It begins with a beautiful amnesiac woman, tattoos covering her entire body, emerging from a giant duffel bag in the middle of Times Square. The FBI takes her in, not just for the mystery and drama alone, but because the name of one of their top agents, Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton, Strike Back), is tattooed across her back. They dub her Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander, Thor) and attempt to figure out who she is and what message someone is boldly trying to send to the FBI by leaving her in Times Square.
The immediate members of Weller's team, namely Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) and Edgar Reade (Rob Brown), aren't too accepting of her presence at the FBI, and New York FBI Field Office Head Bethany Mayfair (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Without a Trace) isn't too keen on Jane, either, but tech genius Patterson (Ashley Johnson, The Last of Us) is quite excited to solve all of the many mysteries on Jane Doe's body. As they start to unlock tattoos, it soon becomes clear that Jane is no ordinary woman. Before long, they realize she can more than hold her own in the field, is a formidable fighter and marksman, and she speaks multiple languages. Her DNA tells a few different tales, one of being born in a far off land, another of being Weller's childhood best friend, Taylor Shaw, who was kidnapped when she was a little girl and never found. Needless to say, this case has Weller all tangled up inside.
As they begin to follow the leads that the tattoos provide, they realize they are stopping horrific acts and uncovering rampant corruption on many levels, some of which could be connected to Mayfair. Although, to be fair, everyone seems to have a secret or two. Zapata has a terrible gambling problem, which leads her to be susceptible to manipulation by CIA Deputy Director Thomas Carter (Michael Gaston, The Mentalist), among others, who seek more information on Jane Doe. Reade's secret is a bit more benign, but is still pretty big news. He is secretly dating Weller's little sister, Sarah (Jordana Spiro, My Boys, Dexter), something Weller won't be too fond of when he finds out. This also provides an in to those seeking intel on Jane Doe through Reade - he has people he loves that can be threatened.
The most secretive of all is probably Jane Doe, who has had her memory wiped by a massive dose of a drug called Zip. Who did this to her and why? Well, she doesn't really know, initially, but little snippets of memory are coming back to her and she is seeing people from those memories, who eventually interact with her. It seems she is part of something much bigger and she'll find her growing affection for Kurt Weller being used against her if she doesn't comply with the little missions she is given by her handler, Oscar (Francois Arnaud, Midnight, Texas, The Borgias), someone she clearly knew well before her memory was wiped.
Just as it does all throughout the season, Blindspot: The Complete First Season leaves you hanging with one hell of a cliffhanger and you pretty much won't know which way is up by the end of the riveting 23 episodes. One thing is for sure, though, you'll definitely enjoy the ride.
This season comes packed with a wonderful assortment of special features, including deleted scenes from many of the episodes, a gag reel, audio commentary on the Pilot episode, and a bevy of featurettes on the cast; the character of Oscar; the character of Weller and the badass man that plays him, Sullivan Stapleton; Jaimie Alexander and her stunt double; the fan-favorite character of Rich Dotcom; the explosive pyrotechnics and the team that makes them happen; the intricate tattoos and their creation and application; and finally, the 2015 Comic-Con Panel. I'm not typically big on featurettes and such, but these were all a joy to watch.
Overall, if you love a good mystery with loads of ass-kicking action, you can't go wrong with Blindspot: The Complete First Season. Highly recommended and I can't wait to see how the next season pans out.
