Congratulations Blindspot! You have officially done in three episodes what The Blacklist has still yet to do in 46. I am of course talking about the reveal that Jane Doe is in fact Taylor Shaw (and with The Blacklist, Reddington being Keen’s father), which, having been hinted at in the second episode, was confirmed through the DNA results at the end of Eight Slim Grins.
Eight Slim Grins focused a lot on the trust issues between the team and Jane. Picking up right where we left off at the end of the second episode, the mysterious man whom we had seen in flashes of Taylor’s memory was quickly killed. That in itself was pretty shocking, because I was sure that he had a much bigger role to play in the rest of the season. That said, the fact that the show chose to kill him so early on suggests that they have a very specific plan, which is always good to believe.
Again, Blindspot was smart here. It didn’t drag out the secret-keeping for long enough that it got too boring - despite perhaps one too many requests for honesty making things slightly repetitive - and allowed the wall of distrust separating the pair to be knocked down. Now that Taylor’s role on the team has been much more defined with her access to a gun (and that learning her identity surely ends Reade’s concerns with knowing nothing about her), the show can grow and the team will be able to develop more freely. Also, I loved the way that scene between her and Mayfair was set up as if to suggest Taylor wouldn’t be allowed on the team, only for them to turn it on its head. The only thing that frustrated me a little about this episode is that, like the two before it, the show almost allows us to learn more about her past but it ends up being nothing more than the kind of teasing a cat gets when a piece of string is dangled in front of its face, and swiftly taken away. While I’m not suggesting that Blindspot needs to give us all the answers right away - I’m a patient viewer; I can wait - it’s becoming increasingly frustrating that all of the people the team deal with seem to know Taylor, but die before they can give any meaningful information. It’s a routine that will become tiresome very quickly so they need to mix things up every so often to ensure that viewers aren’t getting bored with the same thing every week.
This, alongside the case file that leads back to her, makes her the second most interesting and unknown character on this show. There is a lot that we don’t know about her, and Blindspot is doing a good job of setting her up as having some dark ulterior motives. My assumption currently is that the case file is closely related to Daylight, but I’m certainly intrigued by her and learning more about what she is hiding is definitely something I’m looking forward to seeing play out. Side note: I’m interviewing Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who plays Mayfair, on Tuesday, so if you have any questions - send them my way!
Overall, Eight Slim Grins was another pretty good episode that gave us lots of character development and set things up really well for the foreseeable future. Blindspot is, without a doubt, on the right track.
Odds and ends:
- Patterson’s puzzle metaphor sounded great, but I didn’t feel that it worked very well.
- The show was picked up for a full season!
- This trailer from New York Comic-Con is amazing.
- Hopefully soon I'll be able to get these reviews up sooner than Sunday evenings. Apologies for the delays so far.
What did you think of Eight Slim Grins? Let me know your thoughts in the comments and remember to send your questions for Marianne Jean-Baptiste!
.JPG)
