Blindspot boss Martin Gero credits 'equality in the sexes' for show's success

Blindspot, which received a full-season order this week for 22 episodes, is one of the successes of the fall TV slate. And at the show’s New York Comic Con panel Sunday afternoon, creator and executive producer Martin Gero didn’t hesitate to point out one of the key reasons why he thinks the show succeeded: having Jaimie Alexander star as the lead, Jane Doe.

“It’s a show about a real world in which there is equality in the sexes, so it’s great, I think it’s one of the reasons we’re doing so well,” he said when an audience member asked what went into deciding on a female lead. “When we tested the show, [the network] separated the men and the women in these pods and they talk to them after about the show… so they asked the men, ‘What’s the number one thing you liked?’ The men said action. And they asked the women, ‘What did you like?’ And the women said action.” At that, the crowd cheered Gero’s response.

Also winning cheers from the crowd: Gero’s comments on New York City. With an audience of mostly New Yorkers, the panel fielded questions about filming in the boroughs. Gero teased that episode 7 will take the cast to Michigan and future episodes will see the plot move to international areas. But when an excited Ashley Johnson (who plays Patterson) asked if the cast would be going overseas as well, Gero explained they would not be leaving New York City — to even more cheers from the crowd.

The cast, including Sullivan Stapleton (who plays FBI agent Kurt Weller), Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Rob Brown, Audrey Esparza, and Johnson, joined Gero on stage to praise the show and walk the viewers through the mystery of Jane Doe and the revelation that she had been Taylor Shaw in her past. Gero told viewers pay close attention to episode 10, the midseason finale, which he called a “huge” episode. “How Kurt and Jane try to process Taylor Shaw is the emotional arc of the season,” Gero said. “You know, they keep calling her Jane, she doesn’t really identify as Taylor, even if she was Taylor Shaw, she was only Taylor for five years… A whole lifetime is a mystery in a lot of ways. Kurt has been searching for her and desperately wants her to be this person, and it’s hard for her to process.”

Watch our interview with the cast above and check out more video interviews from Comic Con!

Blindspot airs Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.