‘Blacklist’ Sneak Peek Is a Beautiful Goodby to Tracker Glenn Carter, aka the Late Clark Middleton

When The Blacklist actor Clark Middleton, who played DMV employee and tracker associate Glen Carter, died at age 63 last fall, his colleagues were shattered.

“Clark’s death was just devastating news,” executive producer Jon Bokenkamp tells TV Insider. “I loved that guy, I loved writing for his character … we became good friends.” They had just finished writing a “really fun episode for him,” he says, when he passed.

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So, they honored him instead. TV Insider’s exclusive clip from the February 12 episode shows how they address his death head on, choosing not to pretend that Glen “Jellybean” Carter had quit or left town.

“The episode is a tribute to the character and an actor we all loved,” says Bokenkamp.

In the clip above, Red Reddington (James Spader) and Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq), after being asked by Glen’s mother to come to her house, quickly learn — to Red’s immense shock — that Glen had died of the West Nile virus, as did Middleton in real life.

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

Glen’s mother Paula (Marylouise Burke), though, to whom the news is not new, babbles on about the memorial, and tells her visitors they must come to the potluck party held at the Maryland DMV where he was a proud regional manager. She also hands Red a letter Glen has left for him, under his assumed name.

“The show will never be the same without Jelly Bean Carter,” Bokenkamp says. “But one thing is for sure: The footprint that Clark Middleton left on The Blacklist is a big one.”

Watch the clip to see what happens, and be sure to watch the episode with a box of tissues.

The Blacklist, Fridays, 8/7c, NBC