BLINDSPOT Roundtable: Back to the Grind

BLINDSPOT is back people! Season three opened with a gorgeous sequence that led us right back into the madness Blindspot is so good at. New tattoos, new guy controlling the tattoos – Roman. At least this year that part isn’t a mystery. Of course there are also new secrets as the team reunites to work this all out.

We’ve flashed forward to a wedding and a move to Colorado all in the first scene plus a $10 million bounty with some assassins. How do you feel about is this reboot going forward for the show?
Lisa: Wow! This season started off strong! There was so much information in this episode I thought my head would explode. I loved the wedding scene and getting the back story to Jane’s glowing tattoos and the mysterious box. I was a little skeptical after last season but after this episode I’m all in!
Leah: It was in interesting way to bring us back. I too was getting annoyed by the end of last season but they’ve hooked me back in.
Cay: It’s a good thing they put the title card up to start because I saw the flowers and was like “what?”. I was grateful for the flashback to fill in the gaps although the wedding just didn’t feel true to the show to me. But, it set up what it needed to set up – that Jane and Weller were very happy until their past lives got in the way. I was also thankful for the recap of the whole scene with discovering the new tattoos because I think I was too shocked during the season 2 finale to really get what was happening.
Roz: I appreciate a reset, but this did take me a few minutes to adjust to. But for a show like this, we need new and fresh ways to look at what was a finite number of tattoos and this is sure one way to do it.

2. Roman, really? I feel like this plan is horrible. What say you all?
Lisa: Ugh..I am so disappointed in him. We all knew he was dark, but his game is too much.
Leah: So…..he’s mad his sister didn’t kill him when she had the chance last time they were “together”? Shame on him. Also….he saw how well it didn’t work out for his Mom. She planned hers for years. He thinks this is just going to be a walk in the park?
Cay: He’s damaged goods. He’s doing all that he know how to do – be a bad guy. He’s just potentally not as good at it as Shepherd. On the plus side, though, he did help Weller and Jane get the bounty off her head, so there’s that. And what secret exactly do he and Weller share, as alluded to at the end?
Roz: Nothing about this plan is good and I hope it doesn’t last too long because it will get old fast.

3. Reade, Zapata and Patterson are all trapped with a safe and no way out. The trio isn’t dealing with the end of the FBI relationship, but do you think they should have moved on? If not, what do you want them to do together?
Lisa: I loved seeing them back together. They are the dream team. however they can work together, it needs to happen.
Leah: Obviously they need to be together for the show to work, but it sucks that they all parted ways.
Cay: It was an interesting way to bring them back together but they escaped so quickly that it didn’t have any emotional heft. It does, however, explain a discussion I had with Ashley Johnson (Patterson) and Audrey Esparza (Zapata) at New York Comic Con a few weeks ago. (Link to that discussion here) I asked Ashley about whether the time jump gave Patterson time to heal from her traumas, and she said yes, and then I commented, that hopefully that meant no additional trauma during the time she was missing to start this season and neither she nor Audrey caught on right away what I was talking about. It was like they had forgotten that they had ended season 2 “missing, presumed kidnapped”. Now it makes more sense because the scene was so quick and then back to normal with them all together and they are likely many episodes into the season filming by now.
Roz: I think any group that spent so many hours together would have a hard time establishing new relationships, but now that the gang is back, the cracks in the paint are easier to see. I want this tension to work itself out for thr sake of the team.

4. The gang’s back together with an added bonus of Rich Dot Com. What do you think he’ll do to the dynamic?
Lisa: I’m actually happy that Rich Dotcom joined the team. You can always count on him for comic relief. It’s too early to tell how the teams dynamic will be but I like it. I really want to get to bottom of his secret with Patterson! What was that about?
Leah: I love the character of Rich Dotcom but the idea that he can be trusted with government tech, information, etc….is ridiculous.
Cay: Yeah, the rest of the characters seem to agree with you, Leah. I also got to talk to Ennis Esmer (Rich Dotcom), who is both charming and funny just like his character, and they revealed that he was going to be in a lot of the episodes this season. (Link to that discussion here) He is great for comic relief. We’ll see if it will get old in higher doses, but I think he’s in just a little over half of this season’s episodes. They also confirmed that his FBI ID says “Rich Dotcom”. I’m really intrigued by that little exchange between him and Patterson – what exactly did the two of them do together? Were they lovers, or something else?
Roz: Rich is going to cause so many problems and I hope he doesn’t make the team break up before they should.

5. MVP?
Lisa: Jane! She came out of that bag for the second time and kicked ass! She is back!
Leah: Jane. She’s a badass.
Cay: Yeah, I’m going with Jane – got love how she takes charge. Makes a decision and she’s all in – trusts Weller that it will all work out and then comes out fighting.
Roz: Jane got it done when she shouldn’t have to.

BLINDSPOT airs Friday 8/7c on NBC