"Frequently Recurring Struggle for Existence"
Original Airdate: March 15, 2019
Jane comes face-to-face with her Remi past in "Frequently Recurring Struggle for Existence."
CASE OF THE WEEK
The team is notified of an armored truck robbery and matches the serial number on whatever was stolen to Jane's Hermes tattoo. The company that owns the truck will not reveal what was stolen. However, they are a weapons developer and defense contractor so whatever was stolen can't be good.
Patterson finds puzzle pieces in the numbers and the image matches the computer chip tattoo. The "I" in ASiA is the only letter that's not capitalized in the tattoo. "Si" is silicon on the periodic table. Silicon is a semi-conducter used in computer chips. Rich realizes the Hermes tattoo is actually Mercury (same God, different name). If you add their two periodic table numbers of mercury and silicon it equals 94. The periodic number for plutonium.
Whoever robbed that truck stole plutonium for a nuke. Well... crap.
The team brings in David Kirkpatrick of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and he is an expert at nuclear weaponry and tech. Do you know how many times we've done nuclear bombs on this show and we're only meeting this dude now?
One of the robbers is someone David Kirkpatrick has been trying to catch for many years — Greta Smalls. She sets up a meet with Russian mobsters on the dark web to buy an explosive device for her newly-acquired the plutonium. Patterson and Kirkpatrick pose as Greta and her unknown partner to "buy" the explosive device off the Russian mobsters. The mobsters get arrested by the FBI. However, Kurt and Jane are on the next floor up pretending to work for the Russian mobsters and sell the explosive device to Greta and her partner.
The unknown partner turns out to be Cameron Gibbs who goes way back with Remi. Gibbs was an army pencil pusher Remi befriended, so she could steal his ID badge to obtain necessary files for Sandstorm. The army accused Gibbs of stealing files and dishonorably discharged him. He was so angry at the army for discharging him when he was innocent that Remi groomed him for Sandstorm. She turned him into a murderer.
Talk about your chickens coming home to roost.
Kirkpatrick is a rambling idiot in the field. He unfortunately cannot deactivate the device and keep the tracker on it because I don't know why. Honestly, he was pretty useless. Why did we need this character? Haven't Kurt, Jane, and Patterson deactivated enough nuclear devices by now to be experts in the field?
Gibbs is going to kill Weller because that's how Remi trained him, but he can't kill Jane because he cares too much about her. He locks her in a stairwell and of course Jane's radio to Weller stops working. This is Kurt Weller we're talking about though and a simple goon with a gun isn't taking him down. He stops Greta and she gives up the meet location — an event honoring the military. The man who signed Gibbs' discharge papers will be there. Kirkpatrick may have deactivated the device, but Gibbs still has the plutonium and will make a dirty bomb instead.
Jane confronts Gibbs and tries to stop him by telling the truth. She confesses she is the person who ruined his life and not the army. She tells Gibbs he can learn to be better like she has. Unfortunately, Gibbs decides the best way to hurt Remi is to blow up all the innocent people she's trying to save. Kurt shoots him before Gibbs has a chance to detonate the dirty bomb.
TEAM BLINDSPOT
Blindspot can be kind of heavy at times, so they try to inject some ridiculous scenarios and humor via the character of Rich Dotcom. This week Rich has created a "Tattoo Squad" board game. He's made Team Blindspot into game pieces and unveils it as a celebration for Jane and Tasha's return from the dark side.
Jane loves the sentiment behind it and while the rest of the team groans their way through the presentation, she is really supportive. Jane appreciates the levity Rich brings to her life and their relationship is really one of the sweeter pairings on the show. It is hilarious when Rich hands Jane his game piece because he insists on being Jane.
The team reactions are all on point. Tasha barely registers what Rich did, Reade is just irritated, but Kurt is ticked off his game piece is a lot shorter than Patterson's, which is absolutely on brand for Weller. Patterson takes the game seriously and is annoyed the face on her game piece is half melted off. Rich produces an unblemished mini Patterson at the end of the episode while the two play the game. Now I just need these two to move into a nursing home together in their old age.
Keaton wakes up from his coma and tells Tasha where to find a zip drive which contains a detailed record of everything he had her do. The zip drive will clear Tasha's name, but not Keaton. He takes the fall for most of her behavior, even though it was Tasha choosing to go rogue. She refuses to let Keaton take the blame and searches for a way to exonerate them both.
Keaton admits he didn't loop Reade in because he knew he'd talk Tasha out of the undercover job. I agree with Keaton. Deep down Reade knows he carries a lot of sway with Tasha, even though he argues she never listens to anyone. Reade is more angry with himself than he is Tasha because he knows at multiple points in this road he could have stopped her if he just said something. Of course, this doesn't spur him to be honest about his feelings because it's not the season finale yet.
KURT AND JANE
The mysterious key Shepherd left Jane leads to an old Sandstorm hideout. The FBI collect everything there and bring it to headquarters. It's basically a "Remi, here is your life" bonanza. Shepherd collected and stored things she knew were meaningful to Remi. Jane finds a blanket and is so overwhelmed, she runs out of the room.
At first I thought the blanket had something to do with her daughter, but Jane tells Kurt a story about curling up in bed in that blanket with Shepherd once on a cold morning. Cuddling was something Shepherd wasn't known for and this brief moment of affection was one of the happiest moments in Remi's life. Jane thinks Shepherd was planning to use the hideout as a recovery room to reawaken Jane's memories and turn her into Remi again.
Her parents were murdered in front of her and she was raised by a terrorist so we're definitely grading on a curve in terms of happiness. This blanket is a brief moment of joy in a life filled with pain. Remi was starved for love. It's one of the ways Shepherd controlled her because deep down, Remi wasn't a killer. She had a good heart that just needed to be reawakened with some love and affection. (Thank you, Kurt Weller).
Jane: I'm so tired, Kurt. I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of trying... tired of remembering. I just wanna forget.Between the overwhelming memories from the Sandstorm hideout and her confrontation with Cameron Gibbs, Jane is at her emotional limit with all the Remi stuff. We've listened to Jane wish for her memories back countless times, but this is the first episode she wishes she could just forget everything again.
I'm always down for Kurt comforting Jane, but honestly his approach needs some work. Kurt tries to rationalize everything Remi did by always telling Jane that it wasn't her. Except, it was her. He may not want to admit it, but now that Jane has her memories back Remi is part of her. It's a side she cannot ignore.
Jane: If I don't start taking responsibility for the things Remi did, I don't know what's going to happen to me.
Jane tells Gibbs she was his problem and his solution. It's the same with Jane. Remi is her problem and her solution. The only way Jane is going to come to terms with all the things Remi has done is by taking responsibility. All the lies and cover ups have to stop. Telling Gibbs the truth was dangerous, but also necessary. It doesn't mean every time Jane accepts responsibility for Remi she'll get a happy ending or being able to fix the destruction she caused. Cameron Gibbs is a perfect example of this.
However, it was an important step for Jane because she faced what she did. As much as she wants to disassociate from Remi and pretend she has nothing to do with who Jane is (like Kurt says), that would be a lie. If Jane is going to survive, if her relationship with Kurt is going to survive, she cannot live any more lies. She has to stand in the truth. This is only way she'll truly be free from Shepherd and Sandstorm. Facing Remi everyday is the only way Jane can earn redemption and hopefully forgive herself someday.
Stray Thoughts:
- Reade tells Zapata to lean on the team, but we all know she just wants to lean on him. Get it girl.
- Kurt, Dave, and Reade talking about Ghost Protocol and Tom Cruise was so funny.
- It low key ticks me off whenever Kurt tries to argue Jane isn't Remi. He doesn't have to love who Remi was, but he has to accept her. This isn't a split personality disorder. Remi is every bit a part of Kurt's wife as Jane is.
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