Blindspot premiere recap: Pilot
Blindspot gets right to the point in the first couple of minutes — introducing us to our mysterious, tattoo-covered Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) emerging from a duffel bag in the middle of Times Square. She has no idea who she is or how she ended up naked inside of a piece of luggage. She may not remember her name, or anything else about herself, but we learn that she’s still in there somewhere. Her likes, dislikes, abilities, and knowledge are still present and predetermined; she just has to uncover them. Kind of like when she decides tea tastes like blades of grass or starts randomly speaking Chinese (specifically Wenzhouhua).
Jane makes her first human connection with FBI Agent Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton), whose name is tattooed on her back for unknown reasons. The tattoos covering her body are clues — puzzle pieces laid out for the FBI and Jane to put together. Under one of her tattoos, the FBI is able to see that she had a Navy Seal tattoo. Whoever tattooed Jane’s body apparently wanted to hide this, and it’s the only clue we have to her previous life.
After the discovery of a date and address for an apartment tattooed in Chinese behind Jane’s ear, Weller and two of his team members decide to check it out. Jane insists on being brought along. Not only can she help because she knows Chinese, but she wants to see if this clue could help her unlock her memory. Nothing Weller says can stop her, so they bring her along for the ride. When they arrive, they find a room full of bomb-making materials and a terrorist propaganda video inferring that the tenant, Chao (Chang Yung-I), is planning on detonating an explosive that day somewhere in the city.
While in Chao’s apartment building, Jane takes it upon herself to intervene when she hears a man beating his wife in another unit. I think we can assume she’s a decent person to have this reaction? When she feels threatened by the husband and his friend, she goes into autopilot and starts beating the crap out of them. She has obviously been trained, and trained well.
NEXT: An even bigger threat
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After Weller stops Jane from nearly killing the neighbors, the race is on to stop Chao from detonating his bomb. Jane, Weller, and his two agents head to the New York City subway, where they startle Chao. They find the bomb that Chao kindly leaves behind on a subway car, and though it can’t be deactivated, Weller saves the day by running it down the subway tunnel and reducing its blast radius. Everyone is safe, but Chao’s not finished. Next stop: the Statue of Liberty.
Weller and Jane follow Chao up the statue for a dangerous game of cat and mouse. A bullet nicks Jane, but like the badass she is, still ends up saving Weller’s life. Apparently, she’s also a good shot, as she gets off a perfect shot to Chao, who’s using Weller as a human shield. This is where Jane experiences her first flashback; she sees herself doing target practice in the woods with a mystery man who appears to be training her.
So, even with the excitement of Weller and his team successfully saving the day from a terrorist attack, Jane still has to spend the night alone in her new “home” (read: safe house) to deal with her emotions. Even though we’re not sensing any sparks flying between Jane and Weller yet, these two both seem to crave human affection and have great onscreen chemistry. Whether their relationship will remain platonic as the show progresses seems doubtful — this is a network procedural after all.
Back at the FBI headquarters, there’s something fishy going on. Weller’s boss, Bethany Mayfair (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is seen examining a picture of one of Jane’s tattoos — a number that matches a case file number sitting in front of her on a table. The file has Mayfair’s name on it, and though most of the words are blacked out because it’s top secret, we do see words like “murder” and “embezzlement” scribed on the page. What exactly is Mayfair trying to hide? Is she protecting herself, or someone else?
The mystery man from Jane’s flashback heads to the hospital, where Chao is still kicking, and kills him. At the end of the episode, we get another random flashback of the mystery man erasing Jane’s memory, and realize that it was in fact done with her permission. When he confirms with her that she wants to wipe her memory, her response is, “it’s my only choice.” Now we likely begin the season long (at least) process of uncovering her relationship with the mystery man and discovering what led her to willingly wipe her slate clean.