"City Folks Under Wraps"
Original Airdate: December 22, 2017
It's time to take down Hirst once and for all in Blindspot's midseason finale "City Folks Under Wraps." The team has varying levels of success throughout the episode, and by varying levels I mean they all end up in prison at one point or another. Of course, the good guys prevail, but in true Blindspot fashion, there's an even bigger bad waiting in the wings (and it's seriously awesome casting). However, it's Kurt Weller who steals the show with his bomb of a confession to Jane. It's a bomb that requires copious amounts of GIFs.
CASE OF THE WEEK
The case of the week is Team Blindspot trying to figure out how to stay out of jail. Hirst decides to frame Patterson for Stuart's murder. Of course she goes after Patterson, because Patterson is everyone's favorite. So Patterson is on the run, which means that Team Blindspot has lost their most valuable member. Come on, you know it's true.
Luckily, Hirst is dumb enough to buy Reade's, "I am the only one you can trust" act and Zapata has been kicked off the team. So Tasha is able to help Patterson evade capture (at least for a little while). I knew Zapata being off the team would work in our favor this week! Reade is able to keep the cat and mouse game going with Hirst while Kurt, Jane, Patterson, and Zapata find the evidence to take down the baddie.
Patterson and Zapata secure the mysterious Kinga recording of Stuart's murder and just before Hirst is about to arrest Jane, Tasha has it played over the intercom exposing the director as the real murderer. As reveals go, this one was pretty fun. A little hokey, but fun.
Hirst isn't going down without a fight because that's what we expect from Mary Stuart Masterson. Apparently, she has some rogue agents on her side (which explains some things) and they kidnap Tasha. Nobody messes with Reade's woman and I feel pretty confident he'd release nuclear launch codes if it meant keeping Tasha safe, so he helps Hirst escape from the FBI.
Team Blindspot shows up to save the day though. Jane takes out the gunmen holding Zapata captive and Kurt stops Hirst. She conveniently knocks out Reade so Kurt can struggle with killing her or not. Roman pitched a hissy fit with Kurt over the team failing to dethrone Hirst on schedule. So he wants Weller to kill her instead or he'll tell Jane about Berlin. The Berlin threats are getting old, Roman. Find a new theme.
Kurt contemplates shooting Hirst for about a half a minute, especially when she's begging him to do it. Hirst is much more afraid of the man she works for than she is of a bullet. Of course he doesn't because Kurt isn't a cold-blooded murderer. It's also good to see there is a threshold to his willingness to keep this lie from Jane too.
So, who is the man Eleanor Hirst works for and is so afraid of? None other than the man "you can't say no to" — Hank Crawford, Blake's father. Truly, I did not see this coming and it makes Roman's plot line with Blake make a lot more sense. I figured he was angling to meet her father, but I wasn't expecting him to be the Big Bad. Naive of me, I know. Roman's scheme is unfolding nicely. Not only is Blake falling in love with him, Hank hired him as her bodyguard. This puts Roman in close proximity to Hank, which has been the plan all along.
Hank Crawford is played by David Morse and I squealed with delight when I saw him on screen. He's a fantastic actor and I can't wait to see what he brings to the role.
TEAM BLINDSPOT
Rich Dotcom was, as always, a highlight in "City Folks Under Wraps." Blindspot has played around with Rich's loyalties a lot in the past and it's clear he's always been looking for himself. We've slowly seen a shift in Rich's perspective this season and his growing emotional attachment to the team, but this is the first time he was really presented with a choice: him or the team.
Hirst offers Rich everything under the sun to get him to turn on Patterson. He'll be free and she'll tell him the location of her boyfriend. I knew Rich wouldn't turn on Patterson and the team, but I'll admit Blindspot had me going for a second when he signed the deal. In true Rich Dotcom fashion his signature reads, "SUCK IT."
And that is why he is the best.
Rich declares, once and for all, where his loyalties lie. He chooses the team because he is part of the team. When Jane tells Rich that she believes he was loyal to the team because he cares about them, Rich doesn't miss a beat and delivers the line of the night:
Rich: Besides, selling you out destroys any chance of a six-way.
Kurt: See? That is why you don't know about this place.
Rich: We'll start.
Reade pretending to interrogate Weller gives him the opportunity to unload on Kurt about Jane. He tells Weller he's become a crappy agent since Jane showed up and all he cares about is her. I guess it is played for Hirst but this angle in Reade and Kurt's relationship feels very played out. A scene like this made absolute sense in season one, but we are in season three now. Reade was best man at Kurt's wedding to Jane. I'd say he's dealt with his issues over their coupling. Reade apologizes, but Weller's remark that it must have felt good to get that off his chest just felt off.
Patterson figures out that Zapata has feelings for Reade because she's Patterson and always figures things out first. Hey, she got Jeller married. Why not Reade and Zapata? Patterson should look into developing a dating app. Her reaction is pitch-perfect Patterson: "You like Reade. Like, like like him. Tasha, he has a girlfriend. And it's Reade."
Sums it up. Put me down for same. I'm not saying I'm not in favor of this pairing. I am. They just have terrible timing. Zapata shot Reade down last year because he was in a vulnerable place and she wasn't ready. Now Tasha is ready and Reade is whole and healed (mostly), but he has a girlfriend. Again, a girlfriend he's buying food processors for and we never see on screen, so I'm not overly worried about her as an obstacle, but we still have a long road before we reach coupledom.
KURT AND JANE
Jane: "There's nothing he can do to get between us."
Don't be so sure, cookie. While I love Jane's "our love can conquer all and Roman can suck it" attitude, we all know it's not going to last long. Weller finally fesses up. It's not enough Kurt knew who Jane's daughter was, met her, and lied about it for months. Nope, the writers had to go full Blindspot about this.
Kurt KILLED Jane's daughter.
Yeah, okay Kurt. This is something fairly difficult to admit to. I'll give you that big fella. The lying is more understandable.
After my initial shock wore off, I would say I transitioned immediately into skepticism.
No, you didn't kill Jane's daughter Kurt. Come on now, child. I reject this twist.
It doesn't help we cut immediately to the end of the episode and the "tune in when Blindspot returns" promo, so there wasn't much explanation as to why Kurt believes he killed Jane's daughter. But let's just run through potential options. First, how does Kurt know he really met Jane's daughter? Did he do a DNA test in the middle of the hotel? Second, how does Kurt know he really killed Jane's daughter? This could be a Roman plant! Insert someone in Kurt's path, make him believe she's Jane's daughter, orchestrate some scenario in which Kurt has to kill her, and thereby breaking up Jeller! As diabolical plans go that would be very diabolical. Roman is dead-set on bringing Jane pain and misery. I'd say this would get the job done.
This has just enough soap opera in it that Blindspot can turn on a dime in a matter of months with a "Gotcha!" Jane's daughter isn't dead after all or the woman who is dead wasn't Jane's daughter to begin with! Erica Kane would totally agree with me. Maybe Kurt has an evil twin? I'm grasping here I know, but work with me.
I won't sugarcoat this one. This is bad. Very bad. I don't see Kurt and Jane weathering this storm at first — which is the point of the whole storyline — while they are rapidly escalating Reade and Zapata. They are the shipper life raft, Blindspotters. It's grab on to them or go down by the head. The choice is yours. EVERY MAN AND WOMAN FOR THEMSELVES!
Is this the end of Jeller? NO. It's JELLER y'all. Come on now. I raised you better.
But like I said last week, the honeymoon is over. We got the pretty dress, cake, flowers, dance, and all the wonderful vows. We even had happy married Jeller for a hot second. That was fun right? Remember when their biggest problem was Jane was a vegan? Good times. But this is Blindspot and it's a drama, which means PAIN. Fun is over. The writers are back to what they do.
Every marriage has to ride the roller coaster. There are highs and lows. Kurt and Jane's are just higher and lower because television. Granted, we're dredging the bottom of the ocean right now, but that'll just make the climb back all the more satisfying. Remember the Taylor Shaw is a lie/Kurt's dad is a pedophile/Jane covered up Mayfair's death/Kurt arrests Jane storyline?
That all turned okay.
Stray Thoughts:
- "This is not how I pictured you waking up next to me." Never ever remove Rich Dotcom from this show.
- Are Patterson and Zapata just hanging out in Kurt and Jane's apartment? The FBI can't think to search there? As secret hiding places go while on the run from the law, this does not seem like a great one.
- I loved the moment when Tasha yelled "Now!" while the bad guy was reloading his gun, alerting Jane this was her moment to take him out. TEAMWORK, Y'ALL.
- Hirst is a crappy shot. She had the high ground and Jane was just a short distance away and she still couldn't take her out. Probably because she's Jane Doe.
- Sorry for the delay on all these reviews. My goal for 2018 is to watch on time, but life happens sometimes. I appreciate you sticking with me!
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