Blindspotting Season 2 Episode 7 Review: Meatfest

Blindspotting Season 2 Episode 7, “Meatfest,” is a hilarious outing that ends in heartbreak as Ashley’s secret bubbles to the surface. Miles’ return is the plot twist to end all plot twists. 

However, Ashley’s indiscretion, culminating in her cheating on Miles, isn’t the only secret coming to the fore. Trish is finally honest with Jacque and confesses her love for her and her covert sabotage of Jacque’s relationship with Cuddie. Janelle reveals she’s moving back to Bali. It all certainly provides intriguing narrative fodder for the season finale. 

RAINEY: I gotta do more to reduce the white footprint. 

“Meatfest” touches on Ashley and Trish’s perpetually tense relationship. While Season 2 initially presents them in a better place, especially after Ashley and Miles’ marriage (Exhibit A: Season 2 Episode 2, “Life Is Too Short”), this outing sees what they cultivated crumble completely. 

Jaylen Barron is a swirling hurricane and a force to be reckoned with on the acting front. Barron deftly breathes life into Trish as a multilayered, nuanced character. Here, she portrays Trish’s seething anger with vim and vigor, reminding us that hell hath no fury like a Trish scorned. 

The man Ashley kissed, Earl’s roommate, seems to play it off like a one-night-stand situation, perhaps making the kiss worse than it is (that’s not to say cheating is okay). From our perspective, it looks like Ashley is kissing Miles in a flashback since Season 2 Episode 5, “Karate Kiss,” employs several flashbacks featuring Ashley, Miles, and Collin partying. Maybe she thought she was smooching her husband.  

SCOTTY: She has one, and you have one. They cancel each other out like that time I had a threesome with my ex. 

Yet, when it comes time for Ashley to explain herself to Rainey and the others, she freezes, unable to account for why she did what she did beyond being drunk and missing Miles. It makes for an exciting character moment for Ashley, which Jasmine Cephas Jones executes beautifully. We can see Ashley’s pain. 

The side plot with Earl, Janelle, June, and Sean is lighthearted fun that gives the delightful (and adorable) Atticus Woodward a chance to shine. Benjamin Earl Turner puts his sharp comedic chops on display during his scenes with Jones and Barron, providing some of the funniest moments in the episode. 

“Meatfest” might be the only outing that doesn’t boast a fantastical sequence or fourth-wall break save Thizzly Bear, who still appears as a giant imaginary friend for Sean. While Blindspotting always maintains a groundedness even amid the fantasy moments, omitting them here makes sense. Secrets threatening to sever the group’s family dynamic are disclosed, and the lack of fantasy elements elevates the stakes. 

ASHLEY: And I know you know. And now you know I know you know. 

EARL: I don’t know anything. 

Even Thizzly Bear reverts to an inanimate object once Miles scoops up Sean in his arms. Thizzly Bear has represented Miles for Sean this season, serving as a protector while Miles is in prison. Seeing Sean feel safe again when his father returns home tugs at the heartstrings in the best way. 

“Meatfest” strikes a nice balance between comedy and drama, presenting us with a fun romp for the majority of the episode until the proverbial sh*t hits the fan. It happens in a manner that’s very true to life: Trish divulging Ashley’s secret results in Janelle’s Bali reveal and Trish’s love confession, and, finally, the appearance of Miles in person. You view these moments through the lens of the spectators like Rainey and Earl while struggling to absorb all these “truth bombs.”

It’s a masterful few minutes of drama that leaves us wanting more and gives us plenty to think about until the season finale debuts. The next time we see these characters will undoubtedly be as intense as it is darkly humorous. Because if there’s one thing (of many) that Blindspotting excels at, it’s finding the funny in the heartbreak. (Trish’s brother comes home from prison, and the first thing she does is reveal that Meatfest has officially hit “white” capacity. Hilarious.)

Stray Observations: 

• If you were me in 2009, you were obsessed with Desperate Housewives. You’d also recognize Darnell as Ricardo Chavira, who played Carlos Solis. 
• All vegans and vegetarians might want to steer clear of this episode. 
• Piggybacking (hee hee) off the last bullet point, it was hard not to drool over my keyboard at all the delicious meats. Rainey’s Meatfest looks like a dream (and a wellspring of cheeky innuendos). 
• Is there anything cuter than Sean and Earl’s friendship? I don’t think so. 
• The Meatfest attendees trying to figure out if Darnell is white might be one of the funniest moments on the show. 

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

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

Blindspotting streams new episodes every Friday on Starz. 

 Follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Vote for Your Favorite TV Shows and Performers! The 2023 Tell-Tale TV Awards (Round 2)