The Blacklist introduces a new mystery for Harold Cooper in sneak peak

The Blacklist is weaving a new mystery with Harold Cooper at the center.

In an exclusive clip from this week's episode, "The Avenging Angel," Agent Cooper (Harry Lennix) wakes up in a random Dupont Circle parking garage with a bullet missing from his gun. With no memory of what happened the night before other than his attending a retirement party and having a drink or two, Harold returns home to his very worried wife, Charlene (Valarie Pettiford). And he has more reason for concern when she tells him she got word that their former neighbor Doug Koster, the man she once had an affair with, has been fatally shot.

"His confusion turns to concern when he learns that his wife's ex-lover has been murdered overnight," executive producer John Eisendrath tells EW. "The one man Cooper ever wished was dead has been shot and killed, and Cooper is left to wonder if he had anything to do with it."

Longtime Blacklist viewers will recall that Charlene and Doug's affair was revealed back in season 3, when Harold and Charlene were on the run with Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold) and the assassin Karakurt (Andrew Divoff).

Six seasons later, The Blacklist has entered a new era. After the death of Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) in the season 8 finale, the series jumped forward two years. The team has disbanded and moved on, but a case causes Harold, who's taking care of Liz's daughter, Agnes, to reach out to Reddington after Dembe is injured on the job.

"Even as they've scattered to the four winds, the criminal world has just kept ticking along, which at a certain point becomes impossible for our heroes to ignore," Eisendrath told EW recently. "Red [James Spader] and the task force might find themselves in new surroundings, but rest assured: The Blacklisters are just as nasty as ever."

Watch the sneak peek above. The Blacklist airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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