Before an all-new Season 3 episode of Blindspot airs Friday 8pm on NBC, Villain Media has an exclusive interview with actress Jaimie Alexander and creator Martin Gero. Though Jane Doe (Alexander) and Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) are officially wed, the honeymoon is completely over as a bigger and deadlier threat than Sandstorm is suddenly taking over their lives.
Before audiences watch an all-new episode of Blindspot this Friday, November 3rd at 8pm on NBC, Villain Media discussed this upcoming third season with showrunner Martin Gero and Jane Doe herself, Jaimie Alexander. With Sandstorm defeated, something new is rising from the ashes, putting the bond between Weller and Jane in jeopardy. “Jeller” fans are definitely in for quite a “roller coaster” ride, as promised by the lead actress herself.
In the critically acclaimed pilot, audiences were first introduced to Alexander’s Jane Doe as her entire body was stuffed inside a large duffel bag. Having just woken up groggily, Jane crawled out of the bag and found herself surrounded by armed police officers. Stranded naked in Times Square, Jane couldn’t remember how she got there, nor did she even know why her entire body was covered with tattoos.
In our recap of the third season premiere, entitled Back to the Grind, we find our protagonist and lead actress put in the same kind of situation, but with a clever twist. Just like in the first episode, Jane finds herself stuffed in a bag, not by her captors, but by her husband. To fool their enemy, Kurt (Stapleton) has to fake Jane’s death. With the clock ticking, he has to inject the antidote in order to revive her. This entire suspenseful sequence took place while Jane was presumed dead inside the bag.
When I enthusiastically mentioned this throwback to the first season, and how much I loved it, Alexander jokingly responded, “I’m glad you loved that!”
Known for Arlington Road and The Mothman Prophecies, filmmaker Mark Pellington directed Jane’s introductory scene in the first episode. Both scenes started the same way, with Jane unzipping the bag from the inside and getting her arm out. Gero recalled shooting the scene similarly, “She did it so perfectly! The arm was so lyrical and beautiful.”
Even the same musical cues by composer Blake Neely were put in place. The creator/showrunner explained putting his own creative spin on the scene, “We tried to recreate the moment as much as possible, that Mark Pellington brilliantly did in the pilot. We thought it would be a fun callback!”
“We realized when we were breaking the story, “Oh yeah! She’d have to be in some kind of bag. We’re going to put Jaimie in a bag!” Gero continued, “She’s world famous for coming out of bags! No one gets out of bags better than Jaimie Alexander!”
But this was more than just recreating the scene shot-for-shot. As writer/director of the third season premiere, Gero positioned the camera at a lower angle, capturing our revived protagonist as a larger-than-life super-heroine. Gero added, “We had to do it again. It was so amazing because I was like, ‘Jaimie, do you want a reference? She’s like, “Oh no! I remember!”
Though the director and his star couldn’t agree if the bag was bigger or smaller this time around, Alexander humorously pointed out, “Oh wait, I’m getting in shape!”
During the first season, Kurt wouldn’t have met Jane if his name wasn’t tattooed on her back. Though they could barely trust each other at first, there was an instant spark of attraction between them. Fans eagerly watched the action-fest and romance, while questioning, “Will they or won’t they?”
In the second season, every time Kurt and Jane made a step forward in their developing relationship, they were still two steps behind. Though the intimacy between the on-screen duo made segue, there were many obstacles getting in their way. The question, “Will they or won’t they?” was finally answered with Kurt holding his wife’s wedding ring in his hand.
The third season premiere kick-started with the wedding day. Kurt and Jane tied the knot, then went on to make new life together outside of the FBI office. The following events then caught up with the second season cliff-hanger, as Weller ended up searching for his missing wife in the Himalayas. Though she had prevented stage two of Sandstorm’s masterplan from succeeding, Jane was called back into action after discovering her new glowing tattoos.
Answering how the relationship has advanced this third season, the Blindspot actress replied, “We’re just full throttle now! It’s really great!”
Die-hard fans of the show have nicknamed the ever-growing romance between Jane and Weller, mixing their names together as “Jeller.” As the seasons went on, the nickname became prominent across social platforms. Even the Blindspot actress noticed the trending hashtag on her social feed.
“The best thing about our show, now with social media, we now know what the audience wants to see. We always take that into consideration, while maintaining the integrity of the show,” said Alexander.
At the end of the third season premiere, just when Kurt thought he had reunited with his wife, Jane was actually hiding a darker secret of her own. With her husband gone, Jane stashed away a pile of fake passports, along with hundreds of dollars, in a secret compartment. More questions lie ahead for viewers in the upcoming episodes.
In the second episode of the third season airing this Friday November 3rd, entitled Enemy Bag of Tricks, Edgar Reade (Rob Brown)’s newly formed team find themselves battling a dangerous foreign power. Kurt and Jane not only have to prevent the hijacking a satellite, they also have to adjust to their new dynamic. Will Jane discover a new clue tied to her bioluminescent tattoos?
Alexander teased, “And we know that everybody wants to see ‘Jeller.’ We’re giving that to them but it’s quite the roller coaster!”
Blindspot airs Fridays at 8pm on NBC.
– By Jorge Solis
