Blindspot Review: Upside Down Craft (Season 3 Episode 3)

It’s time to shine a light on what Patterson and Rich DotCom were up to in the eighteen-month time jump. Blindspot Season 3 Episode 3 “Upside Down Craft” is unspooling secrets very quickly as they expose the illegal hacktivism that Patterson and Rich DotCom were engaged in.

It is a little disappointing that this episode doesn’t pick up right where Blindspot Season 3 Episode 2 “Enemy Bag of Tricks” leaves off. Stuart’s murder has been reported and handled, but it is oddly dismissed as it is not related to the tattoos.

That doesn’t mean we’re still not looking at a Patterson-centric episode.

In some ways, this episode serves to bring Patterson back to where her computer skills and knowledge are at their sharpest.

Patterson is always on her game when it comes to her hacking skills, but, on this episode, it becomes clear that during the last year and a half, she started using the skills in some not-so-FBI-sanctioned ways.

While it felt good to be a cyber Robin Hood, she got the feeling that something was shady and was the one to pull herself and Rich out of Three Blind Mice. That doesn’t diminish the fact that the things they’ve done are illegal, and they could be prosecuted for it.

Rich DotCom’s involvement in Three Blind Mice serves as a stark counterpoint to Patterson’s because of course, we would expect the dark web hacker to be involved in something like this.

However, you can’t forget that he’s probably working an angle as well. All of his previous appearances have ended with a twist, and just because he is working for the FBI, doesn’t mean he isn’t playing the long game.

Overall, this episode is keeping track with the tension that Blindspot has been building this season, while at the same time giving our characters some meatier plotlines.

Blindspot episodes are synonymous with being plot-driven, and while Blindspot Season 3 Episode 3 “Upside Down Craft” is still plot-driven, it does move in a tighter, more focused direction than some of the episodes in previous seasons.

I think that it’s because we’re finding out that the motives behind Jane’s new tattoos are seedier and are taking aim at the team’s darkest secrets.

The team having secrets is nothing new. Seasons 1 and 2 were also great at laying a trail of breadcrumbs to big reveals, but what this season is doing, so far, is removing the trust the team has built and laying everything bare.

That’s a lot more frightening in my opinion.

Stray Thoughts

• Heather Burns gives a terrifying performance as Kathy, very different from the Miss Congeniality role I remember her for.
• Yep, I am pretty sure Rich DotCom fangirls are definitely a thing!
• Only Rich DotCom would hear that Patterson programmed a backdoor into her Wizardville app and immediately ask if his boss is a subscriber! Priorities, Rich!
• Is Zapata the only one who knows that Patterson never uses her first name? And Kurt doesn’t find that aspect of her email odd? How was he the director of the task force?
• Watching them all sitting in Kurt and Jane’s apartment playing Wizardville made me think: Patterson totally knew they were all subscribers didn’t she? She could have blown that whistle in the lab during the last episode, and it gives her “you all know that!” jab much more context.
• I cannot wait to see what other tricks Jane has up her sleeve after her motor oil trick. That was just cool.

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

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Blindspot airs Fridays at 8/7c on NBC.

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