Blindspot – Balance of Might

By starrymag | January 26, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

John Saya (Jim True-Frost) tells Akoi Salih (Hubert Point-Du Jour), Jaden (Ronald Peet) and Winny (Emma Claye) that he’s sending them to America. As they express their excitement, Roman (Luke Mitchell) approaches them and addresses them by name. He warns them that they are in danger and they can’t trust Saya. They refuse to believe him, but Roman hands them Megan’s (Reshma Shetty) business card, promising them that she will save their life.

 

Six months later, Megan ignores a call and tells Edgar Reade (Rob Brown) that a refugee keeps calling wanting to share his story about Camp Iko. She has no interest in the story, but Reade recognizes the name from one of Jane’s tattoos and offers to go with her to meet him. Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) leaves a message for Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander), telling her that he should be the one staying at a hotel and telling her he loves her.

 

In London, Roman and Victor (Anthony Lemke) find Blake Crawford (Tori Anderson) waiting for them in a hotel lobby. She tells them that she will be hosting the day’s charity luncheon in her father’s place and that she needs a date. Roman turns down the offer explaining that the camera flashes will be a problem. Victor jumps in and explains that “Tom” has PTSD.

 

Weller runs into Jane in the hall and asks if she’s been getting his messages. She insists she has everything she needs as they walk into the lab. Patterson (Ashley Johnson) tries to explain her findings on the latest tattoo case, but Jane and Weller keep interrupting with questions. With the help of Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza), Patterson explains that a Sudanese refugee from Camp Iko called Megan, which Jane finds suspicious.

 

Reade and Megan sit down with the three refugees, and Akoi tells them their story. Megan asks how they got her number, and he explains that a man gave them her card. Reade asks him to describe the man, and Akoi recognizes a picture of Roman that Reade shows him on his phone. He tries to make a phone call, but finds that he has no signal. Akoi spots three men approaching, and Reade pulls the fire alarm, asking everyone to evacuate once he shows his badge.

 

Reade directs Megan and the refugees to a stairwell as the men open fire. Back at the lab, Patterson and Zapata explain that the refugees got their entrance to America expedited by a fake organization led by Saya. As they run, Reade reminds Megan that they can’t call the police and Akoi explains that Saya’s intention is to frame them. Jane explains that refugee camps outsource to contractors and that many consider the camps profitable.

 

Reade hides Megan and the refugees in an empty closet, promising he’ll be back. Jane leaves to answer a phone call, and Clem (Steve Kazee) tells her that he found something on her missing daughter. She informs him that Avery is dead, and tells him that she is currently in New York. Clem tells her he’s in New York and will come to her. As she turns him down, Zapata informs her about an attack at the place where Reade and Megan are.

 

Reade checks the building’s phone, but finds that it doesn’t work. He evades gunfire from one of the shooters, and then takes him out before stealing his gun. The rest of the team arrives, and Reade sees Megan and the refugees in the hallway. He asks why they didn’t stay put, and Megan tells him they ran upon hearing gunshots. Jane takes out one of the gunmen and flashes back to a mission ten months ago when she first met Clem. They argue over whose job it is, and Jane suggests they split the profits. Before they agree, Dwire Lee (Calvin Dutton) shoots both of them with tranquilizer darts and takes the money for himself.

 

In the present, Jane, Weller, and Zapata meet up with Reade and they realize that one of the shooters got away. Outside, Derek (Hunter Emery) calls Saya and tells them of the FBI’s involvement with the refugees. Saya decides that they should move their operation up to today.  Reade and Weller sit down to question the refugees, but Aoki reads from his card that he wants an attorney present. He continues to insist despite Weller’s assurance that they aren’t in trouble.

 

Weller informs the team outside, and Megan tells them that she wrote that information on the card. Reade gets frustrated with her, but Megan insists that she wants to protect the refugees. Jane sides with Megan, saying that she wished she had someone helping her when she was in FBI custody. However, she encourages Megan to convince them to cooperate before it’s too late.

 

Roman visits Blake as she gets ready for the luncheon, and she tells him that she is mad at him. She believes he is lying to her about something since he had no trouble with PTSD and camera flashes at the charity event they met at. He tells her that the PTSD didn’t affect him there because of her, and tells her that he loves her. However, she tells him that he can’t bail on things that are important to her. Roman insists that he’s there now and they have sex in the greenroom.

 

Zapata tells Jane that Megan has convinced the refugees to talk and asks how things are going with Weller. Jane admits that she loves him, but that it’s hard for her to forgive him. Zapata offers to let her stay at her place, but Jane insists that the hotel is fine. Some zip ties fall out of her locker and Jane flashes back to her mission where she and Clem wake up with their hands tied together. Jane teases Clem about his choice of working with Dwire, and Clem asks her what her story is. They break out of the zip ties as Clem flirts with her. They part ways after introducing themselves.

 

Aoki tells the team that Saya blew up a building in Germany and pinned it on refugees he brought to the area. He tells them that he believes Saya intends to do the same to them, pulling out Saya’s receipts that Patterson figures out show purchases of materials similar to the ones used in the previous bombing. Patterson tells them that Saya must have entered the city using forged documents and Jane sees that he was an explosive expert in the military. While the team believes that Saya can’t attack with the refugees in FBI custody, Zapata informs them that another group of refugees from Thailand have been brought to New York.

 

Weller asks to speak to Patterson, but she is hesitant to get involved once he tells her it’s about Jane’s daughter. He asks her to do a little searching to help Jane get closure, but Patterson advises him it’s a terrible idea and that he should give Jane some space. Patterson gets a hit and locates the Thai refugees while Reade tells Megan she has to leave as they finish their investigation. He convinces her to leave and Zapata walks by them as they kiss. Zapata is surprised that Reade mentions that he loves Megan, and he reminds her that they live together.

 

Roman and Blake get dressed, and Roman offers to go to the luncheon with her. However, Blake tells him to stay, as their mutually disheveled appearance will draw unwanted attention. She tells him to find Victor, and Roman asks what the story is between them. Blake tells them that they’re close, and that Victor is very protective of her, warning that Roman shouldn’t make an enemy of him.

 

Patterson tells the team that the police found planted evidence in the refugees’ apartment in the previous bombing. She tells them that she found the Thai refugees’ apartment and shows them photos of planted evidence inside. Weller tells them that the refugees are currently in a van and that the attack is happening now at a hotel. Saya sits with the Thai refugees and tells them he’ll be back. Derek warns them that the FBI is at the apartment, but Saya tells him that first bomb goes off in seventeen minutes as he locks the van.

 

The team arrives at the hotel as Patterson looks through security footage for signs of the bomb’s location. Jane and Weller both volunteer to look for the hotel bomb, while Reade and Zapata decide to look for the van and the bomb inside. Patterson finds footage of one of the refugees rolling a suitcase into the hotel earlier that day. Jane and Weller go to the luggage room and Patterson gives a description of the suitcase that matches most of the suitcases inside. Patterson zooms in on the footage and gives then the color of the luggage tag to help them.

 

Patterson gives Reade and Zapata the license plate number of the van as well as the location. One of the refugees realize that the van is locked and the three frantically try to find a way out. Weller finds the suitcase and opens it to find the bomb inside. Patterson warns them to be careful with pulling the bomb out and they describe the bomb to her. She tells them that the bomb squad is two minutes away, but Jane tells her that they have less than a minute. Patterson tells them to take the bomb to the kitchen, and Jane and Weller run through the hotel.

 

Reade and Zapata find the van and Reade sees Saya walking away with the detonator in his hand. He tackles Saya as Zapata shoots the window of the van. As she releases the refugees, Reade subdues Saya and grabs the detonator. Jane and Weller make it the kitchen just in time and throw it into the freezer as it explodes. They find themselves next to each other in the impact of the explosion, and they check on each other.

 

Jane flashes back to her and Clem counting their money from their numerous missions. She comments that she’s missed being a part of a team, and he encourages her to stop running. He kisses her and she pulls away. She then wraps her arms around him and kisses him back. After Saya and Derek are brought into custody, Reade questions why Roman was interested in these refugees. Patterson tells them that Crawford has companies that deal with refugee camps, but they don’t understand what his end goal is.

 

Roman joins Victor at the bar, and Victor offers him a drink. Victor gets a call, and comments to Roman that there was a setback in New York. Roman asks him why he tried to set him up in Morocco and concludes that it was to make himself look like a hero in recovering the coin. They agree that they are unable to forgive each other and Roman tells him he should have killed him. Once Roman leaves, Victor hands Roman’s shot glass and asks him to run his fingerprints and investigate “Tom.”

 

Jane flashes back to her telling Clem that she can’t stay, since she has a great guy back home. She insists that she loves him, but admits she’s going to miss Clem before kissing him. Megan shows Reade her article about the refugees and that Aoki and his siblings get to stay in America. She gets a message that her editor wants to put her story on the front page, and Reade tells her that everything will be okay since no one knows anything.

 

Jane goes to Clem’s hotel room and he invites her in. Patterson tells Weller that she ignored her own advice regarding Avery’s daughter and shows him footage of Avery meeting with someone at the hotel days before Weller met her and accepting an envelope of money. Upon looking at a different angle, they realize that the person Avery met with is Roman.