Recap: Blindspot Season 1, Episode 6 – Sweet Dreams

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BLINDSPOT -- "Cede Your Soul" Episode 106 -- Pictured: (l-r) Aimee Carerro as Ana Montes, Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe, (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)

On last week’s episode of Blindspot, it looked like we were going to have a gunfight between the CIA and the FBI. It was also looking like Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander, Kyle XY) was not really Taylor Shaw after all. Even more importantly, Zapata (Audrey Esparza, Public Morals) was becoming a snitch to pay off her gambling debts. Confused or intrigued? Let’s dive into this week’s episode to try to make sense of it all.

The beginning of “Cede Your Soul” looked like something out of a soft-core, made-for-Cinemax movie. The scene shows Jane Doe getting it on with someone who appears to be equally tattooed. The action/dream was immediately cut off by the alarm clock. Isn’t that always the way?

Blindspot Season 1 Recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5

BLINDSPOT -- "Cede Your Soul" Episode 106 -- Pictured: Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller -- (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Cede Your Soul” Episode 106 — Pictured: Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller — (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)

It’s not the way for Weller (Sullivan Stapleton, Strike Back), however, because he’s sleeping at the office after last week’s troubles. His sister Sarah (Jordana Spiro, My Boys) shows up to let him know that it’s OK to come home. Apparently, his dad (Jay O. Sanders, Person of Interest) is now at a hotel and shouldn’t be bothering him much longer. However, it’s not because of the hotel thing, but because he seems to have cancer or some sort of incurable disease.

Zapata is having a different sort of wake-up call at her apartment. Her bookie is there, looking for cash. She says she’s working on it and practically breaks his arm to let him know that she’s not in much of a rush. Time is running out for her, though. Between this and the dirty money, can her character last beyond this season? At this point, she would need to save a box of kittens from ISIS or something to really redeem herself.

Back at the office, Jane Doe is talking to the shrink, who sees “the sex dream” as a breakthrough, because it could be bringing out her true feelings. When he asks Jane Doe about the identity of the dream man, she immediately thinks that he thinks it’s Weller. “You said that, not me,” he responds. Zing!

Speaking of jumping to romantic conclusions, Mayfair (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Without a Trace) asks Weller about the dinner he had with Jane Doe. She knows that his judgement is clouded. Frankly, the judgement of the entire FBI seems clouded. They have no clue who Jane Doe is, but they give her a gun? Enough said.

BLINDSPOT -- "Cede Your Soul" Episode 106 -- Pictured: Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe -- (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Cede Your Soul” Episode 106 — Pictured: Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe — (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)

Not to worry though, because all of the attention on the obvious ends up making Weller and Jane Doe tense whenever they’re together. In fact, Weller seems to be compensating by being extra jerky. That whole exchange the two have in the FBI locker room is a perfect example. No more Mr. Nice Guy!

Of course, the show isn’t just about the romance aspect – or it shouldn’t be. This week, it’s all about the Dark Web.

But first, we see a Saudi prince and his companion riding in a government vehicle. All seems fine until their car is cut off by another, which then proceeds to bombard them with gunfire. The suspects are quickly shot dead, but so are their targets. It turns out that the assailants had an app called Trakzer, which Patterson (Ashley Johnson) says “hacks into the GPS signals from Blue Force trackers on government vehicles and maps their exact location.” Whoa.

All of the traffic from the app is routed through the Dark Web. Reade (Rob Brown, Treme) explains that the Dark Web is like “the Wild West” of the web, where all of the bad stuff goes down; everything from weapons to sex trafficking.

Oh, and the logo for Trakzer is an owl that happens to match a tattoo on Jane Doe’s leg. Patterson links the source code from the app to a recent Hackathon winner, who also has the user name “The Horned Owl.” The P.O. box used on the Hackathon entry form leads the crew to Brooklyn. Of course, it’s not going to be that easy. It never is!

When the crew breaks into the apartment, they meet the creator of Trakzer, Ana (Aimee Carrero, Young & Hungry), a 17-year-old Selena Gomez lookalike who claims that she created the app for the FBI. “I work for the U.S. government,” she announces.

BLINDSPOT -- "Cede Your Soul" Episode 106 -- Pictured: (l-r) Aimee Carerro as Ana Montes, Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe, (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Cede Your Soul” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Aimee Carerro as Ana Montes, Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe, (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)

During questioning, Ana tells Zapata that her contact is a guy named Leonard Gail, who is part of the National Security Agency (NSA). Zapata tries to bond with her via Spanish, but it doesn’t work. Jane Doe takes a crack at it (uninvited, of course), by whipping out her owl tattoo. Ana freaks out and rightfully so – the logo was designed by her brother, who was killed a year ago. After a few minutes of bonding, Ana shuts down.

Weller walks in. He doesn’t want to bond though. Instead, he tells the girl that there is no Leonard Gail and shows her photos of the carnage her creation has caused. “You didn’t give your software to the good guys,” Weller tells her. “You gave it to someone very dangerous and every second it’s out there, more lives are at risk.”

Unfortunately, Ana isn’t much of a help. She says she can’t shut down the app because it’s on a server owned by a guy named Shawn Palmer (Rodrigo Lopresti). He’s the scammer – or at least the middleman. While Ana can’t take the software down directly, she can help the FBI.

Ana tells the crew that Shawn’s place is a souped-up smart home and he never seems to leave. And if he sees the FBI coming, he will put Trakzer online so that more than one crazy person will have access to its benefits. So the FBI decides to force Shawn out into the daylight, in order to hack into his system.

Zapata and Reade are disguised as construction workers, while Weller and Jane Doe sit in a neighboring van. While they wait, the two have it out. Weller is upset that Jane Doe tried to bond with Ana because he feels she’s now too emotionally invested. She turns the tables on him and says how it sounds a lot like their situation.

BLINDSPOT -- "Cede Your Soul" Episode 106 -- Pictured: (l-r) Audrey Esparza as Tasha Zapata, Rob Brown as Edgar Reed -- (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Cede Your Soul” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Audrey Esparza as Tasha Zapata, Rob Brown as Edgar Reed — (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)

Zapata blows all of Shawn’s fuses and his server equipment starts popping like popcorn. Of course, that’s the least of the problems. The whole place starts to go up in flames. However, instead of leaving, Shawn tries to put out the fire and collapses. Weller and Jane Doe run in and save him – then arrest him.

Jane Doe offers Ana a ride home and a sympathetic ear. She doesn’t seem too receptive. Weller catches her in the act and the two have it out again. She basically tells him that she needs room to breathe.

Patterson finds Weller in the hall and mentions that she needs help with the Guerrero file. Weller tells her to talk to Mayfair and she says she already has. Weller says he will look into it. However, that’s not what we’re going to be focusing on for the rest of this episode.

Think the whole Trakzer thing was solved a little too quickly? We’re not finished yet, and neither is Ana. When she gets back to her apartment, she’s greeted by three very scary men. They want Ana to find a specific truck or she’s going to meet the business end of a very big gun. Trakzer to the rescue – or at least her rescue.

Back at the FBI, Patterson realizes that Ana is hacking into her system. Patterson sees it as a cry for help and manages to bring up Ana’s webcam to see Misha Volkov sitting next to her. He’s a Russian drug runner, in search of DEA movements.

BLINDSPOT -- "Cede Your Soul" Episode 106 -- Pictured: Audrey Esparza as Tasha Zapata -- (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Cede Your Soul” Episode 106 — Pictured: Audrey Esparza as Tasha Zapata — (Photo by: Paul Sarkis/NBC)

The FBI crew heads over to Ana’s place, but no one is home. However, Ana did leave behind a little code that lets the FBI know who they are tracking. It turns out it’s a Homeland Security transport truck with weapons inside. The bad guys kill the truck’s drivers and are about to help themselves to the goods when the FBI crew shows up.

Remember though: These guys have some serious hardware, including bazookas. The bad guys blow up the crew’s SUV and a gunfight breaks out. Jane Doe moves in to rescue Ana. The rest of the crew picks off the bad guys. one by one. As Volkov goes to leave with the truck, Weller picks up a random grenade, pulls the pin and lofts it right into the truck. Boom!

Back at the FBI, Jane Doe checks in on Ana and the two have another bonding moment. Ana mentions Jane Doe’s tattoos and points out that a black patch on her shoulder is a piece of steganography, which basically means it has a hidden message underneath. No one knows what it means, but what they do know is that every single one of Jane Doe’s tattoos could have more than one meaning. Gotta plan for multiple seasons, people!

At the end of the day, Weller asks if Jane Doe wants him to step down. She likes having him around though – to a point. Weller then goes home to find his father and sister waiting. Despite Weller’s hesitation, the three sit down and explain Jane Doe’s existence to him. He cries tears of joy.

Zapata pays off her bookie and tells him she’s done with gambling. She must have a real problem though, because he’s not buying it.

Jane Doe goes home and tries to make friends with her security detail. Of course, they can’t get too close. Down the block, a man is finishing up a phone call. His arm drops and we get a glimpse at his tree tattoo. It’s the guy from Jane Doe’s erotic dream!

Okay, so it looks like Weller wasn’t the dream man after all. So who was that guy? For a second, I had to rewind because I thought it was Zapata’s bookie, but I think they just have the same facial hair. It looks like Jane Doe may have someone to have a beer with after all. Maybe we will find out his identity next week.

New episodes of Blindspot premiere Monday nights at 10/9CT on NBC.