The Blacklist type TV Show network NBC genre Crime

Thriller

The ultimate showdown between Red and Ian Garvey will come to a head this week on The Blacklist — but it will lead to an even greater threat.

During Wednesday’s hour, Red (James Spader) makes a play to retrieve the duffel bag, forcing a face-off with Garvey (Jonny Coyne) that will definitely give viewers resolution. After all, the episode is called “Ian Garvey: Conclusion.”

“It’s a super-fun episode that is finally the standoff between Reddington and Garvey, and Garvey is not somebody who we should underestimate going into what I think is going to be a great bare-knuckle, drag-outside yard fight,” executive producer Jon Bokenkamp tells EW.

Ever since Tom’s death, Red and Garvey have been circling each other, wary to make a move for fear of mutual destruction. “Ian Garvey knows that if he kills Reddington, he may never really understand the contents of this bag,” Bokenkamp says. “Raymond Reddington knows that if he kills Ian Garvey, he may never get to this bag, so they’ve been in a bit of a détente, and that détente is going to end. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. It’s gonna involve some magic tricks and perhaps a bit of a heist or two, and some sleight of hand; it’s a really fun episode.”

But if this episode does mark the end of Ian Garvey, what threats loom in the final three hours of the season? Well, for one, Liz Keen (Megan Boone). As she uncovers intel from a surprising source this week, she’ll force a race with Red to uncover his secrets, which could ultimately lead to the father-daughter duo actually fighting each other heading into the finale.

“The ball to keep your eye on is Elizabeth Keen and her deep, deep desire to avenge her husband’s death,” Bokenkamp says. “We now have a character who went from a first-day-on-the-job FBI profiler in the pilot of the show who has now murdered and burned and stewed people, and she’s not going to be stopped. That is a dynamic and a shift in her character, fueled by this love of her husband, that is perhaps the new ingredient into the stew.”

Oh, and if you’re wondering, despite the “Conclusion” moniker attached to this week’s hour, it sounds like the identity of the bones will remain a mystery until the finale. “Certainly by the end of the season, yes, we are going to answer that,” Bokenkamp says.

The Blacklist airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.