'The Blacklist' Season 8 Episode 2 Preview: With Clark Middleton's death, what will happen to his role Glen?
'The Blacklist' fans were rather heartbroken when Season 8 began, as it would be without two important members of the cast: Brian Dennehy and Clark Middleton. While Dennehy died in April 2020, Middelton died just before Season 8 began filming. Middleton played Glen Carter (Red’s pillar of support at the DMV) ever since The Blacklist’s second season. So, how will the show address his character's exit now? With regard to Dennehy, his character Dom was recast by Ron Raines.
The series creator Jon Bokenkamp told TV Line how Glen’s absence will be dealt with on-screen. "We talked about different versions of it: Do we not say anything? Do we just imagine that Glen’s still out there in Red’s orbit and we just don’t see him and we hide it? We made the choice to acknowledge his death on the show, and that’s going to happen fairly soon in the season. It’s super sad, and it will be for Red, as well." The writing team had to devise several scenarios before deciding how the show had to go on.
Producer John Eisendrath said about Middleton's death, "It was incredibly sad and incredibly shocking, and the way we had written him into the show reminded us that there was something so special about him. Hopefully, the way we acknowledge his passing on the show has that same sweet, affectionate story to it."
Glen has been part of the show since the second season, and was no doubt an integral part of Red's (James Spader) life. As we are led to believe, 'The Blacklist' has decided on a scenario, where Red will be grieving his friend's death, and the scene shall arrive soon. Jon Bokenkamp also added that Season 8 will not wait long to address saying goodbye. Glen's death would lead to Red introspecting on his own life, as it's clear that he is also suffering from a terminal illness, though we're still not clear about the nature of the illness.
It's going to be heartwrenching to watch the show without Red and Glen's interactions, as this was one person to whom Red showed some affection for. Liz might be the one to pass the news on to Red, and this might lessen the friction between them.
'The Blacklist' airs on NBC, Fridays, at 8 pm.