S02.E11: Droll Autumn, Unmutual Lord

[formerlyfreedom]

After one of the world's most-wanted terrorists surfaces in New York for unknown reasons, the team must partner with the CIA to stop a deadly bombing.

 

[paigow]

The terrorist must have used his real passport by accident....not the John Michael Kane one...

[slf]

Okay, I've been really annoyed about this all season and for part of last season. But especially after the developments of this season. Jane should have enormous issues with the government, the NSA, the CIA, the FBI, etc. I mean, she's abducted by her government and sent to the freaking Red Room to become a child soldier. Then the US government stumbles across that "orphanage" and finds the kids and Jane her brother mysteriously end up with an American soldier, back in the US, being used in operations the US government was aware of/involved in. Jane was tortured by the CIA. Why is she okay with these people? Not being Sandstorm doesn't make them necessarily the good guys, not in this universe as it's been written. Doesn't mean there aren't good people within the government but still. Jane's been told working with them is the only way to remain outside of a CIA blacksite, to not be tortured. Shouldn't that do more than mildly annoy her? This doesn't touch on any deep-rooted feelings she might have regarding being used by her own government, her mother, the US government? She's been an instrument and weapon since she was a child and brutally punished whenever she stepped outside of that role. ....No effect, really?

I think it's important they showed Roman exhibiting behaviors from when he was a kid (in addition to having flashbacks). I can't pretend, though, that I'm not disappointed they've given that only to him so far. I really wanted to see that with Jane. But I can admit, that if what the psychiatrist said about behavior learned early in childhood is true, then it makes sense. We know Alice compartmentalized in a way Ian just couldn't. But that also means what she's saying about Roman makes little sense. Ian couldn't kill his bunny. Roman's always struggled with doing what 'mother' wanted him to do, and with being separated from his sister; he prioritized getting the little girl out of the diner when he realized Shepherd's men were about to attack. If he is what the psychiatrist says, he wouldn't have done that. He might've even used the waitress as a human shield. So I'm going with: the psychiatrist is not who she says she is. Maybe she's in league with Sandstorm? Or this is badly written.

I don't care about Weller, still, and I honestly thought Allie was going to say the baby wasn't his. Patterson's a doll. I care more about Reade than Zapata right now so I'm happy he found someone else to warm his bed because Zapata has gotten on my last nerve this season. (I want to love her because I did so much last season but her lack of self-awareness is smothering any affection I ever had for her.)

Did like: when Weller said "For what? Almost killing someone?" and Jane had this expression like "Yeah? It might be petty but it makes me feel better." Same, girl.

Edited January 12, 2017 by slf

[Texasmom1970]

At least the show took a step in the right direction getting Allie out of the picture. I did not want to see Kurt changing diapers, or any baby drama.

I love Archie, but her and Weller are a big snooze fest to me. Do not care about their sleepovers. The only reason the possibility of him and Jane didn't bug me as much is because I freaking love Jamie.

[omgsowicked]

So Zapata is into Reade? But she's pushing him away because she's ~too complicated~ or something. Dude, whatever.

I doubt Patterson's headaches were just for the discovery of the mancala tattoo (which I liked because I used to play mancala when I was in middle school, been wanting to pick it up again). I think Sandstorm planted a bug while she was knocked out. I'm still curious to see how this erased tattoo plays out, if it was meant to be forgotten or if it's a plan they decided to keep to themselves.

I agree, slf, that psychiatrist is probably up to no good... can't trust anyone after Borden. Maybe someone wants Roman out of the picture (locked up forever) or "transferred" out of the FBI headquarters so they can get him back into their hands. It seems they're suggesting that since Jane was able to change, Roman might be able to... but it'll be up to Jane to make that happen because everyone else is treating him like a psychopath (even though Jane fit that bill much more than he did pre-Zip). Hopefully she can get through to him before he realizes she's the one who wiped his mind.

I thought Allie was going to say she decided she wanted to avoid the messiness and have Conor act as the resident baby daddy. Moving away works, too. I mean, it sucks for Weller, to be so easily cut out like that, but in terms of the show, having a baby to take care of just wouldn't work.

[Mack]

There were things I really enjoyed in this episode, but on the whole it's hard to get past the ridiculousness of Jane barely reacting to working with a guy who tortured her for three months. When she asked what he was doing there, she sounded like she was talking to a recent ex or old boss. It just does not compute. 

That said... I'm really loving Jane and Weller getting closer to the way they used to be. That scene between them in the car, when she asked what'll happen when Roman learns the truth, felt like old school Jane and Weller. There's something super comforting and familiar about those one-on-one moments when they're driving. Nice, too, that he referred to Roman as 'the patient' when that (crazy cold) psychiatrist was calling him 'the prisoner'. 

Wish Allie had said the baby wasn't Kurt's - it seemed quite possible since she was coming out of the doctor's office and could easily have just found out that the pregnancy timeline wasn't what she thought. But getting her and the kid the hell out of town is the next best thing. This feels like a win. 

Every scene between Reade and Zapata felt like the same conversation over and over again. And if that last shot of her looking back at him means she's actually developing a thing for him... ugh. 

I really, really loved the scene between Jane and Patterson toward the end. That's the kind of thing I've been missing - Jane opening up to someone. I've really missed their friendship. 

[Chaos Theory]

I just can't with this show.  I want to like it because I REALLY love Patterson but there is just so much about the show that annoys me.  I actually did like the reveal way back the Jane was a "bad guy" but by doing that the show wrote itself into corners it is not clever enough to write itself out of.  Jane should have issues with the Govt that are massive and yet she almost immediately brings her brother in.  She trust them almost without question.  She shouldn't.  So either there is something else going on or it is just bad writing.

[sking24450]

This episode tested my patience because I really am only in it for Jane/Roman/Patterson at this point.  I totally agree with slf and Chaos Theory that it makes no sense to have Jane okay with the FBI especially after an episode like this when she is forced to work with a man that tortured her for months.  She should be skeptical of the FBI and the US Govt as currently constructed.  Which is why my continued plea for a Jane/Roman road trip of just kicking ass should be in play.  Just saying...

Again, Jane/Roman were my favorite parts of the episode, her desperation to save him and help her brother just speaks to me.  It is interesting that based on the background we have been shown I would say that it is the opposite that Jane should have been the one who is incapable of empathy, Roman has shown empathy repeatedly and when he realized that his sister didn't remember him and viewed him as a killer he tried to adjust for her approval.  Even his inability to kill Jane when confronted by Shepherd shows me there is something there.

Reade/Zapata were boring to me.

Weller and baby mama was boring as well, I do think the show realized it wasn't working so they just shipped her off.  I thought she was going to tell him that she didn't want him to be involved and that Connor was a better potential father.  This works.

I thought Patterson's headaches were going to be related to her torture.

I kinda want to see Jane/Alice recover all her memories and see how it meshes with the character we know now.

[saber5055]

Man,do I even care about this show any more? If only there were something else on to kill this hour.

[Writing Wrongs]

I'm gonna say it: I don't care about Roman at all. And I wish he'd shave that fucking beard.

What was the point of Allie being pregnant if they were just going to write her off?

Patterson is my fave on this show. Jane and Weller are ok. I feel like Jaimie Alexander is still playing Jessi from Kyle XY or maybe that's just the extent of her acting ability.

[Cryonix]

I like the premise of this show but two things really annoy me, 1, the camera work is terrible, all over the place, & 2, the music is so damn loud you can't hear what the actors are saying.

[thuganomics85]

Totally think Patterson's headaches are actually being caused by something Shepherd planted in her head, during her "interrogation" from last week.

Li Jun Li (hey, this is a step up for Quantico, at least) shows up as a profiler friend of Naz's, and is able to get Roman to remember a bit more, but now wants to stop it because she believes he is a full-blown psychopath no matter what, and it would be dangerous for him to find out more or be allowed outside a cell.  Yeah, that won't be happening anytime soon.

Great, more Weller baby drama.  Allie now wants to move to Colorado, which makes Weller sad.

Reade and Zapata continue to be awkward, or it's more Reade tries to move past it, while Zapata acts like an immature teen.  It looks like they finally get it together at the end, only for her to look at him longingly, as he flirts with a women that she just set him up with.  Dumb.

When Weller stumbled upon the guy with the basketballs, I was really disappointed when it simply blew up in his face.  I really wanted the baddie to just start hurling basketballs at him.

Patterson cracks the mysterious tattoo, and it turns out that Roman was.... part of a biker gang?  Kind of underwhelming there.  I guess we'll see how this all fits in next week.

[Bishop]

I am very happy that the writers have gotten rid of Allie and the baby drama.  Imo, I think they realized that they screwed up with giving Weller three women (one he's having a baby with, one he's sleeping with, and one he loves) which they should have been able to see was a disaster from a mile away, but whatever.  If they are fixing it, that's a good thing.  See ya Allie.  

The episode was good, and I liked that we got to see Weller and Jane in the field acting more like the season one team I remember.  Nas still has to go because I don't understand her purpose at all.  That being said, the episode didn't spend ridiculous amounts of time on her, which helped tremendously.  Overall, the episode was your usual "terrorist wants to kill lots of people, and the FBI has to stop it."  Mission accomplished.  

The Zapata/Read drama is starting to annoy.  I hate when they write women like this - "No, I don't like you, and I'm not attracted to you.  Let's just be friends."  Then of course, he moves on, and she's left pining from the sidelines.  Ugh!  As a result, I have zero sympathy for Zapata.  You had your chance, you clearly like him, and you told him to move on.  He is.  Also, why does everyone have to be paired with someone in the group.  I feel like the writers want to create unnecessary drama for Zapata and Reade to give them a story.   It's dumb.  Just let them be good friends and have them handle the cases each week.  Romance is not necessary.

Now, as for Roman - I don't agree with the psychiatrists assessment.  I'm not an expert in anti-social behavior, but Roman has been seen to show mercy and even compassion.  Yes, he is an extremely efficient killer and fighter, but when he and Jane were on that mission to get the chip, he CHOSE not to kill any of the people coming at him in the corridor.  He easily could have killed them all, but after talking with Jane, she made the point that not all the people they encounter know they are on the wrong side.  This affected Roman, and he made the decision NOT to kill.  He has shown anger and emotion at the idea that Jane abandoned him and chose to erase her memories and leave him behind.  Then, last week, he makes a conscious decision to warn the woman in the diner to get her child and get out.  Why would he care if he's a psychopath and without empathy?  That kid that Roman killed as a child - wasn't he the kid that scarred him and also took his beloved coin?  I'm not saying that's a good reason to kill, but I found it interesting that the people holding him wanted him to kill, but Roman couldn't kill his rabbit.  He loved it.  However, he could kill the other boy tormenting him and physically harming him.  It was brutal and sad because the adult in the room looked at Roman with satisfaction after the stabbing.  That's twisted.  I DO believe that Roman is a severely abused man who is suffering from that abuse, and he does have social problems.  I just don't believe he's a psychopath or that he can't learn to let people into his life.  If you think about it, Roman witnessed the murder of his parents, got locked in an orphanage and was abused, was "rescued" by their terrorist mother who then went on to abuse him more.  The only person who ever had his back and loved him was Jane, and then she chose to forget him by willingly having her mind zipped and leave.  So yeah, the guy has trust issues.  I just hope the writers aren't going to make him the psycho killer because I really like this character - a lot! 

Edited January 13, 2017 by Bishop

[Johnny Dollar]

Let me get this straight. Months, if not years, ago Sandstorm puts a tattoo on Jane identifying a vaguely Eastern European terrorist (heretofore referred to as VEET) who was thought to be dead. Patterson figures out this exact tattoo on the day after he manages to sneak into the US. She didn't solve any of the other tattoos first and she didn't decode this one last week, or last year. Specifically this one tattoo on this one day, the day that Sandstorm would have had no idea held any relevance when they first added the tat. Our illustrious VEET, using incredible foresight and after what must have been months of negotiations, arranges to be smuggled back into the US on the exact day/weekend that Evil CIA Guy's daughter's basketball team will be playing in a tournament, confident in the knowledge that said team would advance in the tournament to this day because VEET has an unhealthy obsession with girls' basketball travel teams, while managing to find a terminally ill donor with a backwards heart who was willing to have himself killed at that exact time and place so sis can get 250 grand, secure in the knowledge that his desperately ill son lives long enough until the day of the basketball tournament, still managing to recruit several local operatives willing to risk their lives and kill hundreds of innocents and possibly themselves for some still murky cause, while managing to keep his nefarious scheme secret from CIA/NSA/FBI?  

And don't get me started on the leopard tattoo and why Sandstorm wanted that tat to be decoded in the first place and how all Patterson had to do to was to realize Roman was playing Mancala with his sugar cubes, because Jane gave him way more sugar than he typically uses, and because the FBI still uses sugar cubes because they don't want their prisoners making lethal weapons out of empty sugar packets, while realizing that Mancala was popular in South Africa, despite the fact that Jane and Roman's childhood didn't seem to feature much in the way of play time, all while standing on her head, reading the code backwards in a mirror while underwater, and using the book code to determine that each letter of the code needed to be replaced with the winning Montana lottery numbers from March 8, 1997 to reveal a nine digit number that must be a social security number because it's not like other groups of numbers, like phone numbers, come in groups of nine. 

[slf]

I'm hoping Roman was Naz's informant.

[Bishop]

On 1/12/2017 at 0:43 AM, omgsowicked said:

I agree, slf, that psychiatrist is probably up to no good... can't trust anyone after Borden. Maybe someone wants Roman out of the picture (locked up forever) or "transferred" out of the FBI headquarters so they can get him back into their hands.

I hadn't thought of that possibility, but I like it.  The psychiatrist was too quick to say Roman couldn't be helped and needed to be locked up.  If they removed him from FBI custody in transit to a mental facility, Shepherd could get her hands on him again.  Apart from an MRI test, how did she come to the definitive conclusion after ONE session that he's a psychopath beyond help?  It was a little too convenient.

23 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

What was the point of Allie being pregnant if they were just going to write her off?

I think the writers realized they had screwed up by writing Allie and the baby into the show and simply wanted to write her off asap.  I think the reason for the ratings decline is largely due to their treatment of Weller.  He, and his relationship to Jane, was a major selling point of the series.  This year, however, they had him get involved with not one, not two, but three different women because he clearly still cares about Jane too.  It's a MESS.  They know it.  We know it, and they are trying to fix it, I'm guessing.  Nas has to go too.  I see zero reason for her to stick around.  Either Weller is in charge or not, but we don't need two people running things at the FBI.  I don't mind that Allie was written off conveniently and quickly.  I just wanted her gone.  Now they need to do the same with Nas.

If the writers can fix what they broke - namely Weller's character - and put the show back on track with Weller/Jane working on puzzles with Patterson and the rest of the team AND adding Roman to the mix in tackling Sandstorm, I think they can right the ship.  Sorry, but I love Roman.  He's a great character who I find even more interesting than Zapata or Reade.  I like them, but they are boring.

1 hour ago, Johnny Dollar said:

Let me get this straight. Months, if not years, ago Sandstorm puts a tattoo on Jane identifying a vaguely Eastern European terrorist (heretofore referred to as VEET) who was thought to be dead. 

My bigger question is why would Sandstorm put all those tattoos on Jane's body in the first place because the FBI is solving the crimes and saving lives.  So is that Sandstorm's strategy?  Keep the FBI busy so that they are not chasing Sandstorm?  I'm at a loss to understand the reasoning behind the tattoos at all.  I still love it.  I like the puzzles.

Edited January 13, 2017 by Bishop

[saber5055]

Johnny Dollar: Exactly. This show has surpassed stupidity. And Weller is such a dick, he's not even eye candy that makes the dreck worth tuning in for. Only Patterson and Jane are half-way interesting. But otherwise ... geesh. This show isn't even worth trying to make sense of it.

[Dowel Jones]

12 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

a nine digit number that must be a social security number

Because, as we all know, major league criminals always keep their actual SSN for life. 

When they were in the locker room of the gym, looking at the basketball bombs, I was saying "Those are rubber balls with explosive gas inside.  Evacuate the gym and let them go up.  The way they're laid out, nothing really bad will happen except some windows might get blown out."

Patterson's explanation of the code went by so fast that all I could say was, "Okay, sounds plausible".

[slf]

23 hours ago, Bishop said:

My bigger question is why would Sandstorm put all those tattoos on Jane's body in the first place because the FBI is solving the crimes and saving lives.  So is that Sandstorm's strategy?  Keep the FBI busy so that they are not chasing Sandstorm?  I'm at a loss to understand the reasoning behind the tattoos at all.  I still love it.  I like the puzzles.

I have no clue. To keep government agencies and the military in the press for doing bad shit? So that when Sandstorm makes its move to try to...overthrow the government (is that their intention?) they can say "remember when members of the CDC tried to release a plague?" etc? 

[paigow]

On 1/12/2017 at 1:45 AM, Mack said:

Wish Allie had said the baby wasn't Kurt's - 

Unresolved parentage issues...aka The Blacklist...

[Lebanna]

I really don't want Reade and Zapata to hook up, because that would mean that literally every character on the show except Roman is in love with/and or sleeping with someone they work with.

There are Kurt and Nas, Kurt and Jane, Patterson and (I guess we now have to call him) Nigel. And now Reade and Zapata. Seriously show, even busy people can meet someone who they don't actually share an office with, or any of their relatives for that matter (Kurt's sister and Reade). It's getting kind of incestuous.

[Trini]

I know the show needs Patterson to solve puzzles, and be the techie, but at this point I really would like to see her take a day off. (Even offscreen, if they must)

Still don't like that they wiped him, but the addition of Roman and his relationship with Jane has been one of the best things this season.

Maybe I'm forgetting something from earlier in the season, but I still don't this baby deal - from Allie's side. How Connor okay with this? Either she met this dude after she got pregnant, and he was cool with that -- which seems odd. Or they were already together and he's okay with his girlfriend cheating on him, and raising the cheater's child? This whole subplot seems poorly thought out; and I'm not convinced we're done with it.

[MissLucas]

This show only works by doing a maximum amount of handwaving when it comes to the tattoos, Sandstorm's agenda and Patterson's well-timed code cracking skills. It might give you RSI in both wrists though. That said I still watch and the main reason is Roman and his plight. I say this every week but the character and his interactions with Jane have salvaged the season for me.

I don't trust the psychologist at all (was she channeling ER's Dr Weaver or does the actress rely on a cane). Regardless of her professional assessment Roman will get his redemption arc (because this is tv) and probably die in the end (and Luke Mitchell will get a major gig for his troubles). If we're lucky we get some Patterson/Roman scenes before - they don't have to be of the shipping kind. I just think those are two characters who would be terrific to watch interacting.

Reade and Zappata are boring, Nas and Weller are boring, Weller and Allie were boring. Show, just stop it with the romantic side-shows they're not your forte.

[Bishop]

20 hours ago, MissLucas said:

This show only works by doing a maximum amount of handwaving when it comes to the tattoos, Sandstorm's agenda and Patterson's well-timed code cracking skills. 

True - but that's probably a true statement for most of the shows on tv, frankly.  I can generally ignore the holes in plots if I like the characters and am entertained.  Blindspot has its flaws, but I do still enjoy the show.  I just hope/wish the ratings pick up.  

Quote

That said I still watch and the main reason is Roman and his plight. I say this every week but the character and his interactions with Jane have salvaged the season for me.

Agree completely.  Luke Mitchell is really selling the plight of Roman, and I think it's also because the Roman/Jane relationship seems so genuine.  I actually see the emotion, the pain, the cost, the love between them without all the unnecessary and contrived drama (I'm looking at you Weller, Reade, Zapata).  

Quote

Reade and Zappata are boring, Nas and Weller are boring, Weller and Allie were boring. Show, just stop it with the romantic side-shows they're not your forte.  

Also agree.  That's the part I don't understand, and I think the writers are scrambling to correct it, although episodes have already been filmed.  They KNOW the baby-mama drama for Weller was STUPID, and so they have removed Allie from the show.  Excellent.  Now, they have to do something about Nas, but they've already created a mess.  So either they dump the character of Nas - which is the best choice - or they have Weller and her break up but continue to work together, and I'm not sure how that works.  The writers, for whatever insane reason, thought it would be good to create a ton of female co-stars for Weller, which only alienated those who are Weller/Jane fans (based on the comments I've read).  I think the writers are trying to course-correct because they see the slide in ratings.  I think if viewers are patient, they can right the ship because overall, minus the contrived romance drama, the show is fun/good.  I would recommend that the writers also nix the developing Reade/Zapata "romance."  As others have stated - not EVERYONE on this FBI team needs to be involved with someone else on the team.  It IS a bit incestuous and soapy.  The strongest characters right now are Jane, Roman and Patterson.  Weller is also a good character once they remove all that unnecessary drama from his life and put Reade and Zapata back into friends mode.  

[Ceindreadh]

On 13/1/2017 at 6:25 PM, Johnny Dollar said:

Let me get this straight. Months, if not years, ago Sandstorm puts a tattoo on Jane identifying a vaguely Eastern European terrorist (heretofore referred to as VEET) who was thought to be dead. Patterson figures out this exact tattoo on the day after he manages to sneak into the US. She didn't solve any of the other tattoos first and she didn't decode this one last week, or last year. Specifically this one tattoo on this one day, the day that Sandstorm would have had no idea held any relevance when they first added the tat. Our illustrious VEET, using incredible foresight and after what must have been months of negotiations, arranges to be smuggled back into the US on the exact day/weekend that Evil CIA Guy's daughter's basketball team will be playing in a tournament, confident in the knowledge that said team would advance in the tournament to this day because VEET has an unhealthy obsession with girls' basketball travel teams, while managing to find a terminally ill donor with a backwards heart who was willing to have himself killed at that exact time and place so sis can get 250 grand, secure in the knowledge that his desperately ill son lives long enough until the day of the basketball tournament, still managing to recruit several local operatives willing to risk their lives and kill hundreds of innocents and possibly themselves for some still murky cause, while managing to keep his nefarious scheme secret from CIA/NSA/FBI?  

And don't get me started on the leopard tattoo and why Sandstorm wanted that tat to be decoded in the first place and how all Patterson had to do to was to realize Roman was playing Mancala with his sugar cubes, because Jane gave him way more sugar than he typically uses, and because the FBI still uses sugar cubes because they don't want their prisoners making lethal weapons out of empty sugar packets, while realizing that Mancala was popular in South Africa, despite the fact that Jane and Roman's childhood didn't seem to feature much in the way of play time, all while standing on her head, reading the code backwards in a mirror while underwater, and using the book code to determine that each letter of the code needed to be replaced with the winning Montana lottery numbers from March 8, 1997 to reveal a nine digit number that must be a social security number because it's not like other groups of numbers, like phone numbers, come in groups of nine. 

The tattoo that led them to the terrorist in the shipping container had been decoded by Patterson much earlier. That is, she'd got the shipping container number and had set up an alert for it. The alert pinged when the container got to the port. 

[PurpleTentacle]

The doctor: "Roman is a total sociapath, he can feel no empathy, no love, etc. blabla."

Jane: "But he grew up just like I did."

That was about the weakest comeback I could have ever imagined. How about "Our adoptive mother, who he was totally loyal to, told him to shoot me and he wouldn't, tried to shoot her instead. He clearly loves me and you are a quack!"

What are the chances that two psychiatrist are moles for sandstorm, because this woman is either incompetent or also acting in bad faith.

[PurpleTentacle]

On 1/27/2017 at 1:09 AM, Ceindreadh said:

The tattoo that led them to the terrorist in the shipping container had been decoded by Patterson much earlier. That is, she'd got the shipping container number and had set up an alert for it. The alert pinged when the container got to the port. 

Well that makes even less sense. It has been months. How could Sandstorm know the number of a shipping container that would be used months from when the tattoo was made?

[Ceindreadh]

8 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Well that makes even less sense. It has been months. How could Sandstorm know the number of a shipping container that would be used months from when the tattoo was made?

I wish I could answer, but when the notification of my post being quoted came up, I had to search the name of the episode to find out which show it came from!