Roman is one of our favorite Blindspot characters and we’re thrilled to know that we will see A LOT of him during the new season of our favorite show.
One of the aspects that make Roman’s character more interesting and attractive is his personality. Throughout the show, there have been essential moments that have helped him develop a specific personality and instincts. We have compiled the 10 most important moments that have shaped Roman’s personality and we want to share them with you.
Here we go!
1. The first time he kills someone
The first time he killed someone was a turning point for the character; the culmination of all the violence that was living in his own flesh. It’s as if, at that moment, Roman made a decision that set the course of his life and changed everything forever. Until then, he had endured all the blows, the taunts, the pain, the rage, the fear … but at that moment everything exploded in the way they had trained him to explode.
That was the beginning of his story. In his earliest childhood Roman learned that the way to respond to an attack, a mockery and a threat was violence, and that he should always attack first, without compassion and without any doubt. They were turning him into a killing machine, stripping him of his humanity little by little.
That was a lesson that was further shaped later by Shepherd and made him into the Roman we know today.
2. The coin.
Jane was always the only person who had a real human connection with Roman. We learned this in the flashbacks of their childhood, t. In the orphanage, Jane was the most violent, the least intimidated; Roman was different, he was afraid, he was really terrified and he didn’t know how to handle everything he felt, he simply couldn’t use the violence they were teaching him and he felt so lonely … helpless.
But Jane never left him alone. She was always by his side. There is a specific scene that’s really significant, in it, Jane gives a coin to Roman. That coin is a symbol, a symbol of the fact that he isn’t alone, a symbol that his sister loves him and will always be there, supporting and protecting – and that will be reciprocal – a reminder that no matter what happens, they’ll face and overcome everything together. Always.
When Roman had doubts about whether he should be loyal to Jane and help her or, on the contrary, whether he should betray her and let Shepherd take care of her, Roman took out that coin and remembered that moment and the circumstances in which Jane gave it to him and what it meant. That coin is a symbol of everything that Jane and Roman mean to each other, everything that they have lived and that connection with Jane has always been, for better or for worse, vital to Roman.
3. Kat
As we explained here, human connections or the lack of them, were essential in the creation of Roman’s personality. Apart from Jane, Roman had a significant connection with another person: Kat Jarrett, his girlfriend for a while.
Through flashbacks we can see that she meant a lot to him,that he loved her. or once he connected with someone outside of Sandstorm and Jane. In fact, they were about to escape their respective lives of crime and violence together, to be able to start a new life, leaving behind their past, changing the course of their lives. However, at that time Jane was convinced that Sandstorm was the right choice and made sure that Roman left Kat before they could escape.
We will never know what would have happened if Roman had fled from that life, we can never have any idea if that would have helped him change. When Roman was with Kat, his humanity was still out, almost sunken but still close to the surface, yet in imminent danger of sinking under layers and layers of darkness. I’m convinced that if Roman had been able to go with Kat, his humanity would have begun to reappear with ever greater force.
Not that Kat was the ideal person for Roman, since she too had had a turbulent life full of violence and Roman needed someone with more light to help him find his own inner light and humanity. But Kat was the ideal person to make Roman react and get out of that spiral of darkness and chaos that was his life, so that he could be able to change – just like Jane did after they erased her memory.
By the time Jane asked him to leave Kat, Roman chose Jane over Kat, the connection he had with Jane was much stronger, Jane meant more to him, she was his sister, who had always been by his side and Roman felt he should listen. Therefore, he made the decision to continue with the life he was living, an important choice that would mark his personality and what would happen next.
4. Roman’s protection of Jane when Sandstorm has doubts about her loyalty.
When Jane returns to Sandstorm after her infiltration into the FBI, Roman is the only one who receives her without any suspicion, because for him it’s impossible for someone as loyal to him as Jane to have betrayed them. However, Roman soon begins to doubt Jane and his reaction really means something.
On the one hand, Roman doesn’t tell Shepherd the suspicions he has about Jane, somehow protecting her from what might happen if Shepherd finds out but on the other hand, he threatens Jane, promising that if he discovers that she is not loyal to Shepherd – and, by extension, to him – he will not hesitate to find the person she loves the most and kill him to punish her.
This moment is key, because we can see clearly the changes in Roman, he still wants to protect his sister, as they promised when they were children but, at the same time, the lessons they have taught him since the orphanage are totally rooted in him, and because of it, he is a pragmatic person who acts by pushing aside the only human bond he knows, because that is what they have been taught to do.
For the first time, Roman puts his brutal training over Jane and uses it to attack her. Even his human connection with Jane is in danger, even though both are suffering for it, Roman’s choice is clear: if they try it, choose the mission and Shepherd and not even Jane can avoid it or so it seems.
5. He chooses Jane above Shepherd.
As usual, nothing is as it seems and when Roman has the real choice of choosing his mission – and Shepherd – above his sister, he doesn’t. He turns on Shepherd to protect her.
We see here that the brotherhood between these two characters is stronger than it seems, when everything seemed lost between them, the bond returns with all its force. For Roman it’s almost impossible to go against Jane, even though she has disappointed him, because she’s the only one who has always protected him, who has always been there, as promised and he has to honor that promise, even if he disagrees with her decisions.
Roman makes a new life choice at this moment, Roman’s humanity still clings to the last chink he has found and that little hole could be none other than Jane, the person who Roman loves the most. Despite all the violence, darkness and lack of love, Jane is different from Roman’s eyes, Jane is above all others, she’s worth it and Roman turns his back on everything for her, making a very important decision and showing us that the only thing that saves Roman from complete darkness is his sister.
6. New Roman.
After Jane erased his memory, we came across a totally new Roman, I would even say a sweet version of him. It’s the Roman we would have known if he had not had such a turbulent and violent life.
During all the time that Roman has no memory, we see him differently, with all his humanity on the surface, practically living a normal life – within an abnormal situation , revealing the “what would happen?” of this character that we always wanted to know.
And he gives us so much tenderness! Roman is really adorable … on the surface, because if we look more deeply, we can see that his training is still there, ready to re-appear when needed. They have taken away so much humanity that he isn’t able to really love someone, to form strong and real human connections beyond the one he already had with Jane.
The lack of memories has not erased the person Roman is at his core but the weight of his actions and the responsibility of them – heart that doesn’t see, heart that doesn’t feel – is lifted, which presents him with a new opportunity, for he can work in those human connections, in that light that still exists within him, although he really sees it more as a condemnation, a punishment, than an opportunity.
This new Roman marks the beginning of a new stage for him, a new attitude, and shows us that his personality has been formed by manipulation from a very young age. If manipulation hadn’t existed, Roman would have been such a normal boy … tears come to my eyes to think that in his tenderest childhood he – and Jane – were abused both physically and mentally. My children didn’t deserve something like that … nobody does.
7. Connection with the FBI and Jane.
After Roman’s change, human connections begin to emerge and, for the first time, exist beyond Jane.
After many misgivings, team Blindspot begins to include Roman in the missions and in the field, they begin to trust him more and, although they still see him as dangerous and an enemy, treat him differently and work with him, especially Kurt who, because it’s very important to Jane that Roman is as well and as comfortable as possible, makes many concessions with Roman – my Jeller heart melts with this..
Roman, for the first time begins to feel that he has people by his side who aren’t manipulating or harming him and that, coupled with the fact that his relationship with Jane has grown stronger because she has been by his side at all times, believing and trusting in him, gradually causes Roman to open more and more to another kind of life than the one he had.
8. Flashbacks about his past.
Along with the new bonds that Roman is creating comes the fear of losing them. He is afraid to feel alone, isolated, to return to being the person he was and to lose everything that he has gained.
Through flashbacks, Roman remembers everything he did throughout his life, what he lived and is afraid to know who he was … and to become that person again. There is a memory that stands out among all and that is when Roman evokes the moment in which – by order of Shepherd – he killed the mother of Taylor Shaw, a person who was very important to Kurt.
Kurt is the only one who really treats him well and accepts him inside the team despite everything that has happened and Roman is terrified that he will despise him again, that the bond – still very weak – that they have will break.
However, Roman makes a really important and interesting choice when he discovers what he did: despite his fear, he makes the right choice and wants to tell Kurt.
This is further proof that this is a new Roman, given that he cares about the feelings of others and is able to overcome his fears to prioritize the feelings of another person because he cares. The old t Roman would never have done that, since he wouldn’t have been able to empathize with Kurt’s pain or understand that he really deserves and needs to know the truth.
9. Roman discovers the truth.
All Roman’s advances disappear immediately when he discovers that Jane has lied to him and it was she who erased his memory and not Shepherd as he had been made believe.
Although his bond with the team was increasing, especially with Kurt, the tie with him was still too weak and had resented when Kurt discovered the truth about Taylor’s mother. Jane continued being the most important connection that Roman had, in fact, she was the main one, the link between Roman and everyone else. And he feels that she has betrayed him.
Never before had Roman felt this way, never had Jane betrayed him, not him, and it’s the first time Roman feels that Jane has broken the pact they had made since childhood, the first time he feels that she has failed him, the only person he thought never would.
As a result of this, the old Roman returns with all his strength and intensity, his old instincts were there, just waiting … and in this moment they surface and we see a Roman devoid of his one “weakness” :humanity. It’s even worse than before because now the only person who could bring him to the here and now, who could make him think – Jane – is the person who betrayed him, the one that causes his worst instincts and brings them to the light.
This time, Roman feels he has lost the only worthy person in his life, the only one who cared about him and that radically changes his actions and he is carried away by the blind rage and pain he feels. Pain for Jane’s treason, pain over feeling that he has definitely lost his sister because, in his eyes, she has chosen the FBI before him.
10. Attack on Jane and asking her to kill him
After this situation, Shepherd offers an exit to Roman and he responds by joining her, to punish Jane, to end all that she loves and defends.
The confrontation of the siblings is something brutal because of how emotional it is. Roman wants to kill her, use that rage, focus on her to end it all at once, but Jane only defends herself, doesn’t want to hurt him. Roman is all pain, rage and suffering … he feels he’s broken in a thousand pieces and wants to destroy Jane, wants her to feel as broken as he does and wants to punish her, because he really wants to punish himself.
For Roman, Jane has chosen strangers before him, failing him, betraying him and it’s something so painful that he can’t stand it, that is why he prefers to hold on to anger and rage because he doesn’t know how to handle the l pain he feels in his heart … Jane has broken him, she’s really done him in..
This is something that’s proven at the end of the confrontation between them- Roman pleads with Jane to end his life and does so for two reasons: he can’t bear the pain of knowing that she has betrayed him, that the only person who always chose him above all else doesn’t do it anymore and also, the suffering is killing him. Jane has killed him in life and he wants her to give him the coup de grace, somehow be compassionate and don’t force him to live with that pain .
But Roman is a survivor … and rage is the only thing that keeps him standing.. He’s going to hold on to that anger instead of facing his true feelings – hence the next season we see that he will not stop at nothing to destroy Jane – although this is a mistake, but this is what they have been taught to do.
It’s all so heartbreaking … it just breaks you in a thousand pieces, because it’s impossible not to be on Jane’s side but neither is it possible not to understand Roman and our heart suffers with him, for him.
Agree? Disagree? Would you add more key moments to Roman’s personality? Don’t hesitate to share your opinion with us in the comments below!
Blindspot returns on Friday, Oct. 27 at 8/7c (NBC).
