‘Regard a Mere Mad Rage’
Bangkok, Thailand. Shepherd and her side pieces attempt to make a deal to purchase dangerous hazardous material but right as she is transferring the payment, Patterson freezes her funds just seconds before unwittingly ruining the sale and temporarily derailing Sandstorms phase 2. Unbeknownst to the real significance of freezing the bank account Weller and Patterson continue on with their day.
‘Well, that was anticlimactic’ – Weller
It wasn’t so anticlimactic, but it sure was entertaining to see something go wrong for Shepherd and we finally get to see her in action having to save herself without it being a carefully crafted plan. She is on her own.
The teams lead investigation is wanted Russian hacker Serpent 16 whose logo is tattooed on Jane’s right side. Facial recognition leads them to Grand Central Station where they witness Serpent 16 pick up and package as he turns to leave he catches Jane following him and gives chase. Only this is where things get interesting. Serpent 16 is killed for the package and then Zapata gives case only for that man to be shot for his troubles by a third party. Weller finally catches the man and the package revealings its contents as a Rubix cube. Interesting.
Back in a Bangkok prison, Shepherd must think on her feet to escape trying to trick the guard. Meanwhile, Patterson takes the next step in the game that will lead them to highly classified documents currently in the hands of Leakhub. The only problem, they must pass the next test and hack into one of a list of sites to steal information.
‘Ok Patterson, do your thing.’ – Weller
‘Ok hold on, it’s not that easy… remote access would take me a day,’ – Patterson
Then Patterson mocks Weller,
‘We don’t have that kind of time, Patterson’ – Patterson
And then formulates a plan to access the CEO’s password with a simple cab ride. Passing this test leads them to a third and possibly final bringing them face to face with the Gerund Brother’s and the documents they seek. Weller announces that he and Jane will go undercover completely offending Patterson since she is the self-confessed and impressive hacker. Conceding, Patterson will assist Zapata with surveillance.
‘Let’s go find you something hacker chic’. – Patterson.
Everyone’s favourite space mechanic Jewel Staite makes a guest appearance.
‘See, I told you I was good at puzzles’ – Weller
During the test, Jane and Weller are placed in a room where they must sit a polygraph test. It’s a sneaky and great way to re-open the communication lines between Jane and Weller hidden in a case which required it without being obvious in the storyline. The escape-the-room style game sees Jane and Weller successfully complete it only to learn that their escape will cause to the team in the next room to die. Saving them they battle it out with another team to collect the hard drive containing the world’s most sensitive classified documents including the TrumProtocolcal which is the very important piece to Sandstorms phase two. Long story short Jane and Weller win after proving their compassion and honour beating out the green team which was actually Sandstorm operatives who could have but didn’t out Jane and Weller as FBI.
Overall, the creativity; evidence on Shepherd; Jane and Weller; and witty one-liners from Patterson I quite enjoyed this episode. Oh and let’s not forget the costuming. Though it followed this same tattoo and Sandstorm formula it presented a different energy, clever without being forceful and the dialogue between characters was playful and shown more unity then usual. The only frustrating this I found was the little hint the guard dropped about the computers being slow earlier in the episode then the way it is too conveniently revealed the plot point that made it easier to link to the scene where the image struggled to download before she is able to make her escape. Especially after Patterson and Zapata identified her in another little piece of convenient evidence. Though obvious ploys it’s interesting because I can not offer alternatives that would make that evidence appear natural or smart crime-solving ways. All television series have these problems and this particular episode was no different it’s just something that occasionally bugs me but I too do it in my writing because at certain moments during a script it seems the best place to reveal that particular piece of information. At least when the writers did this it wasn’t revealed primarily through dialogue but also the action that we saw and understood as an audience.
At the bar, Patterson and Zapata leave to grab round three leaving Jane and Weller alone.
‘All of this that lead me to you, and you to me and that is something that I would never want to undo.’ – Weller
Then it almosts happens. A strange occurrence with no near death experience to force them to confront their feelings, but I ain’t complaining. It was going so well until Patterson and Zapata return with drinks. GOSH DARN IT.
‘KURT WELLER NEEDS TO DIE’ – Shepherd.
Um, no he doesn’t. Did anybody else miss that almost kiss? Weller is not allowed to die without Jane and him. You know. YOU KNOW. They are to live happy ever after. I did not invest in television shows without the strong possibility that my favourite character ends up together. The Good Wife excluded. I still won’t forgive them for killing Will Gardiner.
Folks we are getting close to the nitty gritty. I sense a character will die; Weller and Jane will kiss after which he will learn that she knew Roman killed Taylor Shaw’s mother making them distrust each other again; Shepherd and Sandstorm will fail and finally, we will learn Shepherd’s interest in Weller.
Till Next Week.
Always,
CLK
As Scene on Screen 