overnights

Blindspot Recap: Going Rogue

Blindspot

If Love a Rebel, Death Will Render
Season 1 Episode 22
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
Blindspot - Season 2

Blindspot

If Love a Rebel, Death Will Render
Season 1 Episode 22
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe. Photo: Barbara Nitke/NBC

Blindspot unravels some important threads with the climactic events of this season’s penultimate episode. Most shockingly, the undoing of Mayfair, and, least shockingly, the revelation of Weller the elder’s sins.

Before jumping into the important stuff, let’s digest the weird Jane-related case of the week. A nervous, pale nurse in scrubs leaves a duffel bag in a city square and shuffles quickly away. Inside is a newborn baby (which does not look newborn in the least) with a bar code tattooed on its wrist, matching a bar code on Jane’s own wrist. The baby is a genetic match to a couple whose son is dying of an aggressive form of leukemia. His only hope is a bone marrow transplant, which was conveniently arranged by the husband’s father, a billionaire ex-politician. “Arranged” meaning he collected genetic material from parents in similar need and secretly used it to artificially conceive children who could provide invaluable transplant materials like bone marrow and tissue.

Due to Jane’s suspended circumstances, which we’ll discuss in a minute, she isn’t permitted to work on the baby’s case. But feeling a strong connection — duffel bag delivery and matching tattoos will do that — she goes it alone, karate-chopping her way to the rescue of an entire room of crying newborns conceived without their parents’ knowledge. As usual, the case is quickly resolved with a slap-dash explanation (The billionaire is arrested! The unwitting parents will be alerted to the babies’ existence! All is well in the world!) and it’s back to life as usual. Or as usual as it can be, given life under constant threat of internal FBI dissent, shadowy CIA menace, or Jane’s own special-ops team.

Speaking of which, following the arrest of Mayfair in last week’s episode, Jane is through with Oscar’s apparent manipulation. He set her up to frame Mayfair, and she feels used by her own supposed plan. As Jane chews him out, Mayfair’s one-time lover Sophia shows up to plead Oscar’s case repeating the words Jane once recited to her — that Mayfair has to pay for her involvement with Daylight, the operation that allowed countless criminals to walk in exchange for NSA-obtained information.

Meanwhile, Mayfair is under house arrest after being ousted from the FBI, but quickly shrugs off her tracking device, then spends the episode tracking down Sophia, who she knows is behind her own downfall. Back at the bureau, FBI director Pellington (Dylan Baker) shuts down the Jane Doe project. Consequently, Jane is dumped from FBI employment and Mayfair’s team is ordered off any cases related to her tattoos. The only person genuinely upset by this turn of events, aside from Jane herself, is Kurt, who stoically professes his devotion to her as she lets an elevator close in his face. Eventually, Kurt and Jane embrace as they realize her citizen status means that make-outs aren’t nearly as complicated as they might be if she were still an armed FBI consultant. Though they don’t know it yet, this constantly fraught romance is sure to be short-lived.

Mayfair’s departure also means Mayfair’s replacement … by Weller. Director Pellington, though adamant about abandoning Jane Doe, is equally as adamant about Weller stepping into Mayfair’s shoes. Not unlike her, Weller’s determination is “beyond reproach,” and it seems the same shadowy forces that swallowed Mayfair might be after Weller in order to gain his loyalty and confidence to whatever larger mystery lurks beneath Daylight.

The suspension of Jane’s case leads me to believe that the forces behind Daylight know there’s something larger at play. Jane’s connections to so many questionable cases, combined with Carter’s disappearance and Mayfair’s compromised position, means that Mayfair’s framing is more convenient than blowing the entire mission — whatever that mission beyond Daylight is. The bigger question: Is Jane involved in that larger mission? And on what side will she fall? The answer will, undoubtedly, not be black and white.

As Mayfair goes rogue, she uncovers Sophia’s hiding place with a little help from Reade and Zapata, who have resolved their own differences. Sophia’s hideout happens to be Oscar’s warehouse, and as Jane appears to once again plead with him to terminate the plan, Mayfair reveals herself. In a swift turn, Mayfair pulls her gun on Jane, who attempts to explain her own presence, but Oscar appears and shoots Mayfair in the back. Devastated, Jane attempts to stop the bleeding, to no avail, while Oscar vainly tries to drag her from the scene.

As swiftly as Mayfair is gone, so is Weller’s father. The episode downshifts to Mr. Weller’s deathbed, where Kurt has been summoned for his final moments. In a mumbled tumble, Kurt’s father confesses he killed Taylor all those years ago and buried her under Kurt’s childhood fort. Kurt, newly knighted, suddenly comes up against devastating knowledge: Jane might not be who he thinks she is, and his father was most definitely not. He’s lost his childhood friend, present-day lover, and both parental figures, though he isn’t yet aware of Mayfair’s death.

Mayfair’s departure is a sad one. Not just because she was a reliably interesting character, but also because Marianne Jean-Baptiste was one of Blindspot’s few true talents. Without her grounding presence and arresting charisma, it’s easy to see characters like Zapata and Reade set adrift in mildly interesting roles, solely defined by their disgust. As a character, Mayfair held Weller to a stringent code of conduct and loyalty, and as an actor, Jean-Baptiste drew warmth and humanity out of Sullivan Stapleton’s performance. Blindspot’s second season will most certainly need a new center of gravity outside of Jane, whose unintentionally oscillating loyalty is too shaky to trust.

Tattoo Meanings:

  • A bar code tattooed on a newborn baby’s wrist matches one on Jane. She eventually uses her bar code to scan herself into a creepy baby farm.

Blind Sides:

  • This week’s anagram translates to “the final order will be revealed.”
  • There is still an unexplained bit about Weller’s father’s role. Was he a depressed guy who accidentally murdered a neighborhood girl, or something more? Jane’s childhood flashbacks may not be connected to the Wellers at all.
  • Still, Jane’s tooth was a match for Taylor’s tooth, though that could be planted evidence or a mouth implant.
  • It seems Patterson and Borden’s romance has been put on hold for the rest of the season. Sigh.

Blindspot Recap: Going Rogue