Blindspot (TV Series) - Budget Blinds Reviews

Blindspot is an American crime drama television series created by Martin Gero, starring Sullivan Stapleton and Jaimie Alexander. The series premiered on September 21, 2015. A back nine order was given on October 9, 2015, bringing the first season to a total of 22 episodes, plus an additional episode bringing the order to 23 episodes. On November 9, 2015, NBC renewed Blindspot for a second season. The second season premiered on September 14, 2016.

Premise

Blindspot focuses on a mysterious tattooed woman who has lost her memory and does not know her own identity. The FBI discovers that her tattoos contain clues to crimes they will have to solve.

Cast

Main

• Sullivan Stapleton as Supervisory Special Agent Kurt Weller, an FBI agent and head of the FBI Critical Incident Response Group, who is called into the investigation into Jane when his name is found mysteriously tattooed on Jane's body. He comes to recognize Jane as his missing childhood friend Taylor Shaw and becomes very protective, due to having never recovered from the pain and guilt he suffers from her disappearance. It is revealed in the Season One finale, that he has been promoted to head of the FBI's New York branch after Mayfair's disappearance, with this being the goal of Stage One of the conspiracy behind Jane's tattoos as the tattoo investigations eliminated less ethical potential candidates.
• Jaimie Alexander as Alice "Remi" Kruger aka "Jane Doe", an unidentified woman found naked and amnesiac in Times Square, who is kept in FBI protective custody as an investigation proceeds into her identity. Despite lacking conscious memories, Jane occasionally has flashbacks to her past life and retains a wide variety of combat and language skills. It is suspected she is a former Navy SEAL, whose identity is classified due to involvement in special operations. Based on a familiar scar on the back of her neck and a DNA test, Jane was believed to be Taylor Shaw, Kurt Weller's neighbor and childhood friend, who vanished 25 years ago and was presumed deceased, but the real Taylor Shaw was confirmed to be dead when Agent Weller's father confessed to her murder on his deathbed, Kurt subsequently finding Taylor's remains in an old campsite they stayed in as children; the DNA test results were altered by the conspiracy changing the records of the Taylor Shaw case. It is later revealed tha t Jane was born Alice Kruger in South Africa, then orphaned and trained as a child soldier by the apartheid regime. Shepherd eventually adopted her and raised her as a daughter.
• Rob Brown as Special Agent Edgar Reade, an FBI agent and member of Kurt's team, who has doubts about Jane's inclusion on the team and expresses skepticism of Kurt's willingness to follow the information from Jane's tattoos so quickly. He is in love with Kurt's sister, Sarah, but broke up with her both on Kurt's request and because Reade feared for Sarah's safety after one of the group behind Jane's tattoos threatened Sarah when Reade was trying to investigate Jane's background.
• Audrey Esparza as Special Agent Natasha "Tasha" Zapata, an FBI agent and member of Kurt's team, previously an NYPD officer at the 96th District for five years. Secretly, she has a gambling addiction, caused by guilt from the death of her partner while with the NYPD, and is in severe debt, which she hides from her coworkers.
• Ashley Johnson as Special Agent Patterson, head of the FBI Forensic Science Unit and responsible for studying and identifying Jane's tattoos.
• Ukweli Roach as Dr. Robert Borden, an FBI psychiatrist who helps Jane in retrieving and understanding her past memories. He is revealed to be a mole for Sandstorm within the FBI.
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair (season 1), Assistant Director In Charge of the FBI's New York Field Office. Mayfair is directly in charge of Kurt and his team, for whom Mayfair acts as an ally and mentor. She was once the FBI contact for Operation Daylight, a program to use illegally obtained information and present it as coming from faked informants; it is hinted that Jane's tattoos have some connection to Daylight. After Mayfair is framed for murder due to evidence Jane was manipulated into planting, she is shot by Oscar just as she discovers Jane at a safehouse used by the conspiracy.
• Archie Panjabi as Nas Kamal (season 2), head of Zero Division, a secret department of the NSA.
• Luke Mitchell as Ian "Roman" Kruger (season 2), Remi/Jane's brother and a member of Sandstorm.
• Michelle Hurd as Shepherd (season 2), Remi's (Jane's) and Roman's adoptive mother and leader of the terrorist group Sandstorm.

Recurring

• Johnny Whitworth as Markos (season 1), a mysterious man connected to Jane's past. He was killed by an initially unknown sniper - later revealed to be Oscar - in Jane's safe house. It is later revealed that he was a member of Sandstorm but grew disenchanted with their treatment of Jane.
• Jordana Spiro as Sarah Weller (season 1), Kurt's sister. Sarah tries to heal Kurt's lingering emotional trauma from Taylor Shaw's disappearance, as well as repair the broken relationship between Kurt and their terminally ill father. She is in love with Kurt's co-worker and friend, Edgar Reade.
• Logan Schuyler Smith as Sawyer (season 1), Sarah's son and Kurt's nephew.
• Michael Gaston as Thomas "Tom" Carter (season 1), CIA Deputy Director, who is connected with Mayfair to the clandestine Operation Daylight. He is strongly interested in Jane due to concerns that her tattoos could reveal Daylight's existence. He was killed by Oscar while trying to interrogate Jane.
• Joe Dinicol as David Wagner (season 1), Patterson's boyfriend. Patterson broke up with him after being reprimanded for sharing the tattoos with David. He was killed by a Russian agent for investigating an undercover spy ring. His character was modeled after David Kwong, who works as a puzzle consultant for the show.
• Jay O. Sanders as Bill Weller (season 1), Kurt and Sarah's father, who was accused of kidnapping and killing Taylor Shaw because he lied about his alibi, resulting in the destruction of his life and marriage and the end of his relationship with his son. He is terminally ill with lung cancer. Later, he admits he was attempting suicide the night of Taylor's disappearance, finally earning Kurt's trust back. However, he confirms on his deathbed that he genuinely did kill Taylor Shaw, although his words imply that it was accidental.
• François Arnaud as Oscar (season 1), a mysterious man connected to Jane's past. Partial flashbacks have revealed Oscar is Jane's ex-boyfriend and they planned to marry, but Jane broke off the engagement. Although he appeared to be Jane's ally against some of the radical elements of the organization that gave Jane her tattoos, it was later revealed that he lied to her about her past identity as Taylor Shaw, and seemingly harmless tests were actually part of a complex scheme to frame Mayfair for murder and corruption. When he attempts to inject Jane with a new dose of drugs to erase her memory again, Jane attempts to arrest him, but accidentally stabs him in the heart with a scythe as they fought in a burning barn.
• Lou Diamond Phillips as Saúl Guerrero (season 1), a notorious gang leader and Number Two on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, who is connected to Operation Daylight, serving as the 'official' source of the information Mayfair gained from the program. He was killed by on Tom Carter's orders while in prison.
• Trieste Kelly Dunn as Allison Knight, a former FBI agent, now a U.S. Marshal and FBI WITSEC liaison. She is Kurt's ex-girlfriend, who attempted to restart their relationship. She is currently pregnant with their child.
• John Hodgman as Chief Inspector Jonas Fischer (season 1), in the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, who is maneuvering to replace Mayfair. He was later exposed as a Russian agent and killed by Jane while attempting to frame her as the mole in his place.
• Ennis Esmer as Rich Dotcom, a former computer programmer turned Internet crime lord. Eccentric and manic, Rich often embroils Weller's team in elaborate, convoluted schemes to achieve his goals. He is currently in federal prison.
• Sarita Choudhury as Sofia Varma, Deputy White House Political Director, who is connected with Mayfair to Operation Daylight and was Mayfair's girlfriend. She was reported to have killed herself, affecting Mayfair deeply. She was later revealed to have faked her death and gone into hiding supposedly to escape unknown pursuers, although she was really part of the conspiracy behind Jane's tattoos and participated in a later plot by Oscar to frame Mayfair for murder.
• Eisa Davis as Donna Hollaran/Alexandra Harrison (season 1), apparently a sales clerk who becomes romantically involved with Mayfair. She is stabbed to death in her hotel room as a warning for Mayfair to stay away from Carter's death. The investigation that follows implicates Mayfair as the killer - according to evidence Oscar manipulated Jane into planting in Mayfair's office - and reveals Alexandra as a disgraced private-investigator-turned-fixer who is under federal investigation.
• Aaron Abrams as AUSA Matthew Weitz, an ambitious Assistant U.S. Attorney secretly investigating FBI corruption and specifically targeting Mayfair on the grounds of misconduct, with Zapata's reluctant involvement.
• Jonathan Patrick Moore as Oliver Kind (season 2), a water conservation specialist who befriends Jane.
• Dylan Baker as FBI Director Pellington

Broadcast

In Australia, the series was acquired by the Seven Network and premiered the program on October 28, 2015. In Canada, CTV has acquired the broadcasting rights for the series. In the United Kingdom, Blindspot premiered on Sky Living on November 24, 2015.

Reception

Ratings

Critical response

Blindspot has received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the series has a rating of 68%, based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Blindspot is elevated by an intriguing mystery and enough strong action to propel most viewers into a necessary suspension of disbelief." On Metacritic, the series has a score of 65 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Home media release

The first season of Blindspot was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 2, 2016 in Region 1. It contains all 23 episodes, as well as seven Behind the Scenes featurettes, tattooed clues, 19 deleted scenes, the 2015 Comic-Con Panel, Bound and Gag Reel, and "Pilot" Audio Commentary.

References

External links

• Official website
• Blindspot at the Internet Movie Database
• Blindspot at TV Guide