Blindspot Season 1 Thread

[JD]

I didn't see a thread for the season yet, so here we go.
I wasn't totally blown away by the pilot, but I enjoyed it overall. The case of the week wasn't anything spectacular, but the introduction to Jane Doe and the rest of the cast was pretty good. I'm a big fan of Jaime Alexander, and I really liked her here. As a big fan of Without a Trace back in the day, I got a kick out of seeing Marianne Jean-Baptiste as the boss.
The big mystery with Jane seems pretty interesting. The stuff we got this week was intriguing. I was kind of surprised by the reveal at the end, I wasn't expecting something that big until later in the series.

 

[DWF]

I thought the premiere ep. was pretty good, the show hasa built in unfolding storyline. Jamie Alexander played Jane with both touchness and a vulnerable. And I thought it odd that it was created by Martin Gero on the Stargate shows he was pretty well known for his comedy eps. but this is a pretty serious show for him and so far a good one.

 

[Taylirious]

As I said in other threads I wasn't planning on watching it but did and enjoyed it. I remember Jamie Alexander from Kyle XY as Jessi and didn't care for her and never bothered with the Marvel movies and TV with her but thought she was fantastic in Blindspot.

 

[JD]

My only fear with this is longevity. I'm really hopping they have more in mind for this beyond just a tattoo case of the week, because I don't see that being very sustainable. There is the whole question of Jane's identity, but I don't see them being able to drag that out forever without giving us real info.
I'm definitely sticking with it, and I'm going to be optimistic because there are a lot of shows I've had similar thoughts about which went on to have lots of good seasons.

 

[Commander Richard]

I liked John Doe better. This show isn't handling the concept as well.

I also noticed that Jaimie Alexander got second billing.

(How many spellings of 'Jaimie' are there? I always have to look up how to spell her name.)

 

[Aragorn]

My only fear with this is longevity. I'm really hopping they have more in mind for this beyond just a tattoo case of the week, because I don't see that being very sustainable. There is the whole question of Jane's identity, but I don't see them being able to drag that out forever without giving us real info.
I'm definitely sticking with it, and I'm going to be optimistic because there are a lot of shows I've had similar thoughts about which went on to have lots of good seasons.

Plus the tats have to involve some sort of premeditated long term plan that needs to be foiled. They can't exactly add new ones to her.

 

[Scout101]

Sure they can. Every season finale, she gets kidnapped and re-tattooed

Wasn't bad, but we'll see. Not sure it's a long-term winner, calling the thread "season 1" may have been optimistic...

 

[Borgminister]

For all the hype, it's kind of rote. At least The Blacklist has Spader to chew the scenery. The tatooed chick might end up impressing with her acting chops, who knows. But the story is all kinds of been there, done that.

 

[auntiehill]

^that was my impression, too. I just don't see anything new or intriguing enough to keep me coming back. At least Spader is a joy to watch, however lame the rest of the "The Blacklist" might be. But here? There's nothing special. Really not digging it.

 

[Admiral2]

Yep, it's The Blacklist with tattoos. The only reason I'm watching it is because the tats are all over Lady Sif's nekkid body.

It's also moderately interesting that the Australian guy who played an American in Strike Back is playing an American here too as the American guy who played a Brit in Strike Back is debuting his own show on Thursday.

I like it mostly as an action show. They're trying to add depth with the whole "Is she Weller's long lost friend?" storyline, but that would solve the identity mystery too quickly if it turns out to be the case. Better to keep her Jane Doe for about half a season.

 

[Christopher]

I wasn't too impressed with the pilot, aside from Jaimie Alexander. But I saw an interview with creator Martin Gero saying that a lot about the story was advanced in episode 2, so I gave it another chance. I think I'm getting a little invested in it now, or at least curious enough to stick with it for the moment. Alexander is definitely the main draw.

It occurred to me last night: We now have two series on the air, Dark Matter and Blindspot, that revolve around characters who've had their memories wiped and are wrestling with the question of whether they were good or bad people in their previous lives. And they're both created by veterans of the Stargate franchise -- Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie for the former, Martin Gero for the latter. Is there some causality there, or just coincidence?

 

[Forbin]

They sure do like to give us closeups of Jamie's big, beautiful, perfectly-round green eyes. No complaints there.

But I'm giving it one more episode and maybe I'll bail. There's zero actual acting and characterization going on here, aside from Jamie herself. And the shaky-cam was amazingly obnoxious this week. I ended up with a headache. I've got a new 120Hz TV, and I think it's exaggerating the shaky-cam to health-threatening levels.

 

[Christopher]

They sure do like to give us closeups of Jamie's big, beautiful, perfectly-round green eyes. No complaints there.

Nope. Though I'm just as impressed by her strong, bold personality as by her physical beauty. She does have quite a presence. Downright... Asgardian.

But I'm giving it one more episode and maybe I'll bail. There's zero actual acting and characterization going on here, aside from Jamie herself.

Well, some of the actors are a major part of the draw for me. Jaimie Alexander herself, of course, plus Ashley Johnson (the first live-action series role I've seen her in) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The others are all kind of generic, though.

And the interview with Gero said that there's a major arc planned for Jean-Baptiste's character, that they wouldn't have been able to convince an actor of her caliber to sign onto this role if it had just been a boss handing out orders from a desk.

 

[Commander Richard]

9 more scripts have been ordered. Source

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Premiere was kind of 'Above average network', nothing special. Leads aren't that compelling, and I don't see how the premise is sustainable over long term. I guess if it lasts more than one season she will get her memory back and they will start going 'Off tattoo'?

 

[Admiral2]

Well, hopefully the show lasts long enough for a Blindspot/Blacklist crossover...

 

[Admiral2]

Well, they went there. Turns out Jane Doe is Weller's childhood friend. Not sure how to take that...

 

[Christopher]

I'm glad they didn't keep up the "Jane Doe" thing for long (though I'm still disappointed her real name isn't Lydia). It's good to advance the story and bring out real answers rather than just perpetuating an unending mystery. Although it feels like that's what they're doing in other respects, with the constant killing off of everyone who has answers.

I don't know if I'll stick around. The show's just too violent and gun-happy for my tastes, and I'm not crazy about endless-conspiracy shows. And the lead actor is still boring as hell. What is it about our media culture that demands that so many male leads be the blandest and least talented members of their casts? For that matter, why the hell is this boring guy I've never heard of the top-billed actor in a show that's clearly a star vehicle for Jaimie Alexander?

 

[Admiral2]

I'm glad they didn't keep up the "Jane Doe" thing for long (though I'm still disappointed her real name isn't Lydia). It's good to advance the story and bring out real answers rather than just perpetuating an unending mystery. Although it feels like that's what they're doing in other respects, with the constant killing off of everyone who has answers.

I don't know if I'll stick around. The show's just too violent and gun-happy for my tastes, and I'm not crazy about endless-conspiracy shows. And the lead actor is still boring as hell. What is it about our media culture that demands that so many male leads be the blandest and least talented members of their casts? For that matter, why the hell is this boring guy I've never heard of the top-billed actor in a show that's clearly a star vehicle for Jaimie Alexander?

Because Hollywood still considers movies and TV shows featuring women a risk, and NBC has been burned by a lot female-lead shows going belly up. Also, the guy you never heard of just came off of four seasons of a critically acclaimed cable show that's just as shoot-em-uppy as Blindspot is trying to be.

And I would have preferred Lydia, or anything other than the pat answer of "She's the long lost childhood friend we just heard about in episode two." If it's going to be a mystery, make it a mystery.

 

[Christopher]

Well, the mystery now is what happened to Taylor Shaw, why she disappeared as a child and how she ended up being what she is now, and presumably how that's connected to the bigger conspiracy thing that Mayfair is involved with. It's good that it's a series of nested mysteries that actually get solved while leading to deeper mysteries, rather than just endless vamping to avoid solving a single mystery. Look at Dark Matter, which I compared with this show before. In that, the nameless characters discovered their true names and identities at the end of the pilot, but it took the whole season for their respective mysteries and secrets to be revealed, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

Besides, we already had a similar show called John Doe, where the hero's real name and identity remained a mystery. It would've been too similar if this show had just kept calling her Jane Doe for the rest of its run.