Blindspot 3x23 Review: "In Memory" (So Many Twists) [Contributor: Jen]

"In Memory"

Original Airdate: May 18, 2018

Hello Blindspotters! Yes, I am alive. No, I haven't stopped watching Blindspot. Life happened, but I have every intention of catching up. Despite being five episodes behind, I am jumping ahead to the finale, "In Memory," because HOLY FREAKING COW!

Season three was not one of Blindspot's best (maybe it gets better in the last five episodes; does it get better?), but we can always count on their finales. Blindspot has a history of creating mind-blowing finales and "In Memory" does not disappoint. There are so many plot twists it feels like the writers are throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the series. I believe there's a reason for that, but first let's try to unravel all this crazy shall we?

TEAM ROMAN

There is no real case of the week other than "Project Stop Roman." It ends where it all began for Roman and Remi — in Cape Town, South Africa. Luke Mitchell's excellent portrayal of Roman has been the one consistency throughout this garbled season. It often felt like Roman was on his own show, but it was much better than anything we were watching on Blindspot! I am Team Roman, for better or for worse. I want him to marry Blake, make a bunch of babies, and get his own spin-off. I feel my expectations were 100% realistic going into the finale.

But Martin Gero lives to torture me, so I don't get nice things. It's interesting Roman uses The Count of Monte Cristo for clues to point Team Blindspot in the right direction. The Count of Monte Cristo is about an innocent man, wrongfully imprisoned for years, who becomes a wealthy after his escape and uses that wealth for revenge against all those who wronged him. Sound familiar, kids?

I once heard the phrase "we are all the heroes of our own story," so The Count of Monte Cristo gives us a lot of insight into a closed-off character like Roman. Roman believe's he's like Edmond Dantes and is morally justified inflicting pain on those closest to him. Primarily because the people he loved sent him to hell.

The real villain of Roman's story is Hank Crawford. The two men meet for a final showdown where it all began — inside the orphanage Roman and Remi were trained and tortured after their parents were murdered. The orphanage where they were trained to become murderers themselves. In a very slick twist, Hank Crawford is responsible for the orphanage. It was his "pet project." Roman, Remi, and all the other children were the trial run soldiers Crawford envisioned policing the world. Nicely done tying that season one loose end up, Blindspot! Also, Crawford is the son of Satan and must die.

Crawford convinces Roman to make a run for it when the FBI shows up. Crawford believes Roman loves Blake and believes in his vision. He wants Roman to tell Blake everything and finish what he started. Incredibly, Roman listens! Really dude? This guy put you in a torture chamber for kids and you still agree with his vision for the world? Roman, my child, there isn't enough therapy in the world for you.

He meets up with Blake (yes, she's in South Africa after being debriefed by the FBI ten minutes earlier. Just go with it), and Blake gave her father up to the FBI with almost no hesitation. Stone cold, that girl. This should have tipped me off to what was coming but, alas, I was willfully holding on to my Rake babies (I decided that's the ship name for Roman and Blake).

It should be noted Roman completely agrees with me about the marriage and babies. We are a united front! Unfortunately, he's too busy rambling about weddings and babies to notice that Blake called him Roman. Not Tom. Oh crap... she knows! Still, I thought it was gonna be okay. Love conquers all, right?

NOPE. Blake freaking shoots Roman! Oh, and it gets worse. When Roman asks, "Was it real? Did you love me?" Blake answers: "How could I? I never knew you." UGH. Just twist the knife inside of me. That would be less painful.

Is Roman a sociopath? Is he capable of love, or is it something he just acts at? I don't believe Roman was a sociopath because he was in constant search of love and needing to be part of a family. Love was the driving force behind most of his decisions. Roman's loyalty to Shepherd is what kept him part of Sandstorm, but it was his love for Jane that made him betray his mother. Even his revenge against Jane was based in his love for her, and the betrayal he felt when Jane zipped him. Roman was even able to form some kind of connection to Hank Crawford, the monster who created him. Yet it was in his relationship with Blake that Roman found real happiness. Yes, everything else was a lie, but his love for Blake was the only truth Roman had left. Now even that was taken from him.

Jane finds Roman sitting against a tree, slowly bleeding out, and death suddenly makes everything clear to him. Roman sees Jane and knows — despite the zipping — she was the truth all along. The love and family Roman scoured the world for was standing right in front of him. Right where she's always been. Roman has wasted so much time, but he's determined to make his last moments with his sister count. You see, the story of The Count of Monte Cristo is not really one of revenge. It is one of forgiveness.

Roman: I'm sorry. 

Jane: I know, I know. Me too. 

Roman: I never got out. I never got out of that hole. 

Jane: That's not true. 

Roman: Here. 

Jane: What is it? 

Roman: I told you once that I wasn't afraid of death. That I was ready. But I'm not. I'm scared, Remi. I don't want to die in this place alone in the dark. 

Jane: You're not. Roman, Roman, look at me. Okay. Look at the sun and this tree and the view. You're home. You made it home. And I'm right here with you. I love you. And I will see you again. I promise.

Jane is right. Roman found his way home in the end — to her. Jane sits against the tree, her head resting on her dead brother's shoulder, and she cries. The only person who truly understands everything Jane has survived is gone. It is absolutely heartbreaking.

Roman is tragic figure. Despite all the evil he has done and the lives he has destroyed, we glimpse the innocent boy Jane spent two years trying to save in Roman's final moments. Perhaps he didn't deserve a happily ever after, but it's a cruel twist of fate that Roman dies after finding the family he's been searching for. Roman loses any chance for redemption just as he realizes everything he's done wrong. It felt like there was still more story to tell with Roman, which makes his death even more difficult to accept.

Luke Mitchell did a phenomenal job portraying this complex and layered character, but his final scene is a tour de force performance. I am a shell of a human being — completely shattered after watching. Blindspot was a better show with Luke Mitchell on it and I will be miss him dearly. Dark and twisty is your thing, man. Stick with it. AND FOR THE LOVE OF MOSES, SOMEONE GIVE THIS GUY HIS OWN SHOW!

TEAM BLINDSPOT

Reade broke up with his fiance? Reade and Zapata hooked up!? Y'all gotta tell me this stuff when I'm five episodes behind. YAHOOO! Our ship is sailing!

... Or least it was, until Zapata broke up with Reade because of "bad timing." Well, that five minutes was fun. Honestly, woman, what do you want? I'm Team Reade. Kudos to my brother for his well-aimed: "Don't talk like this is something we agree on" zinger.

It seems Zapata has lost her job at both the CIA and the FBI and has a new career path, which brings us to twist number two — Zapata is the one who told Blake about Roman, and is working for her now. SAY WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?

Zapata: You should have let me do it. 

Blake: No. It had to be me. I'm just glad you told me the truth when you did. 

Zapata: This is how we take the power back. This is how we change the world.

Obviously, Blake has taken over her father's company and that was probably the reason she had zero problem handing him over to the FBI. I just never thought Zapata would be in cahoots with her! So is she Evil Zapata? Dark and twisty Zapata? I HAVE QUESTIONS.

Also, Tasha is to blame for blowing up not one but two of my ships (Rapata and Rake) this season. Girl, we got some talkin' to do next year.

KURT AND JANE

Jane is suffering from headaches, which never means something good in the world of television. Mr. Gero likes to toy with my emotions, and Jane believes she passed out because she's pregnant. Uhhh... there's a real good way to find out if that's true sweetie. You don't need to pass out and guess.

Instead, Jane decides to run it past Kurt and see how he'd feel about Jeller baby. Oh, you mean the man who's been naming your babies since the first day he met you, Jane? Pretty sure he's going to be okay with it.

Kurt becomes the literal equivalent of a human rainbow after Jane tells him she might be maybe pregnant. (There are no maybes, kids. There's science to help you avoid these kinds of situations. TAKE A FRIGGIN' TEST.) They are moments away from capturing Roman, so Kurt believes it's the perfect time to start a family.

Dude, you just jinxed it. Why'd you have to talk about how everything might be over soon? You had one job, Kurt. Be supportive, but pontificate about impending doomsday and how this is the worst possible time to get pregnant. Instead, you are sunshine. That's just daring Gero to blow it all up again. NEVER DARE A WRITER.

Kurt is shot about five seconds later. Didn't I tell you, boy? I TOLD YOU. He says it's no big deal though. He's fine. No reason to go to the hospital and check out a gunshot wound. Sigh. Can someone please remind Kurt Weller that he is on Blindspot? Season one DVD is on me, fella. It's time you remembered some facts about this show — like the time you dug up the corpse of the little girl your father murdered. BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO YOU IN FINALES, KURT. Get in the game.

Honestly, after the crap he's pulled this season, Martin Gero owes us babies. SO. MANY. BABIES. We should get multiples. But of course, it's not babies. Jane's headaches and passing out are all part of something Roman was working to cure. At first it sounds like Jane has a terminal disease. Yes, we had to worry about both Kurt and Jane being killed in the same episode. I feel like there should be rules against that. It's not a terminal disease though. It might actually be worse.

The zip drug is failing. Jane's memories are returning. She wakes up in the hospital and doesn't recognize anything. Kurt is also in the hospital. Turns out that gunshot wound was serious (as gunshot wounds are) and he had surgery. It did not go well and my Kurt is hooked up to all kinds of tubes. DON'T YOU DARE, BLINDSPOT WRITERS. NO KILLING KURT. I WILL NOT HAVE IT.

Blindspot doesn't need to kill Kurt, but they do need him unconscious for a little while because...

REMI IS BACK.

Yup. That's right, kids! Jane has lost all her memories of being Jane, her friendships with Team Blindspot, and her love for Kurt Weller. The zip is gone and everything is undone. Remi believes she's still working undercover at the FBI for Project Sandstorm. (This is going to make Roman's death a lot more interesting). Remi is right where she's always wanted to be — she has the team's, FBI's and most importantly Kurt Weller's trust. That sly smile conveys everything we need to know about the woman Jane could barely remember. Remi is determined, ruthless, and probably kind of evil.

(Source: https://random-fandom-whump.tumblr.com/)

Ohhhh y'all, this is good. I cackled. Literally a gleeful cackle. Kurt in a coma makes perfect sense now because he would be the first person to notice something is wrong with Jane. This gives Remi some time to acclimate to her environment before she has the husband detector on her tail.

Is this another way to keep Kurt and Jane apart? Well... yeah. We won't be getting those babies anytime soon. However, I think this obstacle makes a heck of a lot more sense than the ridiculous cheating/killed my daughter nonsense we were fed this year. I don't have an issue with the writers throwing drama at Kurt and Jane. I just expect it to be good drama. Reversing the zip brings us full circle, back to season one. We get to truly meet Remi, understand her mind, and how she operates. There's an entire other version of "Jane" that we've never met and I am very excited to see the dark and twisty version of our heroine.

What's more, this is an obstacle that requires Kurt Weller to dig deep. He was fighting for Remi's memories all of season one (or Taylor Shaw's, rather), but now he'll be fighting for Jane's memories to return. This is about Jeller fighting for the person Jane has become and not the person she was.

And yes, of course they will win. This show is built upon Kurt and Jane's love. It was her love for Kurt that made Jane turn away from Remi the first time. Now, it will be Kurt's love for Jane that will make her turn away from Remi again. I predict Jane will gain her memories back without losing her memories of Remi. She'll have access to both versions of herself and will make a choice for good.

Why do I say for good? Well... Blindspot's renewal was not a sure thing this year. It was on the bubble and I think one of the primary reasons we scraped out a renewal is because next year is season four. Blindspot will have the minimum 88 episodes required to sell a show into syndication next season. NBC has cut the episode order back to 22 episodes for the last two years and I suspect they'll do it again in season four. Is it possible for Blindspot to continue past next season? Sure, it's a reasonably solid performer on Friday night, even though it's one of NBC's lowest-rated dramas. The ratings in season four will tell us a lot, but given everything the writers have thrown at the season three finale I am thinking they are hedging their bets a little. All of these twists and turns could make for a very exciting final season — if done correctly.

Stray Thoughts:

• Rich's bitterness about not being able to go to South Africa was hilarious, as was all his arguing that everything the team needs is on "the cloud."
• Jane's choice to zip Roman's memory was wrong and ultimately severed the relationship a brother and sister could have, but it's difficult not to look at her actions as compassionate. Who would want these memories?
• All Roman did was mess with Kurt, so I thought it was sweet that he tried to comfort Jane over her brother's loss. I also liked that Jane stopped short of calling Roman her only family, because she knows she has Kurt and he will always be her family.
• "It felt like he was one of us." ROMAN WAS ONE OF US, JANE. HE DESERVED BABIES. (Also jail, but mostly babies.)
• "I liked you better with your accent, Tom." Saaaaame, Crawford.
• Roman left part of his cache of tattoo goodness to Jane! Yahoo! More tattoo fun next year. But who did Roman leave the money and the rest of the tattoo information to?
• Sorry for falling behind again. The fall schedule for next year works much better for my personal schedule so hopefully I'll be able to keep up better. I appreciate everyone's patience!