This episode was a story about parents and their children.
The fugitives found themselves stretched thin as they attempted to eliminate ZIP, the memory-wiping chemical that Madeline had promised to Ivy, on Blindspot Season 5 Episode 7.
At least one ally of the team was holding tough.
Ivy located Allison, but fortunately not Bethany, and turned her over to Madeline, as a show of good faith in Ivy’s effort to recapture the renegade FBI agents.
Ivy was smug because she got Weller to admit that Bethany was hospitalized while he was drugged on Blindspot Season 5 Episode 5.
But by then, Allie had relocated Bethany to a safe place where Ivy or Madeline was never going to find her.
So Allie stonewalled Madeline, claiming ignorance as to where the fugitives were hiding out. Chances were good that that’s the truth, so that she could pass a polygraph if necessary.
But, hoping to humor Madeline enough to get released, she made that heartfelt broadcast to Kurt urging him to turn himself in, while secretly signaling him to do just the opposite.
Weller was naturally distraught but Jane was quickly able to convince him that Madeline would have showed off Bethany is she had her.
Unfortunately, Madeline had no intention of letting Allie go as she remains another de facto hostage at FBI Headquarters, along with Weitz and Afreen, neither one of whom was seen this episode.
Still, when the revolution does come inside of the final four episodes, it will be good to have as many allies as possible inside.
But Madeline’s epic fail was just a footnote to the main event, as the team attempted to stymie importation of ZIP into the U.S.
Patterson used a virus to fry one batch before it ever left the lab but Madeline already had stashes in reserve in Hungary and Libya.
That meant the fugitives had to split up to cover both locations with Patterson staying behind to oversee the operation.
That made sense because while Rich has become the soul of the team, he’s too easily distracted fluffing up “Archie Bunker” to be left in charge during a crucial mission.
Not surprisingly, Weller and Jane had an easier time of things in Hungary. They quickly found the ZIP, denatured it despite a minor mishap, installed the tracker, and turned it off then on again in relatively short order.
How could Ivy’s lieutenant, who is with her constantly, not have recognized Kurt pretending to be a custodian? His disguise was hardly that good.
The only distraction was Allie’s broadcast, which Weller and Jane finally treated as the trap that it was.
In Libya, with Rich as Zapata’s wingman, she was operating largely alone. Field work is just not his thing.
This mission seemed doomed from the start. They showed up just in time for the drugs to be loaded onto the plane. Then Zapata got trapped on the plane when it took off.
The intriguing wrinkle was that Madeline’s doctor son Greg was there, thinking he was loading vaccine meant for Jordan.
Greg’s presence definitely was an unexpected opportunity and Tasha did everything imaginable to take advantage of it.
First, she was another doctor who just happened to pop up, literally, in the cargo bay. Then she went along with Greg’s guess that their paths had crossed … somewhere.
Finally, when it dawned on him that he’d seen her on a wanted poster, she was forced to hold him at gunpoint.
It was unrealistic for her to expect to change Greg’s mind about his darling mother, even after she had detailed Madeline’s many sins.
Still, she managed to plant the seeds of doubt in his mind, to the point that he covered for her. But they had debated so long that she wasn’t able to denature the ZIP in those crates.
For the briefest of moments there, it appeared that the team had acquired another ally in Greg.
Only, he was just so clunky when he was questioning Madeline. Rather than simply making her happy with his surprise visit, he made the mistake of asking about his late father’s suspicious death.
Then he compounded that error by calling the voice mailbox Tasha gave him while inside the heavily bugged FBI Headquarters.
It would have been so easy to set up a time to meet, then go outside to make the call.
Madeline proved that she believed her motto of “Success requires sacrifice,” first stealing his memory by injecting him with ZIP then having her thugs take care of him.
Compare that with both Allie and Kurt staying away to keep Bethany safe.
Most telling was that Allie’s stroke across her eyebrow was more than a signal to Kurt.
It was also letting Keaton, and whoever else is involved in this conspiracy to take down Madeline, to stay the course.
So it’s been Keaton, Allie, and other discontented members of the national-security apparatus that have been sending complicated messages to the renegade agents.
It’s great that there are other like-minded people out there. Now if only they could take a more hands-on approach. Right now, it’s five people in a Czech bunker against Madeline and her army of mercenaries, which isn’t an even fight.
Do the others know about ZIP? And if so, why aren’t they joining in to help?
To follow ZIP’s ascension, watch Blindspot online.
What did you think of Allie’s effort?
How much of a blow did the team strike against Madeline and company?
Who else is working with Keaton?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.