While Reade takes a personal day to tail Coach Jones, the FBI investigates a hit on a senator and uncovers the true leader of the Irish mob. Here is a recap, followed by a review of the Blindspot episode “Condone Untidiest Thefts.”
RECAP:
Jane gives herself a haircut and remembers a female doctor taking care of her after the Orion attack. Shepherd fills in a few details, namely that the woman was killed shortly thereafter. Weller and Nas’ study session on Sandstorm is interrupted by Zapata, who knows how to decode the black hole, thanks to Shdwct. Joining Allie at her doctor’s appointment, Weller asks if she’ll be lessening her time in the field for the baby’s sake. Not if she has anything to say about it. Patterson decodes a tattoo that points to an app used by the Irish mob. They have something planned this afternoon. During a political rally, a mobster shoots Senator Donahue and is killed by Jane.
Taking a personal day, Reade puts Coach Jones in a chokehold and demands answers, but a passerby interrupts. Reade then breaks into Jones’ house and finds numerous tapes with kids’ names on them, including his. Zapata calls Allie to assist with the case given Allie’s knowledge of the family. Donahue’s related to Patrick O’Malley, the head of the Irish mob. Weller and Jane try to have a chitchat with Pat, but he’ll only speak with Allie. Patrick reveals that when he got cancer, he left the family business, which he was only the face of anyway. Donahue is the one in charge. Jane uses her own convoluted familial loyalty to convince Patrick to give up more information. He has tapes hidden in a safe, so the FBI escorts him to their location. Unfortunately, one of Patrick’s associates tipped off the mob, so they swarm the building.
Having secured the evidence, Weller sends Jane, Allie, and Patrick to hide somewhere safe, while he and Nas hold off the mobsters. During a firefight in a stairwell, Allie gets shot in the leg and tells Jane she’s pregnant. To buy time, Patrick runs off and meets his end. Jane tends to Allie’s wound before throwing Allie over her shoulder and carrying her to safety.
Back at the hospital, the baby’s fine and so is Allie, but now she’s on desk duty. Allie asks Weller if he intends to take time out of the field or if that rule only applies to mothers. Well played. Jane congratulates Weller on impending fatherhood and insists he’ll make a great dad, all while masking her pain. She then leaves an awkward voicemail asking Oliver Kind out for drinks.
Looking into Jane’s sketch of the doctor’s ring, Patterson discovers it’s a unique variation on ones commonly sold in Kabul, but that’s all she could find. When Shepherd informs Roman that Jane asked about her rescue in Afghanistan, he grows nervous they’ll lose Jane if she discovers they lied. The unswirled black hole reveals that Mayfair and Douglas Winter were working together. Zapata tracks Reade’s phone and finds him standing over a bullet-riddled Coach Jones.
REVIEW:
“Condone Untidiest Thefts” was another one of those episodes where the case of the week was rather underwhelming, but the investigation itself provided enough intriguing moments with our series regulars that it proved to be an enjoyable watch. Five episodes into the new season, Blindspot seems like it’s been buying time for most of those episodes, but they’re about to gear up for something big. As I say nearly every week, this episode set up what I hope will be a ton of interesting drama in the near future. Between Roman’s upcoming mission and Reade’s current predicament, there’s potential for the next episode or two to reinvigorate the series in the same way that the season premier did. If it feels like I’ve been overly critical of the series since the premier, it’s just because “In Night So Ransomed Rogue” set such a high bar that I hope the rest of the season lives up to.
The most disappointing thing about this particular case was how little the Irish mob actually played into it. Although there have been plenty of movies and TV series that have created an in-depth look into the dangers and threats of this world, it would have been nice if Blindspot revealed a dash more context to the case. Even just a quick listing of the mob’s “greatest hits” would have solidified the threat the FBI was going up against instead of having it essentially be a faceless organization. Senator Donahue, the leader of the mob, was so underutilized that by the end of the episode I had forgotten that this case was placed on Jane’s body because it dealt with a corrupt senator. Regardless of the case’s downfalls, the action and reliance on Allie’s history with the family helped give the case the boost it needed.
With Reade and Zapata out of the office taking their personal days, Allie seamlessly fell into the rhythm of the team, while also creating a fresh dynamic. Her history with the O’Malley family made her an invaluable resource and gave her relevance beyond her abilities in the field. With this relationship, she was able to speak to Jane’s situation. Just because her family is a bunch of criminals, that doesn’t mean she is. Nas provided a similar sentiment, giving us a little bit of hope for the team being able to embrace Jane once again. Still on the Allie front, I’ve enjoyed how minimally awkward the dynamic between her, Weller, and Jane has been. It’s feels natural, instead of it being awkward just to stir up drama, and I’m proud of how well Jane handled Allie’s big news, although I wish Jane had figured it out rather than being told in a dire situation.
Speaking of dire situations, Reade sure found himself in a predicament at the end of this episode. This storyline could go a few possible ways. One, Reade may be completely innocent in Jones’ death, having heard gunshots while in the basement and arriving upstairs just after the suspect left the house. Not my favorite option because it created a cliffhanger solely for the sake of creating a cliffhanger, but at least Reade has a way out of the situation. Two, Reade may have shot Jones in self-defense, although this argument probably wouldn’t hold up in court given the fact that Reade broke into his house. Three, there’s always the possibility that Reade shot Coach Jones out of pure anger and revenge and a sense of responsibility to prevent future victims. As interested as I am in learning exactly how Coach Jones ended up dead, I’m equally as curious to see how Zapata handles the situation. Her loyalty to Reade and desire to protect her partner may be at odds with her duty to uphold the law, and it will be interesting how she reacts in light of everything that happened last season.
Even though Sandstorm wasn’t up to a whole lot in “Condone Untidiest Thefts,” Shepherd and Roman still made quite an impact. First, what could Shepherd have lied to Jane about that was so bad that Jane would turn her back on her family? I feel like it must be a lie of omission related to Jane’s time after the Orion attack. Perhaps Jane spent yet another portion of her life being tortured for information she’d never give up. Or Sandstorm had the innocent doctor killed to keep Jane safe. Maybe that event started to turn Jane against Sandstorm way back when, and Shepherd fears it will happen again. On another note, who is this Chris fellow that Sandstorm doesn’t want Jane to remember? Depending on the situation, it could be somewhat bland if Chris turned out to be another Sandstorm operative like Oscar, Marcus, or Cade. It’s a stretch, but in a season filled with themes of motherhood, perhaps Chris is Jane’s long lost child. I don’t know how I’d feel about that, but there’s always the potential for it to be an awesome reveal.
The relationship between Patterson and Borden has been developing in a lovely fashion. It’s refreshing to see something so light and delightful when most of the other relationships this season are filled with mistrust and anger, even if we only receive one scene per episode. Patterson and Borden’s brand of cute and awkward reminds me a lot of Patterson and David, without overshadowing how monumental that relationship was to Patterson. Moving forward, I hope we get to see how well or how poorly Dr. Borden is able to switch off his inner psychologist and what Zapata’s reaction looks like when she finds out who Patterson’s “friend meetings” have been with.
ODDS AND ENDS:
– This title’s anagram is “defends the Constitution.”
– Having the mob use an app called Snapitz (i.e. Snapchat) to communicate sounds like a cool idea, but it really just resulted in the need for more exposition than it was worth.
– Zapata: You get raised by wolves, you tend to become a wolf.
Nas: No, there’s always a choice.
– Jane: Loyalty’s a noble value, but you can’t let it blind you.
