Thursday, March 17, 2016

Blindspot 1x13 Review: "Erase Weary Youth" (Blindsided) [Contributor: Jen]


"Erase Weary Youth"
Original Airdate: March 14, 2016

Apologies for the late review! "Erase Weary Youth" feels like Blindspot's south paw. The surprise "who is the mole" ending and the unraveling of the show's steadiest character feels like a one-two punch. We're blindsided by both.

CASE OF THE WEEK


It's a mole hunt! And who doesn't love a good one of those? Olivia Delidio — the Russian spy involved in David's death — is back and looking to cut a deal. She has the name of a Russian intelligence source, an FBI mole, but her attorney kills her before she can reveal it to the judge. Then, a security guard kills the attorney before she can say anything either.

Mayfair is tipped off to the mole leak and hands the investigation to Weller with firm instructions not to tell the team. Kurt is not happy about that because he doesn't want to lie to his team. He's so honorable that it practically oozes from his pores.

Agent Sloane, meanwhile, pops back up with intel for the team regarding Russians, too — namely that they are running a smuggling ring. Her problem? Every time she gets close to nailing them, it blows up. And now she knows why: because of the mole.

This mole hunt also brings back Chief Inspector Fisher who is the very embodiment of the absolute worst. The minute he asks for his Turkish coffee, I shuddered. Fisher kicks off the investigation by giving everyone a polygraph. Since there are a plethora of secrets of floating around Team Blindspot, it doesn't take too long for everybody to start squirming. Eventually, Fisher zeroes on — who else? — Jane.

Granted, none of thise looks very good for Jane. She can't account for her whereabouts the night Carter was killed. Of course, it's because she was being interrogated by him and her ex-fiancée put a couple of rounds in the guy. But pffft, that's just details. Also, given the fact that Jane is actually a mole now, she's feeling a little jumpy. And sure, Jane, you are a mole. But only a little one! Let's not make a mountain out of that hill.

Not that Jane's nerves show, of course, during this polygraph and interrogation. Apparently, our girl can beat the lie detector, but are we really all that surprised? No, of course not. She's Jane, after all! The problem, however, is that she is a little too good. Sociopaths have more spikes than Jane does. And while Jane is still getting up to speed on pretty much everything she doesn't remember, she knows a comparison to a sociopath is never a good thing.

Fisher begins stacking up the evidence against Jane: she was kidnapped at age five, trafficked to Russia, taught their language and how to lie, trained to fight, and ultimately sent back to the United States to infiltrate the FBI. Fisher then claims that Carter and David figured it all out and were murdered. Jane spoke Russian to a fellow spy, and Olivia Delidio recognized her. Not to mention the fact that Sloane's source IDs Jane as the mole.

Whew! It is so compelling that Fisher almost has Jane and us believing that she is the mole. The problem is, we know Jane is innocent. Jane knows she's innocent. (Well, okay, not the part about being a spy; she's a little fuzzy on that.) And she knows she didn't kill Carter or David and she knows that she certainly isn't working with a smuggling ring. She's working with an anti-government ring. Maybe. Which is a totally different kind of ring.

Fisher is about to bury Jane in a deep hole when Weller puts everything together. Fisher is the mole. WHOAH! Okay, I did not see that one coming. But, rejoice! We can now hate him and feel absolutely justified in doing so. Because really, who orders coffee like that? He had to be evil.

Kurt is positively Sherlock Holmes-esque in putting together all the clues. I half-expected him to say, "elementary, my dear Mayfair," but Kurt is too worried about Jane to bother with sticking to an homage. Priorities, and all that.

In truth (and sticking with the Sherlock Holmes metaphor), Fisher is a Professor Moriarty-like character. He's genius and diabolical. And I can't say that I was too sad when Jane put a bullet in him. The question is, was he reaching for a gun or did Jane put him down because he figured out too much?


TEAM BLINDSPOT


Secrets are blown wide open during the polygraph tests. When Fisher presents a bug from her apartment, Zappata is forced to admit Carter approached her to spy on Jane. She tells Fisher that Carter bugged her apartment after she refused. Despite flunking polygraphs, it's an excellent pivot.

Reade has nothing to hide except the fact he's sleeping with Weller's sister.  He mans up and tells Kurt before he sees it in Fisher's report. We'll give him half credit for that. Of course Weller isn't pleased and he asks Reade if it's serious. I was hoping for a conversation akin to the one Ross, Monica, and Chandler had in Friends:
Ross: I thought you were my best friend, this is my sister! My best friend and my sister! I-I cannot believe this! 
Chandler: Look, we're not just messing around. I love her. Okay? I'm in love with her. 
... 
Ross: [happily] My best friend and my sister! I cannot believe this.
Instead of that, when Reade says that the relationship is serious, Kurt asks him to end it immediately. ... Well, that went south quickly. I'm dialing down my expectations. Blindspot is not Friends. Understood.

The mole hunt reveals the festering doubts the team has about Jane. Even when she is cleared, both Mayfair and Reade feel there's evidence of something fishy going on. That's the technical term. So then Mayfair asks Reade what they are going to do about it. Umm... spy on her, obviously. They are spies. That's what they do. Everybody is going to be spying on everybody else, and it's going to be awesome.

KURT AND JANE


Of course, there is one person who believes Jane is innocent — Kurt. His laser eyes are on her the entire time she's being questioned. I thought he was going to put Agent Sloane's source through a wall to get the truth. Protective mode activated!

Kurt coaches Jane subtly on what to say in order to avoid any further investigation into Fisher's death. Whether or not Fisher reached for his gun remains an unanswered question. But from Kurt's perspective, Fisher was going to put Jane in a body bag, not a cell. It was self-defense, gun or no gun.

For Jane it's not that simple. She has cheetah-like reflexes. Yes, her training kicked in and she pulled the trigger. But what training, exactly? Was it self-defense or self-preservation? Kurt asks Jane if she wants to go somewhere quiet and talk about how the whole team turned their backs on her. I'm sitting here wondering if they could talk about how many babies they want to have together instead. I'm sure there's a way they could squeeze that conversation in.

But Jane can't talk. Kurt's loyalty is like twisting a knife in her heart because she's lying to him. She's betraying him. (Again... only a little bit!) There are excellent (and cliche) "I'm lying to protect him because I can't lose him" reasons. Reasons Kurt will, no doubt, understand. Kurt will forgive her because he can forgive her anything.

But the rest of the team thinks that Kurt is blind to the red flags surrounding Jane. And yet, Kurt's blindspot for Jane isn't a weakness. It's a strength. The tattoos, the memory loss, and the training are all potential threats. Nobody can see past those threats except Kurt. He blocks out all the doubts because he knows, in his gut, who Jane is. Kurt isn't blind — he's the only one who sees Jane clearly.

Yet, she continues to push him away. And in an emotional confrontation with Sara, Kurt tells his sister to break up with Reade. He doesn't want her to lose another person in her life. Kurt already fears for his team's safety, but worrying about Sara and Sawyer — if something happens to Reade — is too much for Weller. Sara pushes back and tells Kurt he doesn't have to protect everyone. Kurt absolutely loses it.
"That's my point, Sara! I can't protect everyone. Do you know how much it takes? It takes all of me! It takes everything from me!"
Kurt lives his life minute by minute, breath by breath, as tidal waves roll over him. Once again, he was moments away from losing Jane. What if he had been too late? Would Jane still be here? The constant fear of losing the person you love isn't one Kurt wishes on his sister.

What's more, Kurt can't add Sara's fear to his own. He doesn't have it to give. He's just trying to stay afloat. Jane is the one person who makes it easier to breathe, but Kurt can't have her because it's too dangerous. Kurt is terrified if he's with Jane, then his love for her will blind him. He won't see the danger. He won't be able to protect her. Kurt sees Jane clearly, and he knows she shares the same fear. And he knows it's the reason she's pushing him away.

Kurt Weller is Blindspot's steadiest character. He's brave, resilient, loyal, fiercely protective, and calm. Kurt Weller is the team's rock, but the truth is that he's sinking. He loved Taylor Shaw before he knew what love was. He still loves her. In fact, he loves her more. And more than anything, he wants to be with Jane, But he can't. The risk of making a mistake is too high. He's blindsided by his fear, not his love.

So slowly, bit by bit, the pain of being without Jane is breaking Kurt. Every day, it's a little bit harder to stay afloat. He can't breathe. The truth is, Kurt Weller is drowning... and he won't take his sister down with him.

Stray Thoughts:

  • To be fair, Patterson valiantly defended Jane. Patterson is so loyal she's practically a golden retriever. Another reason she's my favorite.
  • "It's like a toddler got ahold of an Etch-a-Sketch." HA! Fisher is evil, but that was just funny.
  • Zappata talks to air and BAM! The phone rings. Just when you think she's out, they pull her back in. This is starting to feel like the Godfather III.
  • Oscar immediately thought Weller almost caught Jane. Careful! It's a little early to show jealousy, Mr. Tree.
  • Jane's out, yay! Start coughing up some serious answers, Twiggy. Jane isn't the only one getting annoyed here.

2 comments:

  1. Blindspot this week. Fantastic, indeed! Honestly, I love reading your review as much as I like to watch the show. This "To be fair, Patterson valiantly defended Jane. Patterson is so loyal she's practically a golden retriever. Another reason she's my favorite." I agree 100%, Patterson must be protected at all costs. But since her whole grieving process is partly being coped by the fact that she feels she's helping Jane. I have two questions for you. Do you feel she'll find out about her first? How do you think she's going to react about it? (I think... not well at all).

    I just posted this in your blog and thought commenting too here. You know, to enhance interaction here too. Didn't mean to be repetitive or anything, feel free to reply wherever you want or not at all! Cheers! And Happy St Patrick's Day! :)

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  2. Thanks for the fantastic review (as always). Oscar is now known and referred to as Twiggy in my house. Love it.

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