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Episode Review: "That Roman. Brains and beauty." [S03E21]

We have reached the penultimate episode of the season. With all but one episode behind us, how do feel about where this season has taken us?

Y: I love it and I hate it and I am scared and I am worried and I don’t think I am ready for where it is all leading. But otherwise, I’m totes chill.

L: Same. I kind of thought that I was prepared for this episode, but as it turns out, no, I was not. I loved it. I mean, I’m also terrified for every one of these characters, but damn, I’m dying to find out where all this has been heading!

Our case of the week is sort of a continuation of the previous case but is probably best categorized as “The team tries to stay one step ahead of Roman,” a goal that is far more easily stated than accomplished. Does it seem like they are gaining ground?

L: In the previous episode, the team arrested Lynnette Belmont and confiscated her laptop, where they discovered Franklin-Dorfman security codes good for the next 24 hours. The team is certain that Crawford is targeting one or more of those buildings, but they have 117 possible targets and not enough time to prevent attacks at all of them. (I guess contacting Franklin-Dorfman is out of the question? Don’t they have some kind of security breach contingency plan? And if not, why are so many businesses depending on them?!) The team seems stalled until one of the locations reports a break-in, Farm Fresh Solvents, which stores large quantities of dinitrogen tetroxide. Jane has a conveniently-timed flashback in which she recalls Roman outlining a plan for Shepherd that involves stealing that chemical and combining it with another one to build a bomb. Patterson and Rich (the aptly-named “Wonder Twins,” as Reade refers to them) identify the other chemical needed, monomethylhydrazine. But in order to figure out which location would have MMH, they bring Shepherd in for questioning. (Because I guess it would take too long to cross off all the buildings on their list? How common is MMH? Somehow I’m thinking Patterson would have been able to find it without involving Shepherd.)

Y: Come on now, cut the team--the writing team, that is--some slack. Look beyond the plot holes that allowed them to bring Shepherd back, because bringing Shepherd back was absolutely epic. Yes, I agree it seems like this threat could have been resolved with one phone call, but where’s the fun in that?

L: True. I can’t argue with any plot twist that lets Michelle Hurd come back and creep us out!

Shepherd is delighted to catch up with the team. She immediately taunts Kurt about his wedding ring and his relationship with her daughter (who was “tailor-made” for him, no pun intended, I’m sure). She assures them she has the information they need but says she will only give it to Jane. After some discussion (during which it is noted that Shepherd “resisted all enhanced interrogation techniques”--like daughter, like mother, apparently; my mom just gave me her paprikash recipe, but I guess every family passes along their own specialties), Jane volunteers to go in and talk to Shepherd. Shepherd apologizes for trying to come between Remi and Roman and appeals to Jane not to hurt Roman, ending with an ominous, “If he dies, you die with him.” She does hold up her end of the bargain, though, informing them that Roman will steal the second ingredient from Little Sky Storage, a military subcontractor that specializes in the storage of hazardous materials.

Unfortunately, the FBI team sent to secure the facility arrives too late. All the guards are dead, and the MMH is missing, but an employee reports a truck leaving the premises and describes it to the FBI. Patterson finds it on a traffic camera and discovers that it’s on its way to the United Nations. The team springs into action, ordering an evacuation of the UN, while Reade and Zapata check out the loading dock where the truck dropped off its contents. They find the bomb, hidden in a copy machine, and disassemble it with seconds to spare. (Judging by what happens later in this episode, it’s clear that this activity has the same aphrodisiac effect on them as it does on the Wellers. Can’t these people just drink a little wine to get in the mood?)

Meanwhile back at the OK Corral, the Wonder Twins continue their digging into Lynnette’s laptop and discover that she used her wife’s credentials to login to Franklin-Dorfman. (Kudos to the writers’ room for another non-conventional family, although like all of the same-sex relationships on this show--and most of the heterosexual ones as well, to be fair--it’s likely on its way to an unhappy ending now.) Patterson and Rich lean on Lynnette, threatening to charge her wife as an accomplice in the UN bombing attempt, and she tells them that Crawford’s plan has something to do with a large oil pipeline that will run through Kambezi and Odan, two nations with a long and violent history whose leaders are sitting down for peace talks at the UN today. The land Crawford acquired from Bruyere borders both nations, so if the peace talks fail, the next logical place to locate the pipeline will be through Crawford’s property.

Kurt and Jane find the leaders of the two nations, but UN security protocols dictate that world leaders be brought to a prearranged safe house in an emergency under the care of the Secret Service. Of course, this is exactly what Roman was counting on, but Kurt and Jane can do nothing but accompany them to the hotel (and try to encourage a bit of world peace in the process). Patterson is trying to keep tabs on them via the hotel security system, but quickly figures out that Roman must have tapped into the security feed, a hunch that pans out a moment later when the feed in the service elevator goes out. She warns Kurt and Jane, who escape with the dignitaries before Roman and his henchmen--all disguised as secret service agents--arrive. She helps them navigate through the hotel to a room with a construction chute, where Kurt and Jane drop the two leaders down to Reade and Zapata before jumping out after them.

Back at the NYO, the team celebrates that, with the attempted bombing and assassinations, the US Attorney says they have enough to arrest Crawford--if they can find him, that is, in a country with extradition rights. Roman is still out there, but it finally seems like our team has gotten the upper hand. He is on the run, scrambling to salvage something from the defeat the team handed him today. And then the flood of tattoo hits stops abruptly (I guess even Bill Nye couldn’t fix the database alerts?), leaving only one tattoo clue remaining. A website that displays a newly-uploaded video of Roman. “One last game, sis. Winner take all.”

Cool. I’m cool. Not terrified at all.

Y: Everything is horribly terribly bad and nothing is okay. But then again, what else is new? We finally kind of understand why Crawford needed that land so desperately, and I think we can all sigh in relief that hopefully he will not get the pipeline running through it. I loved that Jane and Kurt managed to mediate a peace treaty while simultaneously stopping a terrorist attack on the UN, protecting two world leaders, and trying to stop Roman. Just another day at the office for those two.

I loved that we got to see Shepherd again, and I’m glad they made us wait this long. It’s quite appropriate that she comes in at episode 21, just like she did last season in episode 2.21 (aptly titled “Mom”), to break whatever affection was left between the siblings. Shepherd is by far one of the most complex characters on the show, and her ability to be a puppet master even while cuffed and chained in the interrogation room makes me shake and tremble with fear but also get giddy with excitement. And she did just that. She managed to rile up Kurt and mess with Jane’s head, and from the little hints we got from Keaton and Tasha, she’s obviously been giving them hell over at the CIA.

The flashback at the beginning of the episode is probably my favorite flashback we’ve seen in the show so far in how it tells us so much about Roman and Remi/Jane, basically summarizing their entire relationship and their characters and personalities in such a short scene. It was absolutely perfect and set up the rest of the episode. We saw these two re-enact the same dynamics all over again, and it shed so much light onto everything we’ve seen transpire between them in the past. It shows just how much Shepherd on the one hand messed up these children, but also how much she taught them. Roman’s plan, a recycled version of something he proposed to Shepherd before, shows so many signs of Shepherd’s handiwork in it and Shepherd’s “education.” Once again I go back to 2.21, but these parallels are great in terms of how Roman designs his plan--the misdirection, the nuances, the detail, the puppeteering. Unfortunately for him, this FBI team is just a little too good.

Last week, it seemed like our team was working through their kinks and finding their way to a new normal. And then this week came along and blew all of that out of the water. Are they managing to stay afloat?

Y: Can we just for a minute pretend there was no angst in the team and focus on the formidable duo of Patterson and Rich?

L: Yes, let’s start with the least problematic of these kids. Because Patterson is back on track, in her lab and in her personal life, and for someone who never gets to go home and sleep (you do know that’s not good for her, don’t you, Reade?), she still looks like a million bucks. How does she do it, and where can I get some of whatever she’s got??

Y: I don’t know how she does it. I go one sleepless night, and I need two weeks to recover! Also, I hope the FBI have decent overtime compensation. Between that and her Wizardville income, Patterson can retire at 35 and never look back.

But I have a feeling that Patterson might just love her job a little too much to leave. And I think this season, pairing up with Rich has made it that much more fun--even though I am sure she would never admit it out loud. But it must be fun to have someone in there who doesn’t just stare at her in confusion and ask her to speak English every time she has an idea or a lightbulb moment or needs to bounce ideas off someone.

Reade has always had Tasha as his partner and Weller has had Jane. And it has always been Patterson alone in the lab. Yes, she doesn’t need anyone with her because she’s just that good. But here is Rich, with rather similar skills but not in a way that makes either of them redundant and a personality that is so starkly unlike hers that make them such a perfect partnership--just like Tasha/Reade and Jane/Weller.

Whether it is Patterson and Rich completing each other’s sentences to solve a puzzle or come up with an answer or if it is just them bickering or bantering or teasing each other, it’s absolutely perfect. It puts a smile on my face every single time and makes me wish there was a way to have a show that is just 42 minutes of these two being nerds together.

I think having Rich there has helped Patterson a lot this season but more importantly, being a part of the team and being in the lab with Patterson has also helped Rich. The character growth we’ve seen from this once comedic relief guest character has been amazing--he’s grown as a person, and he’s found a team and a family he cares about and who care about him--and if he does not get a regular spot and a chair with his name on it next season then it would be a crime!

L: And I am just going to go right along with you flailing about what an amazing team Patterson and Rich make. I officially take back everything I ever said worrying that their skill sets might be too similar for them to both stay at the NYO. Okay, yes, Rich does have the “inappropriate comment generator” setting that Patterson lacks, and she has the “that would be highly illegal and therefore we should most definitely not do that” setting. So really, they complement each other perfectly, and I too hope the Wonder Twins sharing Patterson’s lab is a permanent thing next season!

Y: I guess we’re also going to have to talk about the less flail-inducing part of this week’s team developments, aren’t we? Can’t we just pretend that the episode ended after Reade tells the team they have enough to arrest Crawford and then everyone goes out for drinks and an early bath?

I hate how good these writers are at this--making you think a character has finally caught a break and then BAM! You’re back to fearing the absolute worst as you watch them stumble and fall face first into a pit of agony and suffering. We finally got to see Tasha getting back on track, rebuilding her relationships with both of her best friends and finding her place back in the team. And literally two minutes later, we’re all gathered around wondering, “What the hell just happened?”

L: Oh, man, Tasha. What the hell indeed!

First of all, I know Tasha can be a good actress, but she’s not that good. So I’m gonna take her word over Jake “I lie professionally about everything ever for the CIA” Keaton any day. So what the hell is he up to?? I mean, he can be kind of a jerk, but he’s generally been more helpful than not for the team. He went to a lot of trouble to recruit Tasha, and she’s certainly kept her share of secrets and carried out her share of dirty work for him. Why turn on her like that? We’ve seen example after example of the CIA hanging their operatives out to dry, so we kind of expected that this would be Tasha’s fate, but this seems rather an insignificant reason to destroy her career in law enforcement. Although Reade would clearly hire her back at the FBI, with such a tarnished reputation, she knows she would be more of a liability than an asset to the team.

It is far more likely to me that the entire scene was deliberately staged by Keaton. The whole matter was handled in a very public way to make sure that everyone around them was aware of Tasha’s disgrace and subsequent firing, so the CIA can show that she is no longer affiliated with them and so that no other law enforcement agency would employ her. And if the CIA later approached her for undercover work--dangling the promise of clearing her reputation--she would have no other choice but to agree. And if her cover gets blown, they can just disavow her, as they’ve done with every other agent who’s gotten into trouble. Such a plot would be totally Machiavellian, but also effective, so basically right in line with everything else we’ve seen the CIA do on this show. Bastards.

Y: While 90% of me wants to pin all this on Keaton and call him out for being an ass and doing this to Tasha, and also being happy that she’s done with the CIA and hoping she’d take the team up and rejoin her family, I know this show enough by now to know this all was probably staged. There have been many red flags about Tasha and her CIA commitment and a lot of questionable moments lately to make me seriously doubt Tasha right now. It is very possible that all this is part of a bigger plan for the CIA--who weren’t all too excited about this task force to begin with--to serve their own endgame and own interests. And despite all that, I do not doubt that Tasha was genuine in her heartbreak. If this indeed is all a ploy and trick by the CIA and if Tasha did go along, it does not mean it does not break her heart and pain her to do so, to betray her friends once again. But it would just be another situation where someone looks at their options and where they are--and let’s be real here, Tasha is still very far from being okay emotionally and in her relationships within the team--and realizes that maybe severing all ties and focusing on her career is the only real option she has.

L: I loved the scene between Tasha and Reade in the locker room. It was so perfectly in-character for both of them. Reade has come, slowly and cautiously, to a conclusion. (That’s why he gets the big office with the desk, right?) “Your feelings weren’t the problem,” he tells Tasha early on in the episode. He’s finally admitting what he’s denied all along, that he does have real, serious feelings for Tasha. And Tasha, true to her character, has run full-tilt into a wall, bounced off, and is now heading full-tilt in some other direction. Unfortunately, it’s not the same direction that Reade has finally turned. And the thing is, Tasha is trying so hard to do what’s right. Her reasoning is sound: Reade has just broken up with Meg, she’s just gotten fired from her job. Neither one of them are in the right place to start a relationship. And actually, maybe that explains why Tasha shows up at Reade’s later that night. The first time I saw the episode, her change of mind felt like a too-abrupt shift after her locker room speech. But just like Roman, Tasha hasn’t got anything left to lose, so it makes sense for her to grab on to whatever happiness she can. I really want to be happy for her and Reade, but I’ve seen this show before, so any moment of happiness they find will likely be followed by some sort of heartbreaking upheaval ten minutes later (not including commercial breaks).

Honestly, right now my wish for Tasha is that she survive to see season four. We can sort out the dumpster fire that is her life then, okay?

If Roman seemed like he was starting to crack last week, this week he seems to be flirting with total breakdown. But he still manages to keep the team on their toes and get away at the end of the day. How do his odds look against the team now?

L: Can we just start with Roman’s mysterious phone call? We know that he was talking with someone about his medical issues in a previous episode, and it seems like he’s talking with that same person again, describing his headaches and hallucinations. But at the end he says, “I just wish things could have been different. We could have just been a family.” Unless a new family member is about to appear out of the woodwork, the only members of Roman’s family that we know of are Jane, Shepherd, and Avery. I’m guessing the CIA isn’t giving Shepherd telephone privileges, so that leaves either Jane or Avery.

Avery seems like a serious possibility. We’ve commented before that she seems just a little bit too interested in the details of the FBI investigation for an innocent victim. And then there was the comment Roman made to Jane after she rescued Avery in Berlin, “You know, getting your daughter back might feel like a victory, but that will change. Enjoy it while it lasts.” We know Avery was obviously sympathetic to Roman when they were working together in Berlin and after Roman and Jane “rescued” her from her captors. If Avery has been working with Roman all along, it becomes much easier to understand why she went along with the plan to fake her death and pin it on Weller.

The other possibility is Jane, either knowingly (which would be kind of annoying, if she’s been lying to everyone all season) or unknowingly. We know that Roman had her in his custody long enough to add the new layer of tattoos. But who knows what else happened to her during that time? He could have also brainwashed her, a la Manchurian Candidate. (On a similar note, my husband started yelling when Jane went in to talk to Shepherd, “Don’t do it! What if Shepherd has some kind of trigger word?!”) Roman’s calls to Jane all season could have contained some sort of trigger or disguised instructions. On the one hand, this seems like exactly the sort of unexpected turn this show likes to take. (Damn you, Borden, we trusted you!) But on the other hand, if Roman does have this kind of advantage, how has the team been able to make headway against him lately? So I think my money is still on Avery. (This could also explain why the team seems to make the most progress when they are out in the field, when Avery is not with them and thus not able to warn Roman about their plans.)

I’ve also been really dwelling on this statement by Remi in the flashback sequence: “You’re only thinking about your next move. You’ve got to think about what I’m going to do next, too.” On the surface, this explains why Remi was always able to beat Roman in competition, and could be a bit of foreshadowing to suggest that Jane will ultimately triumph over Roman. But I think it also gives us another hint at the major difference between them. Jane’s ability to put herself into her opponent’s shoes stems from the same source as her compassion, her ability to deeply empathize with others. Roman may be able to feel love (such as his feelings for Blake), but he’s never really demonstrated a strong ability to empathize with her or with anyone else. It didn’t seem to occur to him that Blake would be worried about him; his conversation with her at the end of the episode only referred to his own feelings. Most of Roman’s issues with Jane over the past two seasons have also stemmed from his inability to understand her reasons for zipping his memory or choosing to stay with Kurt and the team. It’s hard to believe he could have mounted a plan like this to punish his sister and “make her bleed” if he’d been at all able to empathize with her.

Oh, Roman. You’re so broken. I’m simultaneously rooting for the team to stop you and hoping that you’ll emerge from all of this unharmed. Or at least, no more harmed than you already are. Mostly I just want to go back in time and find your younger self a loving, nurturing home.

Speaking of Blake, I have to admit that I really enjoyed the good cop/bad cop routine she and Roman gave the hotel manager. Or maybe it was nice cop/mean cop, since it was quickly made clear that Blake was just as capable of playing hardball as the boys. (Poor Edmund never had a chance against the two of them.) And while I loved seeing the spine she’s showing, I am finding it harder and harder to believe that she’s been truly fooled by Roman. She was quick to suspect that he had something to do with the attack at the hotel. She is clearly her father’s daughter, no matter how privileged and pampered she might have been, and I think she is every bit as capable of the same ruthlessness. (Roman might have been right on when he envisioned her stabbing him after finding out the truth about “Tom.”) I’m sure she will come face to face with Roman’s true identity in the finale, and I am not going to lie about how eagerly I am awaiting that moment!

But mostly I am just really, really worried about Roman. Because right now, he’s lost everything. His sister, his mother, Blake, Crawford’s trust, his grand plan... And Roman with nothing left to lose is dangerous to a degree that makes the little hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up.

Y: I’m sorry… I’ve been sitting here staring at my screen trying to come up with something smart to say but I just cannot do anything but reread L’s breakdown and nod (and maybe cry a little bit). Literally, what she said. Everything she said.

Just when you think you’ve understood something on this show, they shatter that illusion. We were okay with thinking Roman had been in contact with a doctor who’s been monitoring his situation and his health because the ZIP had been messing with his system. That had seemed nice and simple and logical. But then they throw in that “family” line, and I cannot sleep anymore. This show is not good for my health. Not good at all.

I agree that the options as to who he’s talking to are very limited and in both cases--Avery or Jane--things are very worrisome. If it’s Jane, like you said, it could either mean Jane’s been lying to the team all season or she’s under some mind control Manchurian candidate type thing or another, and that’s very not good. And if it is Avery then, dammit, why, kid? Why?? Either way, we’re going to suffer from terrible heartbreak and require a lot, and I mean a lot, of chocolate.

Poor Kurt. I mean, lots of guys have issues with their mother-in-law, but I think he wins the prize. He still manages to be the best, most supportive husband though, doesn’t he?

L: Shepherd may be a solid eleven on the ten-point creepy scale, but what’s always been the most scary about her is that she’s not wrong. Misguided and delusional? Sure. But she’s got a pretty good idea what makes people tick. And she’s had Kurt’s number for a long, long time. I loved her snarky little comment that Jane was “tailor-made” for Kurt. She’s already figured out that she’s talking to him because he will do just about anything to keep Jane from having to talk to her. “You’ve always had that protective streak in you,” she tells him, “ever since you were a little kid.” Her ploy works because Kurt isn’t just protective of Jane, he’s protective of anyone who might suffer as a result of Roman’s plan. “Lives are on the line,” Jane tells him when he tries to keep her from having to talk to Shepherd. And it’s the one point that he can’t argue with either mother or daughter.

But that doesn’t mean he has to like it. I have to admit, as much as I love how kickass Jane is, I also love how careful Kurt is with her. He’s never faulted her for not killing Roman when she let him walk away in DC. He’s never told her what to do, whether she could or should shoot Roman in cold blood. And frankly, I’m not entirely sure that Kurt could kill Roman either. He certainly has plenty of reason to, and we know he would gladly take that burden off Jane, as we saw in 2.21 when he told Jane to go after Shepherd and leave Roman for him. But at the same time, killing Jane’s brother could irreparably damage their marriage, if she’s as unable to get over her brother’s loss as she fears.

So really, I don’t envy either Jane or Kurt as this final showdown with Roman looms. There’s just no way this can possibly end well, is there?

Y: Have you watched this show? I think that is the only question that I can ever answer confidently. And the answer is a no from me. Sorry.

And I’ve been sitting here for like thirty minutes just staring at this after completing all the other sections, with just the Kurt part left, and all I can think is one thought. And no one ever say I can’t be brief ever again, because all I will say now is this: I love Kurt Weller, and I have loved every minute of his journey and his character arc.

As if dealing with her brother wasn’t enough, this week Jane also has to visit with her mother, the terrorist guest of the CIA. Good thing she has the support of her husband to depend upon, right?

L: Is it too soon to freak out about Jane’s headaches? Are they really caused by not sleeping? Or is she headed down the same ill-health path as Roman? She had a much bigger dose of ZIP than he did, if that is in fact the source of his issues. Yes, I am panicking here, because whatever is wrong with Roman isn’t at all good, and I am very very very very worried about our favorite tattooed ninja.

Remember last week, when we said that it was great to have Bill Nye on the show to provide a positive parenting example? This week Shepherd returned to show us just how damaging a bad parent can be. We jump twenty years into the past to see her pitting Roman and Remi--not long out of the orphanage at that point--against each other. Even though they are just playing mancala, she already has them referring to each other as “opponent” and “enemy.” No wonder they’ve spent so much of their adult lives trying to kill one another.

Y: Let’s talk about how appropriate the timing is to bring Shepherd back so close to Mother’s Day, huh? What a better way to celebrate than by bringing back such a poster-perfect mother figure! I think for the most part Jane handled her reunion with her mother quite well, considering how Shepherd loves to communicate through ominous threats and terrifying ambiguous punchlines.

And while Jane handled herself quite well with Shepherd and managed to once again take the points from Roman, I find myself--again at episode 21--worrying about all the Remi warnings. Last season, Jane worried that at some point, just like Roman, she would go back to being what she was before. And again this year, and this episode, brought back that possibility. With Shepherd’s warning about her connection to Roman and making Jane realize that it’s true, and then watching the events unfold and seeing how their dynamic is still very similar to young Roman and Remi and yes, even the end when Jane confidently says that she knows that she is not Remi and that she is Jane… to be honest, that is what worried me the most, because Jane is no longer worrying about reverting back to Remi and is confident in who she is.

Look, this show taught me to trust no one, especially the writers. So now, once they’ve had Jane reach this point in her character growth and development, it is the perfect moment to pull that rug out from under her.

I hate this show.

L: Ugh. I don’t like this idea, not one little bit, but I am very afraid that you’re right.

We’ve spent three seasons with Jane, watching her try to unravel the mysteries of her past. Trying to find out who she was, who she cared about, what things she valued. And many of those discoveries have been painful and created more questions than they answered.

In 3.13, Jane asked Nas to question Shepherd about Avery, but Nas refused, telling Jane, “The things she took from you, they were all to keep you from loving anyone but her. There’s no mystery. She just wanted to control you.” Which is exactly what Shepherd confirms for Jane during their visit. Avery, just like Roman, was someone that Jane loved and valued ahead of Shepherd, and so Shepherd came between them, just as she came between Remi and Roman. (And frankly, given how well Shepherd trained Roman, it’s no surprise he’s been so invested in making sure that he destroyed any bonds that Jane might have made with other people--Avery, Weller, the team.) Nas cautioned Jane, “You can’t live in the past, Jane. We’re better served putting all our efforts into what we can do now.” And it seems that Jane has finally learned that lesson herself. Ultimately, Jane doesn’t ask her mother anything about Avery. She gets the information she needs, and she walks away (in much the same way that Patterson walked away from Borden when he was being held in that same room, another nice parallel). Jane has finally reached a point where she can let her past go. She is no longer Remi. She tells Kurt that she can let go of Roman and move forward with the life she shares with Kurt.

So yes, now would be the perfect time to resurrect Remi’s memories--and her deep connection to Roman--and make Jane question everything that she’s learned about who she is and who she wants to be. Remi’s memories would force her to look into the past instead of toward the future she is ready to embrace. She would have to second guess every decision she’s made to date. (Mind you, I disagree with the suggestion I’ve seen from some fans that she will “become” Remi again. I think that would be far too simple. By superimposing Remi’s memories on top of Jane’s, she would be forced into instant conflict with herself. Jane can best any foe in combat, but how can she win if the foe is herself?)

Is there a limit to the number of times I can use the word “Machiavellian” in one review? These writers, they like to twist the knife, don’t they?

We finally see our favorite couple being, you know, a couple again, a seamless team, united against all threats. Can we flail loudly enough about this?

Y: Yes, yes, we can flail. And I have done nothing but flail for the past four days. But now, if I may, I’d also like to panic, is that okay? Because all these beautiful moments once viewed in parallel with all the Jane/Remi/Roman hints thrown into the episode just make me want to go hide and not come out until October.

L: Where this show is concerned, panicking is more of a perpetual state, is it not? It’s basically continuous panic, periodically punctuated by flailing. So by all means, let’s panic too.

Y: But first, let’s flail.

Jane and Kurt walking through SIOC with a “don’t fuck with us” look on their faces after spending all night interrogating Lynnette gives me life. I wish I could be an employee at that office because you know these two definitely have some sort of legendary status around the office and a secret fan club and I want to be there when people just stare at them in awe and talk about them around the water cooler.

The whole episode was just… quintessential Jeller. You know? The kind of Jeller we love and what we signed up for and what we’ve been missing for so long! We got to see them as part of this team, as badass agents out in the field, as a team helping the king and the president reach some sort of pseudo-agreement, as amazing friends, and we get to see them as partners in every single way, supportive of each other and protective of each other and of their team. And we get to see them as a couple, loving and caring and sweet in a strong and confident relationship, talking to each other, opening up, voicing their fears, leaning on one another and excuse me while I bring out the best flailing kermit gif I got and go crazy with the feels because JANE PUT KURT’S HAND ON HER HEART AND TOLD HIM HE’S HER OTHER HALF!

And now with that said, I have to admit that I have been losing sleep thinking of all the possible ways that the show will take all this from us and from them and make us suffer for months to come.

And yes, thank you NBC for renewing our show because we need more pain and suffering in our lives.

L: Yes, thank you, NBC, for keeping the chocolate industry going for another year.

Jeller holding hands and jumping out of a third-story window together might be one of my all-time favorite “pure Jeller” moments. It’s got love, partnership, commitment, trust, and an element of life-threatening danger. I think what I love most about them is that they always face whatever life (or the bad guy du jour) dishes out together. Even in the periods when they haven’t been together as a couple (early S2 and during their separation this season), they still formed an unbreakable and unbeatable team in the field. And yes, I think that Jane said it best when she said that Kurt is her other half. They are two halves of a whole, and while they are both formidable in their own right, the whole they make together is stronger than the sum of the two parts alone, whether it is Jane holding off Roman and his henchmen while Kurt helps the leaders of two nations escape, or Kurt just instinctively knowing that Jane was sending up red smoke last week to signal the team to move in. When it comes right down to it, it’s just bone-deep, unshakable trust.

And that’s why they’ve been able to get through all the hurdles in their way, both this season and in the previous two seasons. Because under it all, they trust each other absolutely. That trust is why they can forgive each other for all of their transgressions, and it’s why none of Roman’s plans to break them apart could ultimately succeed. Trust is a necessary element in any marriage, but the foundation of theirs is solid bedrock. And honestly, that’s why I am probably not as worried as I ought to be about what’s coming in the finale. Will it be scary and heartbreaking and likely to make me cry? I’m certain it will. But I believe that they will always rescue each other or die trying (and well, we’ve got season four, so I don’t think either of them will actually die), so I have faith in Jeller.

(Yes, I’ve seen the promo. But hush, I’m in my happy place right now. Lalala.)

I’m just really glad that the writers gave us back our happy place: Jeller being in love and together. And I’m thrilled, both looking back at what they’ve overcome this season, and looking forward to seeing them continue to beat the odds in season four!

The season finale is upon us. Any last minute fears, questions, concerns? Like: do we have enough chocolate? Is there such a thing as enough chocolate for this? Come panic in our inbox. The more, the merrier! --Laura & Yas

#blindspot #blindspot: episode review #character: jane doe #character: kurt weller #character: patterson #character: edgar reade #character: tasha zapata #character: rich dotcom #character: jake keaton #character: blake crawford #episode: 321 - defection #character: roman #character: shepherd #ship: Jane/Kurt #ship: tasha/reade

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