BLINDSPOT “Resolves Eleven Myths” Recap

By Pauline Perenack

The Return of Rich Dotcom

Last week’s episode of Blindspot focused a lot on character development, and we were able to see the struggles that each member of the team were going through, which somehow brought Weller and Nas together in a way that very few Blindspot fans were happy about. We also learned that Weller recognizes Shephard’s voice, so he obviously knows her from somewhere, which only serves to deepen the mystery of Sandstorm.

If you’re playing the title anagrams, tonight’s episode, “Resolves Eleven Myths” seems to decode to “Only Serve Themselves.” All titles we’ve had so far come out to “Nothing is more dangerous. They invoke fear, for their moment is near. The FBI defends the constitution. Shepherd’s Army only serves themselves.” Intrigued? Let’s recap what happened tonight.

Jane’s loyalty has been chosen

Tonight’s episode starts off with a Jane and Weller dream sequence where the two are preparing a dinner together. Soon, Roman walks in, and the three have a pleasant family meal. Jane is distracted, and watches as the apartment door opens to reveal her past self. The two fight, and right before Jane is stabbed through the chest, her past self tells her that “this doesn’t belong to you.”

The next day at headquarters during a team meeting, Jane tries to convince the team that she can turn Roman, but none of them believe her, especially since she didn’t transfer the microchip data to Patterson when she had the chance. Weller stops the meeting when it becomes obvious that it has turned into an attack on Jane, and pulls Nas aside. He confronts her about the bug found in Borden’s office, but before he can get an answer out of her, Patterson interrupts to announce that the building is being hacked. The team gathers, and fan favorite Rich Dotcom appears on the screens, telling the team they need to bomb a certain location or else he will delete their servers. As he discusses his Stranger Things viewing habits and deadlines, Weller realizes that Rich is in Weller’s apartment. The team goes to arrest Rich, and once he’s back at headquarters, they point out that it felt like he wanted to get caught.

Sure enough, he did, because a super assassin, the Akkadian, was after him, and had already killed his boyfriend, Boston. As such, his plan was to draw the Akkadian to FBI headquarters, where the team would have to protect Rich, and take out the assassin. Rich being Rich however, notices that the dynamics on the team are off, and is worried they won’t be able to properly protect him. He also seems to know a lot about Nas, even though he hasn’t met her, and effectively rattles her when he brings up “Omaha.”

Soon after, the Akkadian makes his entrance, quickly killing two security guards. Nas and Jane head off together to gather sensitive material from Nas’ office, and Weller and Patterson are left to diffuse a chemical bomb the Akkadian fashioned out of a water cooler. Patterson is able to dismantle the chemical portion, but accidentally triggers the secondary bomb, getting injured in the process.

Weller and Nas are left to figure out how to capture the Akkadian, and Nas admits to Weller she fully trusts him, but is worried about Jane, which is why she bugged Borden’s office.

Meanwhile, Zapata and Reade are making their way through the building, and are ambushed by the Akkadian. He takes them out, and drags Zapata away. The team discovers the Akkadian had tapped into the security footage so he could see them, and Zapata’s voice comes over the speakers, telling them the Akkadian had injected her with a neurotoxin which will kill her without an antidote. The Akkadian will only tell them which of the three vials contains the antidote once they agree to leave Rich alone in a room.

Rich tells the team that he can create a loop on the security feed to make it look like he was left alone in the room to draw in the Akkadian, and the team reluctantly allows him access to the computers. Sure enough, the Akkadian comes, and Jane and Weller are there for the fight. He nearly beats them, but Jane is able to subdue him, and Weller drives a knife through his chest, effectively killing any chance to save Zapata.

However, Nas and Reade have found her, and she’s able to tap out Morse code on Reade’s arm to point out which vial is the antidote.

With the Akkadian taken out, Rich proposes a Raymond Reddington partnership with the team, but Weller is not impressed. He calls to have Rich transferred to a holding facility, unaware that the person he’s talking to is actually Rich’s boyfriend, Boston, who is not as dead as previously advertised. Rich has once again outsmarted the team, and climbs aboard a transport truck driven by Boston.

Just as Rich and Boston think they’re scot-free, police lights appear behind them. They stop, and it’s Weller and Jane, who are there to arrest Rich. Turns out, Patterson was not as injured as believed, and instead of being in the infirmary, was actually tracking Rich and Boston’s hacks. She was tipped off by Rich’s description of Boston’s death, which was actually how Dobby dies in the Harry Potter books.

The only Sandstorm plot comes at the end of the episode when Roman and another Sandstorm agent receive word that their FBI mole has left something in their dead drop. Roman goes to retrieve it, and finds a message warning him that Jane’s loyalties are with the FBI. The note is backed up by proof that some of the microchip had been uploaded to the FBI by Jane.

Pop culture fans unite

Tonight’s episode was one of the best of the season, and a major reason was the return of Rich Dotcom. The character is richly complex, knows how to drop a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reference without breaking stride, and is acutely aware of the subtleties of the people around him. He’s smart, and hopefully the team picked up on his inside knowledge of Nas, and will bring him in later in the season to help them crack the secrets she is undoubtedly carrying. He knows our team well, and hopefully we do get a few humorous The Blacklist–like episodes, as he suggested.

And even though Rich’s story could have easily carried the entire episode, “Resolves Eleven Myths” took the opportunity to bring viewers further into the relationship of Reade and Zapata. These two have created a very strong bond over the course of the show, and it was showcased tonight. Throughout the episode, Zapata was continually questioning Reade about the knife found near the Coach Jones murder scene, and not-so subtly hinting she didn’t really believe he was innocent, even though she was still willing to help him out. As tension built between the two, Reade finally snapped, and told Zapata she needed to stop trying to help him, because while she was no longer gambling, she was still addicted to risk, and she was gambling with his life. That was enough for her to hear, and she said she was out. However, it was Reade holding her as the neurotoxins wound their way through her body, and was the one who caught her Morse code which saved her life. As the episode wound down, Zapata quickly returned the favor, and used her connections in the NYPD to steal the knife from evidence, so Reade wouldn’t be caught. However, once she opened it, she realized it was Reade’s friend Freddy’s knife, not Reade’s.

Finally, everything seems to be falling apart for Jane. Her team no longer trusts her at all, Weller has clearly moved on from her to Nas, even though she still has feelings for him, and now Roman is on to her. Loyalties are definitely going to be a theme for the next few episodes, and it will be interesting to see where everyone ends up. Until next week!