Distributor: Warner Home Video
Episodes: 23
Duration: 43 min. (per episode)
Blindspot: Season 1 (Blu-ray) – Series Review
With the plethora of detective series out there, it’s often hard to find one that suits your fancy. Most series in the genre nowadays try to present the viewer with their own special quirk, which is supposed to make the series original, unique or simply stand out in the endless masses of similar series. Blindspot tries the same, by trying a rather unique way of fighting crime, but in the end the series ends up being just that, another detective series with a quirk. Nonetheless, sometimes we get to see the true potential of this series, and that’s what made it quite interesting.
A woman is dropped in a duffel bag on Times Square and of course the FBI is notified, as she is without any memories of how she got there, or even who she was before that. When they also notice that she is covered in tattoos that were recently placed, some referring to well-known symbols, others unknown pieces of a puzzle and last but not least, the name of Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton), and FBI agent, things are bound to get complicated. Kurt is assigned to the case, and while they remain fairly clueless as to who this ‘Jane Doe’ (Jaimie Alexander) is, they soon find clues to possible crimes on her body, and even case files. Before long the investigation shifts from finding out who Jane is, to actually using her as a ‘consultant’ to solve crimes that still have to happen.
Of course, from time to time, you’ll see glimpses of Jane’s past, as well as what the team is up to, exposing their humanity, which isn’t always following the same moral patterns their jobs require of them. It’s hard to go further into detail without spoiling the background story, but in the long run it becomes rather interesting, albeit only in the final episodes of this season.
The flow of this first season of Blindspot is very similar to that of Castle, Bones, The Mentalist and the many other comparable series out there. Every episode will revolve around one case, while the main story slowly unfolds in the background. Nonetheless, the first few episodes give you some extra story value by setting a proper background for Jane, but this only lifts off again during the last few episodes of the series. These last few episodes also show there is a decent amount of potential for this series, if it’s not dragged out too much. The conclusion of this first season also gave us a bit of hope that the series would not be milked dry, like many other shows in the genre. We certainly don’t hope to see cases revolving around mystery tattoos that were found in Jane’s butt crack and thus we’d like to see some clear evolution in the main story, allowing the series to wrap things up rather quickly.
Acting performances are quite formidable, and this alone lifts up the series as a whole. Jamie Alexander, who plays Jane, is a rather atypical face for a series such as this, and on top of that, she does a great job playing a character that is still forming her own identity. Sullivan Stapleton, the actor behind Kurt, however is a very stereotypical character in a series of this genre, and behaves pretty much how you’d expect him to act. The latter is no real issue, but it just evokes that ‘same old’ feeling. The rest of the cast is clearly carefully chosen, even the characters that can be seen in only one or two episodes present the viewer with topnotch acting, making them equals to the main cast.
The special features on this Blu-ray edition of the first season of Blindspot are quite fun to watch, as you’ll be treated to the ideas behind the casting, the choreography behind fight scenes, the design of the tattoos, and a few small featurettes revolving around certain characters that get a decent amount of screen time in these first 23 episodes. Other than that there’s a fairly big amount of deleted scenes, a Comic-Con panel and a gag reel for you to enjoy. For a series such as this, you’ll certainly get a proper bang for your buck when taking a closer look at the extras on this physical edition.
Conclusion
Blindspot: Season 1 holds its own fairly well in the vast majority of similar series, but in the end that’s just what it is, ‘one of many’. If you’re into detective series with a small twist, you’ll certainly enjoy this series from start to finish, but if you wish to finally see something refreshing in the genre, this one will prove to be a stretched out waste of time. Nonetheless, while this first season might not bring home the gold, the last few episodes of season one do show a lot of promise for the second season, and who knows, this series might leave us blindsided.
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