Tag: Sullivan Stapleton

Blindspot: Droll Autumn, Unmutual Lord – Broken Roman (Review)

Blindspot - Season 2

Blindspot “Droll Autumn, Unmutual Lord” sees Patterson back at work, trying to decipher that leopard tattoo, and suffering from a killer migraine. Things are weird between Zapata and Reade after that fumbled pass and Jane is not a happy camper. Roman, it seems, is broken.

The damage goes way back to those unhappy days in the South Africa orphanage. Roman refused to kill his pet rabbit so mother had him punished. A little time in solitary confinement, in the dark, enabled the small boy to overcome his squeamishness.

Little Roman does not kill the bunny, but does stab and kill the kid who took his coin. The psychiatrist that Nas brings in to study Roman later declares that he is utterly devoid of empathy. He is, in effect, a psychopath. Jane disagrees.

Meanwhile, Patterson has gone back over an old tattoo are discovered that presumed dead terrorist Anton Stepulov has entered the country via shipping container down at the docks. The team head out to intercept the man and find he is traveling with Jane’s old torture buddy CIA Operative Keaton.

Stepulov is being courted by the CIA for information. A woman’s dying brother has provided a heart for the terrorist’s son. Anton has promised to stop a terrorist attack, scheduled for later that day, when Keaton’s surgeons save his son.

Weller and his team take the trio to their offices for the operation. The kid dies. Keaton is all for lying to the terrorist but Kurt tells the truth. Stepulov reacts badly to the new and refuses to tell anyone where the attack will take place.

Patterson works out location from Anton’s cell phone. The team arrive and a rack of basketballs explode. They work out that Anton wants to kill Keaton’s daughter who is playing in a basketball playoff’s game.

The team rush to stop the bombs from exploding and Patterson turns off all the cell towers to keep the terrorist from detonating the explosives. Keaton proves that  he loves his kid and is willing to die for her.

Reade and Zapata finally seem to work out their misstep, from when Edgar threw a pass at his partner, but it also looks like Tasha set Reade up with a date. This still feels weird, like Zapata is pulling some sort of stunt.

Dr. Sun has a session with Roman and declares him unfit to re-join the human race. Weller is inclined to agree as the only thing Roman has remembered so far is how to kill.

Kurt also finds out that despite Allison’s previous wishes, she does not want him involved with their baby. She is moving to Colorado, for a promotion, and Conor is going with her.

By the end of the episode, Patterson solves the riddle of the removed tattoo. There is a direct connection between the tattoo’s message and Roman.

Blindspot continues to provide new revelations each week while managing to remind us just how little Weller and company know about Shepherd and her organization’s final mission.

The series airs Wednesdays on NBC.

CAST:

Guest starring Bridget McGarry as Erin, Li Jun Li as Dr. Karen Sun, Mark Ivanir as Anton Stepulov, Quincy Dunn-Baker as Conor and Chad Donella as CIA operative Keaton.

Blindspot: Nor I, Nigel, AKA Leg in Iron – It’s Complicated (Review)

Blindspot - Season 2

After what seemed like an eternity, aka the mid-winter break, Blindspot came back with a vengeance.  Episode 10 “Nor I, Nigel, AKA Leg in Iron” started off by letting us know that Patterson was the loser in that fight for the gun. Wounded and unconscious she is taken by Borden to Shepherd for questioning.

Things become quite complicated while the puzzle solving agent was held captive and tortured by Shepherd.  Roman, who was ZIP-ed by Jane in the mid-season finale wakes up wounded and disoriented. This does not stop him from escaping from the stranger next to him who claims to be his sister.

Nas is fired from her job by the new man we love to hate, FBI Director Pellington.  (You have to hand it to creator Martin Gero. No sooner do Weller and his team get past one grade A arsehat than the show’s runner gives them another to deal with.) 

Pellington blames Nas for the trap set by Shepherd. The deaths of 12 FBI agents are on her head, according to him, and he takes her out of the equation.  Borden, whose real name is Nigel Thornton, really does care for Patterson and does not kill her as ordered.

Roman is finally hunted down by constantly ringing his cell phone until he picks up. Jane repeats that she is his sister and that she wants to help him. He gives her directions, somewhat cryptically, and the team head to a diner to pick him up.

Despite having his memory wiped, Roman proves to be a tough customer. Shepherd, who is monitoring the call, sends her men to collect Jane’s brother. He gets the waitress and her daughter to leave before attacking the men.

After a brief shoot out, Roman is collected by Weller and Jane. They take him to the FBI headquarters for protection and questioning.

Shepherd proves to be as nasty as ever when she knocks Patterson unconscious after the special agent predicts that all her followers will leave her, just like both her children have done.  

Borden spares Patterson just as Weller, Tash and Jane arrive to save the day. Their vehicle hits  a land mine and is blown onto its side. Borden runs for it and Weller follows. Tash and Jane rescue Patterson. Weller, who is at a bit of a disadvantage after just being blown up, is bested by the Sandstorm mole who escapes.

Kurt still does not know why Shepherd is so intent on having him involved. Meanwhile, Pellington is questioning Roman who remembers nothing. He turns him over to the CIA. Jane and Weller arrive before they can remove Roman.

Weller tells Pellington that if he gives Roman to the CIA he will walk. Kurt also demands that Nas be returned. Angrily, the FBI director agrees to let Jane’s brother stay and tells Weller that if Nas makes any mistake, Weller will pay for it.

Roman starts remembering things from his childhood after Jane brings him a warm meal and his coin.

Blindspot managed to crank up the tension by yet again threatening fan favorite Special Agent Patterson. This time it seemed that she might not make it out alive after being tortured by Shepherd. While Borden did cave in at the last moment, it is clear that deep down he would have killed his temporary girlfriend/lover had she not talked him down.

It is complicated this season, even more so than the first season with its tattoo a week puzzles and the double dealing by various players. Agent Zapata, for example, managed to switch hit for the other team twice.

As seen by her reaction to Reade’s kiss, the agent doth protest too much methinks, it is clear that Tash still has that guilty conscience to deal with. Sure Edgar is her “best friend” but as he himself says, this move makes sense.

The complications continue as Kurt still does not have a clue about why he is so crucial to the final solution that Shepherd and Sandstorm are planning.  Nor do we.

Gero is playing this one very close to the vest. We still do not know just who the NSA mole is in Sandstorm, although Patterson did gain access to the mole’s phone and discover that one of Jane’s tattoos had been removed.

Roman may well turn out to be less stable than his sister. He was clearly upset by the carnage that Pellington showed him under questioning. His dreams are also full of misery and a young boy’s fear. He may crack before he can remember anything of use to the team.

Blindspot  is still providing some kick-arse moments and this episode was a nail-biting exercise from start to finish. This is good stuff and this return of season two was gripping and full of suspense.

On a sidenote: (One we have mentioned before.) If Martin Gero is going to continue putting Patterson in peril (See what we did there?) can we get a Christian name please. It would be nice to learn it is not “Special Agent.”

The series airs Wednesdays on NBC. Tune in and get caught up in the mystery.

CAST:

Blindspot: We Fight Deaths on Thick Lone Waters – Change the World (Review)

Blindspot - Season 2

Blindspot this week begins in the middle of a stakeout. Reade and Zapata are watching a woman run from a building where shots were heard. A van explodes and the team run to the stunned female. “We Fight Deaths on Thick Lone Waters” was confusing to start and fell back on a cliché as one of the suspects was questioned.

Before the van blows up, Zapata confesses to Reade that she took the murder weapon from the evidence locker. Nas her team enter building that Burton came out if and they cannot find Kurt or Jane.

We learn that the exploding van was part of an undercover operation set up by Nas and Kurt to capture the FBI’s eighth most wanted criminal, Nico Marconi.

The man who was partly responsible for Mayfair’s death, Assistant US Attorney Mathew Weitz arrives to question the team and to make allegations of ignoring protocol.  No one, least of all Zapata, is pleased to see this douche on two legs.

While the agents question Burton and Doyle separately, Weitz questions Nas and the others. We learn that Patterson set up a sting operation based on the tattoo that lead the FBI to Rich Dotcom and his puppy site.

She sets up a fake website with members of the agency as criminals on hire. Weller and Jane’s profile gets a hit. They then go undercover as criminals for a man named Emile. Emile is the mouthpiece for number eight on the FBI’s most wanted list; Nico Marconi.

The two people being questioned are Lynn Burton and Clive Doyle. Burton, a hacker proves to be the most useful although she is not a voluntary suspect.

Patterson reveals that she found the hacker’s equipment on the van and that the FBI froze the assets of Burton’s off-shore bank account. Doyle is no real help at all. He spins a yarn where he is the kick-a** hero and Kurt and Jane rely upon him to get through the mission.

The scientist and Kurt are auctioned off on the Dark Web while being held by Emile and his goons.

Later in the episode, Weller works out that Emile is Nico. The heist was done at yet another governmental summit meeting. (Crime shows at the moment are full of these “high level” meetings, must the that time of year…) They kidnap a Chinese scientist that Nico is convinced developed a tsunami bomb.

Kurt is purchased by Nas and her team using Burton’s off-shore account money.  Weller manages to kill the two guards with a little help from Dr. Chen. Nas and her people converge on the site to pay for Weller.

She insists that they see what they are buying before handing over the rest of the money.  Nico’s head goon discovers that Weller and Chen are missing.

There is a brief firefight between the two factions and Nas takes on the head goon in hand to hand combat. He finally manages to overpower the NSA agent and begins choking her. Jane knocks him out wth a rifle butt.

Back at FBI headquarters Weitz wants Nas’ head on a platter. He is furious that she “stole” money from Burton’s account and used it to rescue Weller and the Chinese scientist. Nas calls him a bully who uses borrowed power to make others fear him.

Blindspot - Season 2

Nas then gives Patterson access to everything the NSA have on Sandstorm.

The team all get together to celebrate the pregnancy of Weller’s baby momma and Jane appears to be thoughtful and Edgar leaves after learning that Zapata returned Freddie’s knife.

Reade buys his childhood friend a one-way bus ticket and tells him “never come back.” Jane goes home and a disheveled Roman turns up. The mole’s note that his sister is siding with the FBI is bothering him.

Roman tells her that he wants Jane by his side for phase two of the plan. It will, he says, change the world.

The question of the mole is still unanswered. Nas is still the best suspect since giving Patterson access to the NSA Files on Sandstorm. This could well be a set up.  Nas may plan to give Patterson the information so she can frame her as the mole.

Zapata is still, however, running right along side Nas as the prime suspect. She does have prior, after all, and has proven that she is not afraid to ignore the rules. Tasha only put the knife back at Edgar’s insistence.

The comedy in this episode was offered up by Matt Murray’s character Clive Doyle. It was amusing but this schtick has been done before. (Think Andrew on Buffy the Vampire Slayer here.)

Roman being turned by Jane looks very unlikely as the fire burns deep in this man. He may want “sis” by his side for the big bang moment but he could very easily turn on her if she refuses.

Blindspot took a more serious tone after the Rich Dotcom episode, although Murray did qualify for a bit of comic relief.  Dr. Borden was nowhere to be seen and he is still on the list of suspects as the mole.

The series airs Wednesdays on NBC. Tune in and try to figure out who the mole in the FBI office is.

CAST:

Guest starring Daniel J. Watts as Freddy, Aaron Abrams as Weitz, Daniel London as Emile / Nico Marconi, Matt Murray  as Clive Doyle, Mia Vallet as Lynn Burton and Jing Xu as Dr. Mingxia Chen.

Blindspot: Condone Untidiest Thefts – Personal Day

Blindspot - Season 2

Blindspot shies away from terrorism this week in “Condone Untidiest Thefts.” it focuses instead on loyalty, family and Reade’s dealing with pedophile Coach Jones. The usually steady as a rock FBI agent takes a personal day to look into whether the coach sexually abused him. Tasha then also takes time off to protect her partner.

Things end badly.

The main storyline deals with the Irish mob, a change from most organized crime syndicates being either Russian or Chechnian, and an attack on a local politician who is really the head of the Irish syndicate. The assassination attempt is fake.  It is done to create publicity for the candidate running for office.

Blindspot  has a lot going on in this episode. Allison’s pregnancy has Kurt acting all protective and “mumsy” toward the mother of his child.  Jane is still remembering snippets of her past and, rather interestingly, Shepard and Roman are not happy about it.

It seems that if Jane remembers too much about her past, she will not be supportive of Sandstorm’s game plans. There has always been a question of the veracity of the organization’s claims and this seems to vindicate the feeling that they have been lying along.

Jane may have taped a message to herself saying that she supports the goals of the group, but the “old” Jane could  have been lied to as well.

In terms of “office romance” Patterson and Borden obviously had a very good date as they are brushing teeth together in Patterson’s apartment.  They also, after Borden suggests it, ride to work together.

Reade, who fell asleep outside Jones’ house comes to work long enough to ask Kurt for a personal day off. He uses it confront his childhood coach and then to investigate the house.

The assassination attempt fails and the team capture the hitman. All the evidence points to Patrick O’Malley, the head of the Irish mob, as the instigator of the hit and they bring him in for questioning.

Allison knows the man, they grew up in the same neighborhood, and she talks to Patrick. Under questioning they learn that O’Malley has cancer and only months to live.  He reveals that he is not real the leader of the mob.

Patrick explains he was “the face” of the mob. The target of the assassination is the real leader. Jane speaks with Patrick and she talks him into giving up the mob boss. O’Malley says he has evidence that can convict the true leader.

They all go to Patrick’s safe, it requires a retinal and fingerprint scan to open the device, and come under attack from the Irish mob. There is a prolonged shootout.

Nas, who sticks with Kurt, proves to be a real “MacGyver” (she actually constructs an explosive device although later she incorrectly labels the bomb as a molotov cocktail) when Allison gets shot. Weller almost comes unglued and Nas’ actions help Kurt get to Allie.

Blindspot - Season 2
Kurt and Nas.

*Sidenote:  There was  slight problem with the gunfight over and above the molotov cocktail line. At one point in the shootout the gun Nas is holding has clearly run out of ammunition (the slide is back) and a split second later, with no new magazine being popped in the gun is back being loaded and firing.*

Patrick is killed defending the pregnant Allison and later Kurt admits that he handled the whole thing badly.  Allison survives her gunshot wound.

Reade breaks into Jones’ house and finds a collection of video tapes with names on them. The coach has one with Reade’s name on it and the FBI agent puts the tape into a player to watch it.

Zapata, who was instrumental in cracking  the code from last week, with the aid of Shadowcat, comes into the house to find Jones dead on the floor with a dazed Reade standing over the body.

Blindspot ends with two cliffhangers. The revelation that Sandstorm is lying to Jane and that Reade may, or may not, have stabbed his childhood coach to death.

This episode was a return to form for the series. More action and a higher body count than most of the episodes this season.  There is even a moment where Jane disarms an Irish mobster with her bare hands.

Right now it seems apparent that Reade snapped and killed Jones. However, appearances can be deceiving on Blindspot and Edgar could have discovered the body after watching the video.

Blindspot airs Wednesdays on NBC. Tune in to see if Reade did kill his coach and find out what Sandstorm’s latest mission is.

CAST:

Guest starring  Lee Tergesen as Patrick O’Malley 

Blindspot: Hero Fears Imminent Rot – Brotherly Love (Review)

Blindspot - Season 2

Blindspot starts with a bomb going off in a taxi, killing the woman who was just talking about doing something illegal, and finds Jane a prisoner of Shepard and Roman.  “Hero Fears Imminent Rot” is about issues of trust, teamwork and brotherly love.

It is a  brothers love that initiates the bombing crusade across the city and it is Jane’s brother, Roman, who wants his sister to follow orders. His love, however, will not stop him from taking Remy out if she cannot “come back.”

Weller is concerned when Jane goes offline. Nas tells the new assistant director to stand down as Jane learns that Shepard does not trust her anymore.  Jane must pass a test; she must kill an old contact who failed to deliver.

Edgar is coming to grips with the realization that he was a victim of Jones as a child. He is also shaken to learn that he blanked that part of his childhood out.  This new awareness  of suppressed memories has him very concerned.

Jane has to kill the  contact who failed to deliver what he promised. She must pass this test to regain Shepard’s trust. Roman reminds his sister that the Remy he knows is a stone cold killer.  He relates a story about pet rabbits.

Weller and his team try to stop the multiple bombs from exploding across the city.  Patterson works out how to track the bombers via their tweets and Jane cannot murder Jeffery.

Roman kills the man instead.

Later Roman lies to Shepard and says that Jane killed the man.  She is then welcomed back into the Sandstorm fold.

Meanwhile bombs continue to go off, killing more innocent people with each explosion.  Using Patterson’s tracking system they stop one bomb from going off and kill a member of the two man team.

Throughout the investigation Nas and Kurt are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  The NSA agent is consistently working at cross purposes with Kurt and it endangers their  latest mission.

Jane makes a mistake and is told to set the next excursion out. The last bomber takes hostages and threatens to blow himself and his prisoners up.  Kurt goes in to talk him down and Nas shoots the man dead with a sniper rifle.

Blindspot - Season 2

Weller is furious.

He reads Nas the riot act again and tells the woman that they need to start working as a team.  Nas clearly has a hidden agenda as she listens to Jane’s sessions with Borden. Sessions that are meant to be confidential.

Borden’s romance with Patterson gets off to a shaky start as the technician gets cold feet about their date. Finally, after a pep talk from Zapata, Patterson gets back on the dating train.

The psychiatrist can speak Arabic, which he initially denied, but Patterson  puts that behind her as they kiss.

Later Patterson approaches Nas with information about what Jeffery was working on.

Weller and the team pay a silent tribute to their dead boss Bethany Mayfair.  Jane learns from her brother that he may have covered for her but he expects her to put Sandstorm first.

It is abundantly clear by now that Jane’s old group really are the bad guys in this scenario.  They all shoot first and ask questions later.  Roman reminds Remy/Jane that she is a natural killer and that this is what Shepard expects from her daughter.

Blindspot - Season 2

Blindspot this week showed that Kurt still believes in Jane, Shepard now trusts her daughter again but Roman is not overly pleased with his sister. He wants the killer back.

The series airs Wednesdays on NBC.

CAST:

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