Summary
DMV delivers its funniest half-hour yet in “Blindspot”, which is annoying because it also indulges in the aspects I’ve thus far liked least. But the hit rate of one-liners and general chaotic energy really come together here.
Since DMV started, I’ve complained pretty consistently about the focus on Colette and the one-note mode the character generally operates in. Things had begun to improve a little bit in that regard, but Episode 6 finds Colette at her most ridiculous yet, and somehow “Blindspot” is the funniest episode of the season by a margin. It has the highest hit rate of one-liners, the best exaggerated slapstick, the best balance between the cast, and feels the most coherent. I’m as surprised as you are.
Colette has been driven to distraction by the fact that Noa is now openly dating Mary. Instead of just taking this in her stride like an adult, she instead madly obsesses over it and turns to Ceci, of all people, for advice. As soon as Colette saw Ceci’s secret office diorama, she should have probably left the matter alone, but she’s so desperate to get Noa’s attention that Ceci’s amateur witchcraft seems like a good idea.
To be fair, Colette does get Noa’s attention. But she gets it by leaving a picture of him with some red string tied around the neck in the office freezer, which he promptly discovers, leading him to believe that his crazy stalker has followed him from New Zealand. When Colette tries to downplay that angle, she ends up implicating Ceci, leading to even more ridiculous confusion. The irony here is that “Blindspot” also features the most meaningful development in Noa and Colette’s relationship yet, including the hint of a genuine connection, but he, of course, has no idea that Colette is lying through her teeth about everything.
I still don’t think that this relationship has any legs, and a part of me does wish that DMV would move on from it, since there isn’t enough meat on the bones for it to be dragged out all season, but I do like what Episode 6 does with the angle. We’re not supposed to be rooting for Colette, I don’t think. Initially, I thought we were, and that her bumbling was intended to be ridiculous and charming, but she crosses enough lines here that I genuinely think the show is trying to imply she’s a bit of a psycho.
In the episode’s B-plot, Barb is driven to distraction by some graffiti that keeps springing up on the health and safety posters around the office. Barb thinks the illustrations depict rockets, but everyone else is well aware that they’re penises, and thus everyone – though especially Gregg – suspects that Vic is responsible. For once, though, he’s adamant that he isn’t, which turns out to be true as the real culprit is a random kid who has been waiting in line. And he is drawing rockets.
It’s a silly subplot, but it totally works, both in terms of Barb’s painful naivete and the inter-office politics, with Gregg and Vic falling out a bit over the accusations (however warranted they might be). It makes a nice counterpoint to how overblown the Colette stuff is, and contains a bunch of very funny one-liners from everyone. The “twist” was also totally unexpected, at least for me, though in hindsight it’s teased when the kid shows up earlier and insults Ceci by claiming she’s the second-hottest woman in the office because “Hot Kristen” is in the bathroom (he even calls her “Hot Kristen”).
Don’t get me wrong, it’s all silly stuff, absurd workplace cringe comedy, perhaps even more ridiculous than usual. And yet for some reason “Blindspot” just works on basically every level, so maybe I’m going to have to adjust my criticism of this show as we go.
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