The Blacklist is making its central relationships all the more complicated going into Season 5, now that Liz is finally in the know about Red being her biological father. But where there are complications, there must also be some levity, right? CinemaBlend spoke with occasional Blacklist guest star Clark Middleton, who recently got a lot of quizzical looks opposite Sherilyn Fenn on Twin Peaks, and when I mentioned a potential return for his always enjoyable character Glen Carter in Season 5, he revealed that not only is Jellybean definitely coming back, but we also won't have long to wait.
You will [see Glen again]. I just shot an episode a week ago. I come back on the third episode. Of the new season, it's really fun. It's the most fun stuff I've shot, so I had a real blast. I love that show, and I love working for those guys.
As Glen Carter, Clark Middleton plays one of Red's more informative "colleagues," as he's quite adept in the skiptracing department. Where does he get his information? A lot of it (unofficially) comes from his day job at the Department of Motor Vehicles, and there's no denying there being something hilarious about watching Red Reddington having to take a number and sit amongst all the other people waiting at the DMV. And if he's having more fun than ever for Season 5, that can only be good for fans. (We're fully down for seeing him showing up in duds as memorable as that blue bowling shirt and sweatband, too.)
Jellybean's tracking skills have been used several times in the past when Red was trying to find certain people. First showing up back in Season 2, Clark Middleton has now been in seven different episodes of The Blacklist, with three of those episodes coming in Season 4. That was already a good sign that the producers love having the character around, and having him show up so soon into Season 5's run just makes it clear that he should be a regular already.
For the past two years, Clark Middleton was also a co-star in Hulu's stellar cult-centered drama The Path as a devout record-keeper of sorts. During our talk, the actor told me why his Blacklist role was such a good balance for the heaviness of The Path.
[The Blacklist] is really fun, too, and just to go from that sort of comic book feel of that, and the humor that James and I get to bounce back and forth...Last year, doing three episodes was really a perfect blend with The Path. Because Richard was so troubled, and to kind of live in his boots a while, and then to be able to go over there and deal with Glen. I mean, Richard just internalized everything, you know, everything was so deeply packed inside of him and internalized. But then Glen, on the other hand, what he thinks is what he says, and he just comes from his gut. He knows he's funny in a certain way, and he loves busting Red, James' character. So it was a perfect balance to be able to do those.
Who's surprised that Red is going to need all the help he can in Season 5? Especially with just about all of his criminal ties largely severed, now that Kaplan is presumably dead for real this time. While he might be more acutely aware of what's in store for his future, audiences are still kind of stumped by how that suitcase full of skeletal bones will threaten his existence, but we know it's not going to be good for either Red or Liz in the coming days. Not even with Tom Keen coming back into the fold for a potentially loving reunion with Liz.
While it looks like we won't be seeing Enrique Murciano's Agent Julian Gale in Season 5, we'll have a new familiar face to look forward to, as Sopranos vet Aida Turturro will enter the show as the somewhat mysterious Hawkins, whose loose lips landed her former business partner in prison. We'll also get to see The Americans star Michael Aronov playing logistics expert Smokey Putnam. Will Glen Carter be used to find one of those characters? We'll have to wait and see.
Get ready for some crazy fun when The Blacklist makes its big Glen-filled return to NBC for Season 5 on Wednesday, September 27, at 8:00 p.m. ET. And to check out when all the other new and returning shows will be hitting the small screen, head to our fall TV schedule.
