Blindspot – Hot Burning Flames

By starrymag | January 18, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

A masked man breaks into a facility, addressing a camera as he points out the flaws of the building’s security. He spray paints a symbol onto the door to a restricted area, and punches in the code to unlock it before knocking out the camera. Edgar Reade (Rob Brown) asks Patterson (Ashley Johnson) and Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) if they’ve heard from Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) or Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton). They haven’t, and Patterson shows Reade that all of the new tattoo cases are connected to Hank Crawford (David Morse). Zapata shows him that Crawford also has ties to Hirst and is involved in almost every industry.

 

In Marrakesh, Roman (Luke Mitchell) meets with Victor (Anthony Lemke) who hands him a flight ticket and tells him he won’t be needed for the job. Roman explains that Crawford asked him to work for him, but Victor insists he’s in charge. Victor questions his abilities, but Roman defends himself. Reluctantly, Victor lets him come on the job. Back at headquarters, Zapata tells Reade that neither Jane nor Weller answered their phone and Reade requests that a team be sent over to their apartment to check on them.

 

Patterson shows the facility break-in footage and that the symbol spray-painted on the door is in one of Jane’s tattoos, connecting to an activist group. Reade suggests putting a grid over the tattoo, and Patterson realizes that the tattoo is intended to be a sliding puzzle. They undo the puzzle to find that the markings on the symbol lead to a URL with the video of the break-in. Zapata asks if Patterson can identify the culprits, but Patterson responds that it’s faster to track the location the video was uploaded from.

 

Reade and Zapata arrive at the location and Dave Kirkpatrick (Peter Oldring) asks what the FBI is doing there, since they were not contacted. Reade and Zapata ask what the facility is, and Dave explains that it’s a Department of Energy facility where nuclear weapons are stored. Dave brings them inside, where he claims that all of the storage containers are accounted for. Read notices that two containers have their padlocks broken off discovers that the nuclear warheads inside were stolen.

 

Nine hours earlier, Weller confesses to Jane that he killed her daughter. Jane is in shock, and declares she wants to know everything. Weller explains that he met Avery (Kristina Reyes) in Berlin, and she revealed that Jane was her mother. Weller believed it was impossible, but Avery showed him her birth certificate. When Weller questions the authenticity, Avery tells him to run a DNA test to prove her claims. In the present, Jane asks how he knew she was telling the truth without a DNA test, and Weller explains that Avery resembled and had the same mannerisms as Jane.

 

The Front Desk Clerk (Carrington Vilmont) reports that Jane was seen talking to a man in the lobby that Jane identifies as a German gangster, Max, who helped Jane leave Europe after her passports were stolen in an attack. Weller warns Avery to let him lead the investigation since the German mafia is dangerous, but Avery tells Weller that she has no reason to trust him. Avery reminds him that she helped him, and insists that she go with him. Jane asks why he let her go, but Weller explains that he tried to protect her.

 

As they waited for Max to show up, he and Avery waited together in a nearby apartment. Avery asked Weller why Jane gave her up and if Jane ever mentioned her. Weller explains to Jane that he told Avery about the memory wipe and the bounty. Avery asked what kind of person would erase their own memory and abandon their child, but Weller insisted that Jane is a good person. Jane is upset that Avery believes that Jane gave her up willingly, and Weller explains that he didn’t know at the time. Weller insists that he vouched for Jane, telling Avery that Jane would try to find her if she knew about her.

 

Weller spots Max walking outside their apartment, and tells Avery to stay. He explains that he was attacked when following Max. Weller shot at someone behind a curtain after fighting off his attackers, but is horrified to see he shot Avery. He checked for Avery’s pulse as he shot the last of his attackers and determined that she was dead. He ran out of the building, leaving Avery’s body behind. Jane is horrified that he left her there, but he insists that he had no other choice. Jane asks why he didn’t tell her sooner, and he explains that he was trying to protect her. Jane calls him out for lying and trying to protect himself. She tells him that their relationship could have been saved if he just told her the truth.

 

The next morning, Weller answers the door to find Agent Singha (Kenya Brome) checking on them at Reade’s request. Weller tells her that they’re going to take the day off, but Jane wants to help with the case, insisting that she would rather be anywhere else. Patterson decodes the video to find that the person behind the mask is Adam Taylor (Josh Cooke). Reade and Zapata see him exit the facility and stop him from leaving. He surrenders, exclaiming that someone is going to kill his kid.

 

In the marketplace, Victor approaches Roman holding a wallet and won’t answer any questions about it. Roman notices men following them and Victor hands Roman the wallet to protect it. Reade tells the rest of the team that he hasn’t been able to get any useful information out of Adam yet. Dave informs them that all nuclear weapons beside the two stolen ones are accounted for, but that he can’t track them unless they are armed.

 

Reade asks Weller and Jane to interrogate Adam, but Jane insists she’ll do it on her own. Reade gives the rest of the team instructions, and Jake Keaton (Chad Donella) arrives to assist. Keaton also wants to discuss how to bring down Crawford, but Reade insists they don’t need his input. Keaton tells Reade that they have to play the long game to arrest Crawford, but Reade rejects the suggestion. Keaton tells Zapata that Reade is wrong, and she promises to handle it.

 

In the interrogation room, Adam keeps insisting that his son is in danger and Jane tells him they want to help. He insists that he intended to break into the facility as a whistleblower, but a woman named Lana forced him to steal the warheads. He tells Jane that he needs to call Lana, as she told him that his son would be safe if he sent her the codes to arm the weapons. He admits that he already sent the codes before he was arrested. Keaton bursts in with a photo of a woman that Adam identifies as Lana.

 

Keaton explains that Lana’s real name is Svetlana Stepulov (Julia Crockett), the sister of previously arrested terrorist Anton Stepulov. Patterson suggests having Adam call Lana to trace the phone call’s location, but Keaton believes that it would be easier to have Adam tell her to arm the warheads so they can track the weapons’ location. Patterson believes it’s too risky, but Reade agrees to keep it as plan B. Lana answers the phone and tells Adam that he wasn’t supposed to call her. Adam begs her to let him speak to his son, and Weller points to a piece of paper that says “Arm Them” when Lana is about to hang up. He asks if she knows how to arm them, and then asks about his son. Lana hangs up and texts Adam his son’s location.

 

Jane insists that she ride with Zapata to the address, and Weller rides with Reade. Weller and Jane tell Reade and Zapata what happened between them, and Jane can’t believe Avery is gone. They arrive at the address, where Adam’s son is tied up with armed guards standing over him. Jane surveys the scene, and Weller realizes that Lana planned to kill the boy when they arrived. Ignoring Weller’s pleas, Jane bursts into the house and shoots the guards. A man shoots Jane in the vest, and she falls to the ground. The rest of the team enters and Weller shoots the man. Jane insists that she’s fine as Weller checks on her and tells him not to touch her. Meanwhile, Lana watches the scene and tells her associate that they will strike sooner than planned.

 

Reade answers one of the recovered phones and Lana asks to speak to the agent in charge. He identifies himself as Assistant Director, but Lana wants to speak to Keaton. She explains she stole the warheads to get their attention and asks for Anton’s release and all American troops out of Turkey. Reade insists they don’t negotiate with terrorists, but Lana argues that America is run on negotiation. Lana hangs up, but Patterson is unable to trace the call’s location.

 

The team debates what to do, and Jane makes a pointed comment towards Weller about interference and unnecessary dying. Reade tells them to focus and suggests that Lana is more interested in getting Anton back than pulling the troops. Keaton tells them that Anton died in interrogations. Roman stops as a target is pointed at him, and a Bearded Man (Noureddine Hajoujou) takes the wallet from him.

 

Keaton suggests using a lookalike to fool Lana long enough to hand over the warheads. After Keaton leaves, Zapata tries to convince Reade to use Keaton’s method to bring down Crawford. Reade explains that he doesn’t trust Keaton, and insists that he trusts Zapata when she asks. Keaton tells Lana they will comply with her demands when she calls back, but Lana tells them that she already knows Anton is dead.

 

Patterson works to trace the call as Lana puts them on hold. They see that one of the bombs was activated, and it explodes near an uninhabited island. Lana demands they move the troops, or else the next bomb will hit New York. Roman tracks down the bearded man, attacks him, and steals the wallet back. Dragging him behind a building, Roman shoves his head repeatedly in water, demanding to know whom he works for. The man identifies Victor as his employer, and Roman drowns him. Patterson believes that Lana must have two different planes to drop the bombs and figures out that they are being held at a private airport.

 

The team arrives at the airport and Weller decides they should split up as Patterson tells them that warhead can be armed with a remote. Jane, Reade, and Zapata watch as a plane takes off that Patterson informs them contains both the armed warhead and Weller. Dave tells Weller that the warhead can be disarmed with the code and press of a button. Weller disarms the warhead, but is attacked by Lana. She opens the door and releases the warhead before reactivating it.

 

Weller recovers his gun in his struggle with Lana and shoots her out of the plane. He tells Patterson that the remote is on her wrist, and jumps out of the plane after her. He catches up to her and deactivates the warhead just in time as it falls into the Hudson. Weller pulls out his parachute, and Dave welcomes him back to headquarters as a hero. Reade tells them that he plans to play the long game to bring down Crawford.

 

Zapata finds Keaton waiting for her, congratulating her on persuading Reade. She insists that he needed to hear the suggestion from a friend. Keaton warns her that she will eventually need to pick a side, and Zapata declares her loyalty to him. Roman approaches Victor, and makes a comment about the men following them. He tells Victor that he recovered the wallet and pulls out a gold coin. Roman threatens to tell Crawford that Victor lost the coin to get him to explain the significance. Victor explains that Crawford intends to use the coin, potentially worth several billion, to make a business deal.

 

Weller tries to talk to Jane, but she tells him he can’t fix this. She tells him that all she can see is him killing Avery, and she can’t look past his lying to her. He pleads with her, but she tells him she’s leaving. Weller believes she means for the moment, but Jane puts her ring on the table and tells him she’s leaving him. In Germany, a guard sees security footage of a prisoner attempting to escape with a phone. He alerts the other guards and they recapture the prisoner, Avery.