Recap: Blindspot Season 1, Episode 9 – To Kill a Character

Blindspot fans: Remember when I said I wanted to see more of a certain character? Well, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind. In this week’s episode, one of my favs shows up briefly and it’s not a good visit. I’m guessing we won’t be seeing him again for a while. He’s not the only special guest star that’s losing access to the craft services, though. Read on for this week’s recap!

• BLINDSPOT recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8

This week’s episode, “Authentic Flirt,” kicks off in Barcelona, where we see a guy being tortured. A man and a woman want to know where this guy’s brother is hiding. We never catch his name and it’s not really important, since the woman shoots him dead in about two seconds.

On the other side of the world, Patterson (Ashley Johnson) is at a coffee truck when she notices a sign with a little puzzle. Being the adorkable puzzle nerd that she is, she quickly figures out that it says, “Miss U.” Of course, it’s from David (Joe Dinicol). He’s nearby and really wants to get back together. Why wouldn’t he? They both love a good riddle and she’s such a cutie pie! Sadly, she blows him off.

Zapata (Audrey Esparza) has a different pre-work routine. She’s meeting with Carter (Michael Gaston), who is such a total creep. He’s blackmailing her into doing his dirty work. Now he wants Zapata to plant a teeny-tiny surveillance device inside Jane Doe’s (Jaimie Alexander) safe house.

Once everyone gets into work, Patterson briefs them all on the latest round of tattoo data. Apparently, there are small letters hidden in different designs all over Jane Doe’s body. It turns out, they’re an anagram that spells “Ashwell Creek Kennels,” which is a user name for an online puppy forum called Ruff Around the Ears.

Sadly, this isn’t going to be a cute and cuddly mission. Well, it could be, depending on how you look at things. Reade (Rob Brown) says that a lot of bad people use these types of online sites to communicate, since they are typically unmonitored. It turns out, the user posted about a lost puppy but the FBI can’t quite crack that code. However, the user also listed an address, which the crew tracks to an abandoned building — one with a lot of possibilities, if you ask me. A few pictures, a little paint …

This place isn’t in move-in condition though, and it’s not about to get any better. Within seconds, shots start bouncing off the walls. It’s Jonathan (Kazy Tauginas) and Nadya (Sophia Parra), who you may recognize as the torturers from Barcelona. Nadya yells out something in Bulgarian, which appears to be yet another one of Jane Doe’s hidden talents. Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) takes out Jonathan and Reade shoots Nadya. But who are/were they?

After sniffing around the house a little bit, Weller finds two tickets to a gala and a lapel pin. There’s also a duffel bag filled with passports. Patterson links the two assassins with the guy who died in Barcelona. In case you were wondering, his name was Perry Byrne (Eric Reis). His brother Robert was a mob accountant who turned state’s evidence against his bossman, Victor Morello. Weller assumes that Robert Byrne is the lost puppy mentioned in the forum post, and bad people want to find him.

Mayfair (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) alerts a U.S. Marshall named Allison Knight (Trieste Kelly Dunn), who just happens to be Weller’s old flame. She hugs him hello. Weller isn’t really the hug-hello type, so needless to say, Jane Doe doesn’t look happy. I was actually waiting for Jane Doe to deliver a throat-punch hello, but let’s not get too hasty.

It’s looking like this online forum could be pointing to the whereabouts of Robert Byrne, as well as several other people in the Witness Protection Program. Allison says that the organization’s database got hacked and a list with over 2,000 state witnesses’ locations could be compromised. Mayfair seems appalled, but Weller doesn’t have time for that. He needs to get down to business.

Patterson assumes that the hacker will have all of the info at the gala — and thankfully, the feds have two free tickets. She says the pin that was included was to help the sellers identify the buyers. Oh, and those same assassins weren’t planning to pay by check. Instead, they had a $6 million diamond necklace stuffed into the duffel bag with the passports.

So these sellers are going to be looking for a man and a woman who speaks Bulgarian. Sound like anyone you know?

The biggest revelation of the episode may be that Weller cleans up quite nicely. He has a James Bond-esque look to him and even smiles while wearing his tux. Maybe the smiles are because Allison sees him and asks him out. The two have a history, but it’s not a great one. She gets her answer when Jane Doe walks into the room, and Weller is fixated. Jane Doe says she feels ridiculous in her Morticia Addams-like dress. “That is not the word I would use,” Weller says reassuringly. Can these two just make out already?

In an elevator, Weller hands Jane Doe a wedding ring. The two are supposed to be a couple. This causes Jane Doe to have a flashback to the tree man. Remember him?

At the gala, Weller is identified by his pin pretty quickly and put into a limo, where he and Jane Doe have to give up their phones. Then, they are put into a helicopter. The two are tailed by Reade, Zapata, and Patterson, who are all dolled up as well. Unfortunately, without those phones (or air transportation), Weller and Jane Doe appear to be on their own.

The two are dropped off on a remote island, where they are frisked. Jane Doe seems to get a little extra attention, which angers Weller. The two make a plan B, which involves trading the necklace for the list and getting out of the situation alive. It always sounds so simple, doesn’t it?

Meanwhile, David is spending his days hanging around the library, pining for Patterson and looking out for whoever is leaving those messages in the books. Unfortunately, someone is watching him. This is why you don’t play FBI, people. Do we care about David? I get that he loves Patterson, but there’s a fine line between love and being a complete stalker. He spends part of his days stalking Patterson and the rest stalking the redhead (Heidi Germaine Schnappauf) from the library.

At the FBI, the rest of the crew is trying to figure out how to help. Then, Carter shows up. Of course, he’s not there to help. Instead, he wants to talk about Saul Guerrero (Lou Diamond Phillips). Carter wants him dead, but Mayfair wants to create a paper trail to make the whole Daylight thing look legit.

Back on the island, Weller and Jane Doe are brought into a birthday party. The two dance and talk. She wants to know about Allison. He says they weren’t the best at communicating. I’m “team Ali” on that one.

Jane Doe asks Weller if he’s ever been married. He says he’s “too choosy.” She then reveals the flashbacks she’s been having, saying she thinks she may have been engaged. How did she get that from those steamy dreams? Was a ring off in the corner or something? Just then, a guy interrupts the dance and tells Weller and Jane Doe that whoever they are meeting is ready.

While they’re meeting, Patterson is figuring out who they are meeting with. All roads lead back to Rainier Abosay, an accountant for a guy named Rich Dotcom (Ennis Esmer). Of course, that’s not his real name. It’s actually Gord Enver. Rich Dotcom is just an awful pseudonym for a truly awful criminal. This guy is a real jerk, but he’s got money because he’s a hacker who knew to invest in Bitcoin early. Since he earned his money, he’s become the go-to guy for all dark things on the internet.

Rich brings Weller and Jane Doe into a room where a guy is getting beaten pretty badly. After some gross flirting, Rich asks for the necklace. He also wants the pin back. When he goes to put it away, Weller and Jane Doe discover that there’s another pin, as well as another buyer (Emmanuel Brown).

Downstairs, Weller confronts Rich about his “proposition” to Jane Doe. Sadly, no punches are thrown, but Weller does manage to get his hands on a guard’s keycard. “You’re not the only one with hidden talents,” he tells Jane Doe.

The two use the card to get back upstairs. Jane accesses the security cameras to find out who the first buyer was. They approach the guy and tell him they’ve been swindled and only got half of the list for $3 million. The guy says he paid $9 million. Weller and Jane Doe promise a computer so he can check out his version of the list. Instead, they attack him. However, he’s pretty handy with a pool cue. A fight breaks out and this guy manages to hold his own for a little while, until Weller chokes him out. Of course, you can’t have a fight at a 70th birthday party and have it go unnoticed. When Jane Doe and Weller go to leave the room, they’re surrounded by Rich and his armed men.

Weller and Jane Doe try to convince Rich that the other buyer is actually a fed. When the guard discovers that the buyer has his keycard, Rich shoots his own man dead. He then shoots the other buyer as well.

Rich offers Weller and Jane Doe cognac, but starts grilling them on their credentials. Weller doesn’t like games, so he smashes a guard in the face with his glass, while Jane Doe disarms the other guard. Now the two have guns on Rich. Strangely, neither one pulls the trigger. (You know they want to!) They demand the other USB key and want to be escorted off the island.

At the launch pad, Rich realizes that Weller and Jane Doe are feds. Shots start ringing out from all directions, but the FBI flies in and returns fire from the air. Rich is then taken into custody. Not so jokey now, is he?

Back at the FBI, Allison asks Weller out again. He says no and she gives him a little kiss, just as Jane Doe walks in. Can she throat-punch her now?

When Jane Doe goes to return her ring to Weller, she has a flashback of the moment where she broke it off with the tree man.

The episode ends with a pizza party at Jane Doe’s, where Zapata plants her bug. There’s also a Guerrero sighting, but sadly, it will be the last one. He’s stabbed multiple times in a hallway. Carter ordered the hit and gets a text confirming his involvement. And finally, David follows the red-haired woman into an alley. Seconds later, he’s found dead.

Wow wee. This week, I thought Weller and Jane Doe would finally kiss or something. The whole “will they or won’t they” is getting old though. However, the episode made up for things by killing off two semi-regular characters. I’m starting to wonder if Carter ordered that hit so Daylight will never be “legit,” but wants Mayfair to take the fall. I’m extremely sad there won’t be more of Lou Diamond Phillips. Maybe he will appear in flashbacks. I could do without David, though. There are too many characters to care about a guy who seems so smart, yet acts so stupid. Please focus more on Reade. Also, this is yet another week where there’s no mention of Taylor Shaw. They have one more chance before the winter break!

Blindspot airs Monday nights at 10/9CT on NBC.