As far as concepts go, the tattooed body as a message is not a new one. In fact, thanks to Prison Break, it’s a rather famous one. However, that doesn’t make Blindspot any less interesting.
The premise of the show centres around an anonymous woman, Jane Doe, is found in the middle of time square in a bag, with tattoos covering most of her body, which turns out to be a puzzle that if followed may reveal who she is and what happened to her. The only clue as to who she is is the tattoo of FBI agent Kurt Weller on her back.
My initial impression was that the set up of the show is pretty standard. The male-female crime solving, puzzle discovering duo is relatively common in television today.
From Castle, Bones, the Twilight Zone, it’s been done. However, that really does not detract from Blindspot’s appeal. Not only does it start with a mystery but it’s one of epic proportions where one of the characters is as much a mystery to the show as it is to the audience.
Based on that frame of reference, I can anticipate a romance between the main characters. Perhaps a little predictable but i am looking forward to it playing out, seeing as whatever connection they make is at risk by whatever revelations her past may have. Namely, that she may not be the victim she, and those around her, believe her to be, but rather an instigator and co-conspirator of her situation.
It’s obvious that Weller feels protective over her, but at the beginning it does seem to be all about her vulnerability. And that she too trusts him to protect her. But as seen in the first episode, she is very capable of protecting herself, which leaves me wondering if their connection will be tenable in the long run.
However the most intriguing part of the show is that we keep discovering, along side the protagonist herself, Jane Doe, her likes, dislikes and abilities (like being able to read and speak Chinese), and discovering her personality as time goes on.
With all that being said, let’s get to the show’s breakdown:
Casting:
It’s is rather frustrating that yet again we have a Caucasian pair as the leading roles, but the casting otherwise is well done. At least for the first episode. I do worry that I’m never going to see a different expression from the male lead as it seems all he is capable of pulling off is an immense scowl.
In terms of the female lead I am thoroughly convinced by her performance and the intricate switch between being and feeling vulnerable and being a badass super agent.
Filming/Editing:
It’s a rather simple filming style consistent of the police drama/mystery genre, so aside from being nothing special and not particularly innovative, there’s nothing wrong about it. Though as time goes on this might be exactly what makes the show a little more boring, but I guess that’ll depend on the content.
Writing:
As mentioned about, the focal mystery is not a particularly new one to the genre but the way it has been presented does intrigue. And credit should be given to the writing for being able to make it semi-believable as opposed to wildly cliche or cringe-worthy. I have to wonder though if, as time goes on, it is able to maintain its level or seriousness without dipping into the melodramatic as is the case with so many police/cop show.
~ S ~
Photo by Dane Tewari on Unsplash
