Amanda Leslie
Recently, my Monday nights have consisted of sitting down for an hour of watching a heavily tattooed woman and an FBI team get into trouble. So far, NBC’s Blindspot has lived up to expectations, and we finally got to know what Jane Doe’s real identity is: Taylor Shaw. (Or so we think, until a dental test reveals Doe was born in Africa, not America. Thank you, NBC, for giving us this and then taking it away. Assholes.)
Taylor Shaw, Doe’s maybe-maybe-not identity, was a childhood friend of Agent Weller, which will likely only serve to bring them closer together.
A minor (major) complaint of mine is that discovering character’s names is like pulling teeth: difficult, slow, and painful. Everytime someone on screen revealed another last name (or full name, if we were lucky), I paused, rewound, and wrote it down. Apparently, NBC decided that since we don’t get to know Jane Doe’s real name, we don’t get to know anyone else’s either.
As for the gruff, bushy-eyebrowed Kurt Weller, his emotions seem to go from zero to sixty real quick. Only three episodes in, and Weller is saying things to Jane like, “What would have happened to you today? If you got hurt? If I lost you?” Later, the mismatched pair is feeling each other’s heartbeats, which just felt kinda weird.
It seems like Weller might be starting to see Jane as more than just a bunch of tattoos, and while I would be uncomfortable with a romantic Weller/Doe relationship, it’s nice to see Weller is finally growing emotions, just like a Chia pet grows grass.
Despite its multiple flaws, I think Blindspot is entertaining. Things blow up, and there’s action and suspense.
The main issue, however, is that I do not care about anyone on the show, because they haven’t given me any reason to. Everyone is very serious and boring, especially frowny Weller and the nameless FBI agents. (What are your stories, Nameless FBI Agents? Who are you?)
NBC is trying to get me to keep watching, but until they really develop the characters’ personalities, the only things hooking me in are the explosions and Jaimie Alexander’s cheekbones.
Predictions for next week’s episode include: Jane Doe showing off her hand-to-hand combat skills; Weller and Jane demonstrating their lukewarm uncomfortable tension; an explosion, and me, being disappointed.
