Blindspot – Upside Down Craft

By starrymag | November 17, 2017

By: Jessica Wolff

 

Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) and Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) flirt while undercover on a mission at a party thrown by Kevin Loewe (R. Ward Duffy).  Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) asks them to stop, as she and Edgar Reade (Rob Brown) can hear everything as they hack into Loewe’s computer.  She tells Reade that her cousin asked for Patterson’s (Ashley Johnson) autograph, and he explains that Patterson’s app, Wizardville, is extremely successful.  They gain access to Loewe’s email as Jane and Weller talk to Loewe.  When Zapata and Reade find incriminating emails, Weller and Jane arrest him.

 

Zapata asks Patterson how she’s holding up after Stuart’s death, and she admits that she’s not doing great.  Eleanor Hirst (Mary Stuart Masterson) criticizes them for not telling her beforehand of Loewe’s arrest, as he is a high-profile figure.  Patterson shows her how she processed Jane’s tattoo to lead them to the evidence to arrest Loewe for domestic terrorism.  Hirst warns them that the evidence better be ironclad, or else the FBI will have a PR nightmare.

 

In Reade’s office, Patterson confesses that she’s been doing her own investigating into Stuart’s murder, and comments that a device that Stuart frequently mentioned wasn’t in the evidence log.  She believes that the device might have recorded Stuart’s murder and asks for Reade’s help to get access to the recordings.  Patterson, Weller, and Jane meet with Loewe’s lawyer, Courtney Puritsky (Natalie Roy) who vouches for her client’s innocence.  When Weller tells her about the emails, she tells them that an anonymous group of hackers called the Three Blind Mice planted the emails in Loewe’s server.  Weller requests her evidence of the claim, and she gives him access to her files.

 

Patterson visits Rich Dotcom (Ennis Esmer), uses a device to scramble the signal, and asks if he planted the emails.  Rich is confused, and Patterson explains that the latest tattoo case points to the Three Blind Mice.  When asked if she shut down the investigation, Patterson tells him that she didn’t know how to without confessing that she and him are two of the three members of the group, which would cause serious consequences for both of them.  Patterson and Rich both get texts from Weller asking to see them.

 

Weller asks them if they know anything about the group, and they try to play dumb.  Hirst comes in and confirms that the emails were planted, but Patterson argues that Loewe could still be guilty.  However, Hirst reminds her that tampered evidence is inadmissible.  Rich suggests apologizing, but Hirst says that the only way to make things right is to bring down the hacker group.  She shows them a picture captured of one of the three mice, and they see that the member is wearing a mouse mask.

 

Back in Rich’s office, Patterson suggests that they come clean about their involvement, but Rich reminds her that they dropped out of the group a year ago and therefore aren’t linked to this case.  They both talk about their initial vision of the group, to bring down high-profile Wall Street execs and distribute the wealth like Robin Hood.  Rich believes that they are safe, as the third member of the group has no idea who they are and can’t implicate them.  Patterson believes that it still can be traced back to them, and Rich suggests obstructing justice to slow them down.  She asks if he wants to jeopardize his newly found role in the team, but he replies that he wants to avoid multiple felony charges.

 

Reade and Zapata talk to Vanessa Eckert (Manni Perez) about getting access to the device recordings, but she denies that the device can record full conversations.  After Reade pulls rank, he requests to speak to the most senior executive.  Zapata comments to Reade that she likes his girlfriend, and tells him to marry her or she will.  They video chat with the team, and Patterson tells them that she was able to identify the masked individual as Kathy Gustafson (Heather Burns).  Reade tells them to bring her in, and Hirst asks Patterson and Rich to be in the room with her as she questions Kathy.

 

During questioning, Kathy admits that she’s heard of the group and asks what it has to do with her.  Hirst, Patterson, and Rich show her their evidence, and Kathy offers to help them.  She justifies the group’s actions, and explains that they were trying to help people.  Rich clarifies her explanation, and Patterson responds to him.  Kathy tells Hirst that she didn’t know her partners’ names, and hasn’t spoken to them since the group disbanded.  Hirst asks how she hacked into Loewe’s computer, and Kathy asks if her experts were unable to figure it out.  Rich presents his theory, and Kathy tells him that it’s a pretty close guess.  Kathy tells Hirst that the emails she planted were deleted emails that Loewe wrote, and that people are in danger.  When asked for clarification, Kathy provides information that Loewe is planning another attack.

 

The rest of the team finds evidence to confirm Kathy’s claim, but Hirst is convinced that she is lying.  Later, Patterson informs Rich that she verified the claim by hacking into Puritsky’s phone through her Wizardville account.  They struggle with sharing the illegally acquired information with the team.  Patterson decides that they need to come clean, but Rich disagrees, and comes up with an idea.  They fake the information as an anonymous tip that they play for Weller and Jane.  Patterson explains that Kathy is still in custody and could not have placed the tip herself.  Weller gives instructions, and tells Jane that they don’t have time to verify the tip.

 

Weller and Jane investigate the targeted chemical factory and force three men to freeze.  They put up a fight as Weller tries to handcuff them, and Jane runs to the bomb, sending a picture to Patterson.  One of the men (Chazz Menendez) attacks Jane, and she fights him before asking him for the code to disarm the bomb.  After speeding up the countdown, the man enters the code and the bomb is disabled.  Jane knocks him to the ground, and uses a chemical bottle to shoot the man attacking Weller, preventing the gunshot from igniting the gas leak.  Weller asks how she knew to do that, and Jane tells him that she has a lot of new tricks.

 

Hirst compliments their work, and Patterson tells her that they’re still trying to link the attempted terrorist attack to Loewe.  After expressing confidence that they’ll get him, Hirst tells them to get some rest.  Rich expresses his excitement to Patterson that their group is no longer a target, and they fist bump the victory.  Sam Kadkhoda (Michelle Hendley) denies that the device can record conversations, but Reade and Zapata warn her of the consequences of lying to the FBI.  Reade gives her his card, and tells her that he needs the recording by the end of the day.  Patterson and Rich arrive at the same location, both believing the other asked to meet.  They are both shot and Kathy approaches them, insisting that she’s rescuing them.

 

Patterson and Rich wake up in a warehouse and find that they have a collar that shocks them if they move too far from their couch.  Kathy approaches them and expresses excitement that the Three Blind Mice are back together, explaining that she pieced together their identities in the interrogation room.  Kathy realizes who Rich is and is excited to be working with a living legend.  Patterson asks her to let them go, but Kathy believes that Patterson and Rich were brainwashed into working for the FBI.  Kathy laughs at Patterson’s warning that the FBI will catch her, telling them that they’re safe now.  She gives them a list of hacks for them to do and is excited that they get to work together again.  Patterson refuses, but Kathy grabs her phone as Weller texts asking where she is.

 

The rest of the team drinks together, and Zapata and Jane talk about Wizardville.  They realize that Reade also plays the game, and Zapata confronts him about not telling her.  He tells her that she’s super-competitive and she takes it as a challenge.  Rich thinks that they should go along with Kathy’s plan in hopes that she will release them, but Patterson disagrees.  Kathy rolls in a computer and warns them that she will turn up their shock collars if they try to contact the FBI.  Weller gets an email from Patterson cancelling their plans, but Zapata knows that something is wrong since she signed the email with her first name.

 

As Congressman Shusterman (Alex Webb) addresses a crowd, Rich hacks the display monitor to show compromising photos of him.  Kathy is in awe of their work, and Patterson asks if she’ll let them go.  She refuses and tells them that their next task is to crash the plane that Loewe and his wife are flying on.  Patterson refuses to commit murder, and Kathy tells her that Loewe killed her brother during one of his domestic attacks.  Patterson tries to reason that there’s another way to get justice, but Rich agrees with Kathy.  Despite Patterson’ argument that Loewe’s wife would be an innocent victim, Kathy refuses to listen and shocks Patterson.

 

The team figures out that Kathy is behind the disappearances and Jane finds the location they were last seen.  Rich completes the hack for Kathy, and she asks if he’s missed this.  He admits that he hasn’t felt like himself in a long time, and Patterson tries to protest as he initiates the code.  The team uses Kathy’s work history to figure out that she is holding them at one of her former workplaces.  Kathy serves Rich dinner and wine to celebrate his work.

 

Kathy gets notification that the perimeter has been breached and sees an FBI vehicle approaching them.  She accuses Patterson of contacting the FBI and is horrified to see that Rich didn’t actually crash Loewe’s plane.  Kathy knocks Rich out and hacks the FBI vehicle.  The team realizes the vehicle is being hacked, and they get out in time before it crashes.  Kathy sets the computer on fire and cries over her friends’ betrayal.  She hears Patterson try to speak and removes her gag for her final words.  Patterson apologizes to Kathy for betraying her and tells her they were a good team.  Kathy tells her that she admired her moral compass and she inspired her.

 

Patterson sees the team sneak into the building and throws herself on Kathy as she tries to shoot Rich.  Reade orders Jane to turn off the fuse box as he sees Patterson being shocked and arrests Kathy.  Later, Weller tells them that Hirst wants to find the other Mice and that Kathy won’t reveal her partners.  Reade questions why Kathy targeted Patterson and Rich, and pieces together that they are the other Mice.  He tells them that there is no solid evidence, so he cannot prosecute them.  Reade expresses his concern that Patterson and Rich were the targets of the tattoo.

 

Jane cooks dinner for her and Weller, and he is appreciative.  As he goes to take a shower, Jane gets a call from Roman (Luke Mitchell).  She steps outside and asks what he wants.  He asks her what it’s like to be back, and tells her that she can’t see the bad in anyone.  Roman tells her that all of this is to punish her, and Jane expresses her remorse for what she did to him.  He won’t accept it, and tells her that he’ll enjoy every minute of watching her suffer.

 

Patterson analyzes the device recordings and shows Reade and Zapata that Stuart’s killer overlaid audio from earlier in the day during the time of the murder.  She shows them that that figured out the tattoo that Stuart was struggling with and shows that it leads to a list of people who own Van Gogh’s self-portrait.  Eric Vance (Tarik Lowe) approaches Kadkhoda and confirms that she did what he asked, overlaying the audio in the recording.  He tells her that she won’t have to see him again and walks away.