Solving Cryptograms: Unspoiled Speculation

[Meredith Quill]

Speculate Here!

[Trini]

So, another show where the plot centers around a tattoo? We'll see how long that lasts; Prison Break's tattoo wasn't relevant after Season 2. And as Wentworth Miller knows, applying and removing that thing is going to get real old, real fast.

 

But besides the tattoo, there's also another PB connection; Dominic Purcell also played a naked, amnesiac on John Doe. And Jamie Alexander was also a naked mystery woman on Kyle XY.

[Trini]

I think it'd be smart (storywise) if they started the tattoo removal process as soon as possible, the FBI doesn't really need the tattoos themselves, right? Not if they take tons of photographs.

 

On Prison Break, they just had Wentworth Miller in long sleeves all he time, and then in Season 4 they just decided to literally erase the whole thing overnight -- even the producers admitted that ridiculous.

[Trini]

So she's going to be working with the FBI/etc., actually out on assignments? Yeah, she has skills, but that seems like a HUGE security risk*; I mean, that probably is playing right into Whatever Shadowy Organization's hands. I hope they at least bring this up on the show.

 

 

*Yeah, yeah, I know there's no show if they don't have her in the action.

[ribboninthesky1]

The tattoo gimmick seems so gratuitous, not to mention tedious - from a story perspective as well as what Alexander has to endure.  There's no other way to present the mysteries surrounding her character? Jaime Alexander has a lot of goodwill from me because of Sif, but this show totally reads as a one season-er, if that.      

[Trini]

I predict an episode where Jane has to go undercover, and to conceal her identity, they cover her tattoos with makeup. And then Jaimie has at least half an episode with her skin being able to breathe!

[Kromm]

I think we need some major speculation on what the show name means. It's actually NOT obvious.

The tattoo gimmick seems so gratuitous, not to mention tedious - from a story perspective as well as what Alexander has to endure.

As I said in one of the other topics (the character topic for Jane/Probably Named Taylor), what we be the point of this if the tattoos weren't the launching pad?  It would just be another procedural just like every other procedural then. 

 

If it IS a one season gimmick then at that point you can explore another layer based on some other MacGuffin. At this point the tattoos are the MacGuffin in play and it would just be bizarre to have her involved in things that don't involve them.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Kromm

[Free]

It would just be another procedural just like every other procedural then.

 

When you think about it, it already is, just substitute the tattoos for other plot points and you'd get just another procedural.

[Kromm]

When you think about it, it already is, just substitute the tattoos for other plot points and you'd get just another procedural.

Perhaps. But that's no justification for dropping the tattoo gimmick. There needs to be a reason she's involved. Her knowing karate isn't enough.

 

I do think perhaps there could be some episode where they chase a lead based on a connection to her family history, for example, or a news item or CCTV image they find of her somewhere, but that's about as off the tattoo path as they can go. It certainly can't just be some random crime.

A season 2 is where you could contemplate some Alias-like situation/concept reboot. I'm fully expecting that, in fact.

Where they'll turn the situation on its head, basically (and I guess The Blacklist has done that somewhat with their concept this year).

But not sooner. You need to play the tattoo thing out before bowing to pressure to do away with it.

And really I DO expect something to come from the show name. It's not just a random pick. It means something specific.

[blackwing]

And really I DO expect something to come from the show name. It's not just a random pick. It means something specific.

 

I think it's that Weller has a blindspot for Jane because she is Taylor Shaw, his next door neighbour and childhood friend.  He really should remove himself from the case, because he is not impartial and his judgment and actions are going to be affected by his feelings.

 

I'm not sure what happened with Taylor's disappearance, but it appears to me at some point that Taylor was handpicked to be part of this black ops unit by Mayfair.  Whatever she did as part of that unit would cause problems and embarrassment for the U.S. government.  That's why old guy wants her killed.

 

She's going to turn out to be this lethal programmed assassin sent by the U.S. to take someone out.  The mission failed, and they wiped her mind clean.

 

Not sure how the tattoos would fit in with this theory though.  Wouldn't it have been easier just to wipe her mind clean and then not give people any clues as to who she is?

[Free]

Perhaps. But that's no justification for dropping the tattoo gimmick.

 

But not sooner. You need to play the tattoo thing out before bowing to pressure to do away with it.

 

I don't really have anything against the tattoo gimmick, that's the least of its problems.  They just don't really do anything unique with it at all, it's just a plot device for their procedural.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Free

[Sakura12]

They showed Taylor agreeing to have her mind wiped in a flashback. 

 

Although with her name, if she was abducted when she was 8 or so, she probably hasn't gone by her real name for awhile. Her abductors probably gave her a new name or a number or something.

 

I also wonder if project Daylight was a government program that wanted to start training people as children so by the time they are teenagers they'd be lethal killing machines.

[Kromm]

They showed Taylor agreeing to have her mind wiped in a flashback. 

 

Although with her name, if she was abducted when she was 8 or so, she probably hasn't gone by her real name for awhile. Her abductors probably gave her a new name or a number or something.

 

I also wonder if project Daylight was a government program that wanted to start training people as children so by the time they are teenagers they'd be lethal killing machines.

The flashback of her training with Beardy wasn't her as a child though.  Now admittedly training is ongoing, but I wonder if we were supposed to conclude she was only just then (as an adult not evidently much younger than the current version) learning to shoot or not. It was confusing and inconclusive.

[Sakura12]

I don't know I saw it as she was distracted and missed the targets and she normally doesn't miss. So it wasn't a first time training exercise, more of continuing training to keep her skills up before a mission or something. 

 

Or she was a poor kid that was abducted as a child, then put into an Assassin program as an adult. 

[paigow]

I also wonder if project Daylight was a government program that wanted to start training people as children so by the time they are teenagers they'd be lethal killing machines.

Possibly, but more than 4 people would have known about it...unless "they" have spent the last few years killing everybody involved and missed Beardy Handler until now.

[Trini]

(There's no mod thread to ask, so...)

Per the article in the Media thread, we know the episode titles are anagrams. Should there a separate thread to solve/discuss them? Would solved anagrams for unaired episodes be considered spoilers? I think the title ciphers are a nice bonus, but I want to be sure of the appropriate place to discuss. I think it would be helpful to have one place where all the anagrams are listed together. Thoughts?

[Bort]

The discussion of the anagrams has been going on in the spoiler thread and since the titles strung together could possibly be a spoiler, I think we'll keep it there.

[Kromm]

My current unspoiled speculation is I think a good one, but only ruined by the fact that it would be weird for two shows on NBC airing at the same time to have the exact same plot.

 

I mean the question of why someone would dump some naked chick into Times Square covered in tats with clues to prevent crimes one at a time seems almost unsolvable in terms of motivation until you think about why someone might want crimes specifically discovered piecemeal like that.

 

The answer would be that if it wasn't done altruistically, but rather selfishly, and the piecemeal nature is because each crime is SUPPOSED to be an individual test/challenge. Or if we're using the right language... a bet.

 

Which is the exact same plot as the other NBC show, The Player.

 

So... that's a problem. Perhaps the producers of Blindspot weren't obliged to tell NBC that's where they're going if this is also their plot. Or perhaps this theory is nonsense. But it's the only real logical answer I can think of to why someone would know of a series of crimes ahead of time and WANT them addressed, but in this fashion.

[AshleyLyn]

So I'm hoping this is the right thread.

 

I haven't watched the latest episode yet, but I'm 50/50 on the show.

 

There was enough mystery with just Jane Doe and her tattoos, they could have just left it at that. But throw in the whole is she/isn't she thing of her being the missing childhood friend, and then the whole conspiracy Daylight project thing with the CIA and FBI, and it's just too much. Too many mysteries. 

 

I like the characters. I like the leads. I think they have all decent chemistry. I think the show did good getting the cast, but I think the writers over reached with all the story stuff. They should have just stuck with the Jane Doe and the tattoos leading to the people who did this to her, and the side story of her remembering things. 

 

I get frustrated when I watch the episodes cause they put so much in there. I want to see the main storyline they promised, and not get dragged into a conspiracy thing, or other side story mysteries they have. 

[Kromm]

I know it's bad form to quote oneself, but I'll be a rebel, because I think this belongs here as well as in the episode thread.

 

I'm gonna call one now (that they wouldn't find until lets say.. Season 2.

 

There's a reason she has this short yet sassy wedge hair cut. She had her head shaved and is tatooed under there. Now admittedly the regrowth rate on that hair might be about a year, and we know the rest of her tats are more recent, but so what?  It's already been established she was "away" for years, and the planning on her tats was very elaborate (and lets be honest... it would take months to tattoo what she's got, even if she had an amazing pain threshold, or they knocked her out and did it all while she was unconscious).

Edited October 28, 2015 by Kromm

[Loandbehold]

Not really speculation, just a warning to the showrunners and writers - if you kill Patterson, I'm a gonna cut a bitch. [/PSA]

[Trini]

Are they doing riddles/puzzles for the Season 4 titles?

[dwmarch]

On 10/29/2018 at 1:15 AM, Trini said:

Are they doing riddles/puzzles for the Season 4 titles?

The puzzle might be more intricate than I can intuit from the episode titles we've had so far but if I had to guess I'd say they gave up on the title gimmick this season.

[paigow]

On 10/30/2018 at 6:40 AM, dwmarch said:

The puzzle might be more intricate than I can intuit from the episode titles we've had so far but if I had to guess I'd say they gave up on the title gimmick this season.

Removing all duplicated letters within each title:

HEADPCTO = 8 

MYAPOJEC = 8

HEQUNCOR = 8

OUVIDE = 6

UGHMOICSR = 9

NTFOM = 5

CSMDR = 5

Maybe it is the toll free FBI Phone Number....:)

Or a Swiss Bank Account ???

[paigow]

Removing all duplicated letters within each title:

HEADPCTO = 8 

MYAPOJEC = 8

HEQUNCOR = 8

OUVIDE = 6

UGHMOICSR = 9

NTFOM = 5

CSMDR = 5

SRTWAKPOW = 9

[Trini]

https://tvline.com/2018/12/14/million-little-things-spoilers-season-1-episode-14-regina-secret/ :

Quote

Question: Any hints on how to solve the Blindspot episode title puzzle for Season 4? —Hannah

Ausiello: “Oh man! We finally built a title puzzle this season that is legit very hard to crack,” showrunner Martin Gero answers. “I will say this: The puzzle is an homage to some our favorite TV series and how they title the shows. Figure out which, and you might be a step closer.”

In the comments to the article, several people give their answers to the puzzle. (I'd say it's more a riddle, but see for yourself.)

[dargosmydaddy]

Hmmm... OK, so I get the riddle answers, but then I'm assuming there's supposed to be some sort of code amongst those answers? Anyone figure out that yet?

[blackwing]

.

Edited January 10, 2019 by blackwing

[blackwing]

On 12/16/2018 at 1:20 PM, dargosmydaddy said:

Hmmm... OK, so I get the riddle answers, but then I'm assuming there's supposed to be some sort of code amongst those answers? Anyone figure out that yet?

It looks like you just take the first letter of each of the TV shows?  "Is this the...."

[Lemur]

So I'm trying to see my way through this season, much less into another season on the show.  

We've cured Jane's ZIP poisoning and the new big bad is a rank amateur most likely to blow herself up with an Acme dynamite kit.  They're inevitably extricate Zapata from that situation, romantic reunion with Reade blah blah blah, Jane and Weller will go beat some people up in the name of good blah blah blah, what's next?  Another layer of conspiracy?  Is it turtles and tattoos all the way down?  Does Jane have a split personality and share headspace with Remi?  Or does this go back to tattoo-of-the-week and we clean up all the baddies?  I guess we wait until May to find out if it's renewed. 

[MissLucas]

Undoubtedly the show will come up with another supervillain who enjoys giving away his plans in arcane riddles and puzzles because taunting the FBI tickles his dead soul.

[alvajon]

On 2/13/2019 at 6:54 AM, Lemur said:

So I'm trying to see my way through this season, much less into another season on the show.  

We've cured Jane's ZIP poisoning and the new big bad is a rank amateur most likely to blow herself up with an Acme dynamite kit.  They're inevitably extricate Zapata from that situation, romantic reunion with Reade blah blah blah, Jane and Weller will go beat some people up in the name of good blah blah blah, what's next?  Another layer of conspiracy?  Is it turtles and tattoos all the way down?  Does Jane have a split personality and share headspace with Remi?  Or does this go back to tattoo-of-the-week and we clean up all the baddies?  I guess we wait until May to find out if it's renewed. 

Lemur, I agree.  When this is all over will Jane have her tattoos removed? --they removed all Michael Schofield’s tattoos in Prison Break, which reminds me, Prison Break isn’t on the list of forums, at least I couldn’t find it.

Edited February 18, 2019 by alvajon
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