Blindspot is a mystery-drama about a mysterious woman labeled by the FBI as Jane Doe who was found alive in a bag laying in Time Square covered all around with tattoos on her body. Struggling with memory loss, Jane is emotionally conflicted by having no awareness or background or life before being found in the bag. After having no blood or finger print matches on record, this intrigues the FBI's attention as they attempt to help her figure out what's going on while discovering that her mysterious body tattoos may map out a potentially dangerous puzzle. Blindspot stars Jamie Alexander (who some of you may recognize from the Thor films as Lady Sif) in the starring role as the complex Jane Doe. Starring alongside her is Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller (FBI agent in charge of Jane's case as well as the name that is mysteriously tattooed on her back), Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair (Director of the FBI) and Rob Brown as Edgar Reed (FBI agent working alongside Kurt). The series is directed by Mark Pellington and is written and produced by Martin Gero (best known for his work on Stargate: Atlantis). Blindspot airs its pilot on Monday, September 21st at 10:00pm.
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| Where am I? This doesn't look like Thor 3! |
Starting off the series is the opening scene (shown in the majority of the trailers) which was very interesting as far as introductions go. We get a nice shot of time square as a mysterious bag shows up just in time for a police officer to take notice. After realizing the "Call the FBI" tag on it, the scene transitions to a now empty time square with a bomb disposal agent slowly inspecting the bag. Even-though the element of surprise is nonexistent in this scene (via marketing), I still enjoyed the moment where our star character crawls out of the bag fearfully gazing around at her environment. In line with the giant spotlight tagged on her and the camera showing off her tattoos in a glorified manner, it almost felt like the show's birthing of the character. It's a visually beautiful shot overall that is only weakened slightly in terms of impact by its predictability. This opening scene alone promises something of great production quality in the episodes to come. All that's left to follow is the reasoning to stay onboard.
The pacing of the show unfortunately is where the show's possible downfall lies. There is a popularly utilized fast paced style of editing within crime shows which is supposed to help increase the tension of the situation. However, because of Blindspot's very intriguing mystery element and emotional character struggle, an opposite approach to editing would be of greater use. The performances are great overall with the obvious spotlight being on Jamie Alexander playing the constantly scared and confused Jane Doe. Although, one can argue that she is a bit one note at the moment, it does go hand in hand with her character's lack of natural emotions and personality. Everyone else in the cast plays their part well enough to get through the episode with no other standing out performances at the moment (serviceable as any other TV portrayed crime investigation unit goes).
The story so far is very interesting and offers up some stand out moments within the episode. One being a fight scene involving Jane taking on an abusive husband and an unknown accomplice by herself. The action in the scene is very well shot and executed overall, but what truly makes this moment engaging is the set up itself. This is where the pacing shines in this episode as the FBI discovers a Navy Seals tattoo on Jane which one of the agents state that if Jane was a Navy Seal operative, she would've been on record in the beginning. However, Mayfair responds "Not if she was Special Ops" which then leads into the fight scene. It's a great use of character development and action all interweaving together brilliantly to offer up the biggest selling points of the show being mystery and excitement.
Another great scene (not involving Jane this time) is a subway bombing where our characters are in pursuit after Chow. What's significant about this scene is not only the production values being shown off during the explosion, but also the show's way in proving that Blindspot's thrilling elements may not always rely on Jane. Like any other great ensemble piece, all characters present should be able to handle a bit of screen time on their own without the viewers feeling a bit cheated of their time. Seeing Kurt and Reed chasing down Chow felt like a show in itself (which is very important for this cast to pull off in the future). I enjoyed the quick banter between the two characters during this scene as it came across as watching an entertaining cop duo. That being said, there are moments in the episode that slightly came across as forced when a character would unnecessarily throw in a witty comment during a scene. No one wants to feel the effort of a show deliver entertaining characters (the effort should feel inexistent and seamless). Much like everything else so far in the show, it's all about the balancing act that will determine its future.
During and after the subway scene is where the show really starts to show its potential (as well as a major improvement in the editing) where we get our first set of flashback sequences involving Jane Doe's shadowy origins. Still on the pursuit after Chow, Kurt takes Jane to help him find and capture him alive at the statue of liberty for later questioning. However, after being shot in the arm, Jane is left to the side as Kurt is forced to fend off Chow on his own. As Chow gets the upper hand eventually threatening Kurt's life, Jane shows up in a forced position to shoot Chow which is encouraged by Kurt. After successfully successfully shooting Chow and rescuing Kurt, this triggers a flashback where a mysterious guy (shown earlier in the episode) is alongside Jane as she trains her accuracy in a make shift shooting gallery in the woods. Another great use of character building and action all at once that I really enjoyed. The charm of the show really begins to show its beginnings in these types of scenes.
Unfortunately, what takes place during most of this episode is what I would best describe as being a quick bullet point presentation that never stops for the viewers to take in anything for themselves. It's as if the creators know that they have something brilliant up their sleeves and assumes that the viewers only care about the action or what each tattoo means without fully realizing that they're dealing with a tragic human being at the core of the story. You have a woman who is mentally damaged and conflicted first before you have an interesting puzzle with potential twists and turns to keep the viewers guessing. What the show truly needs to focus on going ahead is getting a stable balancing act between the two as I feel the Jane character is treated more as an art show than someone worthy of the audience to be genuinely attached to. That's not to say that there aren't any scenes where the Jane character has time to shine in general, but it's through the questionable editing that anchors those important scenes.
Rating: 7/10
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