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'The Blacklist' Season 8: Does Liz deserve Ressler? Fans are heartbroken after she plays him with a kiss

'I literally am stunned, Liz playing Ressler and then kissing and grabbing his gun,' a fan commented

Spoilers for 'The Blacklist' Season 8 Episode 1

'The Blacklist' premiered with Season 8, and it breaks our heart to say that Elizabeth 'Liz' Keen (Megan Boone) burned every bridge with all her friends. For some reason, she believes that her mother Katarina Rostova (Lotte Verbeek) can get her grandfather Dom (previously Brian Dennehy, now recast with Ron Raines) to talk. However, everyone else knows that Kat will only torture him. Liz is on her own right now, leaving a rather disheartened Raymond 'Red' Reddington (James Spader) and Ressler behind. She even cut off from Ressler, after finally kissing him...and then taking away his gun. Fans have been furious with Liz ever since the episode began, and are sending all the abuse her way.

While the kiss with Ressler finally happened, fans are rather livid that it had to happen like this. "So Liz kissed Ressler to get his gun lmaooooo yeah cuz why else would she #TheBlacklist," a fan tweeted. "So: FINALLY!!! But also: I actually don't think I want Liz and Ressler together anymore, after seeing who she's become.... #TheBlacklist," another wrote. "I literally am stunned Liz playing Ressler and then kissing Liz and grabbing his gun #theblacklist," another wrote.

"She went there...she really went...there. #Liz probably just lit a fire under #Ressler that no amount of water will put out. Good luck, Liz. #TheBlacklist," a fan tweeted. "THAT was the character moment. Liz and Ressler. A long time coming. Was it real or a Liz con? Hmm. Either way not easy to pull off. First post-Covid episode and we have to shoot a kiss between two of our principles. #TheBlacklist@NBCBlacklist," another tweeted.

In an interview to TVLine, executive producers Jon Bokencamp and John Eisendrath open up about the kiss. "Ressler, among everyone, was the most suspicious of Liz in the beginning. He was the most certain that she had an agenda that she was keeping from them, and over the years, he has been the one who has been closest with her in watching the pain that she has gone through — with Tom, who he initially disliked intensely but came around on, and obviously with Red. I do think there is some genuineness to it. The genuineness comes from all the years they’ve been together. It comes from their mutual understanding that they are at the end of a long journey — because this desire on Liz’s part to get the truth may lead to places that will bring them to the end of their journey — and whenever two people have this unspoken feeling for each other [and] realize that this is where they are, that latent feeling comes out. I do think it’s fine if the audience wants to read in that there is a lot of pent-up affection and emotion that is coming out in the moment," Eisendrath explained.

'The Blacklist' airs on NBC, Fridays at 8 pm.