S02.E03: Hero Fears Imminent Rot

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Weller and the team must race the clock to stop a series of escalating New York City bombings, while Jane is forced to go on an assassination mission to prove her loyalty... or suffer the consequences.

 

[paigow]

This Sandstorm plot cannot be a season long arc....right???? Where is Liam Neeson and the rest of the Dead Rabbits????

[twoods]

Jane's brother is freaking nuts. He probably would gut Weller and watch him die if Jane betrayed him.

Patterson and Borden were so cute, but of course one of them is likely the mole to break my smitten heart.

Poor Reade. I'm glad Zapata is there for him, but hope he continues his therapy. I do not want to see flashbacks of what happened to him- the fact that people like that sicko coach exist in this world makes me so angry. 

Edited September 29, 2016 by twoods

[omgsowicked]

A bit of a deal was made about Borden speaking Arabic... another misdirect or a hint? And now I'm thinking that Nas is listening in on the therapy sessions because she suspects him, in addition to (or instead of) keeping tabs on Jane. Hmm. It'll really suck if he's the mole, he and Patterson are cute together.

I was hoping Roman might eventually become an ally to Jane but he's completely unstable. I think he'll end up dying at Jane's hand. The guy he killed was working on something re: aeronautics... no surprise, after that rocket reveal a few episodes ago. Also, Cade's out of the country?

I'm glad Reade has Zapata to talk to. I'm not at all concerned about a romance between them, never have been. I still struggle to believe these characters are anything but work colleagues, despite the show's attempts.

My TV cut out between Roman killing that guy and Weller involving himself in the hostage situation, did anything noteworthy occur? Also, didn't Weller do something similar in S1, like in a bank hostage situation?

[Trini]

Add me to those who hope that Borden isn't the mole; they already killed off Patterson's other adorable boyfriend.

I kinda want to like Roman, but they are painting him as a psycho. I'm surprised he hasn't already comprised Shadowy Organization and been punished for it -- but maybe that will come up later.

Like that Nas adds some unpredictability to the team, but, she's a sniper too??

[Dowel Jones]

Weller's reaction to Nas at the hostage situation was ridiculous.  You have a couple (now one) of stone killers who have no remorse about what they're doing.  The remaining one controls the detonation switch.  Just because he is beginning to cry, Weller thinks his pep talk is going to change his mind?  Add to that, it was obvious, or should have been, to anyone at scene that the detonator was not a dead man switch.  He could have been dispatched at anytime without detonating the vest. 

I love the Manhattan folks at the second bomb.  Gunshots all around?  Hell no, I'm gonna keep right on hiking down this path.

[dwmarch]

Okay, so I love me some DIME bombs. I heard about them either when Israel was trashing Lebanon or when Israel was trashing Gaza. Either way, I loved the idea of an explosive that was all micro-shrapnel. I even included DIMEs in a story I was writing. The idea was that you could drop them on the front steps of a building and kill a whole bunch of people but not break the windows. That is how these weapons work. The micro-shrapnel will obliterate flesh but can be stopped by anything resembling a solid object. The military idea behind this is that if you have a target in the middle of a densely populated area you can drop the bomb on the target's head and anything within about a dozen feet is salsa. Anything beyond that is confused about what just happened. But of course on Blindspot, a DIME weapon is a gigantic fireball that destroys everything around it. They had such a silly moment suggesting that kinetic energy would stop a DIME bomb. Forget that, throw your bulletproof vest over top of it and let it detonate with less power than a warm fart.

Also, this is for the people on that island who were standing within 12 feet of the testing range? Fuck those people! Seriously!

I'm glad the Reade plot wasn't dragged out and I loved that Zapata was able to get the truth out of him. Those two make a great team.

I still think Nas is the mole. Why is it that she can put on tac gear and join an FBI raid to the point where no one questions her grabbing a big fucking sniper rifle and taking a shot? Her boots aren't that sexy!

Patterson is squee adorable, especially with her clumsy but honest seduction of Borden. I demand a happy ending to that plotline!

Is it just me or did they change Jane's neck tattoos around? She doesn't look quite the same and it's bugging me.

[LisaM]

I still cannot stand how Weller speaks. It drives me nuts. 

[blackwing]

It would make sense to me that Borden is the mole.  He was really an afterthought last season.  This season, all of a sudden, we are seeing him more and more.  And of course there was the discussion from Shepherd about activating the mole and we saw quick cuts of the FBI personnel.  Borden was among them, which struck me as odd because I'd never really thought of him as part of the team.  And of course, his budding romance with Patterson seems to indicate that something not so good is going to happen.

I don't mind Weller, but that's because I have lots of goodwill for Sullivan Stapleton from "Strike Back".  His character Damien Scott was so fun and full of energy that it's hard to blame Stapleton for Weller because I know that he can be a good actor and extremely entertaining.  I don't remember much commentary about his American accent in "Strike Back", and in fact I remember it being so convincing that early media stories had to mention that he wasn't American.  So I would have to believe that the semi-stilted delivery in "Blindspot" is some kind of directorial or acting choice to fit the character.

It seems to me that there is a lot less focus on Weller this season.  So far I'd say the main actors are Jane, Shepherd and Roman.  Roman is crazy.  It's nice to see that Luke Mitchell is playing a part that is vastly different from the "Golden Boy" roles that he played in "Agents of SHIELD" and "Tomorrow People".

[Traveller519]

Archie is going to snatch second billing from Stapleton at this rate!

[Trini]

12 hours ago, dwmarch said:

Is it just me or did they change Jane's neck tattoos around? She doesn't look quite the same and it's bugging me.

I've been meaning to double check that; it does look slightly different at first glance.

[slf]

So Jane's family was murdered and she was abducted, trailed to be a killer, and forced to kill her bunny. Kind of a Black Widow thing. Poor Jane. I really do wish we got more of her, her backstory, etc., because that's still the most interesting part of the show.

Did I mishear Roman when he was talking about his poor bunny or did he indeed say Jane gutted it?

[Solace247]

34 minutes ago, slf said:

Did I mishear Roman when he was talking about his poor bunny or did he indeed say Jane gutted it?

Jane was the first to snap her bunnie's neck. The "caretakers" gutted Roman's bunny.

[heyitsme87]

I can't buy reader and Zapata as friends or anything else. Their interaction to me seems forced and fake. 

Im starting to warm up to nas. She seems more fitting for a supervisory role than Weller. Does Archie wear her hair any other way though? 

I hope that borden is not the mole but it's looking like he could be. Is the place in Africa Where Jane is from an Arabic speaking country? 

[slf]

11 hours ago, Solace247 said:

Jane was the first to snap her bunnie's neck. The "caretakers" gutted Roman's bunny.

Thanks! At first I wasn't sure if I'd heard wrong but then at the end when he threatened to find/gut her bunny I was like O_o Zoiks. Maybe I didn't mishear. Still, those poor kids.

So now I really, really feel like the show has glossed over the trauma Jane would've suffered since childhood. I feel like we've watched Weller angst and brood and lash out more than Jane's been allowed to and she has far more reason.

[rlangmit]

On 9/29/2016 at 0:39 PM, Traveller519 said:

Archie is going to snatch second billing from Stapleton at this rate!

Except he (inexplicably) has top billing.

[thuganomics85]

Figured Roman was going to cover for Jane not killing the target, because he seems to have a strange loyalty towards her.  But that final scene makes him come off unhinged and likely a bigger danger to Jane then Shepherd, if she messes up again.  Luke Mitchell seems a lot more lively here then he did for the majority of his time on Agents of SHIELD.

Don't see Weller and Nas ever fully getting along, with all the clashing over leadership.  I did think it was funny that Weller got all upset over her taking the shot, because had he been in her shoes, he would have done the same thing.  It was only because he was the one trying to talk the guy down and the dude crying (and I guess the idea of Weller being a father, too?), that he was so upset about it.  Whatever, Weller.

Reade is still freaking out about his lost memories and what might have happened to him, but at least he told Zapata already.  Hope he takes Borden up on his offer.

Patterson and Borden already kiss on their first date, so I'm sure one of them will end up being the mole.

[MissLucas]

I still don't know what exactly Sandstorm wants - we get some talk about tyranny and how this country must be liberated but it's more or less a smoke-screen for a complete lack of coherent ideology that would actually compel all those people to work with Sandstorm. It's the usual problem with high concept shows - they rarely can deliver on their basic mystery.

I guess "I'm gonna find your rabbit, and I'm gonna make him bleed" was supposed to be badass creepy but unfortunately it immediately made me think of this - so not really working the way the writers intended.
 

[Bishop]

7 hours ago, slf said:

Thanks! At first I wasn't sure if I'd heard wrong but then at the end when he threatened to find/gut her bunny I was like O_o Zoiks. Maybe I didn't mishear. Still, those poor kids.

 

In an interview with Luke Mitchell, he said the bunny was a metaphor for weakness, not Weller or a specific person.  I think Roman is afraid that if Jane does not come back as "Remi" that Shepherd is quite capable of killing her, and he's desperate to save his sister - which is why he covered for her.  I would like to think that there is a guy underneath who can be salvaged and not just a guy who is crazy just for crazy's sake.  I think more is to be revealed.

Quote

 now I really, really feel like the show has glossed over the trauma Jane would've suffered since childhood. I feel like we've watched Weller angst and brood and lash out more than Jane's been allowed to and she has far more reason.

Hopefully that is coming.  I mean the audience has to be told why Roman and Jane became the cold-blooded killers they became.  Jane has the luxury of a complete memory wipe, which I assume is all her traumas from the past.  Roman has no such remedy.  I am curious, for instance, where he got that scar, and from the flashbacks, he got it as a kid.  In that same interview, Mitchell said Shepherd is a bit of an abusive "mother" in that she likes to put down Roman and prop Jane.  I wonder if she does that to engage him to act more to please her, but I think she's a bit of a twisted nut herself.  Bottom line for me is that I really am intrigued at the relationship between Roman and Jane, and I want to know more about their pasts and their childhood.  I like Weller too, but there's room enough for his angst and theirs.

[saylubee]

On September 29, 2016 at 3:29 AM, dwmarch said:

Is it just me or did they change Jane's neck tattoos around? She doesn't look quite the same and it's bugging me.

I think it's the hairline at the forehead.  I'm pretty sure Jaimie wasn't wearing a wig last season and she is this season.  It drives me crazy in every episode I've seen so far this season.

[Dowel Jones]

6 hours ago, MissLucas said:

made me think of this - so not really working the way the writers intended.

Best. Cartoon. EVER.

[pumpkin]

I always feel like they gloss over building bonds between the team members on this show... in most crime team procedurals the team bonds are the bones. I know this shows trying to be a little more high concept but I can't help but think they didn't spend enough time building that foundation.

also feel like i could be getting more from the sound track... why is it all high intensity instrumental all the time?!  

[calipiano81]

This is random...but what is Patterson's first name?!

[Trini]

8 hours ago, calipiano81 said:

This is random...but what is Patterson's first name?!

I think it's been mentioned a least once last season? But on the NBC webpage, she doesn't have a first name listed (neither does Dr. Borden). Hmmm.

[paigow]

3 hours ago, Trini said:

I think it's been mentioned a least once last season? But on the NBC webpage, she doesn't have a first name listed (neither does Dr. Borden). Hmmm.

Wiki & IMDB list Dr. Robert Borden....

Patterson's first name was also asked during the session, to which Martin quickly responded there are things that needs to be kept unknown in the show as it is a mystery program.

Read more: http://en.yibada.com/articles/146364/20160729/blindspot-season-2-updates-gero-martin-confirms-names-returning-characters.htm#ixzz4LxtBhLA5

Edited October 2, 2016 by paigow

[slf]

I think that Patterson's first name being unknown because it's mysterious is a little stupid. It's not like Nas or Weller don't know it, they'd have to as would Borden (and Mayfair). So withholding it can't possibly be about her being the mole or having some other major secret. Which means they're just doing it to do it. And on a show with so many mysteries and misdirections that annoys me just the tiniest little bit. They should've always played it as her just really hating her first name and not wanting anyone to know it; it doesn't make sense that Jane's never asked what her first name is so having her do so would've been a great way to address the issue.

Edited October 3, 2016 by slf

[Texasmom1970]

I know some like the fact that Reade confided in Zapata, and I hope that made him feel better. But she is still bugging the hell out of me with her snide remarks about Jane, again what are you in junior high. Get your panties out of a wad and concentrate on your job. She, none of them really can understand what Jane has gone through so I say they zip it. 

I don't know about Archie's character, I still do not trust her.  I had forgotten all about Kurt being an expectant father until I saw him surrounded by the booze and ultrasound. I really hope that crappy story line does not become prominent in the future. 

[slf]

14 hours ago, Texasmom1970 said:

I know some like the fact that Reade confided in Zapata, and I hope that made him feel better. But she is still bugging the hell out of me with her snide remarks about Jane, again what are you in junior high. Get your panties out of a wad and concentrate on your job. She, none of them really can understand what Jane has gone through so I say they zip it. 

Agreed. She's a grown woman and an agent with the FBI and she can't deal with this in a more mature way than death stares and snippy declarations of distrust? If I'm Nas I'm in no way confused as to how that team got played so easily; they make everything so damn personal, they have no professional detachment whatsoever.

[snuffles]

I'm kinda surprised no one thinks Reade is the mole. Last season, we were shown Sandstorm has erased or manipulated other people's memories too. Also, they went the long game on Weller. Scouting him out years before planting Jane. They even had loads of personal family photos, lol. Seems conceivable they could have modified Reade's memories and made him an unwitting mole. Kinda like on "Dollhouse".

This show loves moles/double agents. There was the Russian mole who tried to take down Mayfair. The one Jane killed. Now there is another mole within the FBI. The mole I'm most curious about is the one at Sandstorm, the one who gave Nas the intel about Jane coming out at NY times square. I'm betting it's Roman.

Isn't Weller supposed to be the assistant director now? Why is he still running his "own team"? Shouldn't he be overseeing different teams, like Mayfair did?

[Beatriceblake]

This just aired here this week.

At the moment it feels hard to tell what might be a lead and what might be bad writing. With Reade, it was weird to me that Freddy didn't bring up Reade's past abuse the first time they talked about Freddy testifying. So it's hard to tell if this is because Reade's memory loss was Sandstorm related or because the writers needed to have Freddy bring up the abuse at the end of an episode.

The actor playing Roman is quite good but I'm not finding Shepherd very compelling at the moment because she's not complicated enough. In addition to her total lack of affect she just seems like a fairly flat villain character who would kill Jane in a heartbeat for the mission, "daughter" or not.

Jane is still a compelling character but the show has lost something now the team's relationships are a bit more shaky. Patterson and Borden would be cuter if I wasn't concerned one of them would die/be the mole. And they could stand to give Tasha a decent plotline other than making sad faces at Reade and glaring at Jane.

[John Potts]

Admitedly, I've never shot anyone, but surely Jane knew that guy was dead even if she DIDN'T shoot him? But I had to laugh at Stubbly saying Jane isn't a killer - she kills somebody in most episodes!

I guess TPTB are trying to address the fact that they made Sandstone completely in the right last Season and the government as riddled with corruption by showing that Sandstone are utter sociopaths. They don't even seem to have any ideology - there's no "Sacrifices must be made to build a better future", it's all "HULK SMASH!" But that doesn't mean I like the government any more, it just makes it hard to cheer for anyone.

On ‎04‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 1:38 AM, snuffles said:

Isn't Weller supposed to be the assistant director now? Why is he still running his "own team"?

You'd think so, but Nas (who I think was introduced as having equivalent rank in the NSA) was also at the scene. Lucky too, since she was actually thinking (and shooting!) straight.

On ‎02‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 10:32 PM, slf said:

I think that Patterson's first name being unknown because it's mysterious is a little stupid.

Unless it's "Iamsecretlytheleaderofsandstone", it's utterly dumb!
 

[romantic idiot]

Yeah, it's not like she's a grifter or anything. It's dumb both here and on Big Bang. 

[torqy]

On 10/2/2016 at 2:32 PM, slf said:

I think that Patterson's first name being unknown because it's mysterious is a little stupid.

Reminds me of Inspector Morse, whose first name was revealed to be:

Spoiler

Endeavour

Edited December 6, 2016 by torqy