Blindspot – Hero Fears Imminent Rot

By: Jessica Wolff

As a woman steps into a cab, it explodes. Meanwhile, Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) wakes up in the Sandstorm compound. Upon questioning Roman (Luke Mitchell), he tells her that he drugged her to prevent her from knowing the true location of Sandstorm headquarters. Shepherd (Michelle Hurd) is curious to know how Jane escaped Cade and Jane keeps to her cover story. Shepherd pokes holes in Jane’s story, but she recovers quickly and defends herself. Before Jane can leave the compound, Shepherd demands that she perform a task for them.

Waking up from a rough night, Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) looks at the sonogram of his unborn child. Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) invites Patterson (Ashley Johnson) to trivia night, but Patterson declines. Zapata figures that she has a date, but Patterson denies this. They see the portrait of Mayfair being pulled down, which upsets Zapata. Weller expresses his worry to Nas Kamal (Archie Panjabi) about being unable to reach Jane and Kamal is unable to track her phone. Weller tries to call the safe house, but Kamal demands he stop so as not to arouse the suspicions of Sandstorm.

Inside a weapons’ storage room, Roman gives Jane her assignment. The target is a recruit of Jane’s, Jeffery Kantor (Joe Cobden), who failed to clone the microchip that Sandstorm asked of him. Patterson briefs the team on the car bombing and how it links to a tattoo on Jane’s body. The tattoo is in the shape of a Puerto Rican island used for weapons testing. The team gets notification of a similar bombing and they figure that it is a series of coordinated attacks. Back at the Sandstorm compound, Shepherd demands that Jane kill Jeffery to prove her loyalty to Sandstorm.

In the car, Jane and Roman talk about Shepherd and the mission. Jane says that they shouldn’t kill an innocent man, but Roman says that there has to be casualties in war. The team figures out that the bombs are targeting US military locations. Weller gives instructions to help find the bombers. As they disperse, Weller asks Zapata to give him the casualty lists from the bombings, worried that Jane is one of the victims. Upon arriving at a house, Jeffery tries to run and Jane chases after him. He locks himself in a vault and calls for security.

Zapata informs Weller that nobody matching Jane’s description is on the casualty list. As officers enter the house, Jane ambushes them and fights them with the help of Roman. He reaches for a gun, but Jane stops him insisting that they won’t be able to coax Jeffery out of his vault if they kill the officers. Jane talks to Jeffery through the vault and manages to convince him to open the door. As he steps out, Roman knocks him out and commends Jane for her effort. Patterson shows Kamal a series of tweets dedicating the bombings to victims of US weapons testing accidents. They figure out that the key to stopping the next bombs is to hack the twitters to find the pre-loaded tweets for the next bombing locations.

Roman drags a tied up Jeffery out to the woods and hands a gun to Jane. He demands that Jane shoot him and Jane attempts to convince him that they still need him alive. Instead of listening, Roman shoots Jeffery himself and tells Jane that she has failed in proving her loyalty to Shepherd. Roman drives Jane into the city and gives her a pager before letting her out of the car. Edgar Reade (Rob Brown) talks to Dr. Robert Borden (Ukweli Roach) about retrieving lost memories and he tells him that it is possible but difficult. In a bathroom, two men open a bag to reveal a large bomb.

Weller is surprised to see Jane walk into FBI headquarters and Jane informs him and Kamal about her failed loyalty test. Kamal tells her that she should have taken the shot as one man’s life is not as important as taking down Sandstorm once and for all. Weller defends Jane, but Kamal is adamant that Jane prove her loyalty to Sandstorm for the good of the mission. Patterson comes in and informs them of the next bomb’s location. Weller tries to tell Jane to sit out this mission, but Jane and Kamal insist that things must be business as usual.

The team arrives at the location and Patterson sends them photos of the suspects. They split up and look for the two men. Reade and Zapata find the bomb and Weller demands that she clears the area. Patterson tells Reade that the bomb is scheduled to go off in two minutes and Reade gets to work on disarming the bomb. Jane spots one of the suspects and goes after him without waiting for Weller to catch up to her. Due to the lack of time, Kamal suggests shooting at the bomb to stabilize the explosives. Jane points her gun at the suspect and the other suspect points a gun at her. Weller shoots the man and Jane chases after the other suspect. Reade and Zapata disable the bomb, but Jane loses the suspect.

Back at headquarters, Weller blames Kamal for allowing Jane to go out on the mission. Zapata criticizes Jane, but Reade defends her and says that she has saved their lives many times and is going through a lot at the moment. Zapata asks Reade what’s bothering him and he refuses to talk about it. Patterson interrupts Weller and Kamal’s argument to tell them that they’ve found the location of the second bomber. She shows them a Periscope video of the bomber wearing a bomb in a public place and yelling at the camera. Before they leave, Weller demands that she sit this mission out. Furious, Jane rants to Dr. Borden about being left behind and he gets her to open up about what’s bothering her. She is worried that she is predisposed to be violent and mentions her violent impulses every time she picks up a gun.

Outside the building, Weller calls the bomber and tries to talk him out of setting off the bomb. He is angry that Weller stopped his broadcast and hangs up the phone. Determined, Weller goes to the building to talk to the bomber face to face. Once inside, the bomber demands that Weller put on the vest or the bomb will go off. He puts the vest on and tries to talk to the bomber. The bomber is angry for the loss of his sister as a result of the weapons testing and demands justice for his loss. Weller insists that bombing isn’t the answer and will cost innocent lives. The bomber is about to consider this, but Kamal shoots him from outside the building. Weller chastises her for taking the shot and Kamal says that she was doing what was best for him and the team.

Patterson tells Dr. Borden that she won’t be able to make their date that night. Undeterred, Borden offers to reschedule. Patterson says that she’s busy and Borden assumes that she’s blowing him off. Patterson insists that she isn’t and asks to move their date to next week. Kamal listens in on Jane’s previous conversation with Borden and Patterson interrupts her to show her information that she found on Jeffery. Kamal figures out that Sandstorm must have found another way to get what they want if Jeffery was expendable.

In the locker room, Jane confronts Weller about the conflicting instructions she was given from him and Kamal. Jane receives a page from Roman, and Jane insists that she has to go even if she is walking into her own execution. Jane admits that she wishes that she was Taylor Shaw and Weller assures her that she’s not a killer. Zapata asks Patterson about her plans and Patterson tells her that she’s cancelled her date due to anxiety. Zapata encourages her to go through with the date. Sandstorm comes to pick Jane up and the agent tells her to get in the trunk. She complies and Roman leads her to Shepherd. To her surprise, Shepherd thanks her for killing Jeffery and proving her loyalty. Shepherd leads her to a memorial bonfire for Oscar and she says a few words pretending to mourn for him that are really directed at Mayfair. As the rest of the team drinks to Mayfair’s picture, Jane promises justice for her death.

Patterson goes to visit Borden and after some flirting, she kisses him and apologizes for being bad at dating. Zapata confronts Reade and asks him what is going on with him. He confesses his problem with his blocked memories of his own abuse and Zapata comforts him. As the fire dies down, Jane thanks Roman for lying to Shepherd. Roman says he understands how hard it is for her, but warns that he can’t lie to Shepherd forever. He threatens that if she doesn’t go back to normal, he will unlock those memories by force.