It’s been a week, Blindspot fans! And here we are to comment on the new and wonderful episode of our favorite show, titled “Enemy Bag of Tricks.” The episode had everything: lots of action, interesting turns and and honest view of the problems in the team, as well as some secrets being revealed as everyone faces the changes that have taken place over 18 months. Here we go!
CASE OF THE WEEK
The case of the week is, of course, a result of Jane’s first new tattoo. The team discovered that the new tattoos connect with the old ones. They follow the leads to a satellite that supposedly shouldn’t exist. The box it contains gives access to thousands of other satellites and if they’re hacked, it would leave the US vulnerable to a missile attack. North Korea is going to buy that box.
The case is quite urgent and a clue leads them to a man Jane knows, since she coincided with him in some jobs she did while she was on the run. He doesn’t speak but the investigation takes them to Marci Booth from ProTechSat, the agency that builds those missiles and had been helping the team locate it. The men to whom she was going to sell the box kill Marci. And the team ends up finding the box and thwarting North Korea.
This case was quite entertaining, dangerous but with good pace. However, the most attractive thing for me was the different dynamics and problems that this case brought to light within the Team. Things have changed in 18 months, in every sense. And the team as to get used to the new dynamics. Old habits come to light and some secrets about Jane are discovered. All this puts the stability of the team to the test.
I think that this case has been the perfect means by which to bring up these new differences. The urgency of it has made the frantic pace affect the characters, who, with more pressure just acted like they always would, instead of in a pre-planned way.
TEAM BLINDSPOT
Reade and Kurt
Reade and Kurt had big clashes in this week’s episode. They started when Kurt suggested a specific tattoo be analyzed – neither Reade nor Patterson have believed his poor excuse – and they continued during the missions and planning to follow.
Reade has been especially tough. He didn’t like the idea of following the tattoos again and, according to his words, “let the agency be manipulated.” This statement made Kurt jump because Reade has hinted that Kurt was manipulated before. Reade backed off but, does he really think that?. I guess it’s not surprising for Reade to think that a lot of things happened because Kurt decided to start deciphering the puzzle Jane had in her body. But what he doesn’t take into account is that that was precisely the right thing to do.
On his first mission in the field, Reade doesn’t trust Kurt’s confidence that they are in the right place. And, later, both Kurt and Reade begin to give orders at the same time and look at each other defiantly. This dynamic happens throughout the episode. Reade gives orders but doesn’t trust or delegate to his team. His respect is not earned.
I think both parties are in the wrong. The team isn’t used to the new dynamics and they don’t fully respect Reade’s new authority. Especially Kurt, who is a born leader and his instinct is to lead the team as he did before. And Reade, as the director tells him, wants to make his authority so clear that he doesn’t behave like a true leader.
Being a leader is not just about giving orders, it’s about directing the team, making difficult decisions but also trusting your team, including them and delegating when you need. And it’s also about respecting their own work so that they respect you.
Reade realizes his mistakes at the end of the episode and apologizes to all. Everyone must get used to the dynamics and do better. He thanks them for being there and he says he knows that they’re a good team. They still have to work through several things but together, they can move forward. And together they will beat Roman. Reade has realized that Kurt’s decision to follow the tattoos was correct and now he makes the same decision to catch Roman and save some lives in the process. Reade has returned to his senses and will now be a true leader.
Patterson and Stuart
In this episode we have confirmed what we suspected last week. Our unicorn doesn’t like that Stuart is so active in the team. As between Reade and Kurt, there was a clash of powers between them. Patterson was used to being the head of the laboratory, the person who gave all the information about case and warned them when she found new information. However, now there’s Stuart, who has done that for 18 months. And they, of course, clash.
Patterson treated Stuart a little badly – it has to be said – because she has shown on every occasion that she didn’t like it that he took over the laboratory and the investigation. Having said that, I have to say that sometimes I felt like I identified with Patterson. Especially when they were in the midst of a crisis with the missiles and Stuart was studying tattoos.
Patterson was right to call his attention then and ask him what the hell he was doing. At that time Patterson was me, because I was thinking the same thing. The tattoos are really interesting, but it wasn’t the time. Stuart finally confesses that he is only trying to be useful out of Patterson’s path. And there he broke me a little bit. Patterson hasn’t exactly welcomed Stuart and his new position and he has felt the need to get out of the way. He respects and appreciates her, knows that she is the best and is willing to let her lead and take a back seat. But the solution is not that, it’s that they work together.
Patterson had a revelation regarding this when she spoke to Zapata. She realized that Stuart didn’t hate her, he just didn’t know how to talk to her, and that’s why she called him several times to apologize. She realized, at that moment, that she must adapt to the new dynamic and work with him. However, as soon as she arrives at Stuart’s apartment she knows that something is not right. The entrance is forced and when Patterson enters it’s all a mess and Stuart lies dead.
Who could have done something like that?. My first option is Roman but, why?. I don’t see that another person could have done it but I don’t see right now a viable reason why Roman would kill him or have him killed. But maybe there’s something we don’t know because Stuart’s apartment was messy. As if someone was looking for something. What were they looking for? Have they found it? Many questions and secrets that I think are going to be key.
Zapata and Jane
I live to see Zapata defend Jane!. She’s the only one who raised her voice in her favor when Jane confessed that she worked with the man they detained. Jane was saving people, not hurting. She wasn’t doing anything wrong and they shouldn’t judge her for it or tell her that she might be a liability because of it.
This is a breakthrough compared to the beginning of the previous season when Zapata was so angry with Jane that she even shot her without even hesitating. Jane has won Zapata’s heart and Zapata always covers her friends. Always. It’s what we see on this occasion.
I want to see much more of this friendship!. And if they show us some scenes with the three most badass women of all the FBI AKA Jane, Patterson and Zapata, that would be wonderful.
Zapata and Patterson
The two have had a small scene but very significant. Zapata complained to her friend about Reade’s inflexible attitude as a leader. Patterson understands Reade a little more and the situation, giving her a different point of view. And in the end they move onto talking about the rivalry between Patterson and Stuart.
I always like to see these kind of scenes. The friendship of these two characters is wonderful. And one of the points where I think Blindspot should improve is this – show more female friendships. In this episode they have done very well in this regard.
Focusing on the conversation, I think both are right. Reade has been too insensitive in his role as leader. Wanting to make his new authority clear he has forgotten that a true leader makes everyone respect him, that he must delegate and care about his team. But what Patterson says is also true.
Everything has changed during the last 18 months. Nothing is as before and what was once “normal” is no longer. And everyone should get used to that, update their definition of the word “normal”. At the same time, they should also separate the personal aspect from the professional. Personally, maybe they have things to do and don’t get along. But at work, they must work together as a team. Same thing applied to Patterson and Stuart. Although he doesn’t hate her as she “hates” him – although we know that a unicorn like her is incapable of hating .
JELLER
They are so cute!. After seeing the episode several times I still can’t get over seeing Kurt making Jane breakfast and paying attention to her beautiful haircut, can’t get over the phrase “we can’t let Roman separate us” or that final scene where they’re going to eat the “dessert” before dinner. Each kiss, each caress, each smile and each look. I. Can’t. Get. Over. It.
It’s beautiful, wonderful and I love them!. However, I am not deceived, our babies have secrets. Especially Kurt. Those payment due notices make me suspicious. I noticed Kurt’s face when Jane asked him about them. It’s clear that he had to spend a lot of money while he was looking for her, but I think there is something else there … and that has to do with what happened in Berlin. That face of surprise, uncertainty and fear that I have seen in Kurt’s face wouldn’t have existed if there wasn’t something else that he has not told Jane.
After that scene, Kurt asks her if there is something she hasn’t told him yet. And I was surprised that Jane, knowing their money issues, didn’t tell him that she had saved the money. That was resolved at the end of the episode when Jane shows it to him and they talk about it.
However, there are still undisclosed secrets between them. Kurt is helping Roman – by the way, I love this role reversal, in season 1 Jane was the “Trojan horse” – and now, because of what happened in Berlin, which I think will be the biggest obstacle to overcome for them, it’s Kurt’s turn. And I keep wondering what the hell happened there. In addition, Jane has more secrets about what she did while she was on thee run. Now we have met one, and know she was rescuing people, but there is more.
All in all, they’ve had a few very interesting conversations. As I told you last week, Jane is still finding herself. And she was happy with Kurt, but she lacked purpose. With the team she learned that it feels good to save people, to help. When she ran away she recovered that part of her life that she missed. As she tells Kurt she didn’t do it because she had to, she CHOSE to do it. She liked it. It gave her a purpose. She recovered that part of her life that she needs, that is part of her. Jane is happy with Kurt but that does NOT define her. She wants and needs something more in her life, something by herself. Her purpose, her own goal.
I think the key is going to be solved as in this episode. Let them talk about it – Jane has even made Kurt realize that sometimes we work with bad people to do something good – and together they get over it. Just as they make the journey of defining themselves, outside of the couple they are, united. Roman will be putting these kinds of tests to try to manipulate them. As Kurt says, they can’t let him, the only way to get out alive of everything Roman prepares is to be united. They will have problems, highs and lows, but I’m sure they can overcome them and it will be worth it.
ROMA
Roman has surprised me in this episode. His plan is still ongoing and he killed a man to steal his money and something else: his identity. For what? Why? I’m looking forward to finding out! He isn’t leaving anything to chance so he has to have a good reason.
Luke Mitchell is such a good actor … so much, that I even thought he was with a real friend without any secondary reason. I didn’t suspect that everything was an orchestrated plan. And that’s saying a lot, knowing what Roman is capable of and that he can’t form more human connections than what he has with Jane.
I have always felt Roman very sincere, saying every word he said. Great job, Luke. It’s confirmed that Roman will be the best villain the show has had so far. It’s a very complex character brought to life by a really talented actor. Bravo!.
Apart from the wonderful actor, I think I also believed that there was nothing hidden because much of what Roman confessed was true. Some time ago I read that a good lie has a part of truth in it. I think that is one of the reasons why Roman has sold me and his victim his story. And it’s a really important story.
In it, we see that Roman refers to Shepherd as a “monster”. True, she was a monster but we had never seen Roman be aware of it and recognize it. Until now she was his mother who wanted to improve the world and that is why she made certain “sacrifices”. Now, Roman recognizes Shepherd for what she is, a monster. And it seems to me a great step for the character that he recognizes something like that. For him to know that she isn’t a good person and that she was manipulating him to turn him into another monster. If he has any chance of redemption, he has to be clear about that.
Also, in that conversation he talks about Jane and says that she was the only person he had in his life, she betrayed him and has lost her. According to his words, “sometimes he wants to have her again in his life and other times he wants to kill her.” I think this is a direct reflection of what Roman really feels. This is the harsh reality. Jane has always been Roman’s only connection to his humanity, to his heart. The only person who really cares.
In his eyes, she has betrayed him. She hasn’t been able to do what he has always done – choose her before anyone else. That fact makes the bitter taste of betrayal and pain mix with the rage it provokes. That means that when he analyzes his true feelings, he only misses Jane and wants to have her back in his life. He wants to start building something new with her without lies or manipulations. But when he tries not to analyze his deepest feelings, he lets himself be carried away by the blind rage that makes him want to punish and kill her.
For Roman, it’s easier to get carried away by that instinct of rage and anger that is what he knows most, because he has tried all his life to face a pain so deep that it cuts him into a thousand pieces. He just doesn’t know how to deal with any other kind of feeling, so he feels angry.
The character of Roman is really attractive. That duality, the strong connection that maintains with Jane that brings out the best and the worst of him is what makes Roman one of the best characters on the show.
ZAPATA AND READE
After Reade spoke to everyone and promised to improve in their leadership role, they all go home. Except Zapata, who decides to approach him again and goes to his house with a box of beers. Reade, when he sees her again apologizes to her – and I find it funny that after doing it with everyone he felt the need to do it alone with her in a personal way … and even start to joke. In a way, this is their way of saying to each other that they want to start with a clean slate. They want that friendship back.
Zapata wanted to have a few beers with her friend, recover that close relationship they had. In short, get him back and start again right where they left off, not with a romantic relationship but as close friends, and then figure out what came next. However, that plan disappears when Megan, Reade’s new girlfriend, makes an appearance. Zapata has the same WTF face we do when she discovers that they’re living together, so the thing is serious.
Zapata’s face … is disappointment and hurt, a lot. She puts a smile on her face, pretends to be happy for him, when inside she’s breaking. Proof of this is that she wanted to leave immediately, after all, pretending that she’s doing well for 30 seconds is easy, but pretending all night is another thing. Reade senses how Zapata feels and that’s why he doesn’t want her to stay, but Megan insists.
Reade senses Zapata’s discomfort, I think. But, besides that, I think he also feels embarrassed that he didn’t say anything to her about Megan. They had a relationship beyond friendship and I think Reade feels he should have warned her in some way – and he’s absolutely right.
As for Zapata, she was hurt, disappointed. It’s been 18 months and Reade has a serious relationship with another girl, another life. Recovering what they have seems impossible … but nothing is what it seems.
It strikes me that Megan and Reade are already living together but she hasn’t met any of her co-workers yet. It’s as if Reade kept her away from one of the most important parts of his life and didn’t include her. That relationship is not going well … in fact, I think it’s just a band-aid that Reade used to cover the Zapata’s absence.
They were very close, it seemed that they were starting something together and then she left, they separated. Therefore, I think that Reade tried to move forward in all aspects, trying to convince himself that he was well and he didn’t miss her. He put up as a shield to guard his feelings, so as not to suffer Zapata’s loss. Then Megan arrived and Reade let himself be carried away as part of that shield, of the attempt to move on.
Now, Zapata is back in his life and the question is, how long will it be until things with Megan are over? You want to bet? I don’t think it will take long.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this episode maintained the good rhythm of the previous one and presented some of the problems faced by both the team and Jeller as a couple in a masterful way. We are getting more and more into Roman’s plan and the surprises are leaving us stuck to the chair wanting to unravel all the mysteries.
Agree? Disagree?. Do you have any theory about who killed Stuart and why?. And what do you think Roman’s plan is? Don’t hesitate to share your opinion with us in the comments below! We’ll be back next week with episode 3 × 03 “Upside Down Craft”. Here’s the promo for the next episode.
Blindspot airs Fridays at 8 / 7c on NBC.
