Amac Productions

Let’s break it down from the top. What do you think?

Blindspot: A woman is found inside a duffle bag in the middle of Time Square, New York City. This woman is covered in brand new puzzle tattoos left to FBI Agent Kurt Weller. She can’t remember anything before she crawled out of that duffle bag. She becomes Jane Doe assisting in her own investigation to find out where she comes from, why she was left there, who wiped her memory, and why.

Over the course of season one pieces of this very long, very strange puzzle begin to fall into place.

That’s the summary. Since I’m doing this as a whole season and not episode by episode let’s break it down with each character.

Kurt Weller: I can’t say much else other then I love him as a character. There’s not a lot of gray area with him which I like. He wants to help people, he follows his instincts, and has a major blindspot.

Taylor Shaw. Kurt’s biggest blindspot is never knowing what happened to his childhood best friend. It’s haunted him since the moment he saw her bed was empty all those years ago. He’s never forgiven himself for not being able to protect her. He never forgave his father because he believed his dad had something to do with her disappearance.

We learn by the end of season one Jane is not Taylor Shaw as we previously believed. Although, to be fair the show left it up to question pretty much the entire season. Her DNA matched Taylor’s but her tooth said otherwise. Her former fiancé called her Taylor but he could be lying. Which he was. So points to the show for never letting the knowledge of who Jane really is sit with us.

This also points to Kurt’s second big blindspot. Jane Doe herself. Seriously, I don’t think anyone believed these two did not have feelings for each other. That might be the biggest lie the two of them tried to sell all season one for crying out loud. Even Rich wasn’t buying it. Ally, Kurt’s girlfriend or whatever they were calling it, didn’t buy it.

Reade pointed it out so well. Whenever Jane is around, Kurt does not think clearly. He takes risks. He worries more for her then anyone else. Emotions cloud people’s judgements. However, I think there’s a deeper issue here touched on by the show a few times.

Kurt has a deep need to protect the people he loves. He didn’t badger his sister into moving out because with him she and his nephew were safe. He wanted Reade and his sister apart because he was worried for her future happiness should something happen to Reade. He wanted them together because it made his sister happy and that matters too. He protects his team with his life. He protected Mayfair’s secret about Daylight. All of this stems back to Taylor Shaw. He couldn’t protect her and he’s vowed to never let that happen again.

So, when he feels a deep connection to Jane, he is willing to do anything to keep her safe. To track down the people who did this to her so she’s safe. He also lets it cloud his judgement on the matter. He runs headfirst into these dangerous situations without thinking about what could be the ultimate endgame.

Kurt is a good man with a strong sense of right and wrong. He follows his instincts and his gut, lets it guide him through the sticky situations in his life.

It also pairs up well with his deep sense of hurt when he finds out Jane lied to him or Mayfair has been hiding something. Things he feels are hard to forgive.

I do wish he had given Jane a chance to explain instead of arresting her at the end of the season but I also understand just wanting her in cuffs where – in his mind – she can no longer hurt anyone.

Jane Doe: From the moment she steps out of that duffle bag her world is never the same. I admired the moment in the pilot when she demanded to speak to someone in charge. In a terrifying and new situation she took charge of her own rights and body to make a demand.

They may not have known who she was, but she’s still a person, and deserves to not be poked and prodded at the will of the FBI. I loved even without her memory her strong personality took charge.

Jane is interesting to watch especially as she navigates who she is and who she was. She’s trying to reconcile two worlds essentially. One of which she knows very little about. She’s told things through Oscar, but I’m not sure she ever really believes them. Unlike Kurt and the FBI.

One thing I’ve said about the organization who wiped her memory for their grand plan was they took too long to make contact with Jane. I think it was some 11 episodes into the season before we met Oscar and it was hot on the heels of Jane kissing Kurt. She established trust and a bond with her team. She was helping Patterson deal with her loss. She’d finally won Reade and Zapata over. By the time Oscar shows up claiming to know her, for this to be part of her grand plan she doesn’t trust him.

It hurt them because now their only choice is blackmail. It’s hard to gain trust from someone when you’re threatening to murder their friends. Jane may have started coming to him to get to know herself but the moment she backs off, Oscar threatens Kurt.

Jane developed a strong connection with her new team, Kurt, Patterson, Reade, and Zapata. I love that her dynamic with each of them is different. I also adore Jane’s range of emotions. So many times these days people make strong female women emotionless. They can only be a badass if they don’t fall for guys, if they don’t show sadness, or cry. Jane portrays this large array of emotions throughout season one. She’s a badass but she’s also human.

Edgar Reade: Reade is a strange character. I must admit to disliking him in the first few episodes but also respecting his character. I disliked him due to his severe vocal angry about Jane being in the field with them. He was very vocal about not wanting her armed, not wanting her in the field, and even to the point of calling Weller out.

I respected him because I understood his position. I just think he went about it all the wrong way. Things with what they do day in and day out is dangerous. They rely on Weller to make tough calls, to be ready. He saw those qualities slip when Jane was around. So, yeah, if I was putting my ass on the line everyday and trusting people with my life I’d be worried too.

However, I found him annoying in certain instances because he does trust Weller but he refused to trust him about Jane. It’s a weird paradox with him. He spent most of the season flip flopping back and forth about Jane. Especially after the incident where she was believed to be some Russian spy.

Reade was definitely not my favorite character but I think that’s why he’s so essential too. He’s the straight man, who follows the rules, and does what he’s supposed to. Unfortunately, he’s always going to be in Weller’s shadow. Since I have watched season one and two already there is something I want to point out.

Reade is passed over by Shepard for this very quality, I think. She pushes Weller to move up the ladder but not Reade because he’s too hesitant. Too by the book. History is full of rule breakers and people who pushed the limit. Reade will be a good agent. But he will never be a great one.

Natasha ‘Tasha’ Zapata: Honestly, I never know what to make of her. She seems like a by the book agent like Reade until we find out about her hidden gambling problems. Her internal conflict about her gambling problems combined with her dealings with the CIA lead the audience to see Zapata in a whole new light.

She follows Weller’s gut about Jane and tends not to be very vocal about whether or not she trusts Jane. Instead, she simply decides to trust Weller. I think these things combined say a lot about her character.

Zapata has been in a lot of scrapes with Weller. All of which they’ve gotten out of thanks to his quick thinking. While it’s obvious she doesn’t trust Jane like Weller does. As well as holds some serious mistrust about Jane like Reade she conceals it better. She doesn’t sweat it nearly as much because she believes Weller would say it. However, she did believe Jane could be a Russian spy and agreed with Carter though not as vocally as Reade did.

In a way, she understands the rules of the game better then by the book Reade. She knows showing weakness in front of Carter would give him something to pounce on. She knows first hand. The FBI and the CIA are not exactly on the same side. So when confronted with each other playing nice within their own ranks is a must. The world is not so black and white to her.

Hence her gambling problem. As stated somewhere along the line she likes taking risks. I think it’s also why she’s not so vocal about Jane. She likes the risks, the big take downs, and the bigger rewards. It plays into her character.

Watching her lose it over her apartment raided and someone else holding something over her head sucked. Zapata is an overall good person who made a mistake. People keep throwing it back in her face like she stands for nothing now just sucks. As Jane puts it, people are more then one mistake.

Her belief in the gray area in life comes in handy towards the end of the season. While it takes Reade some time to believe Mayfair could be corrupt Zapata is able to see clearly. One thing I’ve learned over the years is if you, personally, are willing to cross lines it’s easy for you to believe someone else will too. No matter who they are. If you don’t cross lines, it’s unthinkable that someone else you trust could do such a thing.

A lot of our perceptions of people come from our own choices in life. If we’d steal, we believe others will too. Thieves will triple lock their doors. Get it?

I enjoyed her willingness to look into Mayfair even if it hurt because if she is corrupt or guilty what does that mean for the FBI? For them?

Patterson: I love Patterson. I think I said that repeatedly while watching the first season. I loved when she pulled Jane to the side when she was feeling left out to explain it would take time to find their new shape, but they would. Her willingness to be there for Jane to offer friendship and take friendship in turn.

I think Patterson, aside from Weller, was the first to just accept Jane’s role within the team. It was nice to have one person not look at her with mistrust. To offer friendship outside of work like when the girls went for drinks together, that was a fun scene. This is also one show where there’s a lot of female leads so it’s fun to watch them together.

I know Patterson suffered such a heartache this season and it was terrible. I felt so horrible when he died. The whole episode I kept shouting ‘please don’t die’ or ‘stop following her, you’re gonna die!’

It was also incredible to watch her pick up the pieces and try to move on. I’m glad there was no new love interest right away because falling for someone else wouldn’t fix the loss. I liked that the team supported her version of mourning by letting her continue to work if that was her wish. I liked they offered support in whatever fashion and she did take them up on it.

Her guilt over his death was played nicely. I liked the ghost following her around. I liked that it wasn’t just a quick thing, it echoed in moments for the rest of the season. Grief over a lost loved one isn’t something you can just get over and I like that Blindspot knew that. She wasn’t fine but she needed to keep moving forward in order to deal but when she finally let it catch her she got to say goodbye.

Patterson is such a strong woman in her own right. I loved watching her. A line that sticks out and makes me chuckle every time is, “In my head where math is done. Please don’t interrupt.”

It was such a flip off without a flip off. She’s good at what she does. She knows it.

Yeah, she broke the rules. But we’ve seen all of these characters break the rules one way or another. And she learned from it.

In other words, Patterson is awesome.

Bethany Mayfair: The pilot introduced some dubious info on the Assistant FBI Director with that little file, something that was a huge piece to the plot, and to Mayfair’s character.

It was weird for me to think this woman did anything illegal that would be part of Jane’s tattoos when Daylight was first introduced. And I will be the first to say I thought it had something more with Carter then Mayfair. I thought he forced her into or something. It was nice to find out she hadn’t wanted to use Daylight. She was peer pressured into it.

No, it does not make it any better because she still did something illegal. On the other hand she probably put away a lot of bad people with it. So, in a way it fits with her character. She was willing to do crazy things, like follow tattoo puzzles if it meant taking down the bad guys. It falls in line with her character.

When it comes down to it Mayfair is willing to bend the rules to get the bad guys behind bars, but overall is a good person.

I liked her direct attitude towards situations. She wants her team safe, the bad guys in cuffs, and the win for the FBI. She fights smart. Unlike Carter who wanted to kill people to solve his problems. She had the foresight to realize bodies would make people suspicious. Which it did.

It’s also what led her to Oscar’s little hideout at the end. She followed everything to find the right answer. If only she could have shared it or let Reade or Zapata help her. Maybe she’d still be here. Alas she did not.

It also sucks she never gets to see what becomes of Jane either. She was so convinced at the end Jane would be hated by Weller. I wonder how she would feel knowing ultimately, Jane helps take down this horrible organization who wanted Mayfair out of the way.

Last Words: I know there are more characters and I could sit her all day talking about them but I don’t want to drone on for hours and hours. You might get bored!

Overall, I liked the first season. Whoever wrote this show really thought out where they were going. A lot of the series more important pieces were dropped in the pilot. Jane’s scar that led them to believe she was Taylor. Mayfair’s file number. Most of those things become throwaways for shows as they develop. Thankfully, Blindspot knew where they were going.

I enjoyed season one and I am excited to get to talking about season two.

Let me know what you think about the first season of Blindspot!

Read on!