Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Blindspot 1.09: "Authentic Flirt"

“Well until this morning, you didn’t know Bulgarian. Who knows, you could be a tango champion.”
- Weller

This week’s case is going to let Jane and Weller get closer in a way I’m sure neither were expecting: undercover. Thanks to some sporadically placed letters around Jane’s body, Patterson decodes a new clue that leads them to a message board on a puppy forum about a lost dog. It turns out that a husband and wife team abducted and tortured an American tourist in Barcelona a week earlier, looking for his brother. The hitch: his brother is in WITSEC after testifying against a big scary mob boss. This brings in the US Marshall and a possible old flame (or at least one night stand) of Weller’s. Mayfair is understandably pissed when she learns that “the whole litter” refers to the leaked names and locations of 2,000 witnesses. The government is doing what they can to immediately relocate the guy in the mob case but it will take some time to get everyone else resettled.

The team follows a lead to a possible meeting location and encounter the husband and wife team. Both end up dead (and we learn that Jane speaks Bulgarian). But they also find some tickets to a gala and a fancy pin. Oh and a couple dozen high-end fake passports and a 6 million dollar diamond necklace for payment. It seems that Jane and Weller have to go undercover as the couple to meet the seller and take them down. I have to say, they both clean up really well. Jane is feeing nervous and awkward in the dress but she looks fabulous. Since the couple was married, they have to act the part and when Weller puts the wedding band on Jane’s finger, she flashes back to some sexy times with tree tattoo man.

While the team is off saving the day, David is trying to win Patterson back. He did a cute thing with the sign at the coffee cart where she gets her money jolt of caffeine. And he’s taking out the library where they were so close to breaking the code in the book. I really don’t think things are going to end well for him. He sees a redheaded woman check the book and then leave the library. So what does he do? He follows her (and then gets followed by a guy he doesn’t see).

At the gala, Weller and Jane get quickly whisked to a limo and then to a helicopter where the team can’t track them or provide backup. Well, crap! They land at a pretty swanky looking mansion and after getting patted down (Weller is not pleased with the…ahem thorough job the guy is doing on Jane), they head inside and dance a little. It’s kind of a sweet moment where she says she’s been having bits of memory fragments pop into her head that indicate she might have been engaged. Not long after they arrive, the seller wants to meet. He’s kind of a really annoying guy who calls himself Rich Dot Com. What a douchebag! After some rigmarole he gives our team a flash drive with the list of names from WITSEC. Unfortunately, there’s at least a second buyer that they now have to sniff out while the necklace is being appraised.

While Weller and Jane are busy trying to track down the competition and secure the information, Patterson and company are digging deep into the online forum. It turns out the account that they found on Jane’s body has been active for years and tied to lots of shady business. It also turns out that a couple of accounts were handled by the same accountant who works for Mr. Dot Com. He used to be a relatively simple hacker who invested heavily in bit coin, and then turned into a grade A asshole who would do anything on the dark net if you paid enough. So sleazy. We also had to endure a visit from Director Carter (who earlier in the episode threatened Zapata to put a bug in Jane’s safe house). He wants to kill Guerrero but Mayfair says she’s creating a false paper trail to cover her tracks. I really want someone to put this bastard down.

Thanks to some quick thinking by Weller, he and Jane break into the computer room and locate the other buyer. What transpires next is a really interestingly choreographed fight sequence that I bet Jaimie Alexander and Sullivan Stapleton had a blast filming. But it gets interrupted by Mr. Dot Com and his goons. Weller and Jae convince him that the other buyer is a fed which results in the buyer getting shot in the head. Oops. I suppose that means they don’t have to worry about him having the list. Dot Com gets kind of creepy as he’s making them have a drink and starts grilling Weller on a particular job. But they weasel their way out of that tight spot and force him up to the helipad. Sure he tries to get his men to kill them but that won’t work. Besides, Reade and Zapata are in a helicopter heading right for them as they check out properties within helicopter distance of the city.

Reade and Zapata show up just in the nick of time to save Weller and Jane’s bacon. With the bad guy in custody, Weller turns down his ex-girlfriend’s offer of a drink in favor of a house warming party for Jane (where I’m guessing Zapata had a chance to plant the bug for Carter). But all is not well for everyone. We see Guerrero get stabbed on his way to meet with Mayfair and poor David ends up dead as a result of his snooping. It is unclear how he died but it looks like the person following him was sent by Mayfair in an attempt to keep him safe (or at the very least keep tabs on what he was doing). The ending was very powerful as just a song played over the action and even though Mayfair offers Patterson a hug at the hospital, you can see that she’s not really processing it yet. I’m sure she will and they will all be on the warpath but it hasn’t quite hit yet.

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