Blind Spot (109)

[GateWorld]

ALPHAS SEASON ONE BLIND SPOT EPISODE NUMBER - 109 Nina and Hicks go undercover to investigate an obstetrician (Brent Spiner) with suspected ties to Red Flag, and they uncover a medical experiment that could be detrimental to future Alphas. (TV Guide) VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >

[Gollumpus]

Hmm, I go away for a week or so and I'm still the first person to leave a comment here...

I liked this episode. There was a good bit of misdirection. The obvious thought was that Kern was responsible for the goings on around the office and then we get Griffin.

Brent Spiner was fun and he had a very interesting and very powerful ability. (I had thoughts that Rachel might be able to use a portion of her ability to similar effect to move around in poor vision situations.) The writers used his ability well, having him create a low sonic field much like repeatedly bending a piece of metal to break it, to achieve his desired goal of getting away. When things had weakened enough he could punch through it with his ability at full(?) force. I was sorry to see him killed off.

Griffin was a very interesting and dangerous character with an equally interesting power. Having her be somewhat honorable and not being a completely cold-blooded, psycho-killer (she could have killed the entire team during the episode but did not) puts her in a grey area. How she has acted in the past and what she will do in the future...

It makes sense that she would use a knife rather than a gun. I could see her being back at some point, either as a competitor on some significant mission, or perhaps as an information source.

Having her trying to acquire Kern and his research for someone (perhaps a "fringe element" of Red Flag?) is an interesting development. It would appear from Kern's comments that there may be a power struggle within Red Flag, and we could indeed see the team allying themselves with Red Flag against "Red Flag". And where does Anna fit into this? Is she the head of Red Flag proper or this fringe element of Red Flag?

Having Rachel arrive just at the critical moment was a bit too convenient, but her being able to subdue Griffin made sense and gave us an example of the limitations of Griffin's power. She can't affect people who do not have optic nerves (like Kern). and she cannot use it on people of whom she is unaware.

regards,
G.

[Commander Zelix]

Last week was my least favorite episode, but this week the episode was just awesome!! I hope Kern didn't die at the end. RIP Kern, I would have wanted your pills to have an Alpha power too! Solid writing.

[Dixie_Vampiress]

Charlotte killed Data! That was so wrong.

[mr_kennedy]

thats what i was thinking Dixie

Good Episode...... best one of the season by far

Brent Spiner was an interesting mix of Banshee, Daredevil & Magneto pretty good character shame he died

Rebecer Mader had a pretty unique character aswell cant quit find a character like her in the comic world

[Giantevilhead]

The way they explained Griffin's power was pretty stupid. The blind spot has nothing to do with how the brain is wired, it's due to the way the eyes are wired. It's where you have no photoreceptors because that's where all the optic nerves pass through.

Also, the whole thing they did with throwing the powdered creamer on the ground and spraying the place with the fire extinguisher was pretty stupid. All it did was make a bunch of noise which should have made Griffin even more difficult to detect. Not to mention the fact that Griffin could have just gone after Kern again while everyone else was distracted. Plus she could have grabbed a gun and shot everyone from far away.

It would have made more sense for them to shut down the power and dim the lights so they'd be able to hear Griffin better and everyone would be on more equal footing.

[Gollumpus]

The way they explained Griffin's power was pretty stupid. The blind spot has nothing to do with how the brain is wired, it's due to the way the eyes are wired. It's where you have no photoreceptors because that's where all the optic nerves pass through.

Also, the whole thing they did with throwing the powdered creamer on the ground and spraying the place with the fire extinguisher was pretty stupid. All it did was make a bunch of noise which should have made Griffin even more difficult to detect. Not to mention the fact that Griffin could have just gone after Kern again while everyone else was distracted. Plus she could have grabbed a gun and shot everyone from far away.

It would have made more sense for them to shut down the power and dim the lights so they'd be able to hear Griffin better and everyone would be on more equal footing.

Yeah, they could have explained Griffin's power a bit better. Whether it was lazy writing or a need to economize on screen time spent on explanations, I didn't really see it as a deal breaker.

My assumption about the creamer etc being spread around is that the group were still not quite clear on how Griffin's power did work. The creamer would/did work as a means to track her movements, although how the group went about using that information was a bit mixed up resulting in them getting caught.

The stuff on the walls was to "break up the patterns" which was supposed to make if more difficult for her to blend in, but she is not a chameleon so I'm not quite sure how mustard stripes on the walls was going to help the group. If her ability *were* like the stealth tech used by the Predator aliens then the background patterns wouldn't have mattered. Maybe if she brushed up against some of the stuff on the wall that would act as another visual aid as to her movements.

The fire extinguisher was "good" TV (loud, smokey, cheap effect) but would likely have been of limited use. If any of the stuff got on her the group couldn't see it (her power is not "invisibility"). If she was getting sprayed by it they might be able to determine her presence by the lack of stuff in an area, but not how Hicks was using the device. Maybe some of the stuff on the floor would indicate her standing somewhere. If it made her sneeze, or temporarily blinded her, then the group might have had a chance to grab her.

Griffin wasn't a complete cold-blooded killer, which is good in that the group is still alive. She could have taken them out at any time. She assessed the group, determined the greatest threat (Rachel's ability) and removed it. Maybe she didn't just kill the group for "professional reasons" in that they weren't her target(s) and she wanted to keep down the body count, or perhaps she hoped to keep them distracted with Rachel's disappearance. Note: while they were distracted she did make an attempt to get at Kern. If she figured she had more time and was more secure as far as not being discovered (or "seen") then she might have incapacitated the group and then tried to force one of them to give her access to Kern.

The lighting idea is a good one. Not sure if they would have access to any kind of power panel from their offices, and Griffin had had time to investigate the area (she found a great hiding spot for Rachel fairly quickly), so she might have been able to turn the power back on. Your idea did make me think of power panels and the like for those offices: there would have to be two sets of panels. Panel one would be for the normal operation of the office (lights, power outlets, etc) and another for this new security system which would be much more difficult to find/access.

regards,
G.

[Gollumpus]

Charlotte killed Data! That was so wrong.

I was thinking more Noonien Soong than Data...

regards,
G.

[LtColCarter]

I'm glad that this show has improved vastly since its pilot episode. I enjoyed this one yet again. I thought Brent Spiner was excellent.

[dtheories]

Hmm, I go away for a week or so and I'm still the first person to leave a comment here...

I did look for the thread on Tuesday because I was so excited about this ep, but couldn't find it. So...I tried!
From a fantasy perspective, there were zero moments when I couldn't accept what was happening. True, I look through a lense of wonder and rely on dialog and character interpretation rather than the science to help me determine whether I've enjoyed a story, but this ep had a little bit of everything! Romance, ALPHA skills, humor, explosions, specialized equipment and mystery. I can easily see Griffin working on behalf of the ALPHA team when her conscience lets her.
Anyway, terrific fun!

[Commander Zelix]

I did look for the thread on Tuesday because I was so excited about this ep, but couldn't find it. So...I tried!

This thread was locked for a few days after the airing before people could post a reply in it.