One of the most intriguing programs of the new Fall season is CTV’s Blindspot.
Airing an hour before NBC’s broadcast, the series opens with the discovery of a mysterious bag in the middle of Times Square. The FBI quickly arrives on the scene to open the bag and quickly discover a naked woman inside. Making things even more interesting is the fact that this woman is completely covered by a series of intricate tattoos, one of which is the name of an FBI agent who is then assigned to the case.
Blindspot stars Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe and Sullivan Stapleton as FBI agent Kurt Weller. The complex conspiracy drama will clearly live and die by the relationships between its protagonists and, after an initial screening of tonight’s series premiere, I am decidedly optimistic about its chances.
Jaimie Alexander is cast perfectly as the lead. The actress immediately makes Jane Doe’s amnesia believable and the fact that she is absolutely stunning doesn’t hurt as this will clearly make audiences want to see more of the tattoos and learn more about the character who hosts them.
To be honest, I strangely noticed a lot of similarities between Blindspot and Prison Break. As fans of the FOX jail series will remember, Wentworth Miller’s character used tattoos on his body to plot his escape from behind bars and this immediately made the series quite compelling. I have every confidence that Blindspot will enjoy the same success and that the tattoo formula is one that viewers just can’t seem to turn away from.
Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the new program is how it effortlessly manages to fuse a current timeline while only offering brief glimpses into Jane’s past. Too often, shows that rely heavily on flashback elements tend to focus too much on what has already happened instead of on what is happening. The Blindspot writers should be credited for only offering hints and not answers as this results in a show that you want to see more of. Who is Jane Doe? How did she get the tattoos? How is she able to speak different language? Where did she receive martial arts training? These are questions that will be answered as the series moves along and the slow-burn format works quite well for a show like this.
At CTV’s 2015 upfront presentation, I had the opportunity to talk to Jaimie Alexander about her new starring role.
We chatted about a variety of subjects as I opened the interview by joking about where all her tattoos had gone. We also discussed the concept of the series. Jaimie pointed out that making sure that the series was as believable as possible was something that was of primary importance to the show’s writing team. They didn’t want Jane Doe to simply be injected with a serum. They wanted the serum to be something that could actually exist.
Check out the interview above!
Blindspot premieres tonight at 9 p.m. on CTV and 10 p.m. on NBC.
