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Blindspot Recap: Double-Agent Man

Blindspot

Erase Weary Youth
Season 1 Episode 13
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
Blindspot - Season 1

Blindspot

Erase Weary Youth
Season 1 Episode 13
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
Jaimie Alexander as Jane, Audrey Esparza as Zapata. Photo: Giovanni Rufino/NBC

The first episode to be set almost entirely in the FBI office, “Erase Weary Youth” is a refreshing break from the show’s tendency to jump from location to location in pursuit of clues spawned from Jane’s tattoos. However, it’s no less confusing. The hour is packed with seemingly superfluous characters and distracting story lines. At least its cliffhangers are delicious, and its dialogue is stronger than usual.

This week, Blindspot’s women are in the hot seat. As if in preparation for scrutiny, “Erase Weary Youth” opens on its women working out some aggression: Jane on the running path and Patterson on the boxing bags. The difference is, Jane wants to remember and Patterson to forget. Neither is able to master her memory as the slimy Jonas Fisher pops back in to investigate a Russian mole, forcing each of them to reckon with their pasts.

While Fisher puts the FBI’s New York office into lockdown, a montage of questioning circulates Weller, Jane, Mayfair, Reade, and Zapata beneath his beady eyes. The major action of the episode is executed via an elongated scene of smart, intercut dialogue, rather than the usual series of shootouts and awkward transportation scenes, with the annoyingly creepy Fisher leading the witch hunt.

And a witch hunt it turns out to be. Though he creates a plausible narrative by naming Jane as a Russian agent who — in her down time — killed Carter to keep her secret hidden, it turns out Fisher is actually the double agent. Weller pieces it all together at the eleventh hour, saving Jane from potential torture, then vouching for her when she kills Fisher in what they agree was self-defense. (I have a feeling this impulsive kill will have far-reaching consequences for both Jane and Weller in some future installment.)

Before the episode’s close, Jane catches up with Oscar and lets her pent-up fury fly. He insists that her ability to remain straight-faced and cool under pressure is allowing them to continue the operation. Who they are, though, is still a burning question. Either way, Jane does not want to stick around long enough to know — she declares her renunciation of whatever it is she’s a part of, leaving Oscar to deal with a “time-sensitive tattoo” on his own.

Jane’s tribulations are still at the forefront of Blindspot, but meanwhile, several story lines have begun to shape up in the background.

First, Reade admits to Weller that he’s dating his sister. Weller will not stand for it, claiming that he doesn’t want Sarah to be at risk of losing someone close to her. Reade, feeling vindictive, insists to Mayfair that he doesn’t quite buy Jane’s alibi. Expect some Reade-on-Jane tension in next week’s episode.

Second, it slowly dawns on Zapata that she may still be under the watchful eye of the CIA. After Fisher’s shakedown, she arrives back to her ransacked home and provokes whomever might be listening to reach out. Just before the episode ends, the phone rings. Is it the CIA? The obvious guess is yes, but perhaps someone else has been keeping tabs as well.

Tattoo Meanings:

  • The tattoo trove is closed for business this week.

Blindsides:

  • This week’s episode-title anagram translates to “stay where you are.”
  • Like Fisher, Reade wears a three-piece suit. Is this fashion choice code for traitor? Is he trying to get to Weller via his sister? Maybe that’s a ridiculous theory, but he’s begun to point fingers, which might be a deflection tool.
  • I missed that whole bit about why Jonas’s preference for Turkish coffee was relevant. It probably doesn’t matter in the long run, but would anyone care to explain?

Blindspot Recap: Double-Agent Man