Blindspot Review: Ghost Train (Season 5 Episode 8)

The bunker has been burned and it’s taken one of the team with it. Blindspot Season 5 Episode 8, “Ghost Train” is a necessary step towards a conclusion that comes at a high price. 

Let’s talk about the biggest revelation on “Ghost Train” first: the death of Patterson. 

There is so much to “Ghost Train” that feels like a goodbye. There’s an impending sense that the bunker is going to be breached and that they have to say farewell to the place that has been their home.

Patterson was preparing for that possibility early on with the virtual pets, and the moments when she gives each team member their device are some of the sweetest of the episode. Patterson is a character that always balanced serious and sweet really well, and having this be the episode that is her farewell is appropriate. 

The whimsical seafaring bit at the beginning when she and Rich are trying to psych people up is another classic Patterson moment. It feels like old times; if only for a second. 

With only three episodes left in the final season, this is the point where the show has to start making moves, and looking back Patterson seems like the logical death. It’s one we don’t want to see. It hurts. That hurt and grief will drive the team forward, though, and that’s what we need in these final three episodes.

The team just lost its “Mama Bear.” Jane’s comment about how the team is like her version of virtual pets drives this point home. Patterson may have been a “lab technician,” but she was the one who saved their bacon from the fire on more than one occasion. 

Appropriately enough, she dies saving them again, making sure the information they’ve gathered is destroyed. It’s an appropriate death for Patterson and an emotional one for the audience. 

The way Patterson’s final scene is scored and the performances from both Ashley Johnson and Ennis Esmer make this a compelling and gut-punching moment. Without any dialogue, it carries all the weight it needs to, and the moments after are heavy and wrought with sadness.

It also leaves us feeling somewhat hopeless. Patterson is the one who got them out of jams before and unlocked puzzles. Now they’re in Madeline’s custody with no way out. You know that if Patterson was there she’d be figuring out a way to bust them out with some combustible food as she did at the beginning of Blindspot Season 3. 

Now, while Patterson’s death is not something that we’re happy about, I do think this opens a door for Bill Nye to come back for one episode, or maybe Patterson’s mom.

On Blindspot Season 5 Episode 2, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” her dad makes a comment about how if anything happened to Patterson, her mother would him. So, I am gonna go out on a limb and say that when Patterson’s parents find out she’s dead, they’ll find their own brand of rebellion to help the team finish off Madeline. (And you know Kurt will fanboy if that happens.) 

Patterson’s death is really the very, very sour cherry on an action-packed episode.

Getting Zapata and Madeline in the same room, again, is a long-awaited “reunion.” Zapata and Madeline’s relationship was interesting in Season 4, and now with the tables turned the weight of everything that’s happened between them is finally getting a payoff. 

Hearing Zapata dig into Madeline about zipping her own son, while Madeline brings up the “trail of bodies” Zapata tends to leave in her path is the type of back and forth that makes shows like this so engaging. 

Originally, I thought that maybe this would be Zapata’s end. That maybe there was more to Zapata’s unhappy ending than I realized, but Zapata has also been on a redemption arc.

She’s the one closest to Madeline and the one that Madeline has the most to prove to in the team’s immediate circle. Killing her off now makes no sense. (Plus, with her pregnancy, it would be a bit like losing Reade all over again.) 

The last piece of this puzzle is Afreen and Weitz. Their version of the resistance has been very quiet since Madeline killed Breanna. Corrupting the blackmail material is a smart move, but brings up a lot of questions about Weitz’s loyalty. 

I can’t quite get a read on where Weitz stands, but I am hoping that he’s able to help the team going forward and doesn’t walk away. 

“Ghost Train” sets up for an interesting final ride, and it’s going to be very different then what we’re used to. Patterson’s loss is going to be felt. If they are going to get help, it’s gonna have to come from unlikely sources. 

The endgame isn’t clear, and that’s what makes these three episodes exciting. The only thing that is a given, is that Madeline has to be taken down. Here’s hoping they accomplish that. 

Stray Thoughts:

• If we don’t get a flash-forward of Zapata’s kid wanting to be an actor and Rich giving him that speech he’s prepared I will be disappointed. 
• Speaking of which I will now be sad if Patterson doesn’t make it into Baby Zapata’s name. I feel like there should be something in the girl code where when your best friend dies in a firey pit because you got burned by the people helping you, you name your baby after them. 
• Kurt and Jane’s moments before the elevator doors opened were cute, but definitely didn’t have the same gravity that Patterson’s death did. It’s not like they would have killed Jane Doe.
• It was great to see Keaton again and get the clarification on who was sending the clues to the team, but it also feels short-lived knowing their latest “clue” was also a trap. It also has some implications that either Boston or Allie talked and gave up the plan.

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

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Blindspot airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.

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