S01.E14: Rules in Defiance

[blackwing]

Zapata goes undercover to infiltrate a sex trafficking ring; Jame gets caught between Oscar and Weller.  Jordana Spiro guest stars.

 Description is from the NBC website.

 

Who is "Oscar"????  Is that Tree Tattoo Guy?  He actually has a name?  Have we heard it before?

 

I found this episode a bit underwhelming.  The only redeeming part of it was that it allowed Zapata to be front and center.  And it was nice to see Jane be sidelined and not always be the Deus Ex Machina that always gets the team out of a jam.

 

I wonder if the showrunners have heard the complaints/observations about the convenience of the tattoo that Patterson picks suddenly have something to do with an imminent threat, and purposely inserted the part about Tree Tattoo Guy sending an email to tell Patterson to look at one tattoo in particular.

 

This show is still a little slow in revealing answers... once again, Tree Tattoo talks in riddles and code, telling Jane that "they" will kill Weller if she doesn't cooperate.  Why can't he just tell her who "they" is???  Frustrating.

 

[snuffles]

TV land FBI shows make the FBI look like a bunch of imbeciles. Patterson was so pleased with herself over the tracking necklace. Really? It's a sex trafficking ring, of course the first thing they will take/remove is personal jewelry. The necklace was displayed prominently, not even covered by her shirt. The worst, however, was the utter incompetence of weller and reade when they were supposed to be watching her closely. They seriously didn't think an unplanned bathroom break was unusual. Then didn't care the truck blocked their view. At least Reade finally came to his senses and forced weller to do a visual confirmation. Proves both of them are being compromised by their personal lives.

Glad reade stood up to weller and told him he was being a hypocrite. Hate that weller using the US marshal as a Jane substitute and that the US marshal knows it but still sleeps with him.

So now zapata being blackmailed by the US attorney? Show writers, please stop using same plots over and over in the same season!

[MissLucas]

Pretty solid episode. I appreciate that they're changing path with how to pick relevant tattoos. And I really liked Mayfair's annoyance once she realized that Patterson had just been following a lead given to her by an anonymous email. Which wasn't all that wrong but she should have notified Mayfair the moment she got the email - once again Patterson's intellectual zeal got in the way of proper procedure.

 

And as much as it pains me to say this: Weller was absolutely right when he shot down Reade in the van. Dude, that wasn't the place and time to bring up your lurv for his sister. He's already pissed enough, there's no reason to prove his point.

[Free]

This show is still a little slow in revealing answers... once again, Tree Tattoo talks in riddles and code, telling Jane that "they" will kill Weller if she doesn't cooperate.  Why can't he just tell her who "they" is???  Frustrating.

 

I thought we were done with the post Lost nonsense, where a lot of shows tried to be mysterious and it usually ends up not working.

[KaveDweller]

I thought we were done with the post Lost nonsense, where a lot of shows tried to be mysterious and it usually ends up not working.

 

I really can't think of an explanation for all this that will make sense and be satisfying. I want to like the show, but I'm starting to have a real problem with the logic, I think because of the presence of this new guy telling Jane she's behind everything and needs to help him.

 

What reason could there possibly be for going to so much trouble to send these tips to the FBI. Why not just send a bunch of anonymous emails? Why make them all puzzles to solve? If they wanted the guy to not be executed why make it so complicated that they have to then tip the FBI off about not getting it? If you want to have an asset in the FBI, there are surely more reliable ways to do it then give someone amnesia and send them in hoping they'll cooperate down the line. Just blackmail one like with Zapata if you are desperate. It's just to ridiculous to even fathom why anyone would do this.

[maraleia]

Why has this show lost my interest? It could be so much better but I found myself drifting toward twitter throughout most of the episode. Maybe its the actor playing Weller and the nonsensical storytelling that's making me really disinterested in the show.

[Free]

I really can't think of an explanation for all this that will make sense and be satisfying. I want to like the show, but I'm starting to have a real problem with the logic, I think because of the presence of this new guy telling Jane she's behind everything and needs to help him.

 

What reason could there possibly be for going to so much trouble to send these tips to the FBI. Why not just send a bunch of anonymous emails? Why make them all puzzles to solve? If they wanted the guy to not be executed why make it so complicated that they have to then tip the FBI off about not getting it? If you want to have an asset in the FBI, there are surely more reliable ways to do it then give someone amnesia and send them in hoping they'll cooperate down the line. Just blackmail one like with Zapata if you are desperate. It's just to ridiculous to even fathom why anyone would do this.

 

Exactlyand it's a problem that other post Lost shows tried to do, tried to make everything and everyone mysterious and they all had a hard time trying to answer the mysteries, if it didn't get cancelled fast enough.

[Dowel Jones]

I was rather irritated at the attitude during the blown undercover op where Weller & Co. had to shoot it out with a passel of bad guys.  The other team is upset that the op is blown.  "Hey, dumbass, all I did was knock on the door and I very nearly got my gut rearranged by a 12 gauge.  Damn right I'm going to shoot.  So I didn't know you had an op going.  Maybe you should have posted it on the website or something.  Pffft."

 

On the other hand, I chuckled when Patterson started to launch into a wordy explanation of what a sine ratio is, but the agent pleads ignorance, as in "English, please?"

[KaveDweller]

Exactlyand it's a problem that other post Lost shows tried to do, tried to make everything and everyone mysterious and they all had a hard time trying to answer the mysteries, if it didn't get cancelled fast enough.

 

I kind of liked that about Lost, but Lost and all its copycats had a supernatural element. So it could be fun (for awhile) to theorize on what crazy thing might be going on.  Blindspot is supposed to be reality and there's no realistic way to explain things.

[Free]

I kind of liked that about Lost, but Lost and all its copycats had a supernatural element. So it could be fun (for awhile) to theorize on what crazy thing might be going on.  Blindspot is supposed to be reality and there's no realistic way to explain things.

 

Sort of, but it's annoying when they try to do that and try to over complicate itself in the process.

[thuganomics85]

Fun seeing Zapeta get to be front and center in this one, although I do wonder if this and Jane taking a backseat was always planned out, or if it was partially because Jaimie Alexander wanted to lighten the work load.

 

Reade bringing up his love for Weller's sister during an operation was dumb, but I did love it when Frank was all "You can't let your emotions effect how you act on the field" and Reade was just like "Oh, sure.  You never do that at all!  You never, ever effect a case because you're focused on Jane like a lovesick puppy dog, you big lug!"

 

This FBI is so lax.  Patterson's is casually all "Oh, by the way, some mysterious email showed up giving clues about Jane's tats, but whatever, man!" and even Mayfair's just "Dammit, Patterson!", and not at all wondering what the hell is going on.  Jane and her tattoos is suppose to be a huge fucking deal, but they all treat it like it's just another day at the office.

 

Seriously, Mysterious Dude needs to get less mysterious real fast, because I'm getting sick of his cagey, non-answer answers.

[jhlipton]

And as much as it pains me to say this: Weller was absolutely right when he shot down Reade in the van. Dude, that wasn't the place and time to bring up your lurv for his sister. He's already pissed enough, there's no reason to prove his point.

Oh,please. Like there's any time that Weller's not pissed off about something. Because, Weller, it is none of your damn business. If it's inappropriate for the office (yeah, right!), let Mayfair know. Otherwise, keep your scruffy beard out of it!

 

What reason could there possibly be for going to so much trouble to send these tips to the FBI. Why not just send a bunch of anonymous emails? Why make them all puzzles to solve? If they wanted the guy to not be executed why make it so complicated that they have to then tip the FBI off about not getting it?

 

They could have saved a lot of time and confusion if the email had just said "See the mural at whatever street". But that wouldn't have wrecked the NYPD operation.

 

Jane and her tattoos is suppose to be a huge fucking deal, but they all treat it like it's just another day at the office..

Remember when Jane had a tooth that proved she was born in Africa? Yeah, neither do the writers

[MissLucas]

Exactlyand it's a problem that other post Lost shows tried to do, tried to make everything and everyone mysterious and they all had a hard time trying to answer the mysteries, if it didn't get cancelled fast enough.

 

Yeah, I'm still wondering what caused the flash-forward in Flash Forward.

 

I kind of liked that about Lost, but Lost and all its copycats had a supernatural element. So it could be fun (for awhile) to theorize on what crazy thing might be going on.  Blindspot is supposed to be reality and there's no realistic way to explain things.

You don't need a supernatural element for Blindspot. A bit of good old-fashioned sci-fi wil do. Time-travel is about the only thing that would explain the need to have Jane's memory wiped and Tree Tattoo guy's cagey answers. It would also solve some of the problems I have with the logistics behind her tattoos (getting all the intel first then creating the riddles/ciphers must have taken an insane amount of time). Person of Interest has managed to make the jump from classical procedural into high-concept storytelling with sci-fi elements - but it's a hard act to follow.

[miracole]

This show is not good.

[Free]

Remember when Jane had a tooth that proved she was born in Africa? Yeah, neither do the writers

 

Oh yeah, that pointless back and forth thing with Taylor Shaw that ended up going nowhere.

 

Person of Interest has managed to make the jump from classical procedural into high-concept storytelling with sci-fi elements - but it's a hard act to follow.

 

It also helped that it was overall a better show with great characters.

[blackwing]

What if the FBI didn't have a Patterson?  Why did Tree Tattoo Guy (and apparently Taylor) have so much faith that the FBI would be able to solve their cryptic puzzles?  The latest one was just beyond ridiculous.  "PIcture of lion represents this famous lion statue, picture of bull represents this famous bull statue, translate the Spanish and combine the texts, and oh look, here's some numbers.... it's a SINE, so we just need to solve for the missing coordinate!"   Tree Tattoo sent Patterson a message saying, "hiya sweets, look at the left buttcheek lion tatt, like, NOW".    Why not just send a message saying "there is a Hispanic human trafficking ring at 123 ABC Street"?

 

I think the fact they are giving Weller a hookup with his ex seems to indicate they are trying to make him less of a robot.  When the episode started and Stapleton opened his eyes and noticed he was in a strange bed, I actually saw flashes of him as Damien Scott from "Strike Back".  Although, wow, he appears to have let himself go since that show wrapped.  I guess he stopped exercising.

[jhlipton]

 "PIcture of lion represents this famous lion statue, picture of bull represents this famous bull statue, translate the Spanish and combine the texts, and oh look, here's some numbers.... it's a SINE, so we just need to solve for the missing coordinate!"  

I didn't get the leap.from "lion bull" (or "library wall") to "El pecado también se eleva" -- Spanish for "The sin also rises"..  Can someone explain that to me?

I did get why there were 4 possibilities once they had the sines (one sine for either point, and in either direction (the created triangle could be flipped).

 

Why not just send a message saying "there is a Hispanic human trafficking ring at 123 ABC Street"?

 

That wouldn't have saved the guy on death row, since they'd have no link to the dead girl.  But he could have sent them directly to the mural.  I think he wanted to bust the NYPD op, since he seems to know everything.

[Dowel Jones]

 Remember when Jane had a tooth that proved she was born in Africa? Yeah, neither do the writers.

 

Time-travel is about the only thing that would explain the need to have Jane's memory wiped and Tree Tattoo guy's cagey answers.

 

Whatever is working for the writers should work for Jane, too.

 

Can someone explain that to me?

 

What I'm guessing (and I'm not going to rewatch to make sure) is that the Spanish quote was from something well known (NOT Hemingway!) to draw attention to itself, and that the tattoo artist was completely confident that someone in the FBI would make the connection between an abbreviation for sine and a half formed triangle on a map.  Happens every time.

[mandigirl]

I really liked this episode. Started off slow, but I became really engaged when Zapata went undercover.And it was oh so satisfying to see her beat the crap out of those human-trafficking guards.  Actress did a very fine job.  BUT:

 

 

So now zapata being blackmailed by the US attorney? Show writers, please stop using same plots over and over in the same season!

SERIOUSLY! Ugh. Really annoyed me. 

 

 

And as much as it pains me to say this: Weller was absolutely right when he shot down Reade in the van. Dude, that wasn't the place and time to bring up your lurv for his sister. He's already pissed enough, there's no reason to prove his point.

The actor who plays Reade must be one of the most attractive people on tv to me and I like the actress that plays Kurt's sister (Sarah?)-- but those two have ZERO chemistry. They don't look like they even want to pat each other on the shoulder let alone kiss. Even soaped up in a shower, supposed to be 'hot', I was like 'Ewwww...'

 

Person of Interest has managed to make the jump from classical procedural into high-concept storytelling with sci-fi elements - but it's a hard act to follow.

 

POI always had a sci-fi element worked into the premise while this show hasn't been anything but a straight-forward cop procedural from day one. If they went a sci-fi route, it would be laughable. Also, some (including me) would argue that POI's jump to more sci-fi ruined the show. I ENJOY a cop procedural. That's what I signed on to watch. Like KaveDweller and Free, I don't see a particularly logical resolution to the tatoos that fits within the cop procedural genre. 

[MissLucas]

Here's the transcript of the bull-lion scene:

 

 

The lion is on Jane's right calf, and the bull is on the left side of her waist, so I was looking at them separately.
But when you put them together and translate the Spanish, you get a Shakespeare quote.
"Some rise by sin and some by virtue fall.
" Now, take a look at the numbers here.
And this is where it gets interesting, because "sin" is also an abbreviation for sine.
So, it's trigonometry.
Yes! What is the most famous lion in New York City? And I'll give you a hint.
It's a tie.
The statues outside of the Public Library.
And what is New York's most famous bull? The Charging Bull - in the Financial District.
- Right.
We have two points of a triangle, and I think we're supposed to solve for the third.

 

And no, I still don't get the riddle (well it's half math and I usually blank out there anyway) or why they had to make it that mysterious. Why not simply tattoo the mural on Jane?  Sometimes I think they use that damn shaky cam for the office scenes (where it makes no sense) to disorientate us all so we don't notice how crazy the riddles and the logical hoops Patterson jumps through to get the solutions actually are.

[Julie23]

I think someone thought they could dress up a cop/FBI show  by having this mysterious tatooed girl element, but honestly, I don't think they thought it through much beyond that. The whole idea makes no sense, even if I do enjoy Patterson "solving" these crazy riddles. There is no logic to why tattoos and not some other form of notification, the timing of the riddle solving just happens to coincide with some eminent event, and TayJay apparently gave herself amnesia --why??? Ugh!

[saber5055]

All I could think after watching this episode is, it's not the actors who are at fault, it's the writers who are a bunch of dumbasses. Or else it's the writers who think we viewers are a bunch of dumberasses. Because this episode was beyond ridiculous to the point of being so stupid that it was destroying my brain cells just by watching it.

 

WTH with the tattoos being put together all What The What! and the cryptic email coming from ... was it the North Pole? Where Santa lives but otherwise there are no people, no buildings and certainly no servers anywhere even NEAR the Arctic. And the tattoos being put together in some random fashion to create some clue that has to be solved TODAY makes my brain rot to just think of how crazy that is. As another poster wrote, why not just send the email that there is a sex ring going on, or say HEY! check out the mural on Street X and then figure out what it means. How the tats were combined this week was beyond bad writing. Maybe it was drug-induced writing. There's that to consider.

 

Then the birthdays of all the stolen women are changed to 1800s dates? WTH? Really? Like no one would ever notice that, except our faithful cryptic tat reader. Why not put a code word into their bio instead of making a REALLY OBVIOUS date change?

 

The captured FBI undercover woman was wearing a necklace where she could talk to the other agents, yet she said freaking NOTHING when she was being taken into the building. Then what is that magic drug that makes people drop instantly when it's shot into their necks? I can see a killer dose of horse tranquilizer would do that, except the person would drop dead. Any sedative drug would take a few minutes to make a person pass out. Plus, if someone jumped me from behind and stabbed a needle in my  neck, I'd scream like a little girl and yell a big OWWWW! before I passed out. 

 

Dumbass agents don't see the FBI undercover chick get back on the bus and they're all okay with that. Dumbasses.

 

Then all those captured women are being used a happy hookers? Yeah, I can see that happening. Just grab some women and they'll all gladly turn tricks, happy as clams (no pun intended). What a dumbass idea. I'm guessing those writers are men.

 

Who gives a care that the black FBI guy is dating Weller's sister? I don't. And Tree Guy ... I agree with everyone here. He needs to quit talking in Dumbass Writer Code and just freaking tell Jane what the heck is going on.

 

And, oh yeah, that guy on death row was being put to death in one day, and in one day the FBI cleared his name, something no one anywhere had been able to do in a year. God, this show is rotting my brain. At least Lost didn't pretend to be real, there's the difference.

Edited March 23, 2016 by saber5055

[jhlipton]

Here's the transcript of the bull-lion scene:

The lion is on Jane's right calf, and the bull is on the left side of her waist, so I was looking at them separately.

But when you put them together and translate the Spanish, you get a Shakespeare quote.

"Some rise by sin and some by virtue fall.

 

And no, I still don't get the riddle (well it's half math and I usually blank out there anyway) or why they had to make it that mysterious.

 

Here's the key part that was left out of the dialogue: "Add the two together with their translated Spanish inscriptions" to get the quote. 

 

But...  here are screen-grabs of the images:  https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/TIi3WJVDd8ntFE.pjmvxag--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/2adde533d4446387009198ae65ebaf6a

 

One half is already in English, the other half looks like a mash of Spanish and Latin, and is not the second half of the quote! ("y algunos por caída virtud").  They go to all the trouble of making these images and can't even get the codes right.  Geez!!!!

 

And the inscription is just to get "sin".  Why not have a sine wave that runs across the connected images?

Edited March 24, 2016 by jhlipton

[Spacesaint]

Am I the only one that liked Janes leaving the FBI and then seeing Zapata in trouble realizing she has to stand with her friends? Loved loved that part.

Loved Jane telling tree tattoo that she was out

Jane needs to tell Weller that she is being blackmailed.

Cant wait for next week

[Dowel Jones]

Where Santa lives but otherwise there are no people, no buildings and certainly no servers anywhere even NEAR the Arctic.

 

Hey, you don't know that.  Maybe Santa finally upgraded to the present century.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to hack the database and erase some (ahem) embarrassing data.

[misstwpherecool]

When Jane came back to the office Patterson asked if she was feeling better with a bit of a smerk. Was this filmed around when Alexander was complaining about toxic ink?

 

Black mailing Zapatta again?

 

And yes the Weller character or lack there of.

[jhlipton]

[T]he cryptic email coming from ... was it the North Pole? Where Santa lives but otherwise there are no people, no buildings and certainly no servers anywhere even NEAR the Arctic.

 

Agent X used to live there, but he left...  (Z Nation reference....)

[Margherita Erdman]

Agent X used to live there, but he left...  (Z Nation reference....)

I think you may be on to something there though. You know who would make a great new love interest for Manic Pixie Genius Lab Girl?

DJ Qualls

Maybe even as more or less the same character. Minus the B-movie zombie apocalypse of course. Though who knows what's hiding in the next tattoo — the DNA sequence for that bioweapon gone awry could be right there!

[jhlipton]

I think you may be on to something there though. You know who would make a great new love interest for Manic Pixie Genius Lab Girl?

DJ Qualls

 

You know that if Roberta Warren ever met Jane, she'd be through with that bullshit in a minute.  Just scan her body and feed her to the zombies.

[John Potts]

There were a couple of good things about this episode: firstly, it actually allowed Zapata to be front & centre rather than either Jane or Stubbly. She showed some genuine heroism there and they even averted the "100 pound girl beats a 300 pound thug" (despite getting help) without making her look weak.* Even after taking a pounding, she still got the other women out, so I can only applaud her genuine heroism.

 

Secondly, we had Jane actually tell the shrink that she DOESN'T know she's "a good person" AND confront Tree Tat Guy (Oscar?) about whether she really can trust him. At least she's starting to look into the mystery of her own past - even if she can't trust the whole team, I hope she privately opens up to one of them (preferably Patterson, as she seems the most into whole puzzle aspect, but it will almost inevitably be Stubbly) so we can get SOME forward motion on the central mystery.

 

But of course they can't go an episode without including something spectacularly dumb. No way that the stop didn't reek of "Setup" (if they're being driven from New York to Mexico they must have a toilet onboard, so why would a deportee be allowed off for anything short of something critical - and given they have her on mic, they KNOW nobody's said "She's having a heart attack!"). As soon as Zapata left the bus they should have assumed the switch was happening - unless it's because one of the Agents is in fact a mole. I hope that isn't the case, since it's never going to be Stubbly who's  the mole, so that means Reade would have to be. If so, I guess it proves that anyone who isn't a Jane believer is obviously evil as opposed to just rational!

 

 

saber5055 Then the birthdays of all the stolen women are changed to 1800s dates? WTH? Really? Like no one would ever notice that, except our faithful cryptic tat reader.

 

 

On one level, I can believe it would get through because I doubt people are enquiring too closely, but why use an obviously fake date at all? If you want to mark out your victims, why not use 29th February (choose a leap year, obviously)? It would be rare enough to be usable as a marker without raising ANY suspicion. Even better, use a set, random date that's easily memorable (since they're prepared to resort to murder anyway, the fact that it might catch the occasional non-target would just mean an extra body to dispose of).

 

Dowel Jones "So I didn't know you had an op going.  Maybe you should have posted it on the website or something.  Pffft."

 

It's got to be the only major crime NOT covered by a Jane tattoo!

 

Dowel Jones Maybe Santa finally upgraded to the present century.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to hack the database and erase some (ahem) embarrassing data.

 

How embarrassing could your present requests be!? Or do you think he keeps the Naughty/Nice lists online too, in which case... yeah, I might need a hacker too!

 

blackwing Tree Tattoo talks in riddles and code, telling Jane that "they" will kill Weller if she doesn't cooperate

 

Well THERE'S an empty threat!

 

* Of course Jane WOULD manage it, but that's unrealistic too (unless we learn that Jane's secret is that she's actually one of the Slayers!)

Edited April 6, 2016 by John Potts

[Beatriceblake]

TV land FBI shows make the FBI look like a bunch of imbeciles. Patterson was so pleased with herself over the tracking necklace. Really? It's a sex trafficking ring, of course the first thing they will take/remove is personal jewelry.

Yeah that really took me out of the episode as well. Let's put the tracker in something the villains will almost certainly want to either steal or dispose of! Great idea.

 

Why not her shoes or underwear and then the traffickers make the women change into totally new clothes and shoes. Hell if the writers had seen that same Burn Notice episode I did, they would have known to do that.

 

One thing I do feel like the show is doing well is raising the stakes on a weekly basis. I'm glad Tasha isn't so easily off the hook (because it made the whole Carter bribing Tash subplot pointless) and also the episodes seem to be getting darker fast. Tash could easily have been raped/killed because of whatever stupid master plan is going on here.

[snuffles]

 

Tash could easily have been raped/killed because of whatever stupid master plan is going on here.

In real life, Tasha would have been dead before the Weller and Reade figured out she was not on the bus anymore.

[jhlipton]

If you want to mark out your victims, why not use 29th February (choose a leap year, obviously)? It would be rare enough to be usable as a marker without raising ANY suspicion. Even better, use a set, random date that's easily memorable (since they're prepared to resort to murder anyway, the fact that it might catch the occasional non-target would just mean an extra body to dispose of).

 

Use April 15th 1990.  It matches the age of the girls you're targeting, and it's the birth-date of Emma Watson.