Recap: Blindspot Season 1, Episode 8 – Let’s Be Careful Out There

BLINDSPOT -- "Persecute Envoys" Episode 108 -- Pictured: Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair -- (Photo by: Barbara Nitke/NBC)

When we last left the Blindspot team, Mayfair (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) was about to spill the beans to Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) about Daylight. Are ugoing to be privy to that information?

BLINDSPOT recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7

BLINDSPOT -- "Persecute Envoys" Episode 108 -- Pictured: Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair -- (Photo by: Barbara Nitke/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Persecute Envoys” Episode 108 — Pictured: Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair — (Photo by: Barbara Nitke/NBC)

First, we need a little flashback. “Persecute Envoys” opens on a scene from five years ago. Mayfair is meeting Carter (Michael Gaston) and a woman named Sofia (Sarita Choudhury) in a random parking lot. The three have been called there to meet with the White House Chief of Staff about a project called Daylight. Sound familiar?

Back at the FBI, Mayfair is giving Weller the details we’ve been waiting for. She says that the NSA has spent the last 10 years collecting intel on American citizens. Of course, all of the info was obtained illegally, so whenever they needed to use something, Mayfair would credit Saul Guerrero. She was basically laundering the info through Lou Diamond Phillips!

Weller doesn’t like a liar, even if those lies put a lot of bad people behind bars. Even worse, now he feels like he can’t trust Mayfair. Weller blows up and storms out of her office.

Zapata (Audrey Esparza) is getting out a few aggressions of her own – on Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander). The two are sparring, until Reade (Rob Brown) breaks up the action. Patterson (Ashley Johnson) needs to let everyone know that two NYPD officers were just killed execution-style. The dead are Jake Schultz (Brett G. Smith) and Sam Gerrigan (Derek Johnson), two cops who were involved in the shooting of an unarmed teenager. Blindspot is getting political!

BLINDSPOT -- "Persecute Envoys" Episode 108 -- Pictured: (l-r) Rob Brown as Edgar Reed, Ashley Johnson as Patterson, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, Audrey Esparza as Tasha Zapata -- (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Persecute Envoys” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Rob Brown as Edgar Reed, Ashley Johnson as Patterson, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, Audrey Esparza as Tasha Zapata — (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)

The two are part of a group of five from the 65th Precinct, known as the “Brooklyn Butchers.” Of course, they would have known that if they had consulted the tattoos. Jane Doe says that she has a butcher’s knife with a “65” in the cross-hairs on it. Of course, since someone went to all of the trouble to tattoo Jane Doe with the info, this is far from over.

The FBI crew goes over to the 65th to find everyone being briefed by the captain. The guy then informs the room that the FBI is taking over. That doesn’t go over too well. Mayfair tries to reassure the angry mob.

The group wants to talk to Schultz’s partner, Tracy Dunn. She tells them that the two deceased cops had nothing to do with the teen’s murder. Zapata tries to bond by telling Dunn that she was once a cop and lost her partner too. The crew then reviews footage from Schultz’s body camera, but all it shows is the moment where he goes down.

BLINDSPOT -- "Persecute Envoys" Episode 108 -- Pictured: Audrey Esparza as Tasha Zapata -- (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Persecute Envoys” Episode 108 — Pictured: Audrey Esparza as Tasha Zapata — (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)

The scene shifts to that same garage five years ago. Mayfair doesn’t like the idea of Daylight, but Carter and Sofia seem to disagree. “If people aren’t breaking the law, what do they care if we’re listening?” Carter asks. They need her on board though.

Back in the present day, Jane Doe senses the tension between Weller and Mayfair. She wants to help. He asks what she would do if someone she trusted let her down. “I’m not sure,” she says. “None of you have ever let me down.” Aw!

Reade calls the two over to see newly discovered footage from Schultz’s body camera. A guy can be clearly seen threatening Schultz’s life. It’s Ricky Holt (Roy Jackson), a pro football player who just happens to own the same make and model of gun that killed the two cops. Well, this is Blindspot, people; it’s just never that simple.

The FBI goes to Holt’s house. As soon as he sees them, he bolts. Even with a bum knee, the guy can still run and scale fences like a pro. Jane Doe is better though. She cuts him off and tackles him.

BLINDSPOT -- "Persecute Envoys" Episode 108 -- Pictured: (l-r) Rob Brown as Edgar Reed, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller -- (Photo by: Barbara Nitke/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Persecute Envoys” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Rob Brown as Edgar Reed, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller — (Photo by: Barbara Nitke/NBC)

Back at the FBI, Holt says that Schultz is a dirty cop. He said Schultz busted him, but was also blackmailing him with photos. It turns out that Holt is gay and is worried about how some of these pics will effect his career. He’s got bigger worries though. Weller informs him that Schultz is dead. Jane Doe then realizes that it’s not cross-hairs on her tattoo, but a camera lens. “The people who tattooed me didn’t know the policemen were going to die,” she says. “They knew that Brooklyn 65’s body cams were being used for blackmail.”

Suddenly, there’s another flashback. Mayfair isn’t sold on Daylight. However, she is sold on Sofia. The two are a couple!

Just as the crew is debating whether or not Dunn was in on the whole thing, Patterson comes in with word that she’s been shot. Dunn is dead. On top of that, forensics says that Holt’s gun doesn’t match the original murder weapon. Looks like he doesn’t need his lawyer after all.

The crew seems to think Schultz was extorting money from several people. Any one of those people could be the murderer.

Seconds later, they discover that Schultz may not have been blackmailing people after all. Anyone could access the footage on his body cam. The person who did access the footage had taken photos of those photos using a cell phone. Weller says they need to get warrants for the entire force, because he wants to do the right thing. This angers Mayfair and the two have it out again. Weller tells Mayfair flat out, “I can’t trust you anymore.”

BLINDSPOT -- "Persecute Envoys" Episode 108 -- Pictured: (l-r) Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair, Rob Brown as Edgar Reed, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe -- (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Persecute Envoys” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair, Rob Brown as Edgar Reed, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe — (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)

The scene cuts to Mayfair and Sofia sitting in a car, listening to news on the radio about Douglas Winter blowing the whistle on Daylight. Carter drives up and he starts to argue with Sofia. This guy is more angry than Weller!

Patterson discovers an unsent message that Schultz had drafted to internal affairs, saying he felt like someone was using his body-cam footage. “This wasn’t revenge,” Weller says. “It was a clean-up.”

It turns out that the murderer is another cop, one who didn’t want Schultz talking to internal affairs. The crew follows the money to an account that belongs to a dead guy —even though he’s had nine domestic violence calls over the past year. Seven of those calls were answered by officers Costello and Johnson (Mark Doherty).

So it turns out it’s not another cop, but a pair of cops. Patterson tracks a burner phone that was purchased from the account to Schultz’s house. The two cops are worried that Schultz’s widow may know something about her husband’s gripes to internal affairs. Johnson seems convinced that she knows something. This poor woman hasn’t been through enough?

Just as he tries to force the widow to take some pills, Weller and Jane Doe bust right through the front door. A gunfight breaks out. Even worse, Johnson throws some sort of bomb that causes Weller to lose his hearing. Weller is in obvious pain, but it’s more than his usual pain. Costello runs out front and Jane Doe shoots her in the leg. Weller is sort of out of it, but still manages to put a few bullets into Johnson.

BLINDSPOT -- "Persecute Envoys" Episode 108 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair -- (Photo by: Barbara Nitke/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Persecute Envoys” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair — (Photo by: Barbara Nitke/NBC)

Mayfair informs the captain that Johnson is dead and he was supposedly the next target. He wants to talk to Costello. This triggers another Mayfair flashback. She has more flashbacks than Jane Doe! Sofia is feeling remorse about what she’s done with Daylight. She wants to go to Hong Kong, but Mayfair’s not willing to move. She’s worried that if the truth comes out, all of the bad guys she put away will be back on the street.

In the car, the captain pulls a gun on Mayfair. He’s part of the scam, but he didn’t want anyone to die. Mayfair does a little creative driving to cause an accident. The captain is down, but Mayfair is safe. At the hospital, Weller confronts Mayfair about Daylight. He says that one of Jane’s tattoos could have her name on it. “Sooner or later, someone’s going to find out the truth,” he says. She doesn’t seem too worried.

The episode ends with Jane, Zapata and Patterson having drinks. Girls’ night out! Weller goes home to find his father hanging out. The two start bonding over drinks. Mayfair is drinking alone in the office, thinking about her lost love — literally. Sofia’s gone. She couldn’t take the guilt and ended up taking her own life.

Zapata breaks off from the girls, but meets up with Carter in the street. He wants more info. He says she already sold out her friends and could be indicted. “This is over when I say it’s over,” he threatens.

BLINDSPOT -- "Persecute Envoys" Episode 108 -- Pictured: Rob Brown as Edgar Reed -- (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)
BLINDSPOT — “Persecute Envoys” Episode 108 — Pictured: Rob Brown as Edgar Reed — (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)

This episode had more twists and turns than usual. If you’re following Blindspot, you may know that every episode’s title is an anagram. I’m not too bright when it comes to solving these, but I did catch that “Persecute Envoys” translates into ” Suspect Everyone.” That was certainly fitting for this episode, but I don’t think it’s over yet.

Speaking of which, can we trust Zapata? First, she’s a bad cop. Now, she’s a good cop … or something. Meanwhile, we still know nothing about Reade. Also, the thing with Weller’s dad seems to be sticking around, but can we trust him? And what’s going on with Taylor Shaw? We may have gotten a little spotlight on Daylight this week, but there are still so many unanswered questions!

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