It appears that the Blacklist Task Force can carry on without Elizabeth Keen.

That's not to say that Liz's ghost didn't haunt The Blacklist Season 9 Episode 1.

It was wise to jump ahead two years after Elizabeth was gunned down on The Blacklist Season 8 Episode 22.

It also felt natural that everyone had gone their separate ways and that the task force had fallen apart as a result.

The fun part was discovering what each person was now doing.

My favorite was Dembe becoming an FBI agent. Let's face it. He was wasted as Red's bodyguard. Now he was using those skills for good.

Harold had to have pulled some strings for that to have happened. How else does a grandfather with a criminal record get to join the FBI?

Sadly, some things never change, as Dembe received severe burns due to an undercover op gone bad.

The upside is that everyone would rally around Dembe, unlike Reddington, who most blamed at least somewhat for Liz's death. The downside is that those injuries took Dembe, the most skilled fighter, out of action.

The only person still connected to the FBI was Cooper, as he appeared as a talking head on TV while we were still being introduced to each character's new role.

It was only natural for him to look in on Dembe and see what he could do to capture those who badly hurt Dembe and killed his partner.

The big problem was that no one else was keen to leave their new lives, even to avenge Dembe.

The hardest pass came from Ressler, who was content to be an auto mechanic in Detroit, far away from the pain of his loss.

He particularly blamed Raymond for Liz's death, which isn't fair.

Yes, Red brought her into his world. But by the end, Liz wasn't right, primarily because of her losses along the way, and she made some seriously bad choices along the way, including those that led to her death. She had truly gone off the rails and was a shadow of her former character.

Aram used his sharp intellect as an inventor, and Cooper called at the most inauspicious times, interrupting his pitch to an investor. Aram appeared to be the one that missed the good old days the most, dropping what he was doing to help out Harold, whatever the consequences.

Park surprisingly got married and came out of the field, content to train agents in assault scenarios. Considering her explosive temper, that was probably for the best: that and a lot of yoga.

Yet, all but Ressler initially came for Dembe. It was awkward at first, but eventually, they became a team again.

Then there was Raymond, the most reticent of all, who had seemingly disappeared. It was amazing that he had found a way to survive those two years. Turning to alternative treatments worked well for him.

It was an intriguing new group of characters helping out Red in Havana, especially the two witchy sisters, who are now his closest confidants.

Like Ressler, Reddington had no desire to return to the scene of the crime, again to feel his loss. But he owed it to Dembe to help find those that had nearly killed him.

Even though he was out of sight, Red is never out of touch.

He knew the colorful history of the tattoo on the hands of Dembe's assailants and could recite it to the task force. It was an interesting juxtaposition of a centuries-old gang of hijackers chasing after cutting-edge computer chips.

Still, being out of the game for a couple of years, Raymond wasn't totally up to date. The best contact he had was the previous Skinner, who naturally Red had pissed off by hitting on his wife.

And yet, ever the charmer, Reddington managed to turn him, getting the name, back story, and location of the current Skinner, who is more violent than his predecessors.

Despite Harold warning him not to, Red had to view Agnes, the last piece of Liz, from afar as she played soccer.

As the investigation clunkily proceeded, the task force members attempted to keep their new lives afloat. Park lied to her new husband so he wouldn't worry. Aram convinced Ressler, who had the most freedom of movement, to take his place to salvage his project.

And yet, when push came to shove, Aram answered Cooper's call again, seemingly to his detriment. Yet his crashing the investor's party and hacking into a corporation from the investor's computer intrigued him, keeping him on the hook.

It's turning out to be a whole new world for the task force. Stripped of all the bells and whistles they used to enjoy, they're having to make things up on the fly and work with no budget.

It's going to require some adjustment, but so far, they're doing OK.

They managed to identify the Skinner's target but couldn't stop the abduction of him and his family.

Ressler's impassioned plea may be enough to keep Reddington on board.

And hopefully, Dembe will be out of the hospital soon because they sure could use his muscle on this mission.

To revisit Liz's many contributions, watch The Blacklist online.

Which character's new life did you like best?

Can the task force get past their acrimony toward Red and function well together again?

How is Raymond still alive?

Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.