with Reddington completely spiraling out of control.

1 Felt Bad: Tom Dies

Perhaps the most depressing scene in all of The Blacklist is when Liz and Tom are both injured and being rushed to the hospital. Though their relationship had its ups and downs, they eventually reconnected stronger than ever. As the two fight for their lives, they share an emotional moment in the back of the car.

Tom and Liz profess their love to each other and will the other to hold on and fight. When Liz awakes in the hospital months later, one of the first questions she asks is about Tom. Reddington has to deliver the news that he has not survived and Liz is left sobbing while breathing through a tube.

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