Blindspot #2.1 “In Night So Ransomed Rogue” Recap & Review

In a spectacle-filled return to television, Jane reconnects with Weller’s resentful team on a mission to take down her former organization once and for all. But this episode was not without substance, as the quest for justice led Jane to answers about her identity. Here is a recap, followed by a review of the Blindspot season premiere, “In Night So Ransomed Rogue.”

RECAP:

The three months following Jane’s arrest have been torture. Imprisoned in a black site, Jane withstands the CIA’s interrogations thanks to previous training from her scar-faced friend. While submerged, Jane inhales heaping gulps of water, so the interrogators give her a revitalizing IV. Jane springs into action, connecting a few punches before being thrown in her cell. With the needle still in her arm and a makeshift mace in her waistband, Jane picks her handcuffs and escapes.

The FBI clears a house as the suspect rides away on a motorcycle. Weller follows suit and catches the counterfeiter in a rather anticlimactic arrest. Just as Reade and Zapata mention missing the tattoo cases, a helicopter arrives on scene. The door opens and out steps NSA Agent Nas Kamal in a trench coat and flawless makeup (like you do when you’re Archie Panjabi). Nas fills the team in on Sandstorm, a group responsible for a dozen domestic terror attacks and for Jane’s existence.

Tracking Jane to a motel, Weller goes in alone, but it’s not a happy reunion. With her gun to his head, Weller starts a rough-and-tumble-over-the-housekeeping-cart fight that ends with Jane in custody once again. Nas offers Jane a deal: infiltrate Sandstorm to take them down in exchange for her freedom. Jane’s on board. Weller, Reade, Zapata, and Patterson all have their reservations and trust issues, but agree for Mayfair. FOR MAYFAIR. To sell the lie to Sandstorm that she escaped from Cade’s custody, Jane needs Weller to shoot her, but even hearing Mayfair’s final words won’t make him hurt her. Zapata steps up and shoots Jane in the side. On the way to a hospital, Jane and her scar-faced friend, Roman, encounter a DUI checkpoint. With precision, Roman shoots everyone in the area and continues onward. Welcome to the cast, Luke Mitchell.

Looking over Mayfair’s flashdrive, Weller explains Daylight. Reade explains that Orion was a Naval Special Warfare Development Group. The M7G677 file is a black hole. Literally. A photo of a black hole. Nas provides help in the decrypting department, and the team uncovers an Orion photo of Jane, dressed in full tactical gear, lying dead in the desert.

All patched up, Jane demands answers. Roman takes her to Shepherd (Michelle Hurd), who’s a military woman with a lot of answers. Jane was born as Alice Kruger in Pretoria, South Africa to anti-apartheid activists. The government killed her parents and trained her and her brother as child soldiers. When Shepherd adopted them, they changed their names to Remi and Roman. Their mission is almost over, so Shepherd wants Jane back in play at the FBI ASAP. As Shepherd and Roman gaze upon a massive rocket ship, she questions Jane’s trustworthiness, but won’t risk activating their mole in the FBI just yet.

REVIEW:

About a year ago, the Blindspot pilot earned a spot in an exclusive club of pilots I actually like. As the weeks passed, “like” became to weak a word to express the impact. I grew to admire this series. Value this series’ existence. Then the summer hiatus provided the opportunity to reflect on the aspects I enjoyed and build expectations and excitement for what I wanted to see next. Expectations and excitement on a nearly insatiable level. But, ladies and gentlemen, the start of this episode was so enthralling and nerve-wracking that I completely forgot about the plate of jalapeno poppers sitting on my lap. Rich DotCom would not approve of the lack of relaxing, but it was everything I hoped it would be.

Blindspot is back and better than ever because it knows how to entertain. This episode successfully catered to both new and returning viewers. Jane’s quick recap of last year, coupled with a deluge of answers from Shepherd succinctly wrapped up the first season and cracked open the second in what felt like a season finale and a season premiere all in one. The most delightful surprise about “In Night So Ransomed Rogue” was the amount of heart and soul and fight that creator, writer, director, extraordinary human Martin Gero managed to pack into this hour.

“In Night So Ransomed Rogue” began as a mirror of the pilot. First, Jane emerged from captivity (a CIA black site vs a duffle bag). Then Weller and his team apprehended the perpetrator they were after. And the two stories came together when a helicopter arrived on the scene. But what elevated this episode was everything that came before it. After a season of ups and downs, secrets and lies, kisses and misses between the two leads, Weller and Jane’s history loaded every scene they shared with unspoken emotions. Even something as simple as Jane repeatedly calling him “Kurt” instead of “Weller” this episode speaks volumes about how personally she still views their connection. Jaimie Alexander receives most of the acting praise on this series, all of which she deserves. She even earned the honor of being TV Line’s performer of the week for this episode, but Sullivan Stapleton brought his A-game and also deserves a moment of recognition. (Take a beat for a round of applause.) When Jane encounters Weller for the first time this episode and brings up the past three months, Weller literally hangs his head. He’s not willing to take responsibility in words, but his expressions reveal his remorse. The pain they each experienced was palpable. But shared sorrow wasn’t enough as they engaged in a fight that neither wanted to start but needed to start to put an end to injustice. This scene, guys. This scene was golden.

Jane’s development as a character has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of this series because despite the heightened situation she’s found herself in, she’s just as human as you and I. At the end of last season, Jane gave up. She went without a fight. She broke down and let Weller arrest her. But she found a burst of strength while sitting at her rock bottom and propelled herself into what she knew would be an even tougher challenge. She’s now caught between two worlds (the FBI and Sandstorm), but neither feels like home. Jane rejected the one that accepts her. And the one that she’s dying to be a part of has rejected her. But that doesn’t stop her this time. She’s found a voice and a purpose. Between the high-stakes danger and action-packed moments, here is a woman who has decided to take control, in doing so, Jane provides us all with a lesson in giving up on giving up.

Having never seen the Good Wife or Archie Panjabi in any other role, I wasn’t sure what to expect of her arrival as Nas Kamal, but it’s safe to say that she lived up to all the hype. As an agent of Zero Division, Nas is professional, knowledgeable, and strategic. As an actress, Panjabi brings a calm and confident authority that carves out her own space in the series. Nas opened up to Weller more than I expected her to in this first episode, but her story about being stuck in a physical sandstorm and her candidness about her history with the group Sandstorm were such defining moments in her life and career that it makes sense to use them to introduce her.

Speaking of introductions, Shepherd made quite the impression. Jane got two names, an adoptive mother, a biological brother, and a backstory in a minute flat. That mother happens to be the leader of Sandstorm. Shepherd is a woman. I repeat. Shepherd is a woman. Not only does she help fill a void of too few female antagonists on television, but she also plays a fascinating and disturbing role in Jane’s life. As the woman who raised her, Shepherd should be the one who would move Heaven and Earth to protect Jane, but instead, she’s partially responsible for sending Jane out into the world oblivious, tattooed, and terrified. Neither Shepherd nor Bill Weller will be receiving any parent-of-the-year awards, but I’m curious to see how Jane’s relationship with her mother contrasts to that of Weller and his father.

Equally as interesting as Jane’s mother is her brother. Their dichotomy was evident from the get-go. Jane’s nature drives her to help people and do good, while Roman is a homicidal maniac. That may be a little harsh, but not totally inaccurate. Luke Mitchell has an undeniable charisma that makes his character all the more intriguing. It will be fun to see how much Jane and Roman rub off on one another and how much their bonding causes problems for each of their missions.

Nas had an asset in Sandstorm. Sandstorm had a mole in the NSA. Sandstorm has a mole in the FBI! Loyalty these days is not what it used to be, but this sets up a new mystery for us to solve. The images of the team that immediately followed Shepherd’s reveal provided our pool of suspects, so which one could it be?

First up is FBI Director Pellington. A likely candidate. He had no reservations about kicking Mayfair out of office and replacing her with Weller, exactly like Sandstorm wanted. In addition, the character named after the writers’ puzzle consultant (David Kwong) had his throat slit. I don’t imagine a great fate awaits the character named after the pilot’s director (Mark Pellington). Although Director Pellington being the mole would be believable, he hasn’t been integrated into the show well enough at this point for his betrayal to make the kind of splash it should. That may very well change in the next few episodes, so we’ll keep him toward the top of the list.

If the mole is Weller, it would certainly explain why Sandstorm sent Jane to him. They could have used his history with the Taylor Shaw case as a cover-up explanation to prevent anyone from looking deeper into their connection. However, Weller has proven himself to be too noble and selfless and furious with Jane’s lies that it would feel inconsistent with his character. The likelihood is low, but not non-existent.

Patterson is a difficult one to decipher. On the one hand, she’s shown great enthusiasm for solving the tattoo cases and bringing the criminals to justice like Sandstorm wants. As we saw in “Swift Hardhearted Stone” (episode 1.20), she has skills in the field. Her quick problem-solving and intelligence make her a valuable asset. But on the other hand, the fact that she went after a suspect in “Mans Telepathic Loyal Lookouts” (episode 1.17), was kidnapped and almost killed, makes her look more innocent. Unless it was a mislead.

Dr. Borden is my top suspect, not necessarily because of anything he’s done, but because of what he hasn’t and where he’s positioned. Last season, Borden barely had the opportunity to branch out of his office and was easily the most underutilized main character, despite how enjoyable he was to watch. Having him be the mole would better utilize Ukweli Roach and give Dr. Borden a fun and interesting storyline of his own. He’s in the perfect position to monitor Jane’s emotional state and memory recovery and subtly manipulate her to keep her in line with Sandstorm’s agenda. However, if Patterson begins to develop feelings for Borden, I’m concerned about what her poor track record with relationships would do to her professional confidence.

Both CIA Director Carter and U.S. Attorney Weitz have already used Zapata as a double agent against her team, so Zapata being the mole would fit well with her tendency to get in over her head, but it would feel like an unoriginal move on the writers’ part. Zapata is terrible at polygraphs, which would not make for an ideal mole. Or maybe she just wants everyone to think she’s terrible at polygraphs to lessen the chance of someone believing she’s lying about being a mole. I’m hoping to see a redemption story for Zapata this season. To see her become a person she’s proud of and Mayfair could be proud of, so I’m hoping she’s innocent in all this.

Since the beginning, Reade has not been shy about not trusting the tattoos, so his potential as the mole looks pretty slim. Getting close to Weller’s sister may have been part of Sandstorm’s plan, but then there’s the issue of the guy threatening to hurt her.

Nas works for a division of the NSA that doesn’t technically exist, so the team will have a hard time proving or disproving her stories and loyalty. The fact that her job and existence is so shrouded in mystery both helps and hurts her likelihood of success as a mole.

According to Emmy voters, Blindspot is not the best series on television. It’s not even in the top seven series on television. But it’s my number one series because in the post-graduation, unsuccessful-job-hunting, what-am-I-doing-with-my-life phase, or whatever phase of life you’re in, it provides not only an hour of escapism, but also a fresh dose of hope. In a television and cinema landscape teeming with remakes, reboots, and revivals, with shows based on a movie, on a book, or on a comic book, I’ve found myself growing cynical about the lack of originality. As someone hoping to break into the world of television, that’s not a great place to be. Sure, Blindspot has tinges of the Bourne series and The Illustrated Man, (storytelling has been around far too long for anything nowadays to be truly original), but what Blindspot lacks are the baggage and expectations of being an adaptation. New characters are a surprise. Relationships can form and break apart without being “canon” or breaking “canon.” Anyone can be good or bad or a mole. The story can move as fast or as slow as the writers want it to. Martin Gero seems to prefer the faster option, and I’m not complaining. This solid start to the second season gives me hope that more original series can survive on television these days.

ODDS AND ENDS:

– This title’s anagram is “Nothing is more dangerous.”

– Blindspot moves to its permanent time slot this week. Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

– Did the “2 WEEKS LATER” text look a little too Captain America: Civil War inspired? Why not use the same style of text that the episode opened with?

– I’m too traumatized to talk about Zapata shooting Jane other than to say that was quite an exceptional and unexpected moment.

– It’s cool that Blindspot can subtly weave in clues, puzzles, and mythology, such as the story of Romulus (Roman) and Remus (Remi) being raised by a she-wolf (Shepherd). But then they go and not-so-subtly zoom out so Jane stands directly below South Africa on the Unisphere.

– As always, Blake Neely’s score was remarkable. I just discovered the first season soundtrack is available on iTunes, and it provided lovely background music to write this to.

– Weller: I wanted justice under the laws of this country.
Jane: I don’t exist, Kurt. I don’t have a passport. I don’t have a birth certificate. I have no rights.

– Zapata: Why do we use a polygraph?
Patterson: Because we’re not allowed to inject our subjects with substantial doses of radioactive material.

– Jane: The people who did this to us are still out there, and they need to be stopped, so let’s make this right.
Weller: Mayfair’s dead, Jane. There’s no making this right.
Jane: Then let’s make them pay.

– Patterson (to Nas): I feel like you don’t give a lot of pep talks.