The Story Behind ‘The Blacklist’s Animated Season 7 Finale
Preview
The Blacklist was so close — just five days short — to finishing up Season 7 before production was shut down due to COVID-19.
What was the NBC drama to do? How about complete the finale with animation. Executive producer Jon Bokenkamp tells TV Insider all about it.
Did you consider any other ideas before you landed on animation?
Jon Bokenkamp: Oh, yeah. Originally, we thought we could play the episode like an old radio show — put the image of a radio up on the screen, and people at home could gather around and listen to the episode. Terrible idea. But that got us thinking. One of our former writers, Nicole Phillips, had written over a dozen comics for The Blacklist. We kicked around the idea of shooting those comics, using the images and likeness of the characters to fill out the scenes we hadn’t shot. Then I wondered if we could animate what we didn’t shoot.
What appealed to you about animating part of the episode?
The Blacklist has a lot of graphic novel-like elements. A larger-than-life anti-hero. A rogues’ gallery of bad guys. The look and feel of the show has a pulpiness to it that lends itself to comics, so the concept of animation felt organic for our universe.
What type of animation were you looking to do?
Any kind that we could get done in time! I know nothing about animation, I had no idea what we were getting into. Tonally, we knew we wanted the animation to match the dark, criminal-filled world of The Blacklist, and we used the comics as inspiration, but beyond that it was a bit of improvisation. Sony and NBC took a leap of faith on this concept without knowing how the final product would look. I really respect them taking the chance.
How was it accomplished?
We hired a company called Proof [which animated the non-live action scenes]. They do these great big sequences for tentpole movies. They typically have months to work on a single scene or sequence. We had five weeks to do 20 minutes of footage. So we did a gut check. We decided we could try and get it finished, despite the time crunch. We really worked around the clock. A scene would be worked on by animators in London. Our editors in LA would very quickly assemble the shots. First thing in the morning, [fellow executive producer] John Eisendrath and myself would watch that scene and give our notes so London could make the changes overnight. Later in the day, we’d do the same thing with an animation team in Atlanta. So we were constantly looking at shots, giving notes, trying to find the look of the show — I’m in Nebraska, John and the editors are in L.A., the animators are in London and Atlanta, the actors are all over the place. We really did have people in all sorts of time zones working simultaneously.
Did all the actors do their own voices?
The actors were all great sports. Zee Hatley, our post supervisor, arranged to have microphones sent to the actors where they were quarantined. The actors all found a quiet place in their homes to record their lines. You can imagine our cast hiding in linen closets and pantries trying to record their lines on their iPhones. Those audio tracks were then sent to L.A. where the performances were stitched together.
The Kazanjian Brothers (Sony Pictures Television)
What can you tell us about the season finale story?
There’s a pretty seismic shift on the horizon. Liz’s [Megan Boone] mother Katarina Rostova [Laila Robins] has re-emerged with some very real information about Reddington and why he entered Liz’s life in the first place. What develops in this last episode, and how it propels us going forward, is something we’ve been working toward for years now.
Raymond “Red” Reddington, Elizabeth Keen (Sony Pictures Television)
Will Liz have to choose between trusting Katarina and her protector Reddington (James Spader)?
Yes. More than ever, Liz now finds herself stuck exactly where she did not want to be — between these two parental figures. Katarina and Reddington are hellbent on destroying each other. They both need Liz. They both hope they can trust her. The choice before her is not an easy one.
Does the episode wrap up that storyline?
I think it’s probably more accurate to say we embark on an entirely new one.
Did you have to rewrite the story to fit into the animation mode?
Slightly. Realizing that we had to modify this episode to serve as our season finale, we had an opportunity to make changes to the scenes that had yet to be animated. So we accelerated the story a bit, giving us a bigger push going into Season 8. Additionally, some of the sequences we had not yet filmed were action sequences, and we realized we had a chance to do things in animation that we could never do with live action because of our schedule and the restraints of physical production. A motel shootout, a car chase through the city, an action sequence with a helicopter — those are a few scenes that we goosed up a bit simply because we knew they were going to be animated.
Can we expect a somewhat changed Blacklist next season?
Yes. In the best way possible.
The Blacklist, Season 7 Finale, Friday, May 15, 8/7c, NBC
Conversation31 Comments
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Comments are closed on this story.
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I hope not. I found it kind of cheesy. I like real life actors. If I wanted a cartoon, I’d read a comic book.
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Please don’t do this again.
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C
How stupid are you? Why would they do it again? These are unusual circumstances. Get a life. They did a great job under strenuous constraints.
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Better to skip or delay the finale than to use animation, especially poor quality animation.
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P
Don’t like the animation!! It takes away from the characters & storyline
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too bad. Did you bother to read the article. Did you hear about the virus going around the country?They did a fantastic job, one-time-only only, under very strenuous circumstances. Give us a break!!!!
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I live in Manhattan and know about the virus. You have a bad attitude. The animation was terrible. the character that was supposed to be spader looked like an extra from the living dead.
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I understand why they did it and the difficulties they faced, however, I did not enjoy the episode. The animation was so poor, it was distracting and hard to follow. In today's techno world, we are used to high quality images. I found myself confusing some of the characters because they didn't closely resemble the character and their mouths often didn't move when they were speaking. I was disappointed overall.
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Thank you for finishing the season in these times. It was great done this way. Once 🙂
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Oh please do not degrade The blacklist like that again. Looks like you all went out of your minds. I felt like what in the world were you all thinking. This is an outstanding drama show. This is serious. You all degraded the show and the actors and actresses. This was a very bad act on your part. Felt very uncomfortable form of acting.
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I’m so glad you did the animation, rather than waiting for the finale to be aired later. You all did a great job! Thank you for all your hard work!!!!
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Understanding you had to make tough decisions but the animation was very sub par. I am not a fan of the episode. It cut deeply into the quality of the product.
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UNWATCHABLE. Dialog and Speaker disconnected. Just sayin.
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Aweful with the animation. Why wreck something great.
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Interesting Animation... but hate the loud background music... Had to back it up several times to get the sentences said... I love Blacklist but Characters in animation distorted a lot of the expressions of the real people.. I was intrigued, but after rewinding many times, I vote to return to real life... But we understand why you did it and missing it would have been worse!! Thank you!!
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Considering the time constraints, I think it came off well!
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Totally agree man
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Dumbest episode ever.. Why?
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Didn't care for it at all.
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is anyone having a problem with tv insider posts. I can no longer get them to pull up stories. it is like frozen.
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G
cheesy doesn't even begin to describe it!!
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I guess we don't care what you think. Apparently you have no understanding of how challenging it was to pull this off in the short time frame they had. They did a fantastic job. Why don't you go watch Mister Rogers neighborhood or Sesame Street if you can't catch on to what's happening here.
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PurpleBus take a ride.
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G
Worst show ever! Hope they will redo it with the real characters. BULL!!
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You must be totally clueless. Try reading the article and see why they did it this way ....one time only. Why don't you go watch mr. Roger's Neighborhood or Sesame Street if that's the extent of your capabilities
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No u are the one that is clueless. Attacking everyones posts. Who are u tRump?
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Terrible idea. And I agree with the comment that the animation really sucked
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No, everyone agrees that only YOU really suck! Blacklist team did a great job, one time only, under strenuous circumstances.
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HEY tRUMP. HERE HE GOES AGAIN. I GUESS THIS GUY WORKS FOR THE ANIMATION PROVIDER.
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If this live/animation Finale is a winner (in the ratings/reviews)...wonder if they'll consider doing more episodes like this in Season 8 ???
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I guess you can't read. Did you even bother to read the article and see how short a time frame they had to do this??? You also must be clueless as to how complex doing animations is. Get a life. They did a fantastic job under strenuous circumstances!
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