“This Profound Legacy” returned to the original format viewers have come to expect. While some of this season’s “case of the week” has revealed secrets about what our favorite characters were up to during the time jump, the case of the week served more as a parallel to what Jane is going through. Jaimie Alexander does a great job in the episode, from conveying Jane’s desperation to find out the truth and guilt over giving her daughter up for adoption. Granted, Weller’s big dark secret of what, or at least part of what, exactly happened in Berlin was revealed, but I’m going to save my outrage for later. We also get to see Paterson and Zapata working together to find yet another mole in the FBI, Reade being slightly sketchy and a random cameo from Weitz. So without further ado, let’s begin.
The case of the week is actually pretty interesting. When a tattoo case leads the team to a warehouse full of untested rape kits, it looks like the one of the kits may incriminate someone powerful, like a senator or CEO, thus explaining why several of warehouses were firebombed. However, as it turns out, the person behind the warehouse fires didn’t want the truth of the sexual assault getting out for a different reason. As it turns out, a woman named Yasmine was raped by the king of the fictional country of Kazahrus. This theoretically shouldn’t be a problem as the king died a month ago, and his younger brother has taken over the throne. However, Yasmine got pregnant as a result of the assault and had a son named Vanya, making him the rightful heir to the Kazahrusian throne, not the late king’s brother. So what we thought to be a standard case turned into a war of succession. Vanya only learned about the attack when he was 18 and never knew who his father really was until the night before when assassins tried to kill him. So unless you’ve never watched any television before now, it’s pretty clear that Yasmine and Vanya’s situation serves as a parallel for Jane and her discovery she has a daughter. Understandably, Jane is going through a hard time. I mean first, she has to grapple with the possibility she had a daughter and gave her child up for adoption. Don’t you just had it when your memory’s been wiped and you can’t remember if you actually had a child? Despite Paterson’s certainty, Jane needs to the truth. She used to believe she was Taylor Shaw and when she found out she wasn’t, her whole sense of identity was ripped away from her; she can’t go through that again, and she shouldn’t have to. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, Roman confirms to Jane she did have a daughter and put her up for adoption. Not surprisingly, Shepherd forced Jane to give up her daughter, as apparently being a grandmother would have gotten in the way of her plans to take over the world. While Roman was forthcoming with some answers, he left out the part that Jane wanted to know the most: where her daughter is now.
After receiving confirmation, Jane wants nothing more than to find her daughter. She’s so desperate to locate her child that she even considers talking to Shepherd to get answers. Jane thinks Vanya’s entire world would be rocked upon learning the truth, like hers was when she learned she had a daughter that she gave up for adoption, but Vanya says he knows exactly who he is. While both discoveries change Jane and Vanya’s lives, he still has his mother to lean on. His father may have been a rapist and a king but knowing that doesn’t change who he is; he is still his mother’s son. Whereas, Jane learning about her daughter shakes her sense of self because she has no idea where her child may be, no idea what happened to her daughter. She has Weller to lean on, but there are still so many unknowns while Vanya finally has answers to a question he asked his entire life. Jane, on the other hand, feels like she has somehow failed as a mother and failed her daughter, like she didn’t protect her daughter. Her entire world has once again been turned upside down, and she’s confused and desperate and consumed by guilt. Again, this has a lot to do with her inability to remember exactly what happened. She doesn’t know if her daughter was adopted by a nice, wealthy family or ended up in the foster care system. She is completely in the dark, desperate for answers. She can’t fathom how she ever allowed someone to take her child, despite Weller’s reassurances that she was a child herself at the time. Despite her entire sense of self being shaken, one thing is clear; she has to find her daughter and know that the child is all right. In that moment she’s adamant about doing whatever it takes, but after seeing how Vanya’s life was turned upside by learning the truth about his parentage, she changes her mind. What Jane wants is for her daughter to be happy, and she believes that will be a lot easier if her child doesn’t know about her. Learning that your mother is a former terrorist who had her memories erased to infiltrate the FBI isn’t exactly the way normal reunions go between adopted children and their biological parents. As if learning that wouldn’t be jarring enough, Jane could be putting her daughter in danger. Roman is steadfast in his desire to get revenge on Jane, and he would have no qualms using his niece as a bargaining chip if it served him. For all Jane knows, her daughter has a happy and normal life and meeting her biological mother could upend that. Of course, that’s not exactly true.
And then we have Weller, who got bumped to the top of my hit list. I mean are you [insert bad word] kidding me right now? I was literally screaming at my television following this reveal. I cannot believe Weller not only knew Jane had a daughter but had met her. Remember that thing that happened in Berlin that Roman is holding over Weller’s head, well this is it. While searching for Jane, Weller runs into this girl who is also looking for the same person. When he asks Avery why, she reveals Jane is her biological mother. I had thought the big secret was something like Weller had a one-night stand, but it turns out he’s known Jane has had a daughter this entire time because he’s [insert same bad word here] met her. Like I can’t even fathom why Weller didn’t tell Jane about Avery the second they were reunited or had settled back into their routine or even after Rossi dropped off the adoption papers. I know Jane said she didn’t want to upend to Avery’s life, but her daughter has been actively looking for her. It’s not like Avery has no interest in meeting Jane; she went halfway across the world searching for her biological mother. Viewers expect Shepherd and Roman to pull this sort of crap, not telling Jane she has a daughter, but I never would have dreamed Weller would do something like this in a million years. Like he saw how painful it was for Jane to not know whether Rossi was telling the truth or not and then her desire to find her daughter, yet he said nothing. It’s not like Jane is just some member of his team anymore; she’s his wife now. He literally spent 18 months searching for this woman but refused to tell her something so big and important about her past. He knows how much this means to her, but he’s still keeping it a secret. I’m assuming viewers will learn why Weller is hiding the truth from Jane, but if she finds out from anyone but him, this could destroy their marriage. Jane has been very adamant about not letting Roman get between them, but this would be the reveal that breaks the camel’s back. When Jane finds out, there may not be a way for Weller to fix what he inevitably will break.
Let me just start by saying I am loving Paterson and Zapata’s friendship. Paterson’s usually by herself in the corner solving tattoos while Zapata is out in the field with Reade. However, Reade’s new position as head of the New York field office has allowed Paterson and Zapata to team up. After Zapata gets nowhere when she confronts Reade about his slightly shady meeting with Jonathan West, also known as the State Department guy, and Reade tries to wave Paterson off following the “biggest lead” she has in Stuart’s murder, both start to wonder what’s going on with Reade. After Paterson couldn’t recover anything off Stuart’s phone, she and Zapata decide to pretend they found something and see if anyone from the FBI tampers with the evidence. And it looks like someone took the bait, as he or she supposedly used Reade’s login and erased the fake phone data. Zapata, being the ever loyal friend, tries to come up with an alternate explanation, asserting that Reade is family, yet Paterson counters that Borden was family as well. So just as viewers are maybe, sort of, possibly starting to doubt Reade’s allegiance to the team, Paterson figures out Reade didn’t actually log in, once again using her backdoor access thanks to Wizardville, and delete the data; he was actually out getting coffee at the time, and someone else erased the fake data using Reade’s log in. So if Reade isn’t the mole, then who could it be? Well, Paterson apparently analyzed the biometric signature of the person using Reade’s log in and it turns out Hirst is behind it. Of course, we as viewers are supposed to be super shocked by this reveal, as we never would have figured out that a character just introduced would be the mole. Despite this answer, it only leads to a million more questions. Did Hirst kill Stuart? Is she covering up his murder? Has she been tampering with the evidence this whole time? What else is she up to? Paterson does more super sleuthing and finds our Hirst knew Lowie and could have been manipulating their tattoo cases this whole time because they pointed to her.
So Paterson and Zapata share their theory with Reade, but he doesn’t want to hear any of this without definitive proof, leading to the question of whether Reade is blinded by his loyalty to Hirst or if he’s covering for her. We know Reade is obviously hiding something, as shown by his super vague meeting with Hirst, but we still don’t have any further details about what that could be. My guess is that whatever the meeting with West was, it doesn’t have anything to do with Stuart’s murder. We’ll probably find out what he was up to when it’s revealed during a tattoo case. As for Hirst, no one is really surprised to find out she is the mole or connected to this new conspiracy. Avid TV viewers have learned by now not to trust new characters. The Borden reveal worked because he had been a plant in the FBI since the start of the series. Granted, it was really obvious he was the mole in season two, but no one would have suspected him, at least I didn’t, as being in league with Shepherd in season one. When the character started appearing in every episode, alarm bells should have been going off. Like I’ve said in my previous reviews, I don’t really care for the character and won’t be sad when she’s gone. That said I hope the writers take full advantage of her eventual betrayal with how it affects Reade. They’re obviously close, so it would be nice to see how this rattles him. After the rest of the team learns of Hirst’s betrayal, I really hope they start being more cautious with who they trust. It’s like you’re sort of bringing this on yourself by being so open and trusting about everything.
Some stray thoughts:
- What exactly was the point of Weitz’s return other than to be really annoying? I mean, yes he provided the team with information about Kazahrus, but unless it’s revealed he’s the mole, then why bother?
- Exactly how many times has Paterson used her backdoor access from Wizardville to hack into people’s phones? She told Rich in “Upside Down Craft” she had never used it before until then and told Zapata the same thing this episode.
- How many times are we going to have to watch yet another mole within the team? Can't the writers find a new way to introduce a threat without it always being a traitor in their midst?
So hit the comments below to let me know what you think. When will Jane come face to face with her daughter? Why is Weller keeping what happened in Berlin a secret? What exactly is Reade up to? Is Hirst covering up Stuart’s murder?
