Blindspot Review: Evil Did I Dwell, Lewd I Did Live (Season 2 Episode 16)

Does anyone else feel like Blindspot is a bit like playing a twisted game of Super Mario Brothers?

Blindspot Season 2 Episode 16, “Evil Did I Dwell, Lewd I Did Live,” ties up loose ends and gives us a bit more insight into Roman and Remy pre-ZIP, but ultimately leaves us feeling like we just heard: “Sorry, Mario, but your princess is in another castle.”

I’m feeling a little lukewarm towards cases of the week, so it’s good to see Blindspot return with such a strong mythos episode.

It’s enjoyable to watch and focuses primarily on the relationships between Roman, Remy, and Cade, but leaves us with a feeling that we’re even further from the starting point.

They are still really nebulous when it comes to talk about Sandstorm and “Phase II” which is sounding more and more frightening, and not doing my nerves any good.

It’s frustrating to be sixteen episodes into Season 2, and still have Sandstorm’s motives only exist in the most abstract form.

I am all for mystery, but I think the FBI is starting to seem inept.

This episode does have its strong points, in particular, Cade’s story. Season 1 gave us so little about him, and even then only through Oscar’s lens.

It feels a little convenient that Cade is also Nas’s high level source in Sandstorm, and a bit of a letdown that he’s apparently a rank, or several under Remy and Roman.

I have to ask: if Phase II of Sandstorm’s plan is strictly “Need to Know” then what exactly was Cade giving Nas? And how is that upon Nas’s arrival, she doesn’t seem interested in the one case where a defector chases the team down, or spend a little time trying to match up timelines?

Given how little we know regarding Sandstorm, it is plausible that more than one person has defected, but two people close to Shepherd? That seems unlikely.

I get the feeling that leaving this party early would result in a hail of gunfire? Just look at what they did to Markos!

Speaking of Markos! We have another gay character that is dead.

While it gives Cade some dimension and a revenge motive for the work he’s doing, it feels cheap to have his relationship with Markos be so casually mentioned after he tells the story about his father being crushed in a defective mine shaft.

Please, tell me you plan to explore the Cade/Markos relationship in a flashback or something!

In the end, Cade feels like a perfectly ripe carrot that was dangled in front of us, only to be thrown into another fenced yard.

Since Blindspot introduced Cade, I have been excited to see where this would go. In the end, watching him leave, I feel cheated out of what could have been a really awesome story.

Not only is Cade not staying, but they’ve made no progress with Sandstorm. .

I want to give the show the benefit of the doubt. I want to believe that there is a master plan and that Cade will come back, but in the end I’m left feeling like we’ve taken three steps forward and two steps back.

Cade’s visit does unearth the second mole in the FBI, and I sigh with relief because it isn’t Nas!

Patterson is unwittingly transmitting information through a device in her back molar. Ashley Johnson plays the moment when Patterson puts the pieces together so well that it is both heart wrenching and creepy.

It’s hard to imagine what it feels like to find out that you’ve unwittingly been aiding the enemy–for the second time–and still having the composure to come up with a plan when the rest of the team just wants you to remove the device. Then add the fact that you ran into your ex, who is the reason you have the bug in your tooth to begin with.

Patterson, you win at misery poker! That’s just a bad day all around!

The scene at the end where she’s getting the molar taken out, sans anesthesia, is the perfect ending to that story-line and I hope that Blindspot can start climbing out of its rut and make some real progress.

What did you think of this episode of Blindspot? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Blindspot airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

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