Welcome to the Legion!

jane mysterious bearded man

Legion contributor Andrea Levine is recapping and reviewing Blindspot for us this season. Follow her on Twitter @wysefyre!

Eight Slim Grins picks up where we left off last week. Jane’s in her safe house, unwinding, and the Mysterious Bearded Man appears from behind. Now we get to see how the rest of it plays out.

MBM tries to keep Jane calm, but Jane attacks him, and they fight. He doesn’t want to hurt her, and asks about her SEAL tattoo. Jane takes a while to calm down enough to stop hitting him and talk to him. She mentions that she remembers him. “That’s impossible!” They start to talk, but he’s conveniently placed himself in front of a window and gets shot down. He has just enough time to tell her not to trust “them” before dying. Go figure.

Over at the FBI, everyone is trying to figure out who MBM was. He’s like Jane, a ghost. Jane talks to Dr. Borden about the attack. He mentions how it’s a violation, but Jane points out that when you take her loss of memories and full body of non-consented to tattoos, a home invasion is pretty low on her list of violations. Good point. But Borden asks her is she feels safe. Does she trust the FBI? And this helps set the tone for the entire episode. It’s all about trust.

While that’s happening, Weller and Director Mayfair are discussing whether or not to tell Jane about her possibly being Taylor Shaw. Weller wants to, Mayfair does not. She doesn’t think it will sit well with Jane is the results come back negative. Jane witnesses the tail end of their conversation and asks Weller about it, but he deflects her, asking about MBM’s last words. Before the tension gets too high, Patterson comes in with the case of the week.

masked bandits

A group of men known as the Candymen, for their brightly colored masks, robbed a jewelry store, but something went wrong. One guy was shot and he has a tattoo that is exactly like Jane’s SEAL tat. That is most unusual. Jane and Weller go to talk to him, but he’s a mess and goes into surgery when they get there.

Reade figures out who the wounded gunman is – Casey Roebek, a former Black Ops SEAL. He along with his brother, Travis, and their friend, Omar, all served together and were discharged together. 2 + 2 = Candymen. Patterson, using her genius skills and an Automatic License Recognition Program, helps locate the car used in the heist. Off to Queens, the team goes.

They arrive at a strip mall, and Jane wants to help search the stores, but Weller makes her stay in the car. While she’s grumpily waiting, she looks over the case file and flashing back to what MBM said. Then she spots Travis.

tasha taking a shot

Instead of doing the smart thing and radioing the team, she decides to leave the car and follow him. He spots her, and runs. She follows. He hits her with a gun. It goes off, and Tasha shows up. Ultimately, Travis gets away, and Weller is pissed. Jane should have listened. During this argument, Jane brings up the conversation she saw between him and Mayfair. She knows he’s lying, and he points out that she is disrupting the rhythm he has with the rest of his team, and she needs to earn their trust.

They catch another break, thanks again to Patterson, and locate Isabella. She’s a friend of a cousin of Omar’s and she was casing the jewelry store before the heist. The team minus Jane goes to talk to her, and Jane is left to pout at the FBI.

Once again, it’s Patterson to the rescue (noticing a trend?). She helps Jane understand that it’s not just about what she can do and how she can be an asset to the team, it’s also about how the team has been one way for so long, that adding another piece to the puzzle needs some time to adjust to. She’s so wise. She also gets a ping on another one of Jane’s tattoos. It’s the case file that we saw in Mayfair’s possession in the pilot. Patterson gets a hard copy and brings it to Mayfair, who says she’ll deal with it later.

Weller, Reade, and Tasha speak with Isabella. She tells them of a boat Omar owns, and possibly lives on, but they can’t find one listed to him in any database. They make plans to raid the different marinas, when they’re notified that Casey is out of surgery and awake. Reade tries to convince Weller to let him go with Jane, but Weller won’t listen, so he and Jane go to Casey, while Reade and Tasha go to the marinas.

weller yells at jane

At the hospital, while Weller and Jane are waiting for Casey to wake up, they start to argue, but before they get too far into it, the lights go out, and it’s the Candymen coming to get Casey. They can’t radio or call for help, because Travis used a jammer. They’re on their own.

After instructing Casey’s doctor to get as many patients out of the halls, Weller and Jane move Casey to the hospital kitchen. Weller gives Jane his gun and then goes off to find the other Candymen. Casey wakes up and confirms non-verbally that he recognizes Jane. Before she can get more info out of him, Omar appears. Jane hides, but Casey signals to him where she is. He attacks. They fight. Jane shoves a knife in him, and that’s the end of Omar.

Jane goes in search of Weller because he’s vulnerable, now that the Candyman he put down was discovered. She saves him, and now the only Candymen left are Travis and Casey. They go back to Casey, but he’s gone.

By now, word got back to the FBI and they have mobilized in front of the hospital. Travis is trying to take Casey and his doctor out, but they can’t get out. The doctor runs off, and Travis goes back into the hospital, where Weller and Jane are waiting. Travis essentially commits suicide by cop after tearfully apologizing to Casey. Casey is struggling to hold on as Jane begs him to tell her how he knows her. He utters the word “Orion” before dying. As Weller and Jane leave the hospital, they talk one more time. Jane confesses what MBM said, and Weller, deciding to go against orders, tells Jane about Taylor Shaw. Jane can trust him because he’s been looking for her his whole life. Aaaaawww.

Back at the FBI, Mayfair and the team discuss Orion and what to do about Jane. It’s decided that she will be given a weapon, providing she passes all the tests. They are going to trust her. And then Patterson appears. She has the tests results. In a fun twist, Jane Doe IS Taylor Shaw.

While Jane and Weller are left to deal with those ramifications, Mayfair is at a bar, waiting for Thomas Carter. Who is he? Not a clue. I’m just going off of what IMDB says. What we do know is he and Mayfair were involved in an Op called “Daylight” and there were only four people who knew about it. One is dead and two are talking, so who is the fourth person? Hopefully, we’ll find out soon, because Carter is pressuring Mayfair to eliminate Jane, because her tattoos might contain clues to Daylight. Mayfair is more concerned with the people who did everything to Jane than Jane herself. Mayfair needs to manage the situation.

A few things to note:

~ Reade continues to be the lone voice of reason/doubt/skepticism. As he rightfully points out, who else gets to investigate their own case? I hope they’re not setting him up in some way.

~Tasha needs more to do. Right now, she occasionally speaks, but is mostly there as another body. If she’s a part of the team, then she’s a part of the team. She needs to get involved.

~ The show has too many aerial shots. I love New York and its skyline, but enough is enough

~ Blindspot filmed in a neighborhood I know, and I wasn’t aware of it. This makes me sad, but I’m glad they were there. It’s a good neighborhood.

Blindspot continues to fascinate and frustrate. It has a fantastic cast and all the elements of a great show, but like Weller, Jane, and the team, it’s not quite gelling yet. I think if the show were to eliminate the gimmicks, it would be able to find its voice quicker. There is so much potential here. What do you think?

 

 

 

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Andrea Levine

Andrea Levine is an East Coast based geek, who has more fandoms than she cares to admit. When she isn't talking about the latest geeky news, she's obsessing over musical theater. Her dream is to successfully bring geekdom and musical theater together (I'm looking at you, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark). You can read more of her exploits as Wysefyre over at [insertgeekhere].