Blindspot – Careless Whisper

By starrymag | February 7, 2019

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Winston Pear (Neil Hellegers) calls 911 as an assailant breaks into his house and bashes his head in with a typewriter. Edgar Reade (Rob Brown) tells Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) that he understands Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) decision to keep her undercover operation from them, but still feels betrayed. He expresses frustration that he is now forced to take over the operation and asks how Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) is doing. Weller tells him that she’s trying to find her new normal, and Reade comments that he’d love things to be normal.

 

As Reade and Weller discuss Zapata’s operation, Zapata attempts to free herself from the trunk of a car after she is kidnapped by the CIA. The car stops and the CIA Opp (Scott Burick) knocks her out as she attempts to explain. Jane takes her frustrations out on multiple punching bags, and Patterson (Ashley Johnson) checks on her. Jane admits that all of her regained memories are overwhelming, and Patterson gives her a bracelet health monitor to track her vitals.

 

Rich Dotcom (Ennis Esmer) bumps into Briana (Amy Margaret Wilson), admitting that he didn’t see her. He tells Reade about Winston’s murder, and shows the team that Winston kept press clippings of the Times Square bomb scare that turned out to be Jane as well as three seemingly unrelated homicides. Weller and Reade question the relevance of the case. Patterson explains that Winston is a crime novelist, and Jane reveals that Weller has all of his novels. Weller continues defending Winston’s work but denies Jane’s claim that he’s a super fan.

 

Patterson determines from the crime scene that the killer was looking for something. Reade suggests that the killer took Winston’s computer, but Weller replies that Winston wrote exclusively on typewriters before finally admitting that he’s a super fan. Rich plays Winston’s 911 call, and Jane determines from the background noise where Winston was standing when he made the call. Weller identifies the sound of a nearby latch and opens the compartment to reveal a manuscript inside. They see that the title of the manuscript is “Inked to Death: A Jane Doe Mystery” and that all of them are included in the novel.

 

In a recreation of the manuscript, the team, portrayed as over-the-top versions of themselves, hunt a serial killer referred to as the New York Ripper. Patterson, or Peterson, finds a clue in one of Jane’s tattoos. In reality, Reade realizes that Winston’s names are accurate though obviously changed. Jane points out that she doesn’t have the tattoo described in the manuscript, and Weller points out that they’ve never investigated the Ripper. Patterson pulls up an interview with Winston, who theorizes that three unrelated murders are actually the work of the same killer, the Ripper.

 

They determine that Winston planned to solve the murders in the novel, but Rich finds that the manuscript is unfinished. Patterson complains that it will take forever to find answers in Winston’s paper research and finds a post-it note with the words “Falcon Head” among the papers. As a crowd gathers outside the mansion, Weller sees Ronnie Delvecchio (Ryan Quinn) cross the police line. Weller calls out to him, and Ronnie runs away. Jane temporarily has difficulty seeing but joins the chase and tackles Ronnie to the ground.

 

Back at headquarters, Weller checks on Jane, but she tells him she’s fine. He tells her vitals spiked before the chase and she assures him that it was a temporary buzzing. Weller is worried about her but tells her he doesn’t want to tell her what to do. In the interrogation room, Ronnie explains that he’s Winston’s literary agent and just wanted to retrieve the manuscript for publication.

 

Jane demands to he tell what he knows, and Ronnie explains that Winston hadn’t found a way to write about the Ripper until he found out about Jane coming out of the bag in Times Square. He realizes that Jane is the woman and explains that Winston believed Jane and the team would make the perfect protagonists to hunt the Ripper. Jane asks how the book ends, and Ronnie admits that he doesn’t know, explaining that Winston was selective about who he told and that the list of confidants was kept in a notebook.

 

Patterson informs Reade that she hasn’t figured out how the three murders are linked, and Reade tells her to read Winston’s manuscript for answers. Rich tells the team that Winston’s editor was also murdered, and her lips were sewn shut. Patterson confirms that Winston’s notebook wasn’t listed in evidence, and Weller concludes that the killer took it.

 

In a recreation of the manuscript, Peterson looks at digital renderings of the crime scenes before Rich takes her hand and kisses it. Peterson tells him they can’t do it there and brings up his wife. Rich doesn’t want to talk about his wife and pulls out a bottle from a storage compartment. In reality, Patterson and Rich are uncomfortable reading the scene and they criticize the accuracy. Rich gets upset at reading the manuscript claim that he doesn’t have any real friends other than the FBI. Patterson questions how Winston knows where she keeps her bottles and determines there’s a mole.

 

Jane comments that the reading is affecting her eyes but determines that the killer must be cop given how the crime scenes are perfectly staged in the manuscript. Patterson presents her theory of a mole, and Rich finds the answer in the manuscript. In the recreation of the manuscript, Briana solves the case and is immediately promoted to field agent by the rest of the team.

 

In reality, Reade reads the pages to Briana and she apologizes. She asks how much trouble she’s in, and Weller asks why she did it. Briana tells him that Winston asked about FBI protocol for research and she assumed that the questions about the team were off the record. She tells them she just wanted to help solve crimes, as her only role at the FBI is to fill out paperwork.

 

Patterson shows Reade that every one of the murders has a precise scalpel incision and narrow the list of suspects to a man named Gerald Savitt. Rich explains that Savitt has the signs of a serial killer and Patterson tells him that her search into Falcon Head led to a house owned by Savitt’s parents. Weller shows Jane Reade’s text and Briana mentions that Winston referred to the killer as “GS.” However, she tells him that Winston called her once to vent his frustration at his GS theory being wrong.

 

In Toronto, Zapata tries to talk to the CIA operatives but is rescued by Dominic Masters (Chaske Spencer) who tells her he’s a friend of Madeline’s. In the recreation of the manuscript, Jane tells Weller that she’s pregnant they tell each other that they “glove” each other. In reality, Rich criticizes the typos and comes to a realization. On his way to investigate his theory, he bumps into Briana and tells her that he has friends.

 

Jane and Weller explain that they want Briana to look at the evidence to help them figure out Winston’s theory. As Patterson explains that Savitt’s travel records show he wasn’t in the area at the time of the murders, Jane has vision problems. Rich returns with Winston’s typewriter and shows them that the typo in the manuscript was created by the g and l bars being stuck together. Patterson realizes they can use the ribbons of Winston’s most recently used typewriter to figure out what Winston wrote in his last days. Rich explains that he’s already figured out which typewriter it was, and Jane offers to go with him to pick it up.

 

Dominic questions if Zapata knows who rescued her, and she identifies him as Madeline’s first hire when she took over. Zapata asks how long he’d been tailing her, and Dominic tells her he just started that day. She is skeptical, but Dominic tells her he was following the cartel. Zapata insists that she needs to meet Del Toro, but Dominic tells her it’s too late. She tells him that she needs to try, knowing what will happen if she returns to Madeline emptyhanded. Zapata grabs Dominic’s tazer and tells him he can come with her or return without her.

 

Reade asks Patterson to bring up the list of suspects again, and Briana makes a comment about the women on the list. Patterson calls Briana a genius and suggests that Winston’s bias caused him to overlook a female killer, suggesting the evidence points to Savitt’s step sister, Iris (Amanda Warren). She determines that Iris’ scalpel precision came from the creation of scenes with taxidermy mice. Briana suggests that the murders were Iris making real life versions of her dioramas.

 

Jane has vision problems when she steps out of the car, and Rich checks on her. She tells him she can’t see but urges him to get the typewriter. Iris lets Rich into the crime scene and focuses her attention on Jane. Patterson determines that Iris didn’t share Savitt’s alibi, and Weller tells Patterson to send Iris’ picture to Rich and Jane. Patterson reports that Jane’s vitals are spiking, and Weller calls Jane. Rich picks up the phone from the grass and reports that Jane is blind, and Iris kidnapped her.

 

Iris tells Jane, strapped to a chair, that nobody will know she is the killer once Jane is dead. Jane replies that the FBI will be looking for her, but Iris isn’t scared. Jane asks what the victims did to her, but Iris tells them that they’re subjects and that they should be honored she chose them. Patterson tells Weller that she’s having trouble locating Jane and that her device is glitching. Weller suggests the glitching is Jane sending them a message, and Zapata orders Dominic to stay in the car.

 

Zapata goes into the warehouse and finds a ringing cell phone inside. She answers it and Del Toro tells her she’s late. He tells her that he doesn’t trust her or Dominic, and Zapata reminds him she held up her end of the bargain. Del Toro tells her she missed the set meeting before hanging up. Zapata returns to the car, showing Dominic the phone and lying that Del Toro has agreed to help.

 

Iris complains about Winston calling her the Ripper in his manuscript, declaring she’s a creator. Jane works on breaking the ropes binding her, and Iris asks what story she wants her body to tell. Jane breaks the rope and kicks Iris. She attempts to escape, and the team struggles to solve her Morse code message. Patterson finds that Iris’ aunt and uncle owned a vineyard in the search radius. Jane grabs a knife and Iris plays with her lack of vision by distracting her. Jane challenges Iris to come closer, knocks out the lights, and fights Iris in the dark. Jane stabs Iris in the struggle but collapses as she hears a helicopter overhead.

 

In the hospital, Jane tells Weller she can’t see, worried that her body is forgetting how to function. Weller is hopeful they can save her, and Jane asks him to keep talking to her. He offers to read from the manuscript and Jane refuses. They laugh about it and jokingly tell each other that they “glove” each other. Jane tells him she can feel how worried he is, and Weller promises they’ll get through this.

 

Reade tells Briana that her discussions with Winston were irresponsible, but that nothing she did was illegal. He tells her she’s suspended, and that she’ll have to win everybody’s trust back when she returns. Briana promises not to let him down again, and Reade tells her everyone deserves a second chance. Reade asks Briana why Zapata wasn’t in the book, and Briana tells him that Winston didn’t include her because he didn’t know how to give her a happy ending. Reade gets notification that Zapata wants to talk and calls her.

 

Weller tells Patterson and Rich that Jane had a seizure, but she’s stable. However, Patterson shares a look with Rich before telling Weller that the seizure was a symptom in Roga’s file. She tells him that it means the zip poisoning has taken full effect and that Jane has days before she dies. Weller breaks down and Patterson comforts him.