Blindspot – This Profound Legacy

By starrymag | December 7, 2017

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

In a gas station bathroom, Yasmine Petrushev (Tina Benko) demands that Vanya Petrushev (Alex Ozerov) hand over his phone.  She flushes the memory card down the toilet and they find their location surrounded as they try to leave.  Vanya sees that Yasmine is bleeding, but she insists that they keep moving.  After running some tests, Patterson (Ashley Johnson) informs Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) and Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) that the document indicating that Jane has a daughter is real, but Jane refuses to accept it.  Jane questions how she could forget that she had a child, but Patterson reminds her that her memories were completely erased.

 

Weller suggests that Jane take time to process the revelation, but Jane is done with lies.  After Weller asks Patterson to give them space, Jane admits that she doesn’t want this to end up like the time she believed that she was Taylor Shaw.  Edgar Reade (Rob Brown) finds Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) waiting for him in his office, and she asks him about his meeting with the State Department.  She explains that she saw him get into a car with West, but Reade gets defensive and insists that he doesn’t owe her an explanation.

 

Patterson gathers the team and shows them the latest tattoo case, a backbone tattoo with a number that leads to an evidence box tracking number for the NYPD.  Reade questions what’s in the box, and Patterson admits that she has no idea.  After telling Weller and Jane to check out the lead, Reade assigns Zapata paperwork.  Weller and Jane search the warehouse and find two men who run upon seeing them.  Jane sees one of the men set fire to a puddle of gasoline, while Weller subdues the other.  Jane shoots the man in a struggle, and rushes to put out the fire with a blanket.  Weller grabs a fire extinguisher and puts out the rest of the fire.  Patterson calls, telling them that a few other warehouses were firebombed in the same manner.

 

Jane finds the box that the men were hoping to destroy, and they open it to find several untested rape kits inside from over twenty years ago.  Patterson finds a news article that a law ordering the testing of backlogged rape kits was passed recently.  The team realizes that whoever tried to destroy the rape kits was pretty powerful, and Jane is sad about the rape kits that were lost in the other warehouses.  Afreen (Ami Sheth) hands Patterson Stuart’s phone, telling her that it washed up on the shore of the Hudson.  Reade insists that the wet phone is useless, but Zapata is confident in Patterson’s abilities.  Reade tells her not to waste time with it, and Zapata and Patterson questions Reade’s behavior once he leaves.

 

Jane and Weller interrogate the man from the warehouse, and question who hired him.  The man refuses to answer, but Jane and Weller get him to admit that he was paid for the job.  When he refuses to explain how he was paid, Weller and Jane pretend that they have other suspects more willing to cooperate.  He confesses that he was paid through direct deposit and gives the name of the bank and alias.

 

Patterson uses the information to trace the payments, and determines that the payments came from a country called Kazarus.  Zapata pulls up two names involved from the rape kit box that have ties to the country.  Patterson asks to talk to Weller, since Jane’s revelation affects him too.  Weller insists that he’s fine, and then admits that he doesn’t know how to help Jane.  When Patterson warns him not to try to fix things, he confesses that he can’t fix it.

 

Jane gets a phone call from Roman (Luke Mitchell), who comments on Patterson’s investigation into Jane’s adoption.  He confirms that Jane had a child and hums a lullaby that triggers a memory of Jane holding her daughter.  As Roman talks, Jane asks Patterson to trace the call.  Jane asks why she gave the baby up, but Roman tells her that Shepherd took her away.  He tells her that she fought to keep her, and that she ran away to cope.  As Jane asks where her daughter is, Roman asks about Patterson’s trace of the call before hanging up.  Patterson admits that she didn’t have enough time to trace the call.  Zapata asks if she’s okay, but Jane admits that she’s not.

 

Weller goes to check on Jane, who tells him that she needs to talk to Shepherd for answers.  Jane expresses guilt for letting Shepherd take her daughter away. Weller reminds her that she was young when it happened, but she asks him if he would let someone take Bethany away.  Patterson informs Zapata that she couldn’t get anything off Stuart’s phone, but Zapata suggests pretending they found something in order to track whomever attempts to tamper with the investigation.

 

After receiving DNA results, Patterson and Zapata inform the team that the king of Kazarus raped Yasmine.  Weller questions why the rape kit was destroyed if the king recently died, but Reade finds out that Yasmine’s apartment was ransacked and that she has a son that was born nine months after the rape.  They realize that the king’s brother is attempting to kill Vanya and erase record of him because he is the rightful heir to the throne.  Zapata informs them that Yasmine’s car was spotted outside a gas station, and security footage shows her buying burner phones.

 

Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Congressman Matthew Weitz (Aaron Abrams), and Reade tells them that he invited him as an expert on Kazarus.  Despite everyone’s disgust of him, Weitz thanks them for helping him get elected.  Reade asks Patterson to track Yasmine’s location, and Zapata declares that she’s working with her.  Weitz attempts to give them a lesson on Kazarhusian politics, but neither Weller nor Eleanor Hirst (Mary Stuart Masterson) is impressed.  He explains that the king’s brother is a tyrant known for human rights violations and that the US is attempting to stabilize the country.  Weitz tells them that the late king told his brother about Vanya on his deathbed as a way to taunt him.

 

Reade speaks to Hirst about his argument with Zapata, and Hirst asks if Zapata can keep her mouth shut about his involvement with West.  He tells her that he trusts her, and Hirst emphasizes that they need to keep this a secret.  Patterson tells the team that she found that Vanya has a girlfriend through social media.  Weitz asks how it’s relevant, and Patterson shows them a video Vanya recorded for her on his burner phone.  Patterson uses the drapes in the background of the video to narrow down their location to three possible hotels in the area.

 

On their way to the hotel, Jane expresses her concern for Vanya and whether he knows the truth about his father.  Weller assures her they’ll protect him, and Jane questions who’s protecting her daughter.  As she expresses her desire to find her, Patterson calls confirming Vanya and Yasmine’s location.  They arrive at the hotel and open the door to find Vanya pointing a gun at them and pleading for them to not come closer.  Weller and Jane assure him they’re trying to help, and Jane sees that Yasmine is bleeding out.  Jane lowers her weapon and convinces Vanya to trust them.

 

They take Yasmine to a hospital, and then check up on Vanya outside the room.  Vanya confesses that he used to ask about his father, and Jane assures him that he was just a kid.  He explains that Yasmine told him the truth when he turned eighteen, and Jane empathizes with him.  Vanya declares that he is not confused about who he is, declaring that he’s his mother’s son and that her rapist is not his father.  Patterson sees evidence of someone logging into their system to tamper with the false evidence, and tells Zapata that it’s Reade.  Zapata refuses to believe it, but Patterson shows her Reade deleting files from the system.  However, Zapata denies it, saying that Reade is family.

 

Vanya sits by Yasmine’s bedside and offers to get her water.  Weller offers to accompany him, and Yasmine thanks Jane for keeping them safe. Jane compliments her protection of Vanya, but she insists that any mother would.  Yasmine makes Jane promise to protect her son, and Jane promises to protect them both.  Zapata bickers with Weitz, and Reade defends her.  When he leaves, Reade tells her that she needs to trust him.  Zapata assures him that she does, and he promises he’ll come to her if he needs her.

 

On their way back to the room, Weller finds the hallway security gone.  A man dressed in an FBI uniform shoots at them, and Weller pushes Vanya to safety as he shoots the man.  Yasmine panics at the sound of gunshots, but Jane tells her to stay quiet as she investigates.  Jane and Weller hear more gunshots, and determine that the hospital is under attack.  They hear the men on FBI communications, and Weller tells them that they’re taking Vanya to the roof.  Vanya insists that they can’t leave his mother behind and Weller carries Yasmine as the four of them exit the hospital.

 

They climb into an FBI car and Weller tells Agent Stevens (Damiyr Shuford) about the misdirection, ordering him to take out the gunman on the roof.  As Weller drives them to safety, Patterson tells Zapata that Reade isn’t the one tampering with the evidence.  She explains that she used Reade’s data from her app to determine that he wasn’t in the building at the time of the login, concluding that Reade is being framed.  Weller calls Patterson, informing her of the hospital attack.  Patterson tracks his SUV, and tells him to keep moving before sending a convoy to him.

 

Weller spots spikes on the road, but is unable to stop as the car drives over them.  A car pulls up and three gunmen start shooting. Jane tells Vanya and Yasmine to stay in the car as she and Weller shoot back at them.  The remaining gunman lights a fire and throws it at the car.  Jane and Weller get Vanya and Yasmine to safety before the car explodes.  They arrive back at headquarters, and Hirst tells them how happy she is to see them.  Vanya thanks them for protecting them, and Patterson pulls Zapata aside to tell her that she analyzed everyone’s keystrokes to determine that Hirst logged in as Reade.  They speculate what Hirst could be hiding, and Patterson finds evidence that she has been tampering with tattoo cases, since some of them lead to her involvement.

 

Weitz tells them that the King’s brother was assassinated, and Kazarus is now destabilized. After being told that the country wants Vanya to accept his right to the throne, Weitz argues against Jane and Weller’s protests by telling them that Vanya’s refusal could be catastrophic.  Hirst argues that Vanya needs to know his options.  Jane and Weller sit him down and assure him that it’s his decision.  Vanya insists that he needs to go, believing that he can make things better for the people of Kazarus.

 

Patterson and Zapata present the evidence against Hirst, but Reade is angry that Zapata didn’t trust him.  He questions Patterson’s evidence, and refuses to believe that Hirst is working against them.  Reade declares that he trusts Hirst, but no longer trusts Patterson and Zapata.  He argues that they’re playing into Roman’s hands, and demands that Patterson give him real evidence before storming off.  Zapata believes that Reade is too close to Hirst, but Patterson questions if he is covering for her.

 

Jane tells Weller that she doesn’t want to find her daughter, after seeing what Vanya’s discovery of his true parentage did to his life.  She believes that her daughter would be happier if she didn’t know Jane existed, and Weller embraces her. Six months ago in Berlin, Weller shows the Front Desk Clerk (Carrington Villmont) of a hotel Jane’s picture.  He refuses to cooperate despite Weller’s pleading.  Avery (Kristina Reyes) tells him to show the picture to the employees and he agrees.  Weller thanks her, and Avery tells him that they’re looking for the same person.  Showing him her own picture of Jane, Avery introduces herself as Jane’s daughter.