The wait is over, Blindspot fans! We have already seen the first episode of season 3, titled “Back to the Grind.” What did you think ? We have many things to say! It was a very solid comeback that made us scream with excitement, enjoy all the action and the romantic moments.
But that is not all, at the same time, we haven’t been able to stop theorizing with every new turn and secret that the episode presented us. Has anyone been able to sleep?. I couldn’t! My head couldn’t stop circling the thousands possibilities that have arisen in this episode. Let’s analyze everything.
Here we go:
CASE OF THE WEEK
The case of the week presents the different plots for the season. One of them is Jane’s new tattoos – made by Roman as a punishment for what he sees as a betrayal. They will be central to the plot, just as they were in season 1, which is good because they were the key to the success of this wonderful show. At the same time, the tattoos reunite the old team, with some new additions.
Also, this case is a reflection of Roman’s vengeance, he wants to make Jane suffer and will not stop until he gets it. Of course, that means that to get Jane where he wants he has to provide a little help with that thing that made her run from Kurt in the first place: the price on her head.
This all put Jane in a situation where she had to inject herself with a paralyzing poison to deceive the killers, get rid of the bounty and then get out of there alive to go rescue the rest of the team. Fortunately, they succeeded. And they also managed to give us flashbacks to the pilot with Jane leaving that bag.
This episode was like a symptom of the disease which is Roman’s hatred. He wants to hurt Jane, but he doesn’t want to kill her, no, that’s easy. He wants to make her suffer. He wants to show Jane that he’s there and that he has immense power. Roman wants to show her that he’s a dangerous enemy and wants to see her suffer, agonize – and that he also has more power than her.
I think every week is going to be a clash of powers between them. We will see a lot of this throughout the season and I love it!
ROMAN
Roman is angry, really furious. He’s full of rage because of what, in his eyes, was a betrayal of Jane because she chose the FBI before him. Of course, I believe that under all this rage and hatred there’s an immense pain and feeling of abandonment. Jane was always the only person who was there for Roman, next to him and she was the only person he trusted, and she betrayed Shepherd and everything he had known since she adopted him.
However, Roman saw how Jane didn’t do the same for him and didn’t choose him above all else. This hurt him very deep, and he basically broke into a thousand pieces. And, at the same time, he felt alone, abandoned. Before, he had always had Jane and now that she is gone, he feels lonely.
Roman is focusing on all the hatred and anger because the reality is that he’s afraid to face deeper feelings that hurt him even in the soul. Blind rage is easier and is known territory, the other feelings are unknown.
I hope that Roman looks beyond that rage and faces his deepest feelings. When he does, I think his redemption will be near.
Apart from this, Roman’s entire plan is very sophisticated. Tattoos, taking Jeller to as significant place for Jane and Kurt as Venice. It’s a really sly and witty plan … which makes me suspicious.
It looks like a strategist’s plan and Roman is smart but not exactly a strategist. The difference is important. Shepherd was a very good strategist, she had the cold blood to know when to attack and where. Roman allowed himself to be carried away by his feelings, his anger, leaving strategy aside.
This plan is really twisted and requires tremendous cold blood. Roman is full of rage, it doesn’t fit with me that he’s created such a plan. In addition, everything Roman has done and what he’ll presumably do will requires many resources. He didn’t have so many, that we know.
For all this, I suspect that there’s an even bigger villain than Roman who is really behind this plan. A villain that I think we’re going to take a long time to see, maybe until the mid season.
JELLER
WE HAVE A JELLER WEDDING! It was at the beginning of the episode and as beautiful as we imagined it and more. Everything was perfect, the dress, the friendship between the Team, the groom, the cake! and all the love that unites Jeller.
After the wedding, we couldn’t stop screaming of the emotion while they show us how they made a life together. Their move to Colorado, the remodel of their new home, Bethany – Kurt’s daughter. Everything was wonderful, perfect, a love letter to Jeller fans and THANK YOU FOR THIS MARTIN GERO! Who can’t stop watching these first few minutes of the episode on a loop? I mean, apart from me?.
But perfection is soon over and reality knocks on Jeller’s door. We were right in what we imagined: they attack them at home and when Jane knows that the target is her and she’s endangering Kurt and the little girl, she wants to go away. Kurt tells her that they’ll face it together: “you are my wife,” he proclaims and I had to fight tears behind this scene. But Jane thinks it’s best to leave because she’s putting them in danger and she can’t allow it, she loves him too much for that, as she says later. It’s a decision that changes everything.
When they meet again, the two have to adapt to the new situation. Kurt understands, Jane apologizes to him, explains why she did it and tries to do everything with Kurt from that moment, although it costs her. But in the end, they come back together to work in the FBI and live together to overcome everything that comes as a couple.
By the way, I was very pleased to see how Jane blindly trusted Kurt and knew perfectly well that he wasn’t going to let her die when she had to inject the poison.
I understand Jane’s decision, maybe I would have done the same. It has to be really complicated to know that just by being by their side, you put your loved ones in danger of death. Kurt also understands and therefore forgives her, despite what it hurt to lose her. However, Jane’s decision being understandable doesn’t mean that it is correct.
Something I’ve noticed throughout the episode is that Jane works alone. We see it when she decides to leave Kurt and, later, when she sees Roman in Venice and goes after him alone. We can even see it when the venom is injected without Kurt agreeing – though that is what she should do, but it serves as an example.
This has an explanation. Throughout her life Jane has been on her own, alone, she has learned to work alone. She was trained as a killer during her childhood. And later, with Shepherd, everything was very individualized and didn’t include anyone. They were part of a terrorist organization, and Shepherd was her mother, but when it came down to it, she worked alone. It was too dangerous to include someone, let someone close enough to make their opinion matter. It’s what she knows, it’s what she had been taught.
Later, with the FBI, she began to learn to work as a team and to include Kurt in that aspect of her life, but afterwards everything became frantic and Jane couldn’t learn to do it. She had to infiltrate Sandstorm and letting someone in was not among the options. When she started learning again, with the team, they ended Sandstorm and she reconciled with Kurt. Soon they were married.
Jane didn’t have enough time to forget everything she’d been taught before she came to the FBI. So when she has to share her decisions with someone, include them … she doesn’t know how. That’s why she decides that leaving Kurt is the right thing to do instead of facing the problem together. Just as it is the reason why she doesn’t think and acts alone in the middle of a mission.
She has to learn to walk beside Kurt, to include him when things get difficult, to listen to him. In short, to share her life with him, not only in the physical aspect but also in the emotional aspect. This learning will be a challenge for both, but surely together they will be able to overcome it.
TEAM BLINDSPOT
Jane
Jane is struggling with many things at the same time. She’s struggling with the prospect of putting everyone she loves in danger by just being in their lives, and she is struggling to find herself. Jane tells Kurt this when they’re on the plane.
She feels that with Kurt in Colorado she was happy … but something was missing, it wasn’t totally her. The same thing happened to the FBI, she was comfortable with what she was doing, but something was missing. The FBI gave her a purpose that she didn’t have when she was in Colorado. Jane loves Kurt but is NOT defined by him.
That’s why we love Jane so much, she’s a strong woman who isn’t defined by any man. Now, Jane must find herself, and try to find her complete happiness. Who is she? I think that’s Jane’s journey this season, apart from Jeller, and it’s going to be tough but nice at the same time. That is what happens in reality. We all struggle to find ourselves at some point in our life. Now it’s Jane’s turn.
And I think she’ll discover that what makes her have a full life is working with her team, her family, solving cases, taking action. And, of course, apart from that, to be happy with the man she loves: Kurt Weller. But this is a journey Jane must take until she reaches a clear conclusion about herself.
We have to remember that she hasn’t really decided anything in her life. Her childhood and part of her adult life was manipulated by Shepherd. Then she arrived at the FBI and let herself be carried between Sandstorm and them, from mission to mission and from mystery to mystery. The only decision she really took for herself was to stay with Kurt at the FBI. And from then on, she had to decide her life … and she doesn’t know how to do it because she hasn’t found herself, she hasn’t had time. Jane must learn who she really is, outside Sandstorm. And that’s a long journey … but it will be worth it.
Kurt
Kurt is a very understanding husband, understands all the Jane’s steps, why she did what she did. Although he doesn’t agree with her, he has patience because he knows she must learn to walk with him.
There have been two things about Weller that have caught my eye. The first is that he has flatly refused to let Jane get injected the paralyzing poison. Of course, his position is normal because it’s a very big risk. However, looking at him in cold blood, it was the only option, as Jane mentions. Therefore, I think there is much more than the obvious in that refusal.
To see Jane paralyzed, dead, not to wake up again and to witness it, to lose her, is Kurt’s greatest fear. It’s his most terrible nightmare. He has lost her many times, they has been separated but she was still alive. To see her really there, inert and dead is … something he can’t bear and less knowing that there is a risk of being permanent.
His most horrible nightmare is coming true and Kurt can’t live with it, he just can’t stand it. He can’t even think about it. That’s why Kurt totally refuses to let Jane do it.
Another thing that draws my attention is the final scene with Roman. Roman has blackmailed him and what he has against Kurt is something that happened in Berlin and something that Kurt is really terrified Jane will find out. Kurt agrees to help Roman without hesitation. What happened in Berlin? Why is Kurt so scared that Jane finds out? How serious is it?.
This is really interesting !. And it spells trouble, because Jane will find out what happened in Berlin and we don’t know what it is but we can sense that it will not be pleasant and test them. But besides that, Jane and even the whole Team will find out that Kurt has been betraying them by helping Roman and that will be another very strong blow. I think we’re going to suffer … but it’s going to be worth it. Hold tight, we’re in for quite a ride.
Zapata, Reade and Patterson
The three are kidnapped in a foreign country with complicated relations with the United States. In such a situation, the ideal is to be united, but the opposite has happened. Once the initial shock of the situation has passed, some quarrels between Zapata and Reade break out.
Patterson is the one who remained calm and helped them face their true feelings. From there everything was better and thanks to Patterson – and then to Jane and Kurt – they manage to get out of there.
I found it interesting that Zapata said “you see everything as if it were white or black.” Reade has a moral code and fairly rigid rules. But Zapata has now been working with the CIA and we can only imagine that she has done some pretty gray things. Her moral code is not the same as when working at the FBI, and I think that clash between moral codes will be something we’ll see throughout the season.
Reade
He is the new director of the FBI !. It feels so good to see him in that office and making decisions. Although I think there will be friction with Kurt. Both are leaders with strong characters and Weller was accustomed to be in charge. Now they must adapt to the new dynamics.
Reade’s performance can’t be better. Apart from my personal animosity with Keaton, Reade’s decision to work together is the right one. Inter-agency collaboration is the best solution for such a serious problem. We already proved it in last years season finale, all had to work together to finish Sandstorm. Now they face a similar challenge and must join forces if they want to stop it.
I also liked that they show something as real as Reade’s doubts, seeing something different in the whole situation. Now he is in charge, and being a leader is quite different than just following orders. In addition, his instinct tells him that there are many things that have changed in that time. The secrets seem to be the order of the day.
Ritch Dotcom and Patterson
Patterson is back !. After being in California, she returns to the FBI to do her work… alongside Ritch Dotcom. Our unicorn didn’t like to see Ritch there and feel that he had “usurped” her work. That was her place and now… she sees that she doesn’t have one. It’s hard for her and more when she has as much history as she does with Ritch. But he is delighted to be able to work with her. He was very excited to work with the whole Team – and Scott.
However, nothing is as it seems and we soon discover that Patterson’s surprise at discovering Ritch at the FBI and her “annoyance” in having to work with him weren’t real. The two of them have been seeing each other for something we still don’t know and Patterson is determined to hide it from everyone.
Why? What have they been doing? Again, the secrets are present. And it’s really appealing that every character has their own secrets. I want to know more about this and see them working together!
Apart from this, Ritch seemed like a good addition to the Team, he fits very well. I LOVE this character, but he is very humorous. And although his humor in some episodes is wonderful, I was uncertain as to how it was going to work in the long run. But … it was great! And now I’m even more excited for this!
Keaton and Zapata
All the merit to the actor who plays Keaton – Chad E. Donella – because I totally believe his character. Keaton seems repellent to me, has always seemed that way. I think that’s the goal. Keaton has wanted to put his claws back on Jane since she escaped his tortures – and no one touches my baby like that!. And now he has tried again, wanting the case of new tattoos passed to the CIA – and, by extension, to him.
He wouldn’t even look at Jane – or Zapata – but, although he didn’t get what he wanted, Keaton will be around. Reade has decided that the CIA and the FBI will work together in this case so we’ll get to see more of him – and that seems like it’s going to be interesting.
Especially because there is a specific tattoo in which Keaton and Zapata are interested, one that looks like a dragonfly. I can only imagine that it was some mission that didn’t go very well. Besides, it was sure that Zapata was involved and maybe she did something she should not have. As she herself told Reade “not everything is white or black.”.
Keaton asks Zapata if it’s going to be a problem to investigate that tattoo. So I think that when they do it will be something really powerful that will test the trust that the team has in Zapata. We have to keep in mind that one of the Roman’s objectives is to have Jane know who she’s working with. Therefore, it’s assumed that some “dirt” will come out for the members of the team. What dirt? I’m looking forward to it!
ZAPATA AND READE RELATIONSHIP
There was a lot of tension between them while they were kidnapped. They were both angry, I think they both feel that the other put them aside, abandoned them. And, at the same time, as Patterson points out, they miss each other.
After Jane and Kurt left everything disintegrated, Patterson went to California and they were building something … but that is finished. Zapata accepted the job in the CIA and they separated. The two are faced with this separation, and to reasons for which they have not spoken in so long.
But, of course, they miss each other. They have always worked together and been friends. What they had was special and they miss being in the other’s life. They cover with anger that they need, want to return to the other. It’s always easier to shield yourself in negative feelings than to deal with that kind of need. A dangerous need when you don’t want to face what it means: you care more about that person than you are willing to admit.
Apart from this, am I the only one who thought they had sex before Zapata left?. It gave me that impression and that would add an extra strain to what they already feel. Someone else with the same desire to see where this is going?.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it was a really brilliant episode, with which Blindspot has regained the essence that made it great. The tattoos have brought a very welcome reboot to the show.
Action has not been lacking and has been really spectacular, especially the scene in which Sullivan – without any stunt double – jumps on that boat in Venice. Wow !
In addition, we have witnessed that the secrets will be something important this season. All the characters have something to hide and it will be interesting to discover what’s going on in each case.
Jeller and the relationship between Zapata and Reade have been positioned as something central that we’ll see all season. They’ll have their problems, in fact, they have already presented some, but I trust that they’ll overcome them all.
The new addition of Ritch Dotcom has brought fresh air to the show and has been a complete success.
Roman posits as one of the most charismatic and complex villains we’ve had on the show so far – and maybe there’s something more hidden in that plot than it seems.
In short, it has been a big comeback that has lived up to what we expected after the long wait during this hellatus.
Agree? Disagree? Don’t hesitate to share your opinion with us in the comments below!. We’ll be back next week with episode 3×02 “Enemy Bag of Tricks”.
Blindspot airs Fridays at 8/7c on NBC.