The Kazanjian Brothers

"The Kazanjian Brothers"
Season 7, Episode 19
Episode Information
Air date	May 15, 2020
Directed by	Michael Caracciolo
Written by	Kelli Johnson Sam Christopher
Episode Chronology
Previous	“Roy Cain”
Next	“Roanoke”

“The Kazanjian Brothers” is the Nineteenth episode of Season 7 of The Blacklist and the hundred and fifty-second overall.

Press Release

The Task Force investigates an accountant who works for lucrative criminals in order to find the violent and thuggish brothers hired for his protection. Meanwhile, Liz must make a momentous decision.

Number on The Blacklist

• 156, 157

Unanswered Questions

1. Kazanjian brothers
   1. Are the Kazanjian brothers dead?
2. Raymond Reddington
   1. What is Red suffering from? It is getting worse and Spalding Stark has stated that he cannot find the cure. A cerebral edema is limited to certain medical problems.
   2. Why was 1 of Red’s men dual wielding at the chess store? It is extremely difficult and inaccurate. Dembe used 1 handgun.
   3. What was the tip Red gave to Stanley Birch?
3. Donald Ressler
   1. Why did Ressler not call for a medic after the police officer was shot on the stairs?
4. Frank Merwin
   1. Merwin has no leverage. Losing the documents means that he cannot serve/blackmail his clients. They wanted him dead when he had the documents.
   2. How long will Frank Merwin be imprisoned?
5. Whitmore Hotel
   1. Why were there 3 faucets for the bathtub at the Whitmore Hotel?
   2. Why did the sink have 4 handles for 3 faucets?
   3. Why did Krupin need 6 rooms?
   4. Why was the police officer carrying the white/gray/grey handgun?

Trivia

• This is the first episode to use animation. The animation style is from The Blacklist (Comic).
• Jon Bokenkamp explains the creative changes due to COVID 19 ”Some slight adjustments to the script, mostly trying to expand concepts that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to execute on our tight production schedule. For example, there’s a scene with three characters in the back of a car, racing through the city. In live action, that would have been shot with green screen and we’d be lucky if we ever popped outside of the car. However, with animation, and working with [visual effects company] Proof, we realized we had an opportunity to open that scene up. We jump outside the car to see the vehicle careening through the streets, cars whizzing past, horns blaring. That’s the kind of thing we would never have been able to do where we shoot in New York City.”
• Another example, we had a scene between Red and Liz where he gives her the case of the week. Originally, this was to be filmed on our stages in Red’s secret apartment. But when we realized we were animating things, that we hadn’t shot that scene yet, we thought, “Why not move this scene to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.? Let’s see the Capitol Building in the background. Big, sweeping, wide shots.”
• This was Brian Dennehy's last episode due to his death.

Cast

Main star

• James Spader as Raymond Reddington
• Megan Boone as Elizabeth Keen
• Diego Klattenhoff as Donald Ressler
• Amir Arison as Aram Mojtabai
• Hisham Tawfiq as Dembe Zuma
• Harry Lennix as Harold Cooper

Guest star

• Brian Dennehy as Dominic Wilkinson
• Laila Robins as Katarina Rostova
• Laura Sohn as Alina Park
• Joey Slotnick as Frank Merwin
• Daniel Gerroll as Stanley Birch
• Teddy Coluca as Teddy Brimley

Co-star

• Bruce Louis as Nshan Kazanjian
• David Kallaway as Pasha Kazanjian

Gallery

Car

Comic

Anime

External Links

• NBC.com
• NBC.com