Blindspot cast members pick their favorite twists
Blindspot is a story built on twists. One that started as soon as Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander) crawled out of that duffle bag in Time Square.
Between moles within the FBI and the return of repressed personalities, fans of the show have been hanging on tight while on this rollercoaster thrill ride.
"Twists were critically important for the show," shares creator Martin Gero. Cliffhangers and shocking plot turns are built in, keeping viewers along for the ride, from individual episodes to the more significant shocks during the mid-season and season finales. "Each year we needed to end with a massive twist that would be so exciting it DEMANDED another season," he adds.
Virginia Sherwood/NBC
Having this many twists, especially at the consistency Blindspot does, isn't easy. Gero reveals being worried about viewers' reactions to the return of a ruthless, villainous Remi in season 4 after spending so much time with Jane, and finally getting her and Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) together. "Since Kurt and Jane's relationship is such a big reason why most people watch, we were worried how they would take this sudden animosity she had towards him," he explains, "But I thought it made for some very exciting episodes for us."
In honor of the final season, we reached out to the cast of Blindspot — past and present — and asked them which twists were their favorite. Read on for their picks.
David Giesbrecht/NBC
Jaimie Alexander and Chad Donella: Bill Weller actually killed Taylor Shaw
Shortly after Jane Doe and her tattoos show up at the FBI with no memory, Kurt Weller is sure she's his long-lost childhood friend Taylor Shaw. After her disappearance, everyone, including Kurt, blamed his father, Bill Weller.
If Jane was Taylor, then Bill was off the hook, so Bill ripping away Kurt's hope for his father's redemption by admitting to the crime was painful to watch, and Donella's favorite twist. "Watching Kurt have to process what his dad is admitting as I was processing what his dad was admitting! It was an awesome twist!" he explains.
Barbara Nitke/NBC
"In season one, I absolutely loved that Jane wasn't Taylor Shaw and that Weller's father was the one who killed her. It was such a devastating and heartbreaking twist," Alexander adds.
David Giesbrecht/NBC
Aaron Abrams: The many faces of Matthew Weitz
"My favorite twist is a tie between all the times Weitz turns good, and all the times Weitz turns evil again."
Barbara Nitke/NBC
Luke Mitchell: Roman's last Blindspot chapter
"Oh man, so many twists and turns. I guess for me, personally, my favorite twist was when Roman killed Tom Jakeman and then proceeded to assume his identity, which obviously included his Aussie accent, and travel to incredibly beautiful locations all over the world whilst romancing Blake Crawford and torturing his sister along the way! Also, being deceived by Blake at the end of season 3 and dying in his sister's arms under a beautiful tree at sunset in South Africa. Such a perfect end.
On a side note, the episode where Patterson has a head injury, and we all got to play different characters from The Breakfast Club, was pretty bloody great!"
Virginia Sherwood/NBC
Jaimie Alexander and Audrey Esparza: Jane Doe is the mastermind
Jane Doe shows in Time Square, and Weller's team work hard to uncover the truth. Surprisingly, Blindspot lets viewers know who wiped Jane's memory and put those tattoos on her body early on. It was Jane herself. "My favorite Blindspot twist of all time has to be in season 1, when we discover that Jane had in fact been responsible for her tattoos," Esparza says, "It was such a fantastic shocker and really set the tone for the series."
Paul Sarkis/NBC
"My other favorite [twist] was when we learned that Jane was the mastermind behind her own memory wipe and her infiltration of the FBI. The duality between her as Remi and her as Jane will always be a favorite of mine," Alexander adds.
Ennis Esmer and Trieste Kelly Dunn: Rich and Boston's heist
Peter Kramer/NBC
During Rich DotCom's second appearance on Blindspot, the maverick hacker goes on a mission with the team and double-crosses them with his boyfriend Boston Arlis Crab (Josh Dean). "By the end of the [episode], we're all on a rooftop in downtown Manhattan and Rich jumps off the building with a parachute and escapes with Boston and the real paintings," Dunn shares, "It was a really fun episode to shoot. We were on the roof all night with epic views of lower Manhattan. It was kind of foggy, and I remember seeing this lone camera flying through the sky."
Jeff Neumann/NBC
Esmer also loved the couple pulling one over on the team. "Rich and Boston pulled quite the double-cross on the FBI team, lemme tell ya," he recalls, "Pretending to be at each other's throats for long enough to smuggle in a tuxedo parachute and smuggle out some priceless works of art. Who knew that one day Boston would be trying to undermine Rich's underworld consultant position with warm scones and paintings of narwhals? Boston did. Boston knew."
"Also, production kept the cast in a hotel next door, so while we weren't shooting, we were just hanging in a hotel room together eating room service. It was super fun and felt like we were all on a school trip staying up past curfew," Dunn adds.
David Giesbrecht/NBC
Michelle Hurd: The truth about Shepherd
"My favorite plot twist on Blindspot was finding out that Shepherd is Jane and Roman's mother… of course!"
Virginia Sherwood/NBC
Rob Brown and Ukweli Roach: Borden's betrayal
"My favorite twist was when it was revealed that Borden was actually working with Sandstorm," Brown shares. "Ukweli brought such a steadiness and an uplifting quality to Dr. Borden that I was truly shocked when I read it like, 'Naaaah, not Borden!' I figured Reade would go rogue before Borden."
Jeff Neumann/NBC
Roach, who played Borden, is also fond of his character's shocking secret and the arc that followed. "Obviously, as the actor, I was very invested in his reasons for betraying the FBI, as flawed as they were, and even at times empathized with Borden's choices," he explains, "I also like this twist because I believe it was the beginning of Borden's road to redemption, atonement and genuine remorse for what he allowed himself to be a part of. Which is a satisfying thought for me."
Evans Vestal Ward/NBCUniversal
Martin Gero: The twist that never was
While Gero didn't pick a favorite twist, he did share one he loved that never made it on the show. Roman almost had a twin brother! The plan was to "reveal that the person Roman had been talking to on the phone all season 3 was his twin brother who was a doctor that had been working on a cure for ZIP," Gero shares. The new brother would help Jane deal with her unresolved guilt about Roman, and it would keep Luke Mitchell on the show.
"Ultimately, as we started work on season 4, there was a feeling from some that it was a little too over the top," Gero adds, "so we decided to go another way."
Blindspot airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
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