I recently got the opportunity to speak with Blindspot creator Martin Gero as as well as series star Sullivan Stapleton about the new NBC drama. This will be a two-part piece with Stapleton's thoughts coming a little later today. For now, have a read of what Gero had to say on a whole host of things, including Jane's tattoos, the importance of good characters, the mystery aspect of the show and lots more.
NOTE: This took place before the second episode aired this past Monday.
On Agent Reade's (Rob Brown) character
Gero: I think it鈥檚 really important on a show like this to find humor where you can so it doesn鈥檛 become all gloom and doom and dour. And it鈥檚 something we do more and more every episode because our cast is really funny, Rob Brown especially. Certainly Ashley Johnson is going to carry a lot of that weight as well.
And no, it鈥檚 one of those things when we started testing the show, I was so pleased to find out that people just really connected to Rob鈥檚 character and the fact that there was a little bit of humor in the show. So it really allowed us to run with that as the episodes come up.
On the number of tattoos on Jane's body
Gero: There鈥檚 a real concrete plan for the first three seasons, and then I have an idea on how to take it past there if we get there. So the crazy thing about pitching these shows nowadays is people have been so burned by an idea that can last ten episodes. So you really have to -- even in the origination of the pitch -- come up with an enormous amount of backstory, which at the time feels like an enormous waste of time because you鈥檙e like, no one鈥檚 even bought this show. What am I doing?
But the second it gets picked up it鈥檚 like, I鈥檓 so thankful that I put in the groundwork when it was a little crazy. So no, we have all of the ten full episodes for the first season mapped out and we know what the second season is and how to get into the third season. And then hopefully we鈥檒l see.
On how the differing appeal of mystery vs. action works on the show
Gero: I think I鈥檝e said from the beginning this is a procedural for people that don鈥檛 like procedurals and a character drama for people that don鈥檛 like character dramas. I think we can find a way to do both really well.
Our story of the week, so to speak, comes from one of Jane鈥檚 tattoos and is closed-ended and like a little action movie in and of itself. But then what鈥檚 great about the show is that we鈥檙e able to do a layered character drama on top of that. And I think with previously-ons and people finding out information within the show, it鈥檚 the type of thing that will reward the loyal viewer but won鈥檛 alienate the casual viewer, which I think is so important on shows like these.
Certainly, for me, especially when you鈥檙e doing twenty-two a year, sometimes you find out about something and you鈥檙e like, oh man, I don鈥檛 have twenty-two hours to catch up on the first season. And so for us it鈥檚 very important that the show has an entry point for anybody at any time.
On the relationship between Jane and the rest of the cast
So she really has an impact on all of their lives and the great thing about doing a show like this is week to week you get to deepen al of the characters, not just Weller and Jane. And so you start to have [other stories] - Patterson鈥檚 going to have her own stories and then Zapata and Reade will start to have their own stories.
But it鈥檚 all directly tied to how Jane is impacting all their lives. So it鈥檚 a fun line to trace as who welcomes her with open arms, who鈥檚 suspicious of her, who鈥檚 worried about her. It runs the gamut and all of their lives are changed for good and for bad by knowing Jane.
On how he came up with the idea for the show
Gero: I wish I had a better answer for this, but I鈥檝e always loved puzzles. This kind of show is a show I would watch. And I just looked around and felt like there鈥檚 not a lot of these puzzle shows and it鈥檚 because they鈥檙e really hard to do, certainly, and so I really thought about it just in the back of my head for years about how to do a show with a treasure map in it somehow.
And then I was - I lived in Times Square -- which is a long story -- during the Viacom bomb threat where they emptied it out, and that image has just stayed with me. It鈥檚, like, so freaky because Times Square is like one of the world鈥檚 most famous busy places. And to see it totally empty was kind of an amazing thing.
So one morning I was just thinking about - wow, I wonder what they would do if they went and dismantled a bomb and there was a person inside that bag instead of a bomb? And then I thought how could I connect that to a specific person? You could tattoo Kurt Weller鈥檚 name on her back.And then I was like, well, what if she was covered in tattoos? What if it was a whole treasure map? And I had never seen that before. I鈥檇 never seen a person as a treasure map.
So I just got really excited about it and was like let鈥檚 figure this out and see where this goes.
On what the past week or so has been like for him
Gero: It鈥檚 been extraordinarily overwhelming for me and the entire cast and crew. We were really excited about the show and to see that it has connected with so many people is just really exciting. And you never know in this business. I鈥檝e been on shows that I thought were pretty good and no one watched. The last show that I created was the lowest premiere in the history of television.
So this is a marked difference, certainly, than that experience. And it鈥檚 been really wonderful. And I think for us, too, it鈥檚 exciting because we鈥檙e really proud of the pilot, obviously, but we鈥檙e even prouder of the series that we鈥檝e made. A lot of people are like, sure, but how do you do this week to week?
And I really think we鈥檝e cracked it and found that balance between a great, thrilling action hour and then emotional character drama. And I just can鈥檛 wait. People have told me [they] can鈥檛 wait to see it, but we鈥檙e just so anxious to get it out there and have people watch it and go on this ride with us.
The fun thing, too, is it鈥檚 like - who doesn鈥檛 love a puzzle? Who doesn鈥檛 love a mystery? And this one is wrapped in a lot of fun stuff.
And so the drama - the mystery of who she is and why someone did this to her - we feel like we have a good answer for that. I think it鈥檚 really dangerous for shows like this to feel like all middle from this point on. So we鈥檙e really going to churn through some pretty amazing story real quick. Even by the end of the first active, episode two, there鈥檚 a pretty major reveal in there that really shapes the entire show. So we鈥檙e just excited for people to see it.
On characters (in general)Gero: For me it鈥檚 all about the characters. If you鈥檙e not interested week to week in what the characters are doing, it鈥檚 really hard for the show to work. [For] the pilot you really have to have these amazing set pieces to really draw people in, but even our opening, which is so enormous in Times Square, I think what works about it is you鈥檙e genuinely concerned for this woman. It鈥檚 a hook into the show visually but it鈥檚 also like oh, my God, what鈥檚 happening to her?
And so for us the type of action we do on the show is very character-centric. It鈥檚 not just massive explosions and car chases. It鈥檚 about this woman and this man trying to figure out what the hell is going on with them.
And so for me, I鈥檓 just really excited to have a canvas that鈥檚 this big that you can do some really amazing stuff on, but at the end of the day it鈥檚 the story that we鈥檙e telling about these, I think, rather unique characters and the drama that they鈥檙e involved together is what really gets us excited.
I know I鈥檝e worked through a lot of genres, but at the end of the day it鈥檚 the characters that - the television shows I like -- and I鈥檓 obsessed with television. When they come back on it鈥檚 like, oh, my friends are back, which is sad and lonely.
But that鈥檚 kind of how you know it鈥檚 a good TV show when they transcend that and you just think about them when they鈥檙e not on TV, if that makes any sense.
On whether they will return to previous cases
Gero: Yes. I don鈥檛 want to say much more because that bleeds into spoiler area, but I will say all of the cases are interconnected. There鈥檚 nothing random about any of the cases they investigate. I can think of one that seems semi-random, but the rest of them are - the cases that come from her body are there with a specific purpose in mind.
And part of the puzzle is trying to figure out who鈥檚 doing this and why. And the really clearest information you have about that is the cases start to develop -- at least outwardly -- a theme. And that theme is very telling, and it鈥檚 something that our characters are struggling with.
So yes, they seem disconnected, [but] if you put them all up on a board, their similarities start to tell a story, if that makes any sense, which makes it very hard to come up with cases because they all have to fit a very specific plan that these bad guys are doing.
And so you can鈥檛 just come in and be like, hey, I have a great case idea. And you鈥檙e like, well, no. that doesn鈥檛 fit with our villain鈥檚 overarching goal. So it鈥檚 occasionally frustrating in the writer鈥檚 room, but I think it gives it a homogeny that is really interesting.
On the two leads
Gero: I think what鈥檚 really amazing about both of our leads is - and by the way, you鈥檇 be lucky to have just Jaimie Alexander in the show. You鈥檇 be lucky to have just Sullivan Stapleton in a show. But I have both of them - really puts us over the top in a way that I think can鈥檛 be discounted.
And I think what connected me to both of them is Jaimie is an internationally known hard-ass. But she has this incredible vulnerability inside of her that is so important for this character to feel balanced because what she鈥檚 going through is totally traumatic. And so when we met with her initially, just her talking about the character there was this emotion that I had seen under the surface of a lot her performances. I had been a fan of hers and then before we offered it to her, I just watched everything she鈥檇 ever been in. And I just thought, she鈥檚 a really great actress on top of being very physically capable.And it was exciting when you see somebody who鈥檚 really great and hasn鈥檛 shown all of it yet to the world. And so that was really exciting for us and I think it鈥檚 really exciting for her.
And then for Sullivan it鈥檚 kind of the same thing. I mean, I became aware of Sullivan through Animal Kingdom, which was this insanely human, beautiful, tragic performance that he gave. And then he went on to become a massive action star.
He鈥檚 one of the manliest men I鈥檝e ever met in my life, but also has got such a beautiful soul and can play this tragedy and this hurt that this character clearly has. And I think it鈥檒l be explored a lot. After the second episode you鈥檒l see what I鈥檓 talking about, but they both have both of those - the strength and the vulnerability in them, which makes them human and insanely watchable.
On the creation of the tattoos
Gero: When I started developing the show, I made a book of like a hundred tattoos that I really liked. And then we hired a graphic designer eventually to layer them on her body in a rough placement. Then we hired Tinsley Transfer, which specializes in cinematic tattoos. And this guy Christian Tinsley and his team really took the design to a whole other level, brought an amazing amount of detail and brought an amazing amount of stuff with it.But for us there鈥檚 a lot of story on her body that needed to be incorporated. So yes, it鈥檚 really a team effort between the writers and Tinsley Transfers, and we鈥檝e brought in this guy David Quong, who鈥檚 a magician and puzzle-maker for the New York Times. He鈥檚 amazing. And so he鈥檚 one of our chief puzzle consultants and makes sure that these things make sense and they work, which is super important to me.
The second tattoo for the second episode - we put it out for Entertainment Weekly because you could solve it yourself after having seen the pilot. No one has yet. I was like - it鈥檚 some sort of prize for the person that can figure it out. I鈥檇 be so impressed. But you can piece these together yourself, and so it鈥檚 really important for us as a collaboration between the writers, Tinsley, and David Quong that this all makes sense and it all has a flow to it. Outside of that it鈥檚 hard to get into how we made each tattoo because they鈥檙e so based in story that hasn鈥檛 come up yet.
On the approach to writing each episode
Gero: When we started, I knew what I wanted episode five and six to be, and I knew what episode seven was. And then I definitely knew what episode ten was. That鈥檚 our midseason finale - what eleven was. And then you have some midway points where it鈥檚 like, okay, well, fifteen and sixteen have to be this. Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two -- if we鈥檙e so lucky -- have to be those.
So - and then it鈥檚 about - it鈥檚 kind of like an animation in-betweening. You do the big moves and then you鈥檙e like, okay, well how do we get there in an organic way? We know where we have to land with these characters in ten, so how do we get everyone there in a way that feels like it happens naturally and organically?
And that鈥檚 really fun to know - to know where you鈥檙e going makes this job way easier because you鈥檙e not just like, well, what do we do this week? You have a plan of where you have to get to and so both for the characters and for the mystery. So it鈥檚 been really fun to work with these amazing writers and craft these episodes week to week, building on, ideally, what we鈥檝e done last week.On how social media affects the show
Gero: We live tweet both the East Coast and West Coast feeds, and it鈥檚 really fun to engage the audience in a real-time way and see what鈥檚 working and what鈥檚 not working, and what they get excited about.
And it creates a buzz. We trended on Twitter worldwide for I think four or five hours Monday night, which is extraordinary. And I think it drives interest in a show like this because if you鈥檙e just somebody that鈥檚 not into the show and all of a sudden your Twitter feed blows up with all things Blindspot, I think it drives you to the program.
And then as far as the East Coast - West Coast thing, certainly there are shows that I just as a fan have participated in live Tweet-wise. And I just think they鈥檙e savvy enough to just be like, well, I鈥檓 going to stay off Twitter for two or three hours. And then we do it all again. So it鈥檚 not like they鈥檙e missing anything.
What鈥檚 really interesting is how it stays hot well after the show. Because what a lot of people do is they watch the show and then they just enter hashtag Blindspot into their search and then just scroll back over the next hour. And it鈥檚 kind of like a director鈥檚 commentary or something like that with hundreds of thousands of participants.
And so yes. I think it鈥檚 something we take really seriously and I think it helps more than it hurts.
Blindspot airs on NBC on Mondays at 10pm.
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