Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Blindspot 1x06 "Cede Your Soul" (Clear Boundaries) [Contributor: Jen]


"Cede Your Soul"
Original Airdate: October 26, 2015

In "Cede Your Soul", Jane and Kurt cool their relationship by setting professional boundaries. To combat her loneliness, Jane attempts to befriend the woman at the center of an investigation; putting her at odds with Weller. Clear boundaries simply cannot outweigh Jane's need for an emotional connection. 

CASE OF THE WEEK


Honestly, I had a difficult time understanding the case of the week. After the third viewing, it finally clicked and I felt pretty foolish. It wasn't all that difficult to understand, even though the dark web is not my area of expertise. I'm a Google girl, myself. I'm chalking my confusion up to the very distracting, implied Kurt and Jane sex dream. I simply lost the ability to hear words.

The case summary is, essentially this: Some bad guys hired Ana Montez, a top-notch hacker, to create an app which can track the GPS in government agency vehicles. Ana thought she was hired by the National Security Agency. Ana was duped. It happens to the best of us. These criminals are using Ana's program to kill government agents and officials.

The way the team finds Ana is somewhat humorous. The coding "thumbprint" behind the Trakzer app matches the winner of Hackathon. I'm not a hacker. Mostly I'm just happy when I get my computer to work. The "shut down" is my go-to-feature when it doesn't. That said, I find it highly suspect a computer hacker of Ana's caliber, who believes she's programming for the NSA, would participate in something called Hackathon. I'm calling shenanigans Blindspot. I respect the need to truncate an investigation that should take several weeks into several minutes, but HACKATHON? Oy. Truncate better. [Editor's Note: For those who don't know, hackathons are like, conventions for hackers, essentially to get to know other programmers and to build relationships with them. You work in teams, usually, on projects. We talk about them a bit in my marketing department sometimes so that's why the phrase stood out to me!]

Ana is the highlight of the episode. She's sassy and unbelievably smart. Ana cooperates with Team Blindspot and shuts down the Trakzer app. However, some nefarious criminals force her to track a Homeland Security truck. Before kidnapping her, Ana leaves the truck's VIN number as her username, so Team Blindspot can find her. When Jane attempts a rescue, Ana delivers a Sydney Bristow-like elbow to her kidnapper's stomach and Jane is able to shoot him. Hire this kid immediately, Team Blindspot. There's a lot of potential there.

Ana also figures out the black box covering Jane's Navy Seal tattoo is another tattoo. It's a tattoo within a tattoo. Essentially, every tattoo Jane has may have multiple meanings. If anyone is concerned Blindspot will run out of story after solving all of Jane's tattoos... don't worry, they won't!

TEAM BLINDSPOT


"Cede Your Soul" hits on most of the same Team Blindspot beats as previous episodes. Reade continues to distrust Jane and her tattoos. Zapata pays off her gambling debt, but by doing so, gets herself in deep with the Deputy CIA Director Tom Carter. Reade knows something is up with Zapata. He needs to figure out what a bit faster before Zapata frames him as the mole. 

Finally, Patterson tells Weller about Mayfair's refusal to show her the file who's number is tattooed on Jane's back. Weller tells Patterson to back off, and his reaction frustrates her even more. Relax, Growing Pains. Weller is protecting you, so you will survive the season. After five episodes, it's time to start moving on this storyline. Thankfully, it looks like Weller confronts Mayfair next week and we get the scoop on the redacted file.


KURT AND JANE


Jane discusses her very hot sex dream with her therapist. I wanted the man in the dream to be Weller like any good shipper, but I found the therapist's reaction surprising. Yes, dreams are not necessarily literal, but the tree tattoo is specific. The therapist didn't even entertain the idea that it could be one of Jane's memories surfacing, which is odd. I like analyzing, but sometimes a tree tattoo is really a tree tattoo. The appearance of Mr. Tree Tattoo at the end of the episode simply confirms it. This mystery man puts another romantic pairing in play and Blindspot's intent is clear: time to back off Kurt and Jane.

While discussing the dream, Jane immediately thinks the therapist believes the mystery man is Kurt. It's okay, Jane. You're in a safe place. The entire audience shouted, "It's Weller!" during the love scene. The therapist suggests Jane's relationship with Kurt is complicated, because he feels the need to state the obvious. His advises Jane to set clear, professional boundaries with Kurt. I'm liking the therapist less and less.

Weller is receiving the same "boundary" talk from Mayfair. She doesn't believe he is objective when it comes to Jane (because he's not). She's considering removing Weller as lead investigator, so he decides to set some boundaries with Jane. Boundaries, to Kurt Weller, mean being a jerk. He's short with Jane, corrects her repeatedly and even reprimands her for connecting with Ana. Overkill, Weller. Just stop inviting her over for dinner.

Both of these encounters — Jane with her therapist and Weller with Mayfair — is Blindspot holding up neon sign blinking, "COOL IT." We're only six episodes in and Blindspot needs to milk the main relationship. So they are hitting the brakes.

Jane craves human connection, but her professional relationship with Kurt confuses their emotional connection. She's resistant to bonding with the team because, to them, she is a case. She reminds me of a "Where's Waldo?" puzzle I had as a kid. It was a thousand piece puzzle with hundreds of miniature Waldos who all looked the same. It was a nightmare of epic proportions. It took months to finish. Everyone in my family helped and each time someone came over to the house, they swung by our dining room to give the puzzle a shot. Jane is my "Where's Waldo?" puzzle. Everyone looks at her tattoos and gives solving HER a shot.

This makes Jane feel like a science project. She just wants to be a person and that's difficult with anyone on Team Blindspot. She feels like a person with Kurt, but their intimacy is blurring the lines between professional and... not professional. This is why Ana is such a ideal solution to Jane. Jane cannot identify who she is, but she can identify with people like Ana — people who are isolated, just like her. At the end of the day, Jane just wants a friend.

Kurt over-identifies with Jane making an emotional connection with Ana, because it's exactly what he's doing with her. He reprimands Jane, but... methinks he doth protest too much. On a professional level, Kurt is really reprimanding himself for becoming emotionally invested with Jane. On a personal level, pulling away from Jane is the last thing Kurt wants to do and he's taking his frustrations out on her.

At this point, Kurt and Jane are viewing their emotional connection as a weakness. Kurt even offers to step down, realizing he's not objective when it comes to Jane. Jane argues that his emotional connection to the case makes him the ideal investigator to solve it because he is invested. It's a pity Jane and Kurt cannot see their investment in one another as a similar benefit. 

Cooling Jane and Kurt's romance is a necessary step in any television show's long game plan. It's a little amazing Jane and Kurt didn't fall into bed last week immediately after Jane's heartfelt declaration of "you're my starting point." No wonder she had a sex dream. The woman is only human. 

Unable to keep his emotions in check any longer, Kurt offers to drive Jane home, but she says no. Primarily because they both know what it could lead to. Driving Jane home simply puts the romance in play and Blindspot is holding onto that card for the moment. That said, whatever boundaries Kurt and Jane set won't last long. Their emotional connection sets the perimeters for the entire show. 

Stray Thoughts:
  • Seriously, what is Kurt's scenario with his father? If Jane is alive, why does Kurt believe his dad is still guilty for her kidnapping? I appreciate he's a taciturn fella, but Weller needs to start talking.
  • Murdering a Saudi prince is how world wars start. Thanks, Team Blindspot, for avoiding that catastrophe.
  • Why would a terrorist shoot an RPG at a vehicle after the passengers have already exited? It's called redirect, fella. Look it up.
  • Homeland Security isn't going to be happy Weller blew up their weapons. Hopefully it doesn't come out of his paycheck.
  • Didn't anybody think Ana disabling the Trakzer app would put her in danger with the criminals on the dark web? Team Blindspot blew that play big time.

1 comment:

  1. Weller definitely went overboard this episode. We went from watching Kurt and Jane episodes to a Dick and Jane episode!

    ReplyDelete