BLINDSPOT “Technology Wizards” Review: We Need More Roman!

BLINDSPOT — “Technology Wizards” Episode 311 — Pictured: Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe — (Photo by: Barbara Nitke/NBC)

BLINDSPOT “TECHNOLOGY WIZARDS”

BY PAULINE PERENACK

Boston, Boston, Boston

Last week Blindspot saw major turmoil in Jeller land, we learned a little more about Reade’s girlfriend and the budding love triangle with Zapata, and it also looked like Roman might be getting in a little over his head with whatever he’s doing with Blake.

Additionally, apparently Jane’s daughter wasn’t killed by Weller, but rather, is being held hostage by the German gangster, Max. Not only that, but she had a meeting with Roman right before she was shot by Weller. Coincidence? I think not.

But tonight, not only is Rich Dotcom back, but so is Boston! So let’s recap the episode to see what happened.

Trouble in Wizardville

Tonight’s episode, “Technology Wizards” begins with a man running naked through the streets, before he stops and yells, “I did what you said, now leave me alone!”

We don’t learn anything more about the man than that however, as the episode then quickly shifts to Clem and Jane drinking in his hotel room. They’re talking about Weller and Avery, and Jane admits she’s hurt about Weller’s betrayal. Clem offers to sleep on the couch so she can stay in the room, but she declines, and leaves.

Weller meanwhile, is still looking into Avery with Patterson, who has found additional meetings between Avery and Roman. Not only that, she finds a video of Avery meeting with the gangster Max, who we know has kidnapped her, and Patterson discovers that Max is actually Dedrik Hoehne. While her computer runs some background checks, she turns her focus to her Wizardville app that keeps glitching.

A lead pops for Patterson when she finds a 911 call coming from one of Dedrik’s properties. As Weller listens to it, he identifies it as Avery, and the timestamp indicates it’s from only 4 days prior. Jane walks in at that moment, and Weller attempts to give her the good news that Avery is alive, but she’s reluctant to hear him.

The team is now on the case, and when Patterson confirms that Avery is in fact Jane’s, Reade decides to send a team in to get her. Jane however, wants to head up the mission, and wants Clem to go with her – not Weller. Reade reluctantly agrees, but only if Weller goes, which of course leads to an awkward plane ride between the three where Jane tends to side with Clem.

The three make it to Germany, and to a factory where they believed Dedrik had taken Avery. Sure enough, she was there, but Dedrik’s team discover Jane et al, and blow up a wall to get out to a truck to escape.

Patterson meanwhile, has discovered that the secret backdoor in her app that gave her access to everyone’s phones has been hacked, and is being used to blackmail people, with several videos already on YouTube. Reade tells her to shut down the app after she admits to the existence of the backdoor, but the app quickly turns back on – with Patterson losing her admin access. As she tries to determine the identity of the hacker, Rich Dotcom notices that the code contains the signature of his ex-boyfriend, Boston. And, turns out, Patterson had hired Boston during the creation of the app, so it seems legit that it’s him.

Focus is then shifted to find Boston, but the team catches a break when Boston comes to them. He tells them he hacked the app with his new boyfriend, Sanjay, initially for voyeurism, but then to punish bad people, like the naked man from the beginning of the episode who was stealing money from a charity for children with cancer. However, he felt like Sanjay had taken things to another level.

Boston points the team to John Sheridan, who Sanjay was supposed to be meeting with, and since Sheridan had access to weapons, it seems to make sense he would be a target. Once he’s brought in for questioning, he admits to selling white phosphorus bombs to Sanjay, who is planning on selling them to terrorists who want to target New York. (Apparently all villains on this show want New York City wiped off the face of the planet.)

Since the sale is happening soon, Boston offers to go in wired with Sanjay so he can identify the terrorists. Once home, Boston discovers the meet is at the apartment, and since Sanjay has deployed a signal jammer, he has no way to signal the team waiting down below to the arrival of the terrorists. Thinking quickly, he overheats a tea kettle, and sends smoke out of the window, which Rich Dotcom correctly identifies as the signal to move in.

Reade and team then come to the rescue, taking out the terrorists, and arresting Sanjay. Boston is told he won’t be charged since he helped the team, but will be under infinite house arrest.

Meanwhile, Clem, Jane, and Weller track Avery to tunnels below Berlin, and manage to find her. Avery is reluctant to go with Jane, but soon realizes she has nowhere else to go. Weller runs into Roman, who happens to be on the other side of a bulletproof glass wall, and two chat. While Roman hints at more surprises to come, Weller points out that Roman has become the same manipulator that Shepherd was.

The episode then ends with the usual check-ins with various characters, but is not as shocking as usual. Clem tells Weller that Jane still loves him so he shouldn’t give up on her, Jane receives a call from Roman who tells her that getting Avery back might not be what she’s expecting, and Zapata decides to finally admit her feelings to Reade, who shows her an engagement ring he’s purchased for Meg.

A Family Reunion

Please, please, please can we have more information on what Roman is up to? His storyline is so much better than the ridiculous love triangles the rest of the team are involved in, and we’re just not getting enough of it. For example, tonight when he unexpectedly showed up in Berlin, I finally found myself really paying attention to an episode I once again could otherwise have skipped. He admitted to Weller that Crawford was the target, and that Roman needed the FBI to get him. So, I know I’ve asked this question before, but who is Crawford, and why is Roman (and the CIA) so interested in taking him down?

Overall, tonight’s episode was slightly better than last week, but not by much. I was really hoping that the return of Boston would yield a better storyline, but it just wasn’t there, and Rich Dotcom didn’t quite bring his usual flair to the episode.

Like last week, the storyline with Clem was frustrating, but thankfully it seems as though he’s finally out of the picture, and since Weller didn’t kill Avery, maybe Jane can forgive him, and we can move on. But quite frankly, at this point, I think Weller can do better than Jane. I mean, she dropped him like a hot potato as soon as she found out he kept information about Avery from her, even though it was for a good reason, yet she felt it was totally fine for her to have a romantic relationship with Clem while being away from Weller and not say anything about it. I don’t buy it, and neither should Weller.

Also, once again, Zapata’s storyline was relegated to pining over Reade. She really needs to be brought out into the spotlight, and her backstory explored. She’s more than just someone wanting a guy – and we need to see it. And while we’re at it, we need more Patterson and Rich Dotcom. Those two play off each other so well, and we don’t get to see enough of it. Can we please get more?

Finally though, we need to see how Avery fits into all of this. She’s got to be more than a reason to drive Weller and Jane apart. Is she somehow tied to Crawford, and that’s why Roman was warning Jane that a reunion might not be the best thing? Until next week!