I think it’s safe to say that this was one of the stranger episodes of Blindspot. Outside of the tattoo case of the week, we got quite a few bizarre moments throughout this week’s installment. We also got a couple more nuggets of information concerning Jane, her mission and her past. Patterson came back in the spotlight this week. And Oscar’s character has finally been getting a little more depth. But all together, did it really work? Not quite.
In the flashbacks to pre-memory wipe Jane, she was incognito attending a memorial service for Taylor Shaw, as gatherers mourned over her loss. She would have been 30 that day. Of course, we now know that Jane Doe is Taylor Shaw, so there’s no mystery there. We see her spying on Kurt and eavesdropping on a conversation with his dad (who, by the way, we hadn’t seen for quite some time). Even though it’s now been established that Kurt’s father did not abduct Taylor, we still don’t know if he held any sort of knowledge about the event. If Oscar knows how Taylor was kidnapped he’s not letting on. If this wasn’t a TV show that relied on cryptic statements to keep people coming back every week, we probably could have found out a lot things by now. Yet we have to remain attentive and keep waiting to learn more. And we still have another seven episodes to go after this week.
A long time ago, back when we knew Oscar as that dude with the tree tattoo, I wondered if perhaps the people behind the show were building up to a love triangle between him, Jane and Kurt. “Any Wounded Thief” officially gave us an answer: yes. For a few weeks now we’ve seen Kurt getting all smitten with Allison, happy to be back with his ex. Jane’s acting all cool about it, but come on—as if she doesn’t want Kurt to be with her. Still, she’s respectful and wants Kurt to be happy. Oscar tells her she needs to get close to Kurt again, even if that means making sure he and Allison break up. How Jane would even be able to make that happen without being the obvious relationship killer is beyond me, and apparently Jane as well, as she refuses to do it. Oscar, however, insists that it must be done, that they have to be willing to make sacrifices. When Jane asks Oscar what sacrifices he’s made, he’s insulted. Jane was, after all, his fiancée before she had her memory wiped. It doesn’t take long before they start kissing, and then taking their clothes off and—boom! Our love triangle has officially begun. But it all feels a bit too convenient. Sure, these too were once lovers, but the present Jane doesn’t remember that. Then again, maybe there’s something in her subconscious drawing her to Oscar, something deep down that recognizes this is a man she once deeply loved. But I’d be more convinced that Jane just wanted to get some, as opposed to the idea that true love swelling back up between them.
Back when David died, Patterson didn’t want to take the time to grieve, she wanted to find David’s killer and move on. It’s now their anniversary—or would have been if David was still alive. He had even made a reservation at a nice restaurant for them before he was murdered. For whatever reason, Dr. Borden suggests she still go to the restaurant and celebrate the memory of David. Sure, maybe it’s to help with the grieving process, since it’s now really hitting her given the anniversary and all. But to say that she should go out to a nice restaurant on her own in memory of her dead boyfriend does sound a little out of the ordinary. And so she goes to the restaurant and imagines David is there with her. We actually see David’s character sitting across from her, and it’s a little off-putting. Of course, it’s just her imagination, but that is still just a little psycho (though others may call it romantic) that she’s imagining her dead boyfriend sitting across from her. And… whaddya know, by looking at David’s last, unfinished crossword puzzle, she deduces that David had figured out another tattoo mystery before he died. Say whaaaaat? Either Patterson is going crazy, or she has one more personal mission before she can fully recover from David’s death. We’ll find out next week!
Blindspot is slowly making progress in its story, but is this really a show that can go on for another two, three or four seasons? So much has already happened and yet some of these weeks just feel so… forgetful. There will always be that occasional episode to resuscitate the energy in the series, but is there really enough to keep us coming back for years to come? Perhaps there is, but the overall excitement and anticipation for each week since the beginning of this series has slowly waned, even with the really good installments that come in their waves. Perhaps next week will give us something new to be excited about it. Quite a lot happened this week, so next week for sure is going to have some serious aftermath regarding characters’ actions.