By the end of the third season, it was clear “Blindspot” would undergo some changes as the main protagonist might not by a protagonist, by definition, anymore. Jane is no longer Jane. She doesn’t remember the past few years of her life, like Jane Doe never even existed; she’s Remi and she hates the FBI. Her last memory remains Oscar telling her she was going to wake up in Times Square, but instead she woke up married to an FBI Agent, with a huge chunk of time missing.
That, in itself, dramatically shifted the dynamic of the show, for the better, in my opinion. It needed to be done. After a few seasons of tattoo solving, the change in structure is more than welcome, adding just enough freshness to the already seasoned show.
“You have done something with your hair. Your whole vibe is edgier. It’s a triumph.” –Boston
The tattoos are no longer the sole focus, but that does not mean that they are being pushed under the rug, like they never existed. They are still relevant and are still being uncovered; they’re simply not the only thing pushing the weekly plot forward. For the first few episodes, they’ve managed to find a way to steer clear of the: Patterson solves a tattoo and then the team arrests a bad guy. It’s the routine the viewers have been accustomed to for the past few years, and it had grown tiresome. They are not done with Jane’s tattoos just yet, but they bring them up in a way that doesn’t seem mundane. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate procedurals, and I believe this one has just enough creative twists to keep me interested.
There are a lot of side quests in this forth season. I found it to be a lot less unilateral than in the past seasons. There are tattoos, Roman caches, Books of Secrets, Sandstorm and Crawford Industries. Am I missing anything?
It’s in a Tokyo hidden cache that the team uncovered the information on Jane’s Zip poisoning. She’s dying, and Roman might have found a way to cure it, but he’s making them work for it beyond the grave. I’m not sure if I share this opinion with the majority of the fan base, but I love the way they managed to keep Luke Mitchell on the show. It makes sense that she would see him. She’s alone, and he’s her brother. Yes, she had an ally for about five minutes, the last Sandstorm survivor, but he was killed a very short time later.
Being the last of her breed, she wants to get her mother out of the CIA blacksite, but that’s not a small feat. By having Jane have hallucinations she can work alone in trying to bring Sandstorm back, without actually being alone. A whole season of Jane working by herself would have gotten boring very quickly.
“When this ends, it ends on my terms.” -Remi
This line, despite being a lie to get out of a sticky situation, I found to be very foreshadowing, I am not sure why. Her death will be something she will want to have control over, no matter if she Jane or Remi in her last moments.
I was wondering how long Remi would be able to fool Kurt, and the answer was for that was about three episodes, and it was about damn time. The sappy, tearful Kurt is not the type of Kurt I want to see on my screen, it was way too much mush. Kurt, who was in a coma for a week after being shot, is soon in the field once again, and spending day and night with him is hard on Remi. She hates Kurt; hates everything he represents and pretending 24/7 is hard on her. She’s starting to crack. She is prepared to kill him, or thinks she is. She prepares a poisonous syringe, just in case. When he catches her red handed, when the occasion to kill him presents herself, with Roman trying to convince her to do it, she doesn’t. Not all is lost. I don’t think she’s as cold hearted as she makes herself out to be. Then again, I have to remember that Roman is not Roman, but a product of Remi’s mind; he’s her subconscious, so everything he says does not come from him, but from her. She’s in constant inner turmoil with herself.
I am wondering though, since Jane had Remi flashbacks during the first season, will Remi have Jane flashbacks during the season? Do you guys think they will be able to get her back, or is she really gone?
In the second episode, Rich solved a tattoo that seems tied to Zero Division, the same division Nas is working for. I hate when shows do flashbacks of the episode, and Blindspot is guilty of that, like we are too stupid to remember what happened 20 minutes ago, but I was glad to have the Nas flashback. I would have missed that reference completely, and I love when a show has that type of continuity.
“In here is where the crime solving happens. This is the interesting stuff. They have no idea what we do, that is why we show our work.” -Patterson
While I do agree that the lab is interesting work, I would not have all the episodes structured in that manner, I like being a witness to the action. Once in a while though, it’s fun to change it up a little. The third episode changed its set up, only focusing on the FBI headquarters, not going in the field with the team. It focused mainly on Patterson, which is always entertaining. She’s intelligent, funny and quick on her feet. She and Rich’s dynamic is also very amusing to watch. He’s less over the top than he was in the past, which makes their back and forth more authentic. One thing I did not love in the third episode was the strange hue of blue that took over in most of the lab scenes. I’m sure there was a reason, and people a lot smarter than me took that conscious decision, but as a gut feeling, I just didn’t like it.
As far as side quests go, Rich is on a mission to catch his white whale, The Book of Secrets. Patterson does not share his enthusiasm; she’s a scientist and she doesn’t believe in the myth. It’s a red herring. Mentioned in Roman’s cache, Rich believes it might be the key to curing Jane. And, on the plus side, it could satisfy his curiosity; Rich has been searching for it for years on the Dark Web. They have stayed ague on what the book actually is, but I’m guessing we’ll get more information as the season moves on.
Lastly, all on her lonesome, Tasha has gotten her foot into Crawford industries. She moves all over the world working for the new head of Crawford Industries. I believe she was grooming Blake to be the new CEO, so she could have played her, but she got in over her head when Madelyn poisoned the entire board, Blake included. Quick on her feet, she uses her knowledge of the FBI and the CIA to get into Madelyn’s inner circle, becoming her cleaner and her fixer. The team is unaware of her plan, of her whereabouts, she’s off the books. It’s clear, even in doubt; they believe she is still one of the good guys. I guess it is true that Tasha has done shady things in the past, but there is a huge step between gambling debts and terrorism. She is not okay with everything that is happening, it’s easy to see. Am I right, or am I right?
What are your opinions about the first three episodes? Do you embrace the change, or wished they wouldn't have erased Jane's memories?
Also, I will now be reviewing this show weekly. Let me know your thoughts!
