Blindspot Review: Sous-Vide (Season 4 Episode 4)

Sometimes the scariest threats come in the form of people who are supposed to save the day. Blindspot Season 4 Episode 4, “Sous-Vide” plays on those fears and delivers another episode that expertly balances plot and character development.

“Sous-Vide” starts out creepy with an asylum and dolls, and turns into an episode about a bio-weapon engineered by the military. It’s an opportunistic storyline that turns the FBI team into lab rats, and also serves to unearth some layers in our favorite characters.

So far, Blindspot Season 4 hasn’t lent itself well to Jeller moments, for the simple reason that Jane isn’t Jane. The subterfuge is interesting to watch and has given the series a dose of added suspense that it desperately needed, but the connection between Jane Doe and Kurt has always been at the core of the drama.

But, “Sous-Vide” gives a gripping climactic moment between our favorite duo despite Jane’s duplicity, and it works. After Beck injects Jane with the virus that would ultimately kill her, Kurt shows up demanding the antidote.

While it doesn’t have the melodrama of Jane trying to stop Kurt from entering an infected area, it does feel like it would have if Jane and Kurt were in this situation instead. And the moment works because they both want Jane to live.

But, the episode does more than give viewers a pseudo-Jeller moment. It shows viewers that Remi’s bravado is starting to crack.

One of the things that’s so enjoyable about watching Jaime Alexander play Remi is how devious Remi can be when the situation demands it, and we got to see a lot of devious Remi in this episode.

However, we are also seeing her determination and stalwart belief that she knows what her mission is, to crack. We first saw a bit when she saved the train full of civilians at the end of Blindspot Season 4 Episode 3, “The Quantico Affair,” and now we see her reaction to Kurt saving her.

They’re subtle moments, but they do so much to layer Remi’s story.

Watching the rift form between Remi and her hallucination of Roman is another aspect of this story that’s been really enjoyable.

We never really did get enough of Remi and Roman when we were first introduced to Jane’s brother in Season 2. Watching them go from a kind of comfort to fighting has been a treat. Especially when you consider that the roles were likely reversed in the orphanage.

Through all of this, Kurt’s love for Jane continues, and the fact that he called Allie to check up on the woman Jane is meeting is a great move on the part of the writers. Kurt has a good reason to call Allie. They do have a history, she’s the mother of his child, but she’s also their friend.

ALLIE: I’ll even do vegan. That’s how much I love you guys.

Seeing how their relationship has progressed is a great way to nod at longtime viewers, and the fact that Allie catches onto how something isn’t right is Jane underscores just how well they’ve come to know each other.

Rich Dotcom also got a few layers baked into his story this episode. While it starts with him up to his old shenanigans—breaking into Kurt’s apartment and cooking, a nod to the Season 2 scene where he commented on Kurt’s taste in Pennsylvanian beer—it soon becomes much more.

Rich is usually one to crack wise, and he does his fair share of that in “Sous-Vide,” but he also shows a more sincere side as he attempts to comfort Laurel who has been exposed to a biological contagion.

The scenes are still funny, but pitch and yaw between a well-meaning laugh to the reality of the virus. In fact, this whole episode gives several hints to how Rich will react to Jane’s death.

When Weller finds him attempting to cook in the apartment, Rich talks about his concern for his favorite FBI power couple, talking about how no one ever worries about the caregiver.

Reade unearths the story of Rich’s history with hospitals, and while we don’t get the full story, it seems like these moments are going to be important with Rich’s actions later in the season as the story with The Book of Secrets unspools.

It’s a welcome shift for Rich, but it’s also a bit of a gut punch. In the universe of Blindspot, Rich Dotcom seems to be Jeller’s biggest fanboy.

Yes, he doesn’t know that Jane is actually Remi right now, but the ZIP poisoning also hasn’t progressed yet. We’re still seeing devious Remi, and it’s hard to imagine the point where her condition will turn.

The further we get into Blindspot Season 4, the more the slow burn the writers are laying out is intriguing to me. “Sous-Vide” really let the actors and guest stars shine in this episode and I am ready for it.

Stray Thoughts:

• Happy to see Tasha getting to do an action sequence at the top of the episode. Her arc so far is one that I am still trying to piece together and it seems like the next episode could give me the answers.
• I want to unpack the meaning of Crabbe’s narwhals! Can we please discuss how this might relate to shifts in Remi’s character?
• It’s been great seeing Luke Mitchell in these first four episodes, I really hope this isn’t the last we see of him.
• Shout out to Stefanie Drummond who played Laurel Chadwick! It’s not easy to get me invested in a guest character who dies halfway through the episode, but the little character quirks made her memorable.
• Geeking out over “The Periodic Table” song! Points for bringing in the Bill Nye the Science Guy reference. Still, want to know a little more about Patterson’s upbringing.
• Did anyone else wince a little bit when Beck was asking for consent to inject Laurel and Jane with the reaction serum? Feel like there’s an important plot point about consenting to medical treatments.
• Anyone else wonder how things are going to go when Remi meets Bethany?

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

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Blindspot airs Fridays at 8/7c on NBC.

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