Blindspot Premiere Review
by Adrea Scheidler
I caught the series premiere of Blindspot on NBC on Monday night! And no, just because it’s also about a very thin person with amnesia covered with tattoos that will surely unlock mysteries of the past - Blindspot is not a sequel to the movie Memento. Or… I don’t think it is anyway. No, of course it’s not, silly! *disclaimer: I am not a writer on this show, so what do I know?
WELL I’ll tell you what I know. I know I’ve had a buzz in the back of my mind while I’ve been working today, wondering if it’s been a week yet and therefore time for the next episode. Hint: it hasn’t been.
Like Memento, Blindspot’s main character (Jane Doe played by Jaimie Alexander) has a vulnerability due to her memory issues and a seemingly pure purpose BUT (also like Memento), the story is already casting doubt on just how much of a victim Jane really is. There are hints already that she may have been culpable in how she came to be in her current position.
Does it matter what they were before their memory was damaged- because they are good now… aren’t they? We’re pulling for them now as they seem so lost and defenseless in this scary world. Like Memento, our exposed hero (and I mean exposed literally and figuratively here - because in order to see the tattoos we’re often looking at quite a bit of skin) proves quickly to be much more capable - dare I say dangerous? - than their doe-eyed expression would suggest.
That’s where the similarities end - or maybe that’s just as much as I remember about Memento.
BUT as per usual, I’m starting at the wrong end.
Blindspot starts off with a dramatic unveiling of our main character naked, scared, and covered in tattoos. I love the way they connect her with our male lead in the show (FBI Agent Kurt Miller played by Sullivan Stapleton) so I’m not even going to tell you about it. But it was great. There is no backstory offered - we are just as confused as everyone else in the show is as they follow their first couple tattoo inspired leads.
It’s a pilot - so you have to give a little for the fact that they are really pushing everything to hook as many people as they can as quickly as they can. Therefore, I feel like they pushed the dependency Jane has on Agent Miller a little much - but since I am a proponent of deeply felt relationships between main characters, I can let that slide and hope they bring some balance in the normal season episodes.
Spencer Sullivan actually seemed to be trying very convincingly not to let himself get too roped in by the damsel in distress, no matter how much she’s proving herself to be awesome and endearing. There is great promise between them for romantics such as myself. There is a legitimately GOOD reason for him to NOT get overly emotionally involved with this woman which creates that fantastic tension between heart and mind. After all, she is (best case scenario) the damaged center of a case that may or may not have been sent to him to take him down and (worst case scenario) a terrorist who has gone to great lengths to make a great fool of him.
There’s not a ton of humor, but I’m hoping they can find their way, because I’d love to watch more!
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