The Blacklist's Tom Keen will return next Thursday, clean-shaven and ready to cause trouble.

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Or, alternately, to help get Liz Keen (Megan Boone) out of trouble,

It seems uncharacteristic for Berlin's former henchman, but Tom (Ryan Eggold) may actually attempt to clean up one of his messes while he's in town. The investigation into the murdered harbormaster is starting to heat up, and Liz is under the microscope.

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"Tom killed that guy and Liz was there," executive producer John Eisendrath told Entertainment Weekly. "The residual effect of that is going to come back and be something that will haunt both of them, and in fact, might put Liz in some jeopardy and require Tom to decide whether or not he's going to assist in helping Liz get out of the trouble that he, in many ways, put her in."

Don't think that Tom is heading down the road to redemption, however. Liz will be in court for the murder by episode 15, "The Major," so it remains to be seen how much help her ex-husband will actually be.

Of course Tom would never return just out of the goodness of his heart. He must be another angle and, while we don't know quite what his plans are, his return will play a major role in the back half of the season.

"First we'll learn more about who he really is and what he really does, and then he is going to come back in a way that is going to be incredibly important not just emotionally to Liz, but will in many ways actually be a lifesaver to her," Eisendrath told TV Guide.

Find out more when The Blacklist airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. Click the video below to see a preview for the series' next episode, "The Deer Hunter."

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