Wow. So that happened.
A lot of big stuff happened in this one. More insights into character, more views of who goes how far for what.
Also, who really wants what. Namely, Reade for that one. I have to say, that one wasn’t really much of a surprise. I’ll get back to that in a minute, though.
We rejoin the story with that awful cliffhanger–who was shot?
Yes, the rotten awful mole Borden wasn’t the one shot, it was our dear, sweet Patterson.
BOOOOOOOO.
At least no death, there. Borden does something almost worse, though, and takes her to Shepard.
Jane, meanwhile, tries to drive Roman to the FBI…and runs smack into Roman’s instincts. The minute he wakes up he’s fight-or-flight, doing whatever he can to get out of the car. There’s a few tense moments while he’s on the loose–Jane tells the team what all happened, her and Roman’s escape, her shooting Roman up with the amnesia drug (which we find out is called ZIP), and importantly THE FACT THAT BORDEN IS A ROTTEN MOLE. Everyone splits up, Jane and Weller committed to recovering Roman, Reade and Zapata and Nas looking for Patterson, who they realize was on her way home to check on Rotten Mole Borden. They figure out pretty quick what happened at the house, and figure he’s taken her to Shepard.
Jane and Weller trail Roman to the diner he ended up in, just in time to see (and help) Roman fight off the team Shepard sent to collect him. Apparently, Shepard was able to get audio from Roman’s phone and figure out Jane had ZIPped him. Roman does show his underlying instincts aren’t all bad though, as he took a second before the fight started to warn the waitress and her kid to safety.
Jane and Weller get Roman back to the FBI where he’s alternately treated like an enemy and an asset. Jane is convinced by Weller and Zapata to lie to Roman, and she tells him that Shepard was the one who had ZIPped them both. I have a feeling that’s going to bite them in the ass later.
Roman really wants to help them figure out where Patterson might be, but the ZIP has done it’s work pretty thoroughly. He’s really not got any of his memories–until we see him later, lying on the floor of his fancy plexiglass cell in the fetal position, echoing an earlier memory of misery he was put through in that weird assassin school orphanage thing him and Jane were trapped in as kids.
Nas figures out from a picture and memory that Livy’s A History of Rome was in the possession of multiple terrorists (including The Traitor Borden), and is likely the foundation of a book cipher. They’d gotten a coded text from the phone Roman had on them that led them to some clues, and after lots of other legwork, they find the woman who’d supplied Borden with his getaway car. The cavalry goes to rescue Patterson.
Meanwhile, since Borden The Rat didn’t want to kill Patterson, he instead convinces Shepard that information can be wrung from her. Oh, yes, that’s SO much better. Thanks, buddy.
Shepard tries to torture information out of Patterson by repeatedly puncturing Patterson’s eardrum by inserting a huge needle into her ear. Patterson–of course–never breaks. Borden The Heel just stands there listening to Patterson scream. Eventually, he convinces Shepard to let him kill Patterson (because he’ll be more humane), but after Shepard leaves, Patterson talks him out of it. He leaves Patterson secured to the table when he hears a landmine go off outside, heralding the arrival of the rescue party.
Weller chases Borden the Coward into the woods, where they fight and suddenly Borden knows an awful lot of fancy fighting? He gets his hands on Weller’s gun, but as Weller observes, he can’t shoot Weller. He flees instead.
Zapata gets Reade comfy at home, offers to make him food…and he kisses her. Too bad Zapata wants no part of it–even though Reade says it makes sense, she insists they’re just friends.
Grumpy FBI dude from last episode tries to get rid of Nas because of everyone who died on the failed raid and take Roman away, but Weller puts his foot down and threatens to quit. He gets to keep everyone, but now if something goes wrong, it’s all on Weller.
Patterson is still trying to work on stuff from her hospital bed when Weller brings her a phone Nas got from a mole of her own, and when she uses the book cipher to unlock it they find a picture of Jane. It’s a prototyped version of her tats, but there’s a different one on her neck that isn’t there now. Hmm.
The big question that’s on everyone’s mind, though: Why did Sandstorm want Weller alive?
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JL Jamieson is a strange book nerd who writes technical documents by day, and book news, reviews, and other assorted opinions for you by night. She is working on her own fiction, and spends time making jewelry to sell at local conventions, as well as stalking the social media accounts of all your favorite writers.