Every tattoo has a story.
On paper, NBC’s Blindspot sounds kind of hokey. Jaimie Alexander (Thor) plays an amnesiac Jane Doe, covered in tattoos, and the FBI discovers that each design is somehow tied to a crime that needs solving. Spearheading the case is Agent Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton), whose name is inexplicably branded across Jane’s back. Together, they try to find out why this has happened and, more importantly, who’s behind it.
Despite a dubious premise, Blindspot offers intense action and a cool mystery element that make it interesting to watch. Obviously, a big part of the first episode is Jane trying to remember who she is and why she’s been paired with the FBI. Over the course of the premiere, we get several clues about her background — how she can speak Chinese, for example, or how she’s an expert martial artist (because of course she is). There’s even a flashback near the end that suggests a much different origin than we’re first led to believe.
Alexander does a good job in the lead role. In addition to trying to remember her identity, Jane has to recall what she likes and dislikes, what type of person she is and what she’s capable of. This adds a personal touch to her character that breaks up some of the monotony of the crime-solving, which is tedious in some scenes. That said, the action here is very well-executed, brief though it may be.
There’s also the dynamic between Jane and Weller, which contains hints of a potential romance down the line. Luckily, both Alexander and Stapleton play their characters with subtlety and restraint, although their personas are rather dull. But seeing as how this is the first episode — with a lot of ground to cover at that — there’s obviously room for these characters to grow and develop. That’s especially the case for Jane, who’s kind of supposed to lack personality at first. However, neither Jane nor Weller have much of a hook beyond the tattoo mystery.
Going off the pilot, it’s hard to tell what kind of show Blindspot will be. It’s easy to see how it could quickly become procedural, with the team solving a new case every week based on one of Jane’s tattoos. Then again, depending on how intricate the overarching story is, it could be that Blindspot focuses more on the mystery at hand and simply uses the tattoos as a vehicle of putting all the pieces together. Either way, there’s enough here in the premiere to check out at least one more episode.
If you can look past some of the show’s inherent silliness, NBC’s Blindspot presents a good mystery and some fun action sequences in the first episode. Both Jaimie Alexander and Sullivan Stapleton turn in fine performances as the leads, even if their characters are somewhat bland on the surface. Time will tell if the new series is worth watching, but the initial premise is interesting enough to tune in for another episode or two.
Blindspot premieres Monday, September 21st on NBC.
