We got a whole mess of bombshells last week, Blindspot fans. Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) stole Mayfair’s (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) pen and found out that Orion was actually where she died. We also found out that Reade (Rob Brown) is dating Weller’s sister, Sarah (Jordana Spiro)!
This week’s episode is titled, “Erase Weary Youth,” which translates to “Stay Where You Are.” The anagrams seem to be filling out some instructions for this second half of the season. Hopefully, you’re staying where you are… because we have a packed episode here. Let’s get to it, shall we?
• BLINDSPOT recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12
The episode kicks off with Jane on a morning jog, where she’s having all sorts of flashbacks. First, she remembers how Oscar (Francois Arnaud) told her that Orion was where she died. We also see him fill in another blank about the whole thing by saying it was an operation that went awry. That’s all we get about that for now, though. Otherwise, Jane is thinking about trust and more specifically, who she can trust and who should be trusting her.
Patterson (Ashley Johnson) is having her own morning workout routine, which includes flashbacks about David. She seems to have a bit of Jane Doe in her as well, huh? Zapata (Audrey Esparza) and Reade walk in to find Patterson kicking the crap out of a workout dummy. They wonder if her increased workout regimen has something to do with Olivia Delidio (Amy Hargreaves) getting arraigned. Remember her? She was one of the Russian spies captured back in episode 10. Despite Patterson blaming Delidio for David’s death, she says that she just wants to move on.
During the arraignment process, we find out that Delidio has the name of a Russian intelligence source that’s been planted in the FBI office. It doesn’t matter though; the lawyer smacks Delidio’s head against a bathroom sink and finishes her off by drowning her in the toilet, which if you ask me, has to be one of the top five crappiest ways to die.
Seconds later, a security guard shoots the lawyer dead.
Back at the FBI, Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) is smiling. It’s not because Delidio is dead, but because of a video Sarah sent of her kid. That changes quickly once he gets a call from Allie Knight (Trieste Kelly Dunn), the agent we met in episode 9, who also happens to be Weller’s ex.
Mayfair gets a call about Delidio’s murder. It turns out the FBI has a mole! Mayfair wants Weller to handle the investigation, since everyone with access to the building is a subject. Wouldn’t Jane Doe be the first suspect? You know, the only one with access, without any formal training, who also seems to be a one-woman killing machine? But I digress…
Patterson says that Delidio’s killer was a lawyer, but also a “fixer.” She certainly fixed Delidio. During the brief, Agent Kara Sloane (Afton Williamson) walks in. She’s about to blow the news about the mole when Weller pulls her out and asks her to put a lid on it. He needs to keep everything quiet, since everyone is a potential suspect.
Keeping things quiet is going to be difficult, with Inspector Jonas Fisher (John Hodgman) walking in, loudly seeking the office’s second breach. After his chat with Patterson, and now this, Fisher is practically picking out new wallpaper for Mayfair’s office. He wants that job, but Weller is going to do whatever he can to find the mole before Fisher does. He’s certainly not going to get any help from Fisher, though. The inspector blows the whole secret to the rest of the FBI team before calling Weller into his office for questioning.
Weller comes out to find the team going over info about the Russian embassy. Sloan has specifically targeted three diplomats, who are using their credentials to smuggle all sorts of illegal goods. Sloane is hesitant to use her embassy contact, a driver named Roman, to help with the FBI’s mole situation. She concedes, but as Sloane goes to leave the building, she finds out it’s in lockdown.
While the crew stands around waiting to be interrogated, Reade tells Zapata about his relationship with Weller’s sister. Why should that matter? Well, except to Weller…
We then see Reade, Zapata, Sloane, Dr. Borden (Ukweli Roach), and Jane Doe get interrogated. A few interesting tidbits: Borden is 1/8th Russian, Jane Doe knows both Systema and Sambo, Reade has stolen pens from the office, and Sloane’s phone number was in the murderous lawyer’s cell phone. Oh, and a lot of people seem to be lying about their relationship with Thomas Carter.
Once the results are in, Zapata, Mayfair, and Jane Doe are targeted as the potential mole. Duh! Of course, Mayfair thinks it’s all about her — or at least her job.
Fisher brings up the whole Guerrero thing to make Mayfair sweat, but she’s not falling for any of it. Zapata is an easier nut to crack. Aside from failing previous lie detector tests, Fisher found a bug that looks a lot like the one Zapata was supposed to plant on Jane Doe. However, this particular one was actually planted in Zapata’s home. She comes clean about Carter’s threats, but unfortunately, he can’t defend himself seeing as how he’s dead and all.
Allie helps get Sloane’s Russian contact into the FBI building. How? Well, we really aren’t privy to that information.
What we do find out is that Zapata told Fisher about Carter’s need to know about Jane Doe. He tells Reade during some additional questioning. He then asks Patterson about Jane Doe. Fisher isn’t a nice guy (and not always truthful, either). Patterson mentions that Jane was at work the night of Carter’s disappearance, before she left with her detail. Of course, she’s been known to give them the slip, right? Oh boy.
Back downstairs, Weller is questioning Roman, the Russian contact. Allie steps in and seems to be the only one with a brain, mentioning how Jane Doe is the one person in the building with a questionable past. Weller asks her if her questioning has to do with Jane’s past or theirs, as a couple. Zing!
Fisher brings Weller back to his office. He says that he knows about Weller kissing Jane Doe. However, he can’t account for her whereabouts after that kiss. Of course, we know she was with Carter — even though she didn’t actually kill him.
Then comes the most interesting part of the entire episode, and possibly of the series so far. Fisher gives us an account of Jane Doe’s entire life. He says she was kidnapped at the age of 5 and trafficked to Russia, where she was taught the language and taught to fight. He claims Delidio knew who she was, but was murdered before she could say anything.
Yes, Fisher is a pompous jerk. However, he may be right. The Russian contact identifies Jane’s photograph as the mole and she’s promptly arrested. As she’s being taken away, she yells out to Weller that she didn’t do anything wrong. Reade, Zapata, and Mayfair seem to be siding with Fisher. Weller insists that Jane’s tattoos are solving crimes, not enabling them. The whole thing doesn’t add up. Weller tries to turn things around and pin the whole thing on Sloane. He insists she’s the mole, but then Weller gets a glimpse at the label on Roman’s jacket. It matches the label on Fisher’s jacket. They both shop at the same store?
It goes deeper, of course. Roman IDs the coffee Fisher likes and they realize his whereabouts that morning don’t add up. It turns out that Fisher is the mole!
Fisher tells Jane Doe she’s done. As she’s being transported into a holding cell, Weller shows up, but he can’t quite get to her. He yells out that Fisher is the mole. He takes off, as Jane disables two officers, all while handcuffed. It looks like Fisher is going for a gun and Jane shoots him dead. No more John Hodgman!
Weller tells Jane Doe that the Russian diplomats will get deported and she’s off the hook. He asks if she wants to go somewhere to talk about it, but she just wants to go home. As he exits the room, he asks Reade if the whole thing between him and Sarah is serious. Reade says yes and Weller tells him to end it. Ouch.
After hours, we see Zapata having a beer at home. She looks around her apartment and starts talking to any potential bugs left behind. She says whoever is out there doesn’t have to keep listening. “All you’ve got to do is call,” she says. Like something straight out of a horror flick, the phone then rings.
Weller goes home and starts arguing with Sarah about Reade. He says their family has had enough loss. He says Reade has a dangerous job and he doesn’t want to see Sarah or her son get hurt. He then starts yelling: “I can’t protect everyone. Do you know how much it takes? It takes all of me! It takes everything from me!”
Jane Doe didn’t go home. Of course, she went to meet up with Oscar to talk about her day. It doesn’t look like they work for the Russians, but Oscar confirms, “You’re one of us.” Oscar then mentions a time-sensitive tattoo he wants Jane to bring to the FBI’s attention, but she’s not having any of it. “I’m out,” she says.
At the end of the episode, Reade goes to talk to Mayfair. He says there are a lot of outstanding questions about Jane — and more specifically where she was the night of Carter’s murder. Mayfair has the same reservations. “The question now is, ‘What are we going to do about it?’” Um, how about taking away her access to everything inside the FBI?
So Jane may have escaped the evil clutches of Fisher, but she’s not totally off the hook. In fact, all of the work she’s put into building up trust within the FBI seems to have been wiped out in one episode. I say it’s about freaking time. The show sort of jumped right into Jane Doe being an honorary FBI agent. It’s almost as if, when she stepped out of that duffel bag naked, they issued her a badge and gun with a set of clothes. She’s certainly got the training, but they never seem to question that or her loyalty.
And Weller? For a guy that seems to dissect everything, he certainly lets Jane Doe skate by. He’s also becoming a bit of a loose cannon — but hey, he’s always right, so I am assuming all will turn out okay and Jane will continue to fight the bad guys. A little mystery isn’t a bad thing though. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
Blindspot airs Monday nights at 10/9CT on NBC.
