Blindspot Review: Deductions (Season 3 Episode 15)
Let’s take a deep breath and try to unpack Blindspot Season 3 Episode 15 “Deductions.” This episode is very CIA heavy and focuses on Zapata’s relationship to the CIA versus the FBI.
Given how shielded Zapata’s work for the CIA is, it feels appropriate that an episode should examine her work, without revealing it, but at the same time, it’s frustrating.
I have no doubt that Blindspot is building its major storyline for this season and we are getting more information than we were in the early episodes of Season 3. The plots do feel tighter, it feels like there’s more of a direction, and the show is stronger for it, but I wish there were some more movement on the motivation behind all this.
It all comes into play with the return of Cade, who was let go after Blindspot Season 2 Episode 16 “Evil Did I Dwell, Lewd I Did Live” but things haven’t gone well for him in the last year. After Nas let him go, he was kidnapped by the CIA and has been at a black site ever since.
When Cade defected from Sandstorm in Blindspot Season 2, I lamented that we didn’t get to see more of him because he seemed like such an interesting character. Plus, at the time, we still had no idea what Sandstorm was up to, and it felt like a missed opportunity to just have him disappear into the wind.
“Deductions” gives us just enough to wonder what happened once he left the FBI’s custody and paints an interesting picture of a former terrorist who was trying to have a family. It’s hard to reconcile this feeling because you know that Cade was working with Sandstorm, and yet all he wants is to see his son. It’s a very human response, and yet I know I shouldn’t be rooting for him.
While I am glad to see that the writers took the opportunity to pick up the loose end and give us some insight as to what he’s been doing, it is starting to feel a bit like it did this time last season. We are getting interesting stories, but nothing is adding up yet.
Make no mistake, “Deductions” is fun to watch, but we don’t have any information on Crawford or what he’s planning. Plus, we’re still not sure how Roman’s long con as Tom Jakeman is supposed to factor into this.
We’re about two-thirds of the way into the season now, and I would think we’d have more. We have small teases to the rest of the season, but nothing to make the big picture come into focus.
Audrey Esparza is the standout as Zapata this episode. Her internal conflict over how the CIA is operating is what is driving the story forward, and it makes for a compelling episode. It makes me wonder exactly what she was doing during the time jump.
The one thing this episode does do very well is to upend Zapata’s thinking regarding her job at the CIA and what is involved in her methods. Earlier this season, Blindspot established that the reason Zapata moved to the CIA was so that she had more freedom. I can understand that but there is also a certain irony in it.
It’s hard not to watch this and want to make jokes about communication in the workplace. The amount of stuff that neither Keaton or Zapata know feels like a recipe for disaster. Yes, I understand the CIA does operate on matters of counter-terrorism and intelligence, and some of this information is likely need-to-know, but I struggle to understand how anyone can work that way.
It’s a very serious matter, but it feels a bit like being told that you had to provide the knife to cut the cake when you had no idea a cake was being served.
Stray Thoughts:
- Did anyone really think Roman would drink from the glass unless he was certain that it wasn’t poisoned?
- Patterson’s comment about how she finds stuff just has to be a mood!
- Is anyone else bothered by the fact that in order for Hank Crawford to kidnap his own daughter, he needed to know what she’s planning? So remember when Blake started plotting because before she was kidnapped? How she was doing this because she knew her dad wouldn’t? Yea, apparently he knew all about her plan all along? Does this smell fishy to anyone else?
- Avery’s dad didn’t kill himself? So what happened? This is what I am talking about Blindspot, more questions than answers.
- Can someone just spill the beans about Project Dragonfly already?
What did you think of this episode of Blindspot? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Reviewer Rating:
User Rating:
Blindspot airs Fridays at 8/7c on NBC.
Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
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.