BLINDSPOT: “Heave Fiery Knot” {Roundtable}

Blindspot keeps raising too many questions than just one of us can answer. But this week, the team is forced to let Sandstorm dictate their case – weapons being sold to a Mexican cartel – but there are more issues for the team than just the logistics of working for and against Sandstorm.

1. Sandstorm dictates the case of the week – some pillars that also might be bullets. Are you okay with that? Or do you want the team to solve them without interference?

Roz: In a perfect world I want the team to do their own work, but I think that there are too many facets to all of the tattoos to ignore someone else pointing them in the right direction.

Cay: The whole idea of the tattoos is that the team isn’t doing their own work – the cases are being fed to them. Some have obviously been harder to figure out than others (thank goodness for Patterson!), but the team would be a lot less successful if it wasn’t for the tattoos.

Leah: The tattoos are such an integrated part of the show, I personally don’t think it matters where they get the intel. Like Weller said, they have always been from the same source, now they know that source.

Rueben: I don’t think I could have said it any better than you ladies. The tattoos are crucial to the show; and one way or another, they would figure them out. In this particular case, stopping those cartel guys from using stinger missiles on a plane full of Mexican government officials, it was life or death.

2. Reade’s talking to an old friend about the molestation/abuse case from last year and trying to get that friend to testify. Do you think that this is the first of last year’s cases to come back to the forefront or do you want to see more of them connect to the here and now?

Roz: I think if that case is that personal I want to see where it goes. This team is more than just their cases, and given that we’ve already seen Reade’s love life fail, I want to see what else goes on with him.

Cay: I actually didn’t remember that this plotline had come up before and it seemed forced to me in this episode, as if it was meant to give Reade something to brood about. However, the end was interesting – has Reade blocked out something even from himself?

Leah: I like Reade and I like knowing personal things about the team so this, while painful, should be good TV. I am looking forward to seeing where it leads.

Rueben: I agree with Roz that the show is about more than just the cases they get from the tattoos, and given what we learned in the end – that Reade has obviously forgotten about his own past where Coach Jones is concerned (GASP), I want to see where this goes.

3. The open hostility between Jane at the team is bad. Is there a point where you think everyone needs to bury the hatchet and just work or is all trust gone if you think we didn’t get resolution from Weller?

Roz: Even with Weller’s “Let’s play happy family” speech, I think the tension’s too high and too hard to crack. It’s going to take some serious work from Jane to get everyone to trust her, since they all see her as the problem.

Cay: Not that the whole show is all that realistic, but if one pep talk forgives betrayal, 3 months of torture, etc, then it would really be defying belief! It needs to work itself out in a realistic manner with them learning to trust again slowly.

Leah: I’m okay with them taking their time to trust each other again, but the open hostility from team members that have all had their fair share of secrets is something else. That is just ridiculous. They are all sitting pretty high on their horses.

Rueben: I can’t see forgiveness happening right away, that’s just not realistic, especially given all that happened to Jane. But, like Leah said they all have secrets and none of them can or should point the blame on anyone else because they are all just as guilty of keeping mum. That being said, they need to work together, yes, but regaining trust doesn’t happen overnight and it needs to play out in real time not by a magic Genie spinning her ponytail and making it all go away.

4. The DEA agent that was supplying weapons is now their target because her boss set her up. It seems that one theme today the teams not working well together. Do you want Jane at the FBI to get back on track or do you want a longer spat between them so we can learn more about Sandstorm?

Roz: The spat’s good for tension, but I think that can get old if we’re always going to hear Reade and Zapata harping on what Jane’s motives are.

Cay: We are going to learn more about Sandstorm one way or the other, but as I said last week, Zapata is getting on my nerves! I’d love to see Jane save her ass in the next few episodes.

Leah: They need to get back on track! I miss happy Jane and Weller.

Rueben: I want to see them get back on track, sure; but, it’s not going to be a quick fix and we’re back in line. They’ve all got a lot to work through. However, Zapata needs to get down from her pedestal, as she isn’t any better than Jane (especially given what she has done in the past). I miss happy Jane and Weller too, but I don’t think they can every truly get back to that again.

5. Roman wants to defy Shepherd to go talk to Jane. How long do you think it’ll be until he’s too caught up in Jane’s life that he is no longer a trusted part of Sandstorm?

Roz: Given everything I think he’s about ready to defy Shepherd and run off to protect Jane no matter what. It’s a bit much because Jane’s proved she’s actually capable of handling most things. Let her have some agency, please, Roman!

Cay: I like the idea that Roman could be turned against Shepherd. Then Jane gets her brother back, but doesn’t have to betray the FBI…

Leah: I don’t understand his sudden need to follow her and protect her. She is capable and has been undercover for quite awhile. He seems to be going off the rails, it won’t be long before something breaks.

Rueben: He is obviously VERY dedicated to his sister, but just as he is more than capable of taking care of himself so is Jane; and she has proven that time and time again. I don’t think I’m comfortable with the idea of Roman learning that Jane is really working with the FBI not just pretending to work for them (as they see it). I think Roman has spent too much time with Shepherd that any reveal of Jane’s true intentions could be catastrophic, to say the least.

BLINDSPOT — “Heave Fiery Knot” Episode 202 — Pictured: (l-r) Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller — (Photo by: Nicole Rivelli/NBC)

6. The team now wants to take down all of Sandstorm’s inner parts, but that seems overly simplistic and idealistic. What do you want from the team now that we know Sandstorm exists?

Roz: I need a good balance between taking down Sandstorm’s agents and the team finding other ways to undermine them.

Cay: I want more info on exactly what Sandstorm’s endgame was with all the tattoos. It’s the wider repercussions that were hinted at that I’m interested in. Why does Sandstorm want all these different crimes solved? How does that advance their agenda? And how do they know about them in the first place?

Leah: I don’t see this going as smoothly as they think, but as long as they keep working both angles that is okay with me.

Rueben: I agree with Cay. How do they know about these crimes? Sure, it’s been revealed they have moles everywhere (or at least it sure seems that way), but who put all the puzzle pieces together for them; because they are multi-layered and vast. Do they have a team of Patterson’s working for them who figured all these things out? And, do they have strategists who see the bigger picture – basically seeing the butterfly effect in advance. If this thing happens, then these things will happen and the future will be changed this way to further their agenda. It’s just a lot to take in and come to terms with. They have a lot of explaining to do!

7. “Accidental” pregnancy. Oh boy. React more, please.

Roz: DO. NOT. WANT. I wasn’t a big fan of that three-way tension last year and now it seems unnecessary as Jane’s not a romantic interest to Weller now.

Cay: Yep, that seems like the whole idea – to make it harder for Weller to go back to Jane.

Leah: I am not at all happy with this. Honestly, it is too much in the push Jane and Weller farther apart department. Not. Good.

Rueben: Like they don’t have enough issues already, let’s throw in an unplanned and unexpected pregnancy. And, was it just me or did Kurt take the news a little too calmly? I guess they feel they need even more tension between Jane and Kurt because everything else that is going on isn’t enough? Groan! Not a fan of this particular storyline.

Blindspot airs Wednesdays at 8PM on NBC.