'Blindspot' Season 5 Episode 4: Is Reade back from the dead? Fans believe he is 'going to be coaching Zapata'
Spoilers for Season 5, Episodes 3 and 4
The half-minute sneak peek into the next episode of 'Blindspot' Season 5 did more than the latest Episode 3 could do in almost an hour! With Madeline Burke's (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) sinister intent plaguing the rogue agents and Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) undergoing some major PTSD surrounding Edgar Reade's (Rob Brown) death, the agents are at an all-time loss now that Madeline has been able to break Matthew Weitz (Aaron Abrams). But after an entire episode of Tasha swirling in self-doubt and negative gut feeling, every time they had to orchestrate a stakeout, the promo for the upcoming Episode 4 showed Tasha look back over her shoulder and spot Reade. While that's exactly what she has been hoping for all this time, spotting Reade was enough to cause a fandom-wide buzz of speculation about what this teasing appearance could mean: is he back from the dead or just a figment of Tasha's hallucination?
First things first, let's weigh in the possibilities of Reade still being alive. He was crushed under a pile of debris from Madeline's unforeseen drone attack. In Reade's presumed final moments, he did the most he could to squeeze Tasha out from underneath him, save her life, before utter sweet nothings to each other, and watch her and the rest of the agents leave. While we didn't watch someone confirm his death, or put a time of death on his passing, Reade fell unconscious as the team was leaving and that was it. Considering even the showrunners have confirmed that Reade is very much dead, there's not much speculation to be framed surrounding how he might have survived.
Unless the creators finally gave in to both Tasha and the fandom's pain and somehow decided that killing off a big character like Reade wasn't the wisest decision to make. Soon as the snippet appeared, fans took to Twitter to exclaim: "WHAAAAAT?!! Reade isnt dead?!! Omg i knew it!!" The reaction wasn't all positive, as a certain section of the fandom also flocked to announce: "Do not, do not, DO NOT tease me @NBCBlindspot about next week. I still haven’t gotten over Reade’s death."
But while some fans are dreading the prospect of Reade coming back from the dead, others aren't entirely convinced he is back. Seeing Tasha's spiral during the stakeout and how she came unraveled both the time fans consider this is just her hallucinating what she wants to be true so bad. And fans have some speculations about this imaginary-Reade and Tasha's reunion. "Reade is back in the next episode? He's probably going to be coaching Zapata like David coached Patterson after he died in season 1," shared a fan, observing a fine full circle moment linking back the final season to the beginning of it all. At the same time, not everyone is in favor of ghost-Reade, as a fan shared: "Is Reade going to be haunting Tasha in next week’s ep?? If so super not cool!"
For some fans, the doubts still reign wild. "So is reade alive or is that a flashback because like omg," one fan enthused. But there's an in general unpreparedness about the prospect of Tasha hallucinating Reade in flesh and blood. "Tasha about to start seeing Reade in the field? The hallucinations are gonna be more emotional I bet. I'm not ready," shared a heartbroken fan.
'Blindspot' season 5 airs on Thursdays at 9 pm only on NBC.