S01.E13: Erase Weary Youth

[Trini]

After a tip reveals there's a mole within the FBI's New York Office, the team must hunt for the operative while facing extreme scrutiny from Inspector Fischer (guest star John Hodgman). The team's deepest secrets threaten to be exposed, and everyone is a potential suspect - but some, especially Jane Doe have more to hide.

[thuganomics85]

Noooo!  Why did they already kill Evil John Hodgeman?!  He was totally feeling my Cater/Michael Gaston-size hole of an entertaining antagonist.  I just loved how he was getting under everyone's skin, and totally had a lot of their numbers.  But then he ends up being a spy, and Jane caps his ass.  Boo!

 

So, anyway, he was the spy all along and it was all for not, except now Reade and Mayfair are finding Jane's alibi suspicious, so even though they don't think she's a Russian spy, they do want to know what exactly was she doing at the time.  I just hope neither one gets killed for daring to be suspicious of Jane.  I hope they have earplugs though, because when Kurt finds out about that, I'm sure he'll be blustering and screaming in their faces.

 

Speaking of which, of course Kurt demands Reade to end his relationship with his sister, and when she confronts him, he screams about how he doesn't want her to get "hurt", since their job is dangerous.  Shouldn't that be her decision, Kurt?  Whatever, you overprotective jackass.  I still wish Reade was the lead agent instead.

 

Zapata was bugged by the CIA or someone this entire time, and now she's getting a phone call.  What's she going to get into this time?

 

I hope that scene of Patterson practicing some knife skills means she'll get to bust out some skills in the field for some reason.  I so want to see Badass Patterson!

 

Jane's now pissed and telling her Orion handler to stuff it.  Whatever, I'm sure she'll be back to him soon.  He is the one with the answers; no matter how cagey they might be.

[Trini]

So, I guess every show needs a bottle episode, once in while. But this one wasn't bad.

[miracole]

I loved JB on My Boys. On here she always seems like she just got done throwing a few back. She's also always slightly disheveled... just like her brother. I wonder did her weird kid really call Jane Aunt Tyler? Probably because you know, he's weird... Ugggh I do not like the Wellers. Reade, you can do so much better. Leave the Creepy Weller Clan alone.

Ha. Remember that chain of command thing you were talking about just last week Mayfair? How quickly that's forgotten...

[dwmarch]

I liked the episode overall but one thing bugged me. Weller is trying to find out who the mole might be. He has to investigate his own team and obviously cannot tell them he is doing so. They act all betrayed when they find out that this is going on. Do you even FBI, agents? All of them (except maybe Jane) should know damn well that you don't go around announcing a counter-intel investigation to the people being investigated!

 

There was a little continuity glitch as Jane was put in handcuffs. As they lead her out we see that she's rocking her leather jacket. So they handcuffed her, decided they didn't want her to be cold, uncuffed her, let her put her jacket on and then cuffed her again. Well, either they didn't want her to be cold or they realized that she had badass stuff to do and she ought to be wearing leather for that.

 

I hope they don't go the route of saying that all the mole's secrets died with him. Now that they know who he was they should be able to work backwards to find out what he was up to. This show is enough like 24 already. We don't need to kill "our only lead!" every episode.

 

Patterson is getting ready to kick some ass! I never understood Joss Whedon's fascination with the actress but this show has redeemed her for me.

[wales260]

I know it's standard operating procedure by now, but I can't with generating entire episodes out of polgraph tests. At this point, I just auto-replace them with e-meters and it poses the same amount of institutional credibility. I understand when law enforcement uses them to trick civilians into telling the truth, but a whole episode with the (later exposed) evil guy looking at a glorified EKG reading being all, "you're lying to me,"... no. It would make more sense if he injected them with "truth serum" and asked them the same questions. 

[Free]

Noooo!  Why did they already kill Evil John Hodgeman?!  He was totally feeling my Cater/Michael Gaston-size hole of an entertaining antagonist.  I just loved how he was getting under everyone's skin, and totally had a lot of their numbers.  But then he ends up being a spy, and Jane caps his ass.  Boo!

 

I wonder who the next one is.

 

 

I know it's standard operating procedure by now, but I can't with generating entire episodes out of polgraph tests. At this point, I just auto-replace them with e-meters and it poses the same amount of institutional credibility. I understand when law enforcement uses them to trick civilians into telling the truth, but a whole episode with the (later exposed) evil guy looking at a glorified EKG reading being all, "you're lying to me,"... no. It would make more sense if he injected them with "truth serum" and asked them the same questions. 

 

I think my problem is that it really didn't go anywhere: we already know who the mole is and we're waiting on them, we already know Jane's past is sketchy and we're still waiting on that, and since the slimy cartoon villain is dead and we're just waiting on the next antogonist to show up.

[Dowel Jones]

Whatever, you overprotective jackass.

 

Just as he was in the tunnel when Jane says "What now?" and he replies with a long winded explanation of how the investigation will conclude and blah blah blah, and she replies "I mean, what about me?  I just killed an FBI agent."  Oh, yeah.  About that....

[blackwing]

This episode added nothing to the ongoing storyline, although thankfully we lost the irritating OPR guy.  I realise that Internal Affairs people on TV are always depicted as unsympathetic, since they are usually up against the show's protagonists, but I found this one to be particularly annoying.

 

I don't understand why Tree Tattoo Guy just won't tell Jaynlor everything.  It's a bit frustrating.  Just spit it out Cesare Borgia!

[Free]

This episode added nothing to the ongoing storyline, although thankfully we lost the irritating OPR guy.  I realise that Internal Affairs people on TV are always depicted as unsympathetic, since they are usually up against the show's protagonists, but I found this one to be particularly annoying.

 

Basically a cartoon villain that tries to thwart the main characters at every turn.

 

I don't understand why Tree Tattoo Guy just won't tell Jaynlor everything.  It's a bit frustrating.  Just spit it out Cesare Borgia!

 

Mysterious character can't spit out any answers to drag the series out.

[Traveller519]

Well, at least it wasn't a "Tattoo of the Week" episode. It would have been better if I remembered anything about the Russian Spy because I haven't thought about this show for 3 months while it was off the air.

 

The reveal was so bad though, it was interesting with seeing a legitimate case being built against Jane, and where do we go now? Then.....woosh everything about John Hodgman comes to a head to super cop?

 

How many people spying on other people are we going to have going on in a few weeks? You know what would be good? A meeting between everyone where they recap everything they've encountered so far and say..."Okay, what are our theories based on Jane based on all the evidence we have so far?"

[blackwing]

Ah, I thought it was just me.  There was a Russian spy before?  And that bald guy that they had in lockup was on the show before too?  I don't really have recall of either.  I vaguely remember the black female counterintelligence supervisor, but I don't have a firm memory of what it was she did or didn't do.

 

Was Weller's ex (Alison???) ever on the show before?  I have no recollection of her at all, and am wondering if this lady is also someone I have forgotten.

 

Sometimes these long winter hiatusi are a little too long.

[Trini]

Oh no, has PTV given up on recapping this?

[MissLucas]

Show, I say this as someone who loves the Bourne Trilogy: For God's sake stop it with the damn shaky cam!!!

 

Now that that is out of my system: what the hell was going on when Weller was shaking the truth out of the Russian embassy chauffeur? He notices the label in the guy's jacket reading 'Art Trevisan' remembers OPR guy having the same label in the fancy jacket he took off in Mayfair's office. And then the he asks what errands the guy is running for the Russians and the discussion turns to coffee. That wasn't confusing at all (and the stupid shaky cam wasn't helping).

 

Jane shooting the OPR guy was one of the few redeeming moments of this episode. He deserved to die anyway because he was such a freaking walking and talking cliché but I guess the true intention of the scene was to show the ruthless side of Jane emerging - fine with me. That plus Zapata's phone ringing and Mayfair and Reade getting suspicious were the highlights.

 

Tree Tattoo guy (or BLID) speaking in riddles and never giving straight answers is already getting as old as Weller's guilt issues turning him into a complete ass.

[Free]

Well, at least it wasn't a "Tattoo of the Week" episode. It would have been better if I remembered anything about the Russian Spy because I haven't thought about this show for 3 months while it was off the air.

 

The reveal was so bad though, it was interesting with seeing a legitimate case being built against Jane, and where do we go now? Then.....woosh everything about John Hodgman comes to a head to super cop?

 

How many people spying on other people are we going to have going on in a few weeks? You know what would be good? A meeting between everyone where they recap everything they've encountered so far and say..."Okay, what are our theories based on Jane based on all the evidence we have so far?"

 

IA, it's my main problem too as nothing important seemed to happen, they're right back at Jane being shady and they still don't know who the mole really is.

[snuffles]

 

Mysterious character can't spit out any answers to drag the series out.

Giving the show the benefit of the doubt. Jane/Taylor did go to extremes to erase her memory in order to fulfill some long term mission. I can understand why then Tree Tat guy doesn't tell her everyone. Defeats the whole purpose of tattooing her body and erasing her memory.

 

Having dealt with dreary jury duty summons and waiting forever for the judge, lawyers and such to show up, I was LMAO when Keller was giving exposition on how he figured out who the mole was. I find it a little unbelievable judges, lawyers, defendants and guards show up to the courthouse before 8am.

 

This episode felt like a bad version of the Kevin Costner movie about a Russian spy/mole.

 

Must they kill off every bad guy so quickly? Or is there some super duper bad guy lurking around that we haven't been formally introduced to yet?

 

Weller was a big butt head. Who died and made him in the dictator over his co worker and sister's love lives?

[FinnishViewer]

 

And then the he asks what errands the guy is running for the Russians and the discussion turns to coffee.

The OPR guys liked turkish coffee. The russian mentioned how the mole liked turkish coffee as well, so Weller made the connection there.

[MissLucas]

Yeah, but why the hell where OPR guy and the chauffeur wearing jackets from the same tailor? Or rather why did the writers and the DP put so much emphasis on that detail when in the end Weller made the connection via coffee? Why did they even bother to show us the identical labels? That's a whole lot of effort for a simple misdirect. (No idea why this bugs me so much - but it sure does.)

[paigow]

Why did they even bother to show us the identical labels? 

Anybody re-scramble "Art Trevisan" into something relevant?? Or funny??

[Trini]

TV Rear Stain

Danggit, paigow, I'm trying to be productive today!

[Agent Dark]

Yeah, but why the hell where OPR guy and the chauffeur wearing jackets from the same tailor? Or rather why did the writers and the DP put so much emphasis on that detail when in the end Weller made the connection via coffee? Why did they even bother to show us the identical labels? That's a whole lot of effort for a simple misdirect. (No idea why this bugs me so much - but it sure does.)

It was meant to be a combination of the jacket label and the Turkish coffee that led Weller to make the connection.  They drew attention to the clothing earlier in the episode by Weller mocking the OPR guy for wearing a 3 piece suit while complaining that it was hot in the office.  I guess all Russian spies and their drivers shop at the same store and drink the same coffee.

[KateeBar]

I found myself really over Weller this episode. He was just so shouty, and his reaction to Reade and his sister dating was ridiculous.

 

I am sincerely glad they killed off Hodgman's character though. He was so cartoonish, they should have had him literally twirling his mustache. Ridiculous. 

 

I just want the mystery of Jane to advance. Is that too much to ask?

[Julie23]

OK, one more annoying character bites the dust. When are we going to get rid of Weller?  Over-protestive jackass that thinks he has the right to tell his sister who she can date! Could he BE any more annoying?

[DEM]

By far the single biggest detriment to my enjoyment of this show is Kurt Weller.  Sure, the depiction of anything and everything about how the FBI/criminal investigation works is sketchy (and laughably bad this ep), but Weller is aggressively terrible -- from the writing to the acting.  Weller spent nearly all of this episode lecturing, shouting, yelling, and ordering people around -- even about things that didn't require any force.

 

I'd like more non-Weller-focussed ensemble work (i.e., Mayfair, Reade, and Zapata with less of Jane's wide-eyed attachment to Weller). I wonder if there's any chance the show will course-correct.

[MissLucas]

I don't understand why the keep Weller so one-note (i.e. pissed off at the world all the time). The backstory with his guilt issues about Taylor would actually work better if the character was given more emotional range.

 

Take the scene with his sister at the end - he barks in frustration instead of trying to plead with her, show some of the vulnerability that was actually right there in the written lines. Give us someone haunted and scarred by a childhood trauma who may have problems with human interactions but is still trying - not a victim of testosterone poisoning.

[peachmangosteen]

For God's sake stop it with the damn shaky cam!!!

That would actually go such a long way in making this show better tbh.

 

I continue to enjoy this show and I continue to really have no idea why.

 

I personally love Weller's dumb ass. He's so annoying but in an endearing way to me.

[misstwpherecool]

The Russian sleeper spy lady looked like she could've been an interesting character. They botched her murder in the story(victim drowns in a bathroom?) yet killing someone by hand isn't necessarily a speedy or effective so the messy time consuming kill fit.

[John Potts]

Surprisingly better than many episodes in that it actually addressed the fact that the entire team are compromised in this and yet we're meant to see them as heroes. But I guess Internal Affairs Guy was revealed to be evil, so anything he said must be false - except he was absolutely right about most of what he said (They DON'T know anything about Jane, Patterson taking her work home DID get her boyfriend killed and Agent Zapata WAS leaking info) so I'm not sure what point they were trying to make. At least Agent Sceptic pointed that out to Mayfair at the end, so maybe they'll ACTUALLY INVESTIGATE JANE at some point.

 

 

Traveller519 You know what would be good? A meeting between everyone where they recap everything they've encountered so far and say..."Okay, what are our theories based on Jane based on all the evidence we have so far?"

 

But.. TPTB might have to provide answers then!

 

 

blackwing Was Weller's ex (Alison???) ever on the show before?

 

Yes - but don't ask me for details of the episode. She only existed to "show" how much Beardy loves Jane.

[Beatriceblake]

Like a lot of you, I don't understand why this show is so quick to kill off good villains. First Carter, now Evil John Hodgman.