The second season of Blindspot has certainly had its fair share of spy sleuthing, explosions, and backstabbing, but it feels like it’s been awhile since an episode truly let everyone kick some ass. One of the highlights of the first season was watching Jane and Weller throw down with bad guys. Blindspot isn’t Into The Badlands by any means, but its hand-to-hand combat has always been one of its visceral strengths. Thankfully, “In Words, Drown I” is the kind of action-packed, in-your-face episode that embodies what can be great about Blindspot. When the action takes center stage, the show benefits.
The episode picks up after last week’s cliffhanger saw Zapata under arrest. Here she’s going through prison intake before lining up for some amenities. Ahead of her in line is a woman named Devon (Ronda Rousey bringing some real-life grit to the show), who quickly hands over her toothbrush and toothpaste to an intimidating inmate. The pecking order is established while Zapata takes note.
Zapata actually tried to give Devon her own toothbrush, but that doesn’t go so well. Devon warns her to mind her own business in this place. Later, Zapata starts a fight with the inmate that’s feuding with Devon, coming to her defense rather than just taking her advice and minding her own business. Why is Zapata not keeping her head down? Why is she trying to get so close to Devon? Is it survival, or is it something more?
As it turns out, that cliffhanger from last week had nothing to do with Zapata getting rid of evidence, but was rather part of an elaborate plot to have her go undercover in prison. 72 hours before the prison fight, Patterson discovered that a woman named Devon was likely transporting weapons for Shepherd. Knowing that she won’t talk if they bring her in, Jane offers to go undercover. Weller shoots that down immediately because it’s likely she’ll be recognized, and that’s when Zapata steps up. It’s a huge risk, and Weller is not a fan of it, but he has no choice but to approve the mission. This is the most substantial lead they’ve had in some time.
Back at the FBI headquarters Patterson, Roman, and Jane are all going through some ethical conundrums. For Patterson it’s the fact that she’s spending her nights at work and not letting her team to do any meaningful work, all to avoid confronting the whole Borden thing. Roman and Jane’s issue is that they still haven’t told Weller about Emma. Roman’s been insistent about this since day one, but Jane’s always put it off. Now that Roman is in the field though, he says that they have to tell Weller, that they owe him the truth because he’s trusted them this far.
Jane reluctantly sees the truth in this and she gets Weller into his office and tells him about how Roman killed Emma Shaw. As predicted, it doesn’t go over well. Weller is devastated by the truth, and also by the fact that Jane kept this hidden from him for weeks. It’s an absolute betrayal of their friendship, and as Weller points out, a blatant compromising of their Sandstorm mission. Just as Weller and Jane were growing closer again, Roman’s memory comes in to rip them apart again.
After doing some digging, Patterson figures out that Devon was working at a shady gun range owned by an ex-con named Hartley until she ran off with her boyfriend. The team brings in Hartley for questioning, and while he can’t say much about Devon because he hasn’t seen her in six years, he identifies her boyfriend from a picture. It’s Parker, Shepherd’s pasty right-hand man who’s basically running the show at this point.
The only way to get to Parker is to have Devon lead the team to him, but it’s not like they can just let her out of prison without her getting suspicious. So Zapata takes another huge risk and signs the team up for a jailbreak. After the team makes all the plans, the jailbreak is underway. Weller, in disguise as a repairman, gets rid of a guard and cuts the power to the grid.
That gives Zapata and Devon three minutes to get out and over the electrified fence. After knocking out their inmate enemies in the hall, they make a break for the fence…but they’re past their time limit. That leaves Jane no choice but to climb up on the roof and shoot out the backup generator, just in time for Devon and Zapata to hop over. They take their place in the getaway car and drive off.
At this point Devon trusts Zapata, but that doesn’t mean she’s not being cautious. When she calls Parker and tells him to meet at the deli, and Weller sends his team to said deli, it’s all a ruse. Devon used a code word knowing that Parker would understand and meet them at a warehouse in the Bronx. Zapata tries to play it cool but she’s caught; Parker recognizes her immediately, knocking her out and throwing her in the trunk. On her own, she’s of no use to him. But as a bargaining piece to get Weller for Shepherd, she’s certainly valuable.
Zapata manages to send out a signal flare to help the team get her location, but the question is, can Weller and Jane focus on the task in front of them? Trust is integral to them staying alive in the field. Despite the tension between them, Weller knows who Jane is. He understands her. As he says, “you’re the only one that I trust out there.” That affirmation is all they need to pull off the rescue.
And what a rescue it is! Weller uses the classic Indiana Jones weight-transfer trick to get Zapata off of a pressure-based bomb and replace her with a fridge. “Fine, I weigh as much as a fridge,” she says as a thank you. After that, Jane throws fists with Devon, and while she’s holding her own she only gets the upper hand once she throws Devon in front of her just as Parker is firing a round. Parker, distracted by the fact that he just shot his girlfriend, gets knocked out by Weller, and the FBI has exactly what they want: a living, breathing Sandstorm operative that they can question.
Will this be enough though? As the episode ends, Zapata is sick of playing by the rules and wants to go outside the law to stop Shepherd, reaching out to Reade in order to do so. But Zapata and Reade may not be Weller’s only problem. The final shot of the episode sees Roman swiping at Jane with a kitchen knife after remembering that she was the one who wiped his memory. With Patterson barely reckoning with her trauma, Jane in danger, Zapata going rogue, and Weller clearly not trusting Roman, the FBI is in all sorts of shambles at the worst possible time.
