A Conversation with Blindspot EP Martin Gero

Blindspot quickly cemented itself as one of the new Fall TV season’s standouts. It was the first to get a full season order of the new crop of shows, and has already gained a loyal following. The twists and turns of learning more about Jane Doe as each tattoo is decoded and new memories are revealed are just beginning.

We went straight to Blindspot Creator and Executive Producer Martin Gero to find out a bit about what’s coming up, and he had some great stuff to share. Is Jane Doe actually Taylor Shaw? Which character is most like Gero? And which other person from The L.A. Complex will be checking into Blindspot this season? Read on for the answers, and be sure to watch Blindspot tonight on CTV in Canada and NBC in the US!

I was surprised to see how quickly it was revealed that Jane is Taylor Shaw, but with Patterson’s discovery in “Bone May Rot” it could be a red herring. Is it possible that both possibilities could be true — that she is in fact Taylor, but was also in Africa at some point?

I think that’s a very good guess.

Jane also started getting flashes about the night she disappeared as a child, but hasn’t said anything to Weller or anyone else yet. Is there a reason why she’s holding that info back for now?

First of all, I think you’ll like the next episode a lot based on that question. I think for Jane, these fragments are kind of traumatic and quick, and so maybe it occasionally takes her a second to piece it all together, or feel like she has her hands all the way around it in a way that she can describe it.

Now, there’s definitely something fishy going on with Mayfair and Carter from the CIA, but I also get a sense that Mayfair is trying to protect her team while keeping whatever happened from getting out. Is that a fair assessment?

Mayfair is trying to control the situation as best she can. She realizes that Jane poses a huge threat to her personally, and to them, as well as Carter. Carter and [Mayfair] have very different ways of dealing with things. Carter just wants her dead, and Mayfair doesn’t see how that solves the problem. She’d rather try to control the situation from inside as opposed to just let the pot boil over.

I noticed that in the promo for the next episode, Jane and Weller and the team are already going to come face to face with Carter. What are you able to tease about that?

I think it’s maybe my favorite episode so far. It is so much fun. Michael Gaston, who plays Carter, is kind of this big bad, and he really gets to strut his stuff in the next episode. It’s a really, really exciting, incredible emotional episode and I just can’t wait for people to see it.

There’s a lot of friction between Mayfair and Patterson, and I can’t tell if it’s an apprehension that Mayfair thinks that Patterson may figure things out, putting Patterson in jeopardy, or if there really is a rivalry between these two ladies. Maybe you can tell me a little bit more about that dynamic.

I can’t say much about it, because they’re just such spoiler-ridden. From the beginning, Mayfair finds Patterson kind of grating. Patterson has such an ebullient energy and is a lot of fun, and Mayfair is very metered and controlled. They’re very different personalities. Now, Mayfair totally respects Patterson and I think also knows how smart she is, and so it’s a little worrying when Patterson starts to sniff around.

Now, did you realize that Patterson would be such a breakout character on the show?

No, but it was one of those things, to be honest, that has a lot to do with Ashley Johnson. We had a lot of trouble casting that part. First, let me be clear, and this is a crazy thing — Number one to seven on the call sheet, so our top seven actors, they were all my first choice, which never happens. You never get your first choice on that. I think I was struggling to find what Patterson was. People were coming in auditioning of all ages and all ethnicities, all different kind of takes, and then Ashley came in. I hadn’t imagined her that young, and so I was like, “Oh, you know what? This could bring a youthful energy on the show which we probably super need. She just had such a fun take on it.

In getting to know her during the pilot, Ashley and I are terribly similar. We have the same sense of humor. We’re both pretty giant nerds. There was a lot of common ground, and so in a lot of ways, it’s a way for me to get my voice into this very dire, dangerous FBI world. It’s a character that, once I knew Ashley was in there, I was able to really open up. She’s got some of the heaviest lifting on the show in that she has an enormous amount of explaining to do. To be able to do that in a fun and funny way with a lot of energy, it makes the show. It makes it so much more watchable and engaging. It’s been a great evolution, and then there’s the introduction of [Patterson’s boyfriend] David, played by Canada’s own Joe Dinicol …

Thank you so much for that casting. I loved The LA Complex.

I don’t think anyone else has this yet, but we just Ennis Esmer in Episode 9. I can’t tell you what the part is, but he’s coming to Blindspot.

That’s awesome. Speaking of David, I noticed a lot of buzz on Twitter with people either thinking he’s a goner because he already knows too much, or that he’s a plant with other motivations. Will we be learning more about David soon?

David becomes a semi-regular. He’s in a bunch of episodes this year.

Going back to Patterson for a moment, I think would be cool to see Jane have fun at some point, and I think Patterson may be the one to make that happen.

It’s coming up.

I also thought that Reed warming up to Jane a bit was a nice progression. That was a big moment for him. Will we see a bond start to form, or will he still be tentative around her.

First of all, he’s right. He’s the voice of reason on the show. It is crazy that they’re allowing her to include herself. I think after the CDC tattoo where you’re like, “Oh, Jane was supposed to be here, otherwise we would never have seen this,” he realizes, “Oh, this is part of the plan that she had no control over.” He’s got to stop being so hard on her. That was a step forward. I don’t think it takes him all the way there, and that’s something that we’ll do over the course of the season.

Jane is probably one of the best female characters on TV, given what we know she’s gone through and what she may have also endured. She owns the situation, comes in, and knows what needs to be done instead of wallowing in self-pity. I think it’s pretty bold to write her the way she’s been written so far.

She refuses to be defined as a victim. That’s an empowerment thing for everybody. We’ve all struggled with stuff, and it’s great to see someone be like, “No, this is not me.”

Images Courtesy of CTV

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