This is an odd episode of Blindspot. Every episode is an odd one, I suppose; highly trained mysterious woman covered in tattoos doesn’t scream normalcy. Yet it’s more than just the general Blindspot weirdness at play. Carter is given a proper villain introduction in this episode and his charismatic creepiness is exactly something Blindspot needed and was missing. The graveyard shootout is one of the show’s more thrilling action set pieces.
Yet I can’t help but feel bored with everything. It’s not just that there’s a lot of Weller and Jane “moments” in the episode, which is by far my least favorite part of Blindspot. A lot of these moments are retreads of previous scenes and it all just feels way too similar. Even the bad guy of the week feels like something we’d seen before. Though Blindspot has steadily improved, it hits a plateau of sorts in episode 5, titled “Split the Law.”
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Another Identity Crisis and Crime Jane has a dinner with Weller and his family as part of a mini-family reunion. This goes absolutely dreadful and not just because Weller’s sister is the exact opposite of Weller but rather equally as irritating. She shares way too much and is entirely too happy. This is in sharp contrast to Weller’s simultaneous icy and lovelorn look. This, of course, freaks out Jane, who is not entirely comfortable with her Taylor Shaw identity, not to mention the fact that Jane might not even be Taylor since even more isotopic evidence has come to light that Jane was born in Africa, information that Weller is conveniently keeping from Jane.
There’s little time to speculate on Jane’s real identity because there is a new crime that of course directly relates to one of Jane’s tattoos. A building is being held up by a group of men claiming to be former employees of the MWA. They want their jobs and pensions back, but when Weller agrees to start meeting their demands, they open fire on the hostages.
Jane Meet Carter
The FBI barges in and rescues the remaining hostages. Weller and Jane make their way to the basement, where they find a body … well, three bodies: an obvious hostage and two dead men in suits. Mayfair’s “friend,” who is shown at the end of nearly every episode talking about killing Jane, appears behind them. He introduces himself as Carter, a high ranking official in the CIA.
Weller then takes a timeout to give Jane and the audience a lot of bland exposition about the relationship between the FBI and CIA. The short version, though, is they don’t like each other. Carter sneers at Jane, but this is infinitely more entertaining and interesting than the googly eyes Weller gives Jane. Carter gets Jane to leave the room and he tells the rest of the team some of what is going on. Carter says one of the dead hostages is a former CIA informant named Dodi. Dodi is now an enemy of the CIA working with a terrorist group named the Dabbur Zann.
Outside in the FBI’s van, Jane discovers the real truth by watching the security cams. Dodi does exist and he should be dead in the chair, but the hostage situation upstairs was really a rescue mission. The men weren’t MWA employees but rather members of the Dabbur Zann. The terrorists knew Dodi was being kept there and sacrificed one of their own to get Dodi out. The Dabbur Zann want Dodi to build them a dirty bomb.
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More Recovered Memories
Weller sends out a strike team to hit the location they think the Dabbur Zann is hiding at. The team listens as the strike team goes in and eliminates the members of the Dabbur Zann inside. While listening to the transmission, Jane’s memories begin to surface. She remembers more of being taken as child. She was taken by a man into a terrifying basement that was full of children that looked far from healthy.
Jane understandably freaks out and Weller follows her. Weller tries to get Jane to calm down and puts her hand on his heart. This doesn’t freak Jane out more for some reason. She doe,s however, run away when Reade comes out of the room to check on them. This further leads credence to Reade’s totally legitimate belief that Weller and Jane’s relationship is super inappropriate. You know, because Jane and Weller’s relationship is super inappropriate.
Graveyard Shootout and a Mexican Standoff
Anyway, Reade hands Weller the lead the strike team found in the hideout. The Dabbur Zann is keeping the material for the dirty bomb in a cemetery. The team hits over, only to find the that the Dabbur Zann are already there. There is a shootout, but of course it’s Jane who does all the work. She takes Dodi down and catches the urn holding the hazardous materials, saving them all from going kaboom.
Jane and Weller begin to escort Dodi out. Carter, who apparently has been watching the whole thing, aims a gun at Jane’s head. Mayfair, who similarly appears out of nowhere, stops him by pointing a gun to Carter’s head. Carter lowers his weapon but tells Mayfair that by saving Jane, she is killing them.
The hostility between CIA and FBI isn’t over. Carter wants to take Dodi back, but Mayfair says this is the FBI’s responsibility. Guns are drawn and we are in the most immature and deadliest tug of war ever. Carter tells Mayfair that he will let them keep Dodi, if he gets to take Jane. Mayfair refuses (obviously) and is forced to give Dodi to Carter.
That night, Weller takes Jane to her safe home. Nauseatingly, Jane tells him that he was wrong; Taylor Shaw wasn’t the start of her life. Weller is the start of her new life. I know, super gross. Even more disgusting, there is a traitor among the FBI’s ranks. Zapata gets into a car with Carter. He hands an envelope of money and asks for everything on Jane.
Blindspot airs Mondays at 10pm on NBC.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
