Blindspot Review: Warning Shot (Season 3 Episode 13)
On this episode of Blindspot, an old friend returns, Rich Dotcom is surprisingly wise, and the gang gets dressed up for a dark web party. In short, Blindspot Season 3 Episode 13 “Warning Shot” has all the makings of a strong episode.
Blindspot Season 3 has been struggling with a long-term storyline. At times it gives us an abundance of information and at times it slowly drips out at a painfully slow pace.
“Warning Shot” manages to blend a case-of-the-week, some of the show’s history, and give us just enough scintillating details to keep us engaged for the next episode. This is a turn in the right direction for the series because this is the kind of storytelling that Blindspot Season 3 has been missing.
One of the standouts this week is Rich Dotcom. In his appearances in Blindspot Season 1 and Season 2, he was a dynamic dark web hacker. This season, while he’s still funny, I thought he was losing some of the dynamics that made him interesting to watch.
This week brings back some of the old Rich Dotcom sass with a bit of wisdom he’s been known to drop from time to time.
The scene where he’s on the phone with Pop Up Kit is so Rich Dotcom that you can’t help but smile. The faces of the team as Rich Dotcom uses the situation to get into the party he’s been bugging Reade about since the start of the episode really brings a moment of levity to a very serious situation.
Putting him in this dark web soiree puts him back in his element and seeing him interact with his old cohorts brings his storyline into focus. It’s hard not to wonder why the FBI isn’t tapping his expertise in this area more, especially since he would know where all the dark web hackers hang out.
It also provided a scene of Rich Dotcom wisdom. As much as he cracks jokes, he can be surprisingly wise when it comes to Jane’s life and her relationships. It’s what Jane needs to hear, and comes from the one person she doesn’t expect to hear it from.
Oddly, the distance between them is what makes their relationship work, and serve to make Rich more than just comic relief. These dimensions are welcome, and there needs to be more moments like this.
Another standout was returning guest star, Archie Panjabi as Nas. The last time we saw Nas was during Blindspot Season 2 Episode 18 “Senile Lines” when she fell on her sword to keep the team from going in front of Congress.
On “Warning Shot” we get to see exactly what happened after she left the FBI, but her real motives are much more interesting. It’s through Nas that we learn that she and Zapata have been working together and about Project Dragonfly.
This is one of the bits that has been frustrating me in recent episodes. We know that Zapata has been up to something but we don’t know the exact details, and the information has been coming very slowly.
In many ways, this reveal reminds me of Project Daylight in Season 1. It was one of those projects that sounded big, was alluded to a lot, but it really only came up in a few instances. Given all the connections between the subplots, it’s going to be disappointing if Project Dragonfly doesn’t have some lasting ramifications.
Overall, “Warning Shot” has some great connections to past Blindspot episodes while giving us enough to wet our appetites for the rest of the season.
Stray Thoughts:
- Anyone have any guesses as to what Project Dragonfly is? I desperately want to know. It’s also making me really distrust Zapata, and I am not a fan of that feeling.
- Let’s talk about Meg. I am glad she’s getting more screen time and more of a storyline, but why do I feel like her undocumented status isn’t going to cause this relationship to end well?
- Are we seeing a different side of Blake? We’ve never seen her take the lead in the planning and execution of a mission. It seems out of character for her and yet, this also feels much more compelling than some of the other episodic stories Blake and Roman have gone through together.
- Jane and Avery’s scenes together are cute, and I am excited to see where it goes. I think connecting with Jane’s high school sweetheart is definitely going to have an impact on this storyline.
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.