The past two episodes of Blindspot gave us two different sides of the coin. 'Solos' was one of the more memorable case of the week episodes, in large part to some electric fight sequences. On the other hand, 'Senile Lines,' was more storyline driven.
The reveal in 'Solos' that the kidnappers were actually enemies of Oliver was an unexpected twist. An Oliver twist, if you will. It was also one that promised a fun episode to come, since we know Jane will use her particular set of skills to get herself and Oliver out of the sticky situation.
The fight scenes were especially hard hitting last week. It was absolutely brutal seeing Oliver accidentally kill that kidnapper with the antlers, and then near the end when Jane stabbed the two abductors, one of them in the freaking neck. I also loved watching Jane whack the hell out of that woman with the fire iron.
Good riddance to see Oliver go his separate ways. Unexpected to happen out of circumstances that began with him and not with Jane and her many enemies, but nonetheless, it was a storyline that gave Jane something to do for the past few episodes, outside of kicking ass, and nothing else. The writers ended it at the right time before it wore out its welcome.
Reade's downward spiral came to a head in 'Solos,' and thankfully reached its apparent conclusion this week in some heartwarming scenes featuring a special guest appearance by Garret Dillahunt as Travis the roommate. Travis seemed sketchy, like he was weening information out of Reade by cozying up to him. By episodes end it seems he was who he said he was, though I wouldn't be surprised if he returns in some capacity.
It is a relief to see Reade finally opening up and accepting and confronting his problems after one too many weeks of emo Reade. The bond between Reade and Zapata, as I have written many times, has been one of the stronger aspects of this series and it was heartwarming to see them watch the video together and rekindle their friendship.
Elsewhere, Patterson served two different purposes week to week. In 'Solos' we see her have an emotional breakdown, but then in 'Senile Lines' she is the comic relief with her inability to pronounce the doctor's name in a couple of hilarious moments. When Patterson is serious the show feels way too melodramatic. It is great to see that she has kept some of her humour this past episode.
Lastly, another positive is seeing Roman out of his cell. More scenes between Jane and Roman equals a good thing, and with Roman out and about their interactions will feel less confined. Hopefully we will see him taking a bigger role in the action scenes.
While 'Solos' provided an entertaining episode, 'Senile Lines' was less enthralling. No memorable fight scenes, the case of the week was a relative bore, and most of the interviews were neither exciting nor boring (due to Weitz' charisma as the interviewer). It was all really a device to write Nas Kamal out.
The exit did not have the impact that Blindspot probably intended it to due to the divisiveness of Archie Punjabi's character. Though the actress has a strong screen presence, her character never really found her groove in the series. Nas' romantic entanglement with Weller was especially a complete fail and irreparably ruined her character. But is this truly the end? I'll believe it when I see it.
Overall, both episodes did not offer any progress in the Sandstorm storyline. However, 'Solos' was a memorable episode due to some exciting action sequences and a strong case of the week. On the other hand, 'Senile Lines' fell flat, ultimately resulting to it being a setup episode for the final three episodes, sans-Nas.
Solos: 8.5/10
Seline Lines: 7/10
