Blindspot – The Night of the Dying Breath

By starrymag | April 11, 2019

By: Jessica Wolff

 

After Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) is kidnapped by Dominic Masters (Chaske Spencer), Rich Dotcom (Ennis Esmer) pores over hospital security footage and finds Dominic rolling Jane on a gurney hidden under a sheet. Patterson (Ashley Johnson) confirms that it’s Dominic, but Rich tells Edgar Reade (Rob Brown) that there’s no footage of Dominic kidnapping Jane. Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) warns Reade that he shouldn’t let Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) continue to interrogate Madeline Burke (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio).

 

In the interrogation room, Weller demands that Madeline tell him where Jane is, but Madeline feigns empathy and innocence. Reade shows Madeline the footage of Dominic, but Madeline replies she doesn’t see Jane in the video. She tells him he has no proof Jane is under the sheet, and Reade tells her playing dumb only prolongs the process. However, Madeline tells them she refuses to make a positive identification based on the footage.

 

Weller demands to know where Dominic took Jane, but Madeline downplays her connection to Dominic. Madeline accuses them of holding her responsible for Dominic’s actions, and Reade sarcastically asks what gave her that impression. She refuses to talk further until her lawyer arrives, and Weller promises to ensure she rots in prison. Madeline replies that she wants to deal with someone less emotionally invested, asking to talk to Zapata.

 

Patterson shows Weller that they tracked the ambulance Dominic stole to a parking lot, but he abandoned it and stole another vehicle. Rich explains that nobody’s reported a stolen car yet and that it could take days to find it. Reade reports that the grounding of flights is being reversed, telling Weller that they can’t stop it. Rich suggests that he and Patterson can cover the costs, but Reade tells him it would cost fifteen billion dollars. Rich tries to work out the math, but Patterson tells him Reade said billion not million.

 

Weller tells Reade to call Weitz to reverse the order, but Reade tells him he can’t. Their argument is interrupted by the arrival of Madeline’s lawyer, Richard Shirley (Raoul Bhaneja) who tells Reade that he’s missing his family vacation to be there and thanks him for taking Madeline into protective custody. Reade tells him Madeline is in regular custody, and Richard insists that Madeline was trying to flee the cartel.

 

Richard continues to argue Madeline’s innocence, and Briana (Amy Margaret Wilson) reports that a man has called claiming he knows where Jane is. Reade and Weller take the call and Dominic requests Madeline’s release in exchange for Jane. Weller asks where Jane is, and Dominic tells him she’s running out of time. Dominic hangs up and Jane wakes up in a box, realizing she’s being buried alive.

 

Jane tries to kick her way out of the box, but dirt falls into the box. A phone rings and Jane answers it, asking Dominic what he wants. Dominic tells her he’s the only person who knows her location and that the team wants proof of life. He patches Jane over to the FBI and Jane tells them her situation before Dominic cuts her off. Dominic demands Madeline’s release before hanging up on them.

 

Weller tells Reade they have to release Madeline, but Reade tells him the DOJ would never let that happen and promises they’ll find Jane another way. Patterson shows them that she was able to trace Jane’s phone to a cell tower and Rich suggests they can call her back. He finds that Jane could be anywhere in a five-mile radius and Reade tells them to find Jane’s phone in the sixty-one numbers activated at the cell tower at the time of the call.

 

Reade and Weller tell Madeline about Dominic’s call, but Madeline insists Dominic is a former employee. Richard questions how they know it’s Dominic and argues that Madeline is in danger from Dominic as well as the cartel. Reade lists Madeline’s crimes, insisting they have proof of her guilt. Richard maintains Madeline’s innocence and Rich and Patterson reach Jane’s phone.

 

Jane is relieved that it’s them and they tell her what they know about the situation. She panics and Reade urges her to stay calm. Patterson asks Jane to describe the box she’s in and she tells them that her battery is low. Weller promises they’ll call back and that they’ll find her. After they hang up, Rich explains they can’t triangulate her location and Patterson calculates that she has about thirty-nine minutes left.

 

Weller urges Reade to release Madeline, reminding him Jane is running out of time. Reade tells Richard that they’re not releasing Madeline, but he comments that Madeline has time while Jane doesn’t. He tells them Madeline has information about Dominic, but requests that she be taken out of interrogation before she gives it. Zapata and Weller urge Reade to listen to what Madeline has to say, and Reade tells them to wire the conference room so they can have Madeline on record.

 

The team calls Jane back and asks her what she can identify about her surroundings. Jane is unable to help them, and Patterson asks her to describe the dirt in the box. Patterson asks her to be specific in her description and Rich asks her to taste the dirt. Jane refuses, but Patterson agrees it’s a good idea. Jane tastes the dirt, commenting there’s a hint of sulfur inside. Patterson promises to use the information, but Jane asks to speak to Reade privately. Reade takes the call and is surprised by what Jane has to say.

 

Reade and Weller bring Madeline into the conference room and Richard scrambles the signal to avoid their conversation from being recorded. Richard tells them Dominic is acting alone and Madeline’s information doesn’t implicate her. Madeline requests to call her sons first and Weller pulls Reade aside. Weller argues they have no choice, but Reade refuses to give into their demands. A bug bites Jane and she smashes it against the box.

 

Weller argues that Madeline’s request is simple, but Reade argues that she’s playing with them. Reade tells him there’s no guarantee that Madeline’s information will help them, but Weller insists they need to find Jane. Zapata suggests that she talk to Madeline, arguing she knows her best. Rich uses the dirt description to narrow down Jane’s location and Patterson calls Jane to check in on her. Jane tells them about the bug and Patterson promises they’ll be there soon. Rich asks her to describe the bug and she tells them what she knows. Jane’s phone dies and she breaks down.

 

Rich insists they need to get Jane back on the phone and Patterson sets up an autodial that will keep trying to reach Jane, confident that Jane will find a way to turn her phone back on. Jane assesses her surroundings and gets an idea. Zapata tells Madeline they won’t release her and threatens to expose her murder of her husband and the coverup of her son’s drug arrest if she doesn’t help them. Madeline denies knowing what she’s talking about, but Zapata asks if she’s going to protect her sons or Dominic. After some discussion, Richard tells Zapata that Madeline agrees to tell them what she knows to protect her family.

 

Jane uses a wire and flashlight to reignite her phone while Rich identifies the bug that bit Jane. Zapata and Reade tell them that Madeline has given the location of Dominic’s cabin and Patterson is able to locate it in the radius. Weller approaches the cabin but finds it empty as Jane hears a noise above her that turns out to be a deer. Reade questions if Madeline gave them false intel, but Weller finds evidence that somebody was recently in the cabin and tells them there’s no sign of Jane other than some dirt on the floor.

 

Weller insists they have to release Madeline, but Reade tells him Jane told him not to. Weller insists that Jane doesn’t want her death to be for nothing and tells him that Madeline wins if any of them dies. Reade tells him that they’ll go to prison if they let Madeline go, but the rest of the team is willing to go to prison to save Jane. Reade tells Weller he promised Jane, but Weller reminds him that he promised him they would save Jane.

 

Reade tells Richard and Madeline that they’re going to release Madeline, but they need assurance that Dominic will hold up his end of the deal. Richard tells him he knows Dominic’s lawyer, and Reade accuses Richard of tipping Dominic of their arrival. Richard insists he’s insulted by the accusation and Jane is able to reignite her phone’s battery and regain contact with the team.

 

Patterson tells her they plan to run a signal burst through her phone to triangulate her location and Rich tells her they need Jane’s phone’s serial number. Jane gives him the number as the FBI searches the woods for Jane. Jane talks to Weller, telling him she needed to hear his voice. He promises that they’ll find her, and she tells him she loves him. Rich runs the program but Jane’s phone dies. Patterson asks Rich if they got Jane’s location and Rich confirms they did. Weller runs to the location and starts digging.

 

Zapata unlocks Madeline’s cuffs, telling her they’re making arrangements for her release. She asks Madeline why she didn’t kill her when she had the chance, and Madeline tells her that she hasn’t decided what side she’s truly on. Zapata questions why she thinks that, and Weller finds Jane passed out as he opens the box. Madeline tells Zapata that she always thought she could turn her, and Zapata apologizes for disappointing her. Madeline tells her she hasn’t and that she wouldn’t change a thing.

 

Weller works to revive Jane and they embrace after she awakes. Agents arrive to take Madeline, and Reade tells her she’s going to Riker’s to stand trial. Richard insists they had a deal, but Reade tells him that there’s no deal on record. Madeline tells Zapata she’ll pay for this, asking if the FBI will fully believe she doesn’t work for her as she’s taken away.

 

Reade pulls out a bottle of wine declaring that they’ll make an exception to the no drinks in the lab rule to celebrate their victory. Jane thanks the team for finding her, telling them that knowing they were looking for her kept her going. Weller pulls Reade aside and admits that he knows Reade was trying to do his job. Reade admits that Weller was right about Madeline winning if any of them were lost. Later, Reade finds Zapata working to find Dominic and tells her it can wait. He asks if everything she did for Madeline was worth it, and she tells him it has to be. She tells him that Keaton was able to clear their names, and that she wants to come back to the FBI.

 

Richard meets with Dominic, who asks how angry Madeline is. He tells Dominic that he almost ruined everything and that he’s lucky that nothing he did can be tied to Madeline. Dominic reminds Richard that he’s his attorney too, and Richard replies he isn’t anymore. Richard gives Dominic a phone with information on Project Helios, telling him that carrying out Madeline’s plan to attack the Eastern Seaboard will help him get back into her good graces.