Blindspot Review: Everlasting (Season 3 Episode 14)
This Patterson centric episode is a head trip in more ways than one. Blindspot Season 3 Episode 14 “Everlasting” starts off pretty on point and then launches into the air in a grand jete that had us going “what the heck is happening?”
In many ways, “Everlasting” feels like a space-between trope mixed with a time loop. Both of these are scenarios we’ve seen before, but putting them together, with these characters, in this way makes it feel fresh.
Patterson’s “time loop” serves a function that lets her piece out, not just the case, but also some deep-seeded feelings of guilt and resentment. The variants in the loops get crazier and crazier, and while there are definitely bits that are comedic and may have been inserted for a moment of levity, they all steer Patterson towards an end goal.
The presentation of this episode is a smart move. Episodes, where a character gets hurt, can easily become all about the hospital and hope that character makes it. While we did get hints of that, “Everlasting” has Patterson doing what she’s good at, even while she’s in a medically induced coma.
Having all the action take place in Patterson’s head also gives the actors an interesting playground to explore their characters in different situations.
For example, one standout scene was Roman standing in the elevator with Patterson, naked. While it seems gratuitous to have Roman there nude, it also brings a moment of levity to the episode. After multiple loops with Patterson getting more and more frustrated, there has to be some break in the tension, and the way Luke Mitchell and Ashley Johnson play off of it feels very fluid and natural (for a head space, time loop).
There is no question that Ashley Johnson’s performance in this episode is outstanding. She carries this episode well and manages to make us laugh at times too.
When Team Weller is interrogating everyone who was involved in the volcanic cremains test and she’s shouting at the screens, it’s almost like the entire audience is screaming at the team to solve the problem. At the same time I just wanted to hand Patterson a cup of tea and tell her, “Hey, it’s okay.”
But one of the biggest things about this episode, despite all its laughs, is how it addresses how Patterson has dealt with the guilt over Stuart and David’s deaths. Incorporating them into the dreamscape is a nice touch and it’s handled very well.
The insistence that Patterson break the loop and let go of her guilt is something that this character really needs.
Think back to Blindspot Season 1, and how at ease Patterson was, she was happy with David and light. We saw her deal with his grief, even going to a dinner he set up for their anniversary in Blindspot Season 1 Episode 16 “Any Wounded Thief,” but even that led to a tattoo clue, not a revelation on Patterson’s part.
Then Blindspot Season 2 came along, and she was happy with Borden. Then she got shot, was tortured, had a hole drilled in her tooth, and was almost killed by him. It wasn’t a good ending and I can see how she’s afraid to trust anyone with her heart after that.
But she needs to and I think that will make her a more dynamic character as the season moves on.
Let’s everyone chant: “Please let him be normal! Please let him be normal!”
Stray Thoughts:
- The way Reade brings up the engagement is so cute. I thought for sure there was some bad news, but his surprise announcement was much better.
- The Jane and Kurt body swap was weird, but I think that Sullivan Stapleton and Jamie Alexander pulled it off.
- The high school scene was the stuff of nightmares, but at the same time, of course, Patterson would know the answer to what equation is on the board.
- Patterson’s fight scene was badass. Period. End of sentence.
- Borden is alive? Really? Why do I get the feeling that this isn’t going end well?
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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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.
3 comments
The homage to Groundhog Day and The Breakfast Club was great!
I know right?
Geez I feel old seeing that scene just called a plain old high school nightmare scene instead of the hilarious homage it was intended to be.
The entire episode plays as an homage to the meme regarding “the things going on in a woman’s head at any one time” vs. a man’s. I’m not sure I’ve seen my wife laugh that hard in years. We kept having to go to pause on the DVR to catch all the references. Needless to say, she wanted a rewind on the “naked Roman” scene!
As 80’s kids with a deep-seated love for the Breakfast Club, I thought the show server as a proper homage, with the necessary amount of levity. Jaimie Alexander channeling her inner Ally Sheedy was priceless.
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