‘Blindspot’ Creator on Taylor Shaw Backstory, Upcoming Big Moments
At the pace it’s going, NBC’s hit drama “Blindspot” will be making the most out of its recently acquired 22-episode order. The fourth episode, which aired Monday, offered a big reveal for fans not reading ahead to decode the anagrams of the episode titles: There may be more to the history of Jaimie Alexander’s mysteriously tattooed heroine than Sullivan Stapleton’s FBI agent Kurt Weller first thought. And while Ashley Johnson’s brainiac Patterson (and her boyfriend) might have cracked one code, she may be too smart for her own good. For more on both of these matters, “Blindspot” creator Martin Gero talked to Variety.
Let’s talk about this Taylor Shaw reveal. Last week, we talked about how you don’t like to draw stuff out. Now, we’re learning Jane may not be Taylor Shaw?
It brings up some questions. Her DNA evidence that they tried three times is 99.9% sure it’s Taylor Shaw. There seems to be some isotopic evidence that she was born in sub-saharan Africa. It’s not about whether she’s Taylor Shaw or not, it’s about how we can resolve both of these things in the same truth. Does that make sense?
It does. You’re saying that it’s possible Taylor’s (now deceased) mother could have lied about where she came from?
It’s possible that Weller doesn’t have the right origin story for Taylor Shaw. Or maybe she’s not Taylor Shaw (laughs).
Are we going to learn about how Taylor’s mom passed away then?
It’s not something we’re dying to tell right now. It’s not part of the story right now.
You told my colleague Laura Prudom, who moderated “Blindspot’s” New York Comic Con panel, that episodes seven and ten were big episodes. Care to elaborate?
What I promised to do in this season in particular is we’re going to get to big issues very quickly. Episode seven takes off of something we started building in the pilot as far as some FBI cases that may or may not be on Jane’s body.
Episodes seven, eight, nine and ten: There are some pretty explosives happening. There’s some pretty big “Oh sh–” moments in seven, nine and ten. When I used to work for the CW [with the series “L.A. Complex”], we referred to them as O-M-G moments and there’s a bunch of them.
We’ve talked before about how intricate these episodes are. How far out are you planning them then?
We knew what episode 22 was in day two in the writers room and it’s just working back from that … and thank goodness we got the full series pickup. It would not have been a very satisfying episode 13 if we did not get to make more. We had a great ending for 10 because that’s our midseason finale. But we were hoping for 22.
In the teaser released during NYCC, we see who we believe to be a young Jane lured into a dark area where there are other children. Does this mean there are other Jane or John Does?
I don’t know if there are other Jane or John Does, but I think she’s had a pretty traumatic past. The road up to where she lost her memory was not a smooth one certainly, starting from when she was a kid. That’s laying some major groundwork that will pay off over the course of the series.
Is Patterson ever wrong? She (and her boyfriend) have been really right so far.
I’m sure she has been wrong. We just don’t show those parts on television. Certainly, there are parts we struggle with. The tattoos tend to lead from one part to the other fairly quickly and we end some episodes with her being totally stumped and start with her having a breakthrough. But she’s pretty smart, that Patterson.
Do we have to worry about her safety? Last week, we learned that she’s onto the Daylight case that involves her boss, Mayweather (Marianne Jean-Baptiste).
I think you have to worry about everyone’s safety on this show. They have very, very dangerous lives …
Given your meticulous attention to detail, did you plan for the CDC episode to premiere the day after the return of “The Walking Dead”?
No, we had no idea. But I encourage all the “Walking Dead” fans to come join us after their viewing.
“Blindspot” airs at 10 p.m. Mondays on NBC.
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