Well, this week’s Blindspot episode was pretty explosive — in more ways than one. In addition to meeting a criminal with access to a deadly drone, there were plenty of other bombs dropped. So let’s get to it, shall we?
• Blindspot Season 1 Recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 3 | Episode 4
It seems that Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander, Kyle XY) still doesn’t remember who she is, which shouldn’t be all that surprising. It’s only the second episode! While she contemplates her identity, a doctor asks that she do the Rorschach test. The hope is that these crazy images may trigger a memory. Of course they will. Why else would we waste valuable show time? Within seconds, Jane Doe remembers target shooting with the creepy bearded man.
In another part of town, Agent Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton, Strike Back) is waking up to his sister (Jordana Spiro, My Boys) making breakfast. She and her son are only special guest stars. Apparently, their sole purpose is so that Weller will have a flashback of his own. Over rock-hard pancakes, sis mentions that their father called and wants to know if Weller will come to “Taylor’s memorial.” He claims he’s busy, but says that dear old dad shouldn’t be attending either. “It makes people uncomfortable,” he says. She asks him to think about it and he leaves. Yes, this is relevant. Read on.
Weller is a busy man though, since he’s trying to help Jane Doe trigger a few memories. He doesn’t need any weird pictures and squiggly lines. Instead, he puts her in front of a table filled with weapons. She picks up the M4 and loads it like an old pro.
Of course, we know she’s an old pro, but she proves her abilities to Weller by blowing a bunch of holes right through the center of a target — as well as holding her own against him in a fist fight. During the sparring, Jane Doe has a flashback to a scene in a church, where she shoots a nun in the back of the head right in front of the altar. Someone is going to have to say an awful lot of Hail Marys!
Meanwhile, Patterson (Ashley Johnson) has been trying to figure out Jane Doe’s tattoos. She says there are hundreds of numeric sequences and phrases in over two dozen languages all over Jane Doe’s body. She’s feeding all of that info into a machine that will cross-reference each tattoo with all sorts of databases. Mayfair (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Without a Trace) says it’s “like a Google Alert for her tattoos.” However, Patterson also says that the tattoos are so varied that it could take her crack team years to decipher all of it. That sounds like a setup for multiple seasons, people!
While whipping through on-screen images of the tats, Weller notices that Jane Doe has a scar on the back of her neck. Unlike the tattoos, this mark doesn’t appear to be recent.
Reade (Rob Brown, Treme) informs everyone that Chao (Yung-I Chang), the bad guy from last week, is dead. The official word is that he had a stroke, but Weller doesn’t buy it. Of course, he’s right — Reade says that Chao was also shot.
Despite the claims that it will take an eternity to decipher Jane Doe’s tattoos, it took Patterson all of three minutes to get the next one. (In TV land, that’s an eternity.) It turns out that Jane Doe has a Vigenère cipher (look it up!) on her. It’s basically impossible to decode, but she’s a smartie. She uses the address from last week’s episode to crack the code, which brings out “MAJ ARTHUR GIBSON.”
It turns out that Gibson (Robert Eli) is a decorated Air Force vet who flew F-22 missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. As expected, Gibson doesn’t exactly roll out the welcome wagon for the FBI. He claims he “never said anything” and slams the door right in Weller’s face. As the crew is walking away, the entire house explodes in a million pieces. That will show him for not being hospitable!
The fire department won’t let anyone inspect the damage, but informs the crew that not only was the whole house wired to blow, but there’s also no body. The whole thing was a distraction.
A briefing with Colonel Powers (Debra Monk) uncovers that Gibson was part of a mission gone wrong, with too many casualties to list. He was never the same. Even desk work was too grueling, so he was eventually discharged. Gibson was so distraught, his marriage dissolved and he couldn’t keep a job. He also became paranoid. “I think he blamed me,” she said.
On the way back to the office, Jane Doe contemplates how one incident from Gibson’s past changed his entire existence. She also wonders about her past. “What if I find out who I am and I don’t like it?” she asks.
Patterson calls the car and informs the crew that Gibson’s files and the story Powers told don’t exactly match up. Surprise! He actually wasn’t sidelined for PTSD. He was actually promoted and got a boost in his security clearance — more than once.
Gibson isn’t just unstable, but he’s also alive. He shows up at the house of a guy named Alex, looking for a favor. Well, it’s more like he’s demanding a favor, and using Alex’s daughter as collateral.
“I gave them everything,” Gibson says. “I did unspeakable things for them.”
Alex uses his security clearance at the Air Force to help. Seconds later, Gibson kills Powers with an air-to-ground missile. Apparently, the Air Force has armed drones all over the place — just in case. Apparently, Alex popped an alternate control card into the system, so that Gibson could take over the drone from a remote location. It also happens to have another two missiles on board. That’s not the worst part, though. Gibson still has Alex’s daughter.
Mayfair asks Weller how he’s feeling. “I know you don’t do well with missing kids.” Does anyone? However, Weller seems to be a special case. The Taylor that was mentioned at the beginning of the episode was a child who disappeared when Gibson was 10. He begins to have his own flashback about an incident when the two were kids. A playdate left Taylor with a big scar on the back of her neck — one very similar to the scar Jane Doe has.
“I know why it’s me. I know why my name is on her back,” Weller says. “I think Jane Doe is Taylor Shaw.”
Forget Jane Doe — for now. Patterson found information on Gibson’s computer about a series of “accidents.” They also found info on another drone pilot, Major Ivan Musgrave (Jason Alan Carvell). Since he’s not willing to come along quietly, Jane Doe subdues him with her fists.
While the crew begins to question Musgrave in broad daylight, Jane Doe spots the bearded man. However, before she can call attention to that, they realize Musgrave is the next target. A missile hits the building. People are dead in the street. It looks like a war zone. Even more importantly, the bearded man is gone.
So who is the final target? Duh, the FBI. Gibson isn’t just going for the gold. He’s looking to take out the top three floors of the building during a pilot shift change. That way, he can kill every pilot at once. The crew has 60 minutes to find Gibson and save lives.
En route to find Gibson, Jane Doe tells Weller she fears she was a terrible person. He eases her by letting her know that whoever she was before, that’s not who she is now. How the heck would he know? “You don’t hesitate, you act,” he says. “You do the right thing.” Apparently, he doesn’t know about the nun thing.
Weller finds Gibson, who gives him the slip in a spray of gunfire. Jane Doe takes off after him. She’s flying solo! She may be a good fighter, but her driving is questionable. She ends up crashing the car. Weller gets her out and pulls Gibson out of his car. Seconds later, he rescues the little girl.
Weller seems to think Jane Doe’s tattoos are a crime-fighting tool, but Reade begs to differ. Mayfair informs Weller that looking into whether or not Jane Doe could be Taylor Shaw. Mayfair says it doesn’t really make sense. She’s not the only one thinking that.
Blindspot‘s second episode was a spotty one. It’s hard to believe that we’d find out Jane Doe’s identity so early in the show. However, that would certainly clear up a lot of pain for Weller – or at least his father. Apparently, he was accused of killing Taylor back in the day. It seems a little too convenient though, yes?
Still, it’s a nice little teaser. And if that doesn’t whet your appetite for next week, the episode ended with the bearded man giving Jane Doe a little surprise. It didn’t really seem like a happy reunion, did it? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
New episodes of Blindspot premiere Monday nights at 10/9CT on NBC.
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