Blindspot – Coder to Killer

By starrymag | May 31, 2019

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Gavin (Nick Fondulis) calls his mother, telling her about his new job. Upon hanging up, Gavin is strangled, and the hooded man takes his security clearance badge. Meanwhile, Patterson (Ashley Johnson) walks into a dark room, asking if anyone is there. A hand grabs her legs from under the bed and Patterson pretends to be scared.

 

Patterson turns the light on as Bethany (Raegan & Riley Brown) runs out. Patterson picks Bethany up, carries her out of the bedroom, and declares that Bethany is good at hide and seek. Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) explains he showed Bethany the best places to hide.

 

Rich Dotcom (Ennis Esmer) tells Weller he’s modified their pizza order with more upscale items. Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) points out the pizza place doesn’t carry those items, and Rich explains he canceled the order and placed it somewhere else. Weller asked if he changed who’s going to pay for it, and Rich insists it would be rude to take the bill from the hosts.

 

Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) arrives late, explaining that she let Edgar Reade (Rob Brown) get ready first. Zapata tells Reade he got a calendar alert with Lexi as she hands him his phone, and Reade explains he’s meeting with an old college friend and denies Rich’s insinuation it’s a date.

 

Patterson gets notification that a prisoner is offering information and has requested to speak only to them. She tells them it can’t wait, and Weller asks who the prisoner is. Guards bring Shohid Akhtar (Ajay Naidu) to the conference room, who addresses them as friends. Jane points out he tried to kill them the last time they saw him, but Akhtar insists he’s missed them.

 

Weller demands Akhtar start talking, but he lists his demands first. Reade tells him they can’t discuss a deal until he gives them something and Akhtar tells him he was recruited to sell to a terrorist group. The construction noise makes it hard to hear Akhtar, and Patterson finally yells at them to stop. Once the construction stops, Akhtar reveals the name of the terrorist group and that they wanted anti-tank missiles.

 

Rich tells him they need more, and Akhtar explains that he heard the terrorist group got the missiles from another seller. Reade asks if he has any other information, and Akhtar tells them the group is planning an attack in New York. Reade tells him they need more concrete details and orders Akhtar to be taken to the interrogation room.

 

Reade asks Patterson and Rich to search Akhtar’s laptop, but Patterson tells him it’s nearly impossible with the construction and computer upgrades in the office. She calls her system getting replaced a special form of torture, and Reade tells her to work with what she has.

 

Patterson asks Briana (Amy Margaret Wilson) who is in charge of the construction crew, and she tells her it’s Leonard Perkins (Ethan Hova). Perkins comes over and teases Patterson about her dated system and Patterson tells her she’ll take her tech over his monstrosity any day.

 

Patterson tells him she needs the system tonight, but Perkins tells her everyone needs to clear the lab. She tells him it can’t wait and asks for warning when the system goes down. Perkins tells her the system will only be down for ten minutes, but Patterson isn’t thrilled. Patterson tells Pavel Makarov (Keith Jardine), the man who killed Gavin and took his badge, that he has the wrong cable.

 

Briana takes a call from Dominic Masters (Chaske Spencer), who is disguising his voice and needs to know if she’ll help him. Briana is hesitant to betray the FBI, but Dominic tells her it’s time to get the respect she deserves. He tells her he needs an answer today and hangs up as Reade asks Briana to help with the case.

 

Rich sees code on Patterson’s computer and asks if she’s developing a Wizardville sequel. She denies it, explaining she’s making a puzzle-solving app for Bethany. Rich questions why Akhtar wouldn’t give them the password to his laptop if he wanted to help, and Patterson tells him it’s randomly generated. He suggests they use previous passwords to figure out the password generating algorithm. Patterson shows him that Akhtar gave her the passwords he remembers.

 

As Patterson runs the code, Akhtar continues making requests of Weller in the interrogation room. Weller tells him to stay focused, threatening to send him back to prison if he doesn’t answer his questions. Akhtar agrees to cooperate but waffles his way through answering Weller’s questions.

 

Outside, Jane asks Zapata what’s wrong, and Zapata eventually admits she’s bothered by Reade’s upcoming meeting with Lexi. Zapata insists she and Reade are just friends, but Jane questions if that’s true. Zapata tries to change the subject, but Jane tells her the hardest part was to admit her feelings for Weller.

 

Briana asks Rich and Patterson if there’s anything she can do, but they tell her no. Rich suggests they play twenty questions while they wait for the code to work and starts asking questions despite Patterson’s protests. The signal goes out and Patterson is furious Perkins didn’t warn her first. Meanwhile, Makarov strangles Perkins in the server room, turns on the security cameras, finds Akhtar, and shuts the cameras down.

 

Rich continues asking questions, and Patterson pulls him aside. She identifies his questions as being on an adoption questionnaire and asks him how he knew she looked at it. He admits that he looks at her browser history and is surprised that she wants kids. Patterson denies she does but checked out the site after playing with Bethany. Rich declares they should do it, but she tells him to drop it.

 

Reade asks for their progress and Patterson tells him the system is down. Rich offers to talk to Perkins, but Reade tells him he won’t be able to access the server room without his authorization and tells Patterson to find a way to get into the laptop. Briana makes a math suggestion, and Patterson admits she’s too plugged in before agreeing to Briana’s suggestion.

 

Weller expresses his frustration with Akhtar, and Jane promises they’ll get answers. Weller laments that he doesn’t spend much time with Bethany, and he should tell her he loves her. Jane assures him Bethany knows he loves her and that he makes the time he spends with her count. She tells him they’ll have a lot more time and that they need to focus on stopping the terrorist attack.

 

Weller suggests Akhtar will talk if they give him a sense of control and asks him to write all his demands down. He and Jane talk to Akhtar as he writes, and he gives them details of his association with the terrorist group. He mentions watching a fight on television during a meeting, and Weller assesses the only way he would know the details of that particular fight is if he was at the fight in person. Weller pulls away the pad and asks why he’s lying.

 

Briana works out an equation and the password works with an adjustment from Patterson. Weller and Jane report that Akhtar is lying about his whereabouts during the meeting and they find that Akhtar downloaded security protocols for the air force base and a series of digits. Briana identifies the digits as an FBI file number and suggests they might have a hard copy of the file.

 

Rich asks Reade about his date and his relationship with Zapata, but Reade brushes off his interest. Reade opens the server room and instructs Rich to talk to Perkins. Rich finds Perkins’ body and find himself trapped inside the server room. Outside, Makarov locks the server room with Reade’s hand as Reade lays unconscious on a cart.

 

The rest of the team struggle to find the file, but Briana finds it. She tells them the file is an arrest record for Makarov and states that he has ties to the terrorist group. Patterson recognizes the picture as the man on the construction crew, and the team speculates that Makarov and Akhtar are working together. The team finds their phones aren’t working and Zapata takes Patterson to look for Reade and Rich.

 

Akhtar asks Makarov what took him so long, telling him he was running out of lies. Once free, Akhtar tells Makarov he won’t give him any information until they are out of the building. He asks how they’re getting out and is thrilled upon seeing Reade’s body. Patterson opens the server room door and Rich jumps out with a makeshift weapon. Once he sees it’s them, Rich tells them what happened.

 

Patterson sees Perkins’ body and Zapata declares they have to find Reade. Patterson tells her it’ll be easier if they turn the security cameras back on and reboots the system. Briana runs in and Zapata reminds her she was supposed to stay in the lab. Patterson reboots the system and finds Akhtar, Makarov, and Reade on the security camera.

 

Weller and Jane go to stop them, and Zapata leaves the server room upon hearing Reade is unconscious. Patterson warns the security desk of the criminals coming their way and Makarov knocks out both officers. Weller and Jane approach with their guns pointed but Makarov pulls out a lighter in response. Akhtar tells them that Reade is soaked in a highly flammable chemical and pours the chemical on the floor.

 

Weller tries to reason with him, but Akhtar asks if he wants to make a deal. Jane promises the entire FBI will be looking for him, but Makarov drops the lighter and ignites the chemical. Makarov and Akhtar escape, but Zapata is able to pull Reade to safety and extinguish the flames as Reade wakes up.

 

Reade is concerned about the potential terrorist attack, but Patterson tells him the alleged stolen missiles are all accounted for. Weller questions what Makarov needs Akhtar for, and the system gets a blaring Intel alert. Patterson admits the updated system has its benefits and shows the alert that the Department of Defense believes Makarov was killed in an airstrike that killed his wife and daughter.

 

Briana suggests that revenge could be Makarov’s motive, suggesting he hired Akhtar to find who was responsible for the airstrike. Reade likes the idea and Rich identifies Cheryl Meeks (Kate Finneran) as the person who ordered the airstrike.

 

Weller keeps watch over Meeks, asking appropriate officers to identify themselves and give a codeword. Meeks’ son, Emmett Meeks (Maxim Swinton) gives Weller a toy dinosaur and Meeks can’t believe she has to deal with another threat on her life. Meeks asks Weller if he has kids and advises him to hug them at every opportunity.

 

Another police car pulls up and Weller asks for identification. Officer Bronsen (Toussaint Jeanlouis) gives the correct code, and Makarov, dressed as an officer, kills him as soon as he’s cleared. Meeks finishes packing, but the lights go out. Weller gets no response from Bronsen as Jane and Zapata find an officer’s body on the floor.

 

Makarov kills another agent and Weller tells Meeks to come with him. Emmett asks Makarov where his mother is but Emmett’s father (James Waterston) tackles Makarov and tells Emmett to run. Emmett runs to Meeks as his father and Makarov fight.

 

Weller leaves Meeks and Emmett with Jane and Zapata and goes to look for Makarov. In the struggle, Makarov gets Weller’s gun, but Weller is able to control Emmett’s remote-control car to distract him. Weller knocks the gun away and Makarov strangles him before Jane and Zapata shoot Makarov.

 

The team updates each other on the rest of the case details, and Reade tells everyone to rest so they can resume stopping Dominic’s plan. Reade compliments Briana’s work and promises to talk to her later about bigger opportunities. Briana calls Dominic back, telling him she won’t help him. Dominic tells her he has no time to find somebody else and sends her a picture of her parents. He promises he won’t hurt them if she does what he asks.

 

Zapata checks on Reade, and he thanks her for saving him. She jokes she missed the chance to inherit a great apartment and Reade cancels his plans with Lexi after she leaves. Rich accuses Patterson of focusing on the app development to avoid filling out the adoption application. He tells her he filled it out for her, telling her she should send it in now if she’s thinking about a family anytime in the future. Weller and Bethany video message Patterson, telling her Bethany loves the app. After she hangs up, Patterson looks over the application and decides to submit it.

 

Weller brings Bethany home, telling Jane about their adventure. He tells Jane that he wants to live in the moment, as the future is uncertain in their line of work. Jane asks Weller what he wants to do, and they determine that Bethany wants to go to the zoo. After they leave, Briana breaks into their apartment and cracks their safe with a device.