Summary: Chandler and Monica are being sloppy in hiding their relationship and Joey has to be embarrassed to keep their relationship secret. Joey gets annoyed. Phoebe goes to a reading class and Rachel tags along but doesn't read any of the books. Ross starts to lose it after somebody at work eats his sandwich and gets a reputation for violence at the museum.
The Good: Ross is fantastic here. His mannerisms as he continues to spiral downwards after everything that happened were very funny and I loved all of his scenes. The sandwich scenes in particular were fantastic and David Schwimmer gave a great performance to bring out the most from the comedy. The Joey story has some pretty funny moments as Joey continually takes the fall for Chandler and Monica's stupidity. The pay off at the end with Monica getting humiliated was pretty funny. The Bad: I see a lot of people rate this as one of the better episodes of the series but I honestly don't see it. A lot of the stories here were pretty dumb outside of Ross. While Joey's was funny, the acting was way over the top and the characters weren't as well defined as usual. I struggled to buy into the lengths Chandler and Monica went to keep their relationship secret. Surely Monica would rather reveal the truth instead of being viewed as a sex addict by everyone. Also, the Phoebe C-story is really bad. It's never funny and the final joke of Monica being a terrible student was very poor. This was never an aspect of Monica's character and it shows a fundamental disconnect between the characters and writers which has steadily been becoming worse as the seasons have gone on. It's never been a big problem until now. The lame way that this episode presented its characters made this feel like an episode from a completely different show. "Friends" has mostly been realistic comedy and it's always been at its worst when it gets cartoonish like this. Best Moment: Ross ranting about his sandwich was terrific. This episode was saved by David Schwimmer's performance. Character of the Episode: Ross. Conclusion: An episode that made me laugh a lot but had way too many glaring issues. It's a worrying sign to see the show fall to its biggest weaknesses like this. Hopefully this was just a one-off episode and the rest of this season feels more like the "Friends" that I have enjoyed so much in the past few seasons. Score: 62
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Summary: Flashbacks reveal that Finch programmed the Machine as an individual intelligence. Reese tries to get the Machine to locate Finch but it instead continues to provide him with the numbers. Reese's next POI case leads him to Leon a man who is in danger after he stole money from a gang. Reese saves Leon's life while still attempting to locate Root and Finch. Root reveals to Finch that she intends to set the Machine free and threatens him to cooperate by hurting and killing innocents. Fusco is charged with watching Leon but loses him and gets captured. Reese saves them and is able to get himself a military dog. Leon loses his money but his life is saved. Reese discerns that Root is heading to Texas and enlists Carter to go there with him.
The Good: This was a strong start to the season. This episode had constant momentum and felt pleasingly different from everything in season 1. This episode did a terrific job with Root. Amy Acker has been awesome so far and she feels appropriately mysterious and threatening in her conversations with Finch. I'm really interested in learning her backstory, and the little hints of her past (her mysterious motive to free the Machine, her missing poster) were tantalizingly good. I thought her conversations with Finch were really nicely written and her threats to innocent civilians accomplished to goal of making her a ruthless villain as well as a crafty one. I also really liked how she figured out that the Machine exists. It made a lot of sense and was set up nicely in season 1. The central story with Reese was great. His motives to find Finch made the usual POI story more interesting since saving the POI felt like more of an afterthought with the primary focus being on Finch. This was used spectacularly as the episode's POI was made more unlikable, allowing for a more complex range of emotions to be used than usual. Plus, Ken Leung was a perfect casting choice for Leon, this despicable yet entertaining character. What made the overall story so much more fun was the use of humour. The show has embraced its cheesiness and is all the better for it. I absolutely loved the action scenes because of this cheesiness. Titus screamed throwaway "boss" character but not in a bad way. It felt more like a parody and I got some laughs out of his scenes. The best part was certainly the "Looney Tunes" action bit when Reese tamed his dog and attacked the men holding Leon and Fusco captive. The cut to outside the building with the cheesy sound effects, the man flying through the window and Reese walking out unscathed was hilarious and wonderfully self-aware. We got some more details about the Machine as well which I really approved of. The flashbacks were fantastic and explored the idea of the Machine being an AI rather than a system. I loved the final flashback especially as the Machine showed some free will of its own to attempt to save Finch's life. It was a fascinating moment and seems to suggest that Finch specifically programmed the Machine to not go out of its way to help him, instead opting to help the general public. There were a few other fun scenes. Reese's threats to a confused Leon were generally fun and I appreciated their interactions. Fusco attempting to save Leon from the gang was a noble moment for him that continued his character development. The Bad: Wow, did that cop really fall for Leon faking a heart attack? Also how the hell did he let Leon get away? Are cops seriously so stupid? It's a wonder that Elias is still locked up if this is all it took for Leon to escape. I liked the idea of Root sending texts to her contact (see: The Unknown) on other people's phones. However, the scene was portrayed really awkwardly and I didn't understand what had happened until afterwards. The issue was the fact that the phone seemed to already have a conversation with Root's contact beforehand which confused me. The dog was extremely convenient. I know this episode committed to cheesiness, but it still doesn't excuse the ridiculous convenience of this dog just happening to be one of the breed that Reese had worked with before. I wasn't happy with how the gangs were so easily able to find Leon. New York is a big city, it shouldn't be this easy to find people. Also, the gunfights are still a big issue. I find it ridiculous that so many gunfights can happen and no civilians or anyone else seem to react to them, or even notice they are happening. I wasn't happy with the sudden change in the bond between Reese, Fusco and Carter. They were steadily gaining trust in season 1, but now they are apparently suddenly best friends that bicker all the time. This felt too sudden and I feel like the last bits of the relationship development were skipped over. While the embracement of the cheesiness is a good thing, it doesn't overcome the lack of emotional connection in every episode. At heart, this show remains an action show which doesn't consistently provide genuine emotional engagement. While I still enjoy it, it doesn't end up hitting the large highs that other shows like "Lost" were able to reach with the added bonus of emotional engagement in every episode. The Unknown: Did the Machine actually help Reese by the end of the episode or is it some false lead? What does Root mean that she wants to go to the future? Why has she waited her whole life for this? Why does she want to set the Machine free? What are her motives? What does she expect it to do? Who was the person Root is in contact with? Is he in Texas? What is Root's past? Why did she apparently run away? Who is Weeks and the man he is talking to? I'm not particularly interested in a government conspiracy storyline, but maybe this is something more. Is the dog a permanent addition to the crew? I would be fine with it as long as things don't get too cheesy. Best Moment: I loved the Looney Tunes moment. It showcased the change that the show has gone through in a very good way. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: This was a very strong premier episode. While this won't land as an all time best episode, I liked it and it serves as a good step forward for the show. Score: 67 Summary: Merle and Daryl begin to fight but when Rick's group arrives to get Daryl, they both escape in the chaos. Merle isn't allowed back at camp so Daryl decides to go with him. Andrea starts taking leadership over the rioting crowds of Woodbury while The Governor isolates himself. Hershel takes a liking to Tyreese's group and they try to convince Hershel to let them stay. Rick returns and Hershel almost convinces him to let Tyreese's group stay. Rick has a vision of Lori and has a breakdown, telling Tyreese's group to leave and they do.
The Good: Merle and Daryl were the strongest part of the episode. I loved seeing the crew interact with Merle after everything he's done and the fact that they refused to let him stay at the prison made sense. I especially loved that Merle didn't resort to begging but rather continued insulting everyone to keep consistent with his character. Rick getting frustrated and knocking him out was a lovely moment. I also liked Daryl's decision to abandon the group and go with Merle. It's an interesting new development and I would like to see where the story goes for them. The effect that Daryl's departure had an effect on everyone which I really liked to see. His loss was felt and it has changed the dynamic of the group and has severely weakened them. I thought the conflict with Tyreese's group was pretty good. It was an effective way to highlight the differences between Rick and Hershel and provided the best moment of the episode at the end (see: Best Moment). Tyreese's group came off as good people, and while I'm not yet invested in them, I want to learn more about these characters. I especially liked the details of their backstory with Jerry who had an emergency bunker and the group of 25 who all died when a herd attacked. The Bad: The opening rescue didn't work and it made last episode's cliffhanger feel completely pointless since it led nowhere. I thought the rescue failed because it wasn't built up and felt stupid. Do we just assume that nobody kept guard in case they came back to Woodbury? That's pretty dumb. Furthermore, the sudden arrival was nowhere near as satisfying as the intensely built up rescue of Glenn and Maggie. The rest of the episode suffered greatly from the slow pace. I have found that these longer seasons have resulted in too many slow episodes and that plays against the shows strengths. The quality of the show is a far cry from what it was in season 1 and the weak characterization sticks out like a sore thumb in episodes like these where not much really happens. This slow pace is really grating on me now and I want to see the show move at a quicker pace with more focus on drama since that is what made the show so good to begin with. This episode had too much talking. The worst part is that the talking didn't really accomplish much. A bunch of characters just discussed minor unimportant things that I'm certain won't be important later. The biggest example of this was Glenn and Maggie's conflict which seems to exist solely to give both characters something to do in this episode. Furthermore, the C-stories in this show consist of characters just talking and grieving and doing very little. This show could use some of the side stories that "Lost" had as those side storylines allowed the characters to accomplish something while giving us a better understanding of them. It would be much more interesting than what we have now. The Woodbury storyline wasn't great either. I thought the riot was really stupid. Why would everyone just decide to leave Woodbury? Surely they would instead want to just have more guards to ensure safety. But instead they inexplicably want to go outside to their deaths. The riots would have made more sense if they happened after a walker killed one of their citizens to show them that Woodbury may not be any safer than the outside. Michonne still refuses to speak like a normal human. At least she is consistent in being an unrealistic character. The Unknown: Are there other walkers inside the walls? Maybe it was more than just the one. Is Andrea taking over leadership now? What will she do? Is she going to try to bring about a peace with our main group? What will become of the Governor? What does he plan to do? What is his current mental state like? Where will Tyreese's group go now? Perhaps we will see them arrive at Woodbury. Best Moment: Rick is on the verge of letting Tyreese's group stay at the prison but suddenly ghost Lori appears to him, reminding him of what happens when he trusts other people. This breaks Rick and caused the most emotional scene of the episode as Rick nearly loses his mind to the PTSD that is affecting him. Character of the Episode: Rick. Conclusion: Not the best way to resume the show. The episode wasn't particularly bad, but it was slow and didn't accomplish much at all. I'm not as interested in what comes next as I should be. Score: 58 Summary: The friends all decide to tell stories of their worst Thanksgivings after eating too much.
The Good: Episodes like these are why I fell in love with "Friends" in the first place. Nothing captures the humour in reality more than 6 friends reminiscing on "good times" on Thanksgiving. The concept behind the episode is terrific. Every time that flashbacks have been used in this show, they have resulted in an excellent episode ("TOW the Prom Video" and "TOW the Flashback"). This one works best because it focuses on some of the worst and most embarrassing moments in these characters' lives which is an easy setpiece for high level comedy. Ross and Chandler's evolving ridiculousness is fantastic, Monica's inability to work with men was amazing, Joey getting a turkey stuck on his head was the episode's highlight (see: Best Moment) and the Gellers once again provided comedy gold. I haven't laughed so hard at a "Friends" episode in quite a while. The stories in the present are really good too. The decision to continue Joey's speech about thongs after the cold-open was magnificent. The scene managed to be unexpected because we've never seen a continuation of a cold-open scene before so it ends up being a delightful, and funny, surprise. The ending of the episode is really strong too. It's a fantastic moment for Monica and Chandler as a couple and the pay-off with Joey getting terrified of the turkey was excellent. Lastly, the thing that makes this episode so good is how nearly every scene has a fantastically written joke, or several. The jokes in this show haven't been written this well and so consistently in a long time. The Bad: Some moments were a bit clunky. It's not quite clear why Chandler reacted so negatively to Monica's story since it was clearly an accident. Phoebe's flashbacks weren't that funny and felt a little out of place. Of course it feels like several of these things should have been brought up beforehand. We have seen Chandler barefoot before and his pinky toe isn't shortened. Best Moment: Joey having the turkey stuck on his head was hilarious and his distress was excellent. There was a great joke every 15 seconds and I couldn't stop laughing as the scene went on. Phoebe had some hilarious character moments when interacting with Joey, and both Chandler and Monica are terrific in their brief roles. Character of the Episode: Joey. Conclusion: The strongest episode of the season so far. In terms of pure comedy, this is as good as it gets and is one of the show's funniest ever episodes. If it weren't for the character consistency issues this may have been the very best episode of the show so far. Score: 87 Summary: HR takes a job to murder somebody, a psychiatrist named Turing. Reese contacts her and saves her life but is seen by security cameras. Donnelly goes after him and the FBI trap him in a building. Finch helps Reese escape and plans to take Turing to safety while Reese fights back. Finch is confronted by Alicia who wants him to shut down the Machine. Alicia is killed by Turing who is revealed to be Root and was responsible for everything that happened. Root takes Finch. Fusco and Carter discover they are working for the same person. Together, they hep and save Reese. Afterwards, Fusco anonymously lets the FBI know of HR's corruption. Simmons is taken down. Reese asks the Machine for help saving Finch and he receives a phone call.
The Good: Well this finale came right out of nowhere and completely caught me off guard. This episode felt like "Witness" in a lot of ways (I'll elaborate later), only it was more refined, paced better and had much more emotional impact. The action and character scenes were much stronger than usual and I was left feeling breathless by the end of this. I'm usually not a fan of show's showing us a glimpse of the future in the opening scenes of episodes, but I didn't mind it here. The opening scene allowed us to see that Reese would be in genuine trouble later in the episode and that made me more invested for the early parts of the episode since I was curious to see what happened. The way the episode ratcheted up the suspense and tension after the opening scene was incredible. This must have been one of the very best tension-based TV episodes I have ever seen. Reese's investigation of Turing was engaging due to the psychology of Reese's meeting with Turing. Both characters were probing each other and Finch added the extra tension by trying to ensure Reese doesn't reveal something he shouldn't. Reflecting on the episode, that scene would be even more intense while re-watching considering what we discovered about Turing. That meeting was only the first part, as the chaos exploded afterwards. Reese quickly found himself trapped with HR and the FBI both closing in on him. Reese became quite desperate and had to do some genuinely clever things to get out alive with Turing. I enjoyed seeing him get help from Carter and Finch to ensure that he doesn't make the wrong move. I loved the moment where all of the stories converged. HR had set up the bomb and the FBI were ready to engage Reese in a gunfight. The countdown that they used to build it up had me on the edge of my seat. The pay-off of Finch shutting off communication in the city was unexpected but extremely satisfying as it provided a welcome and creative way for Reese to survive and escape. As if that wasn't intense enough, we also got to follow the Carter/Fusco storyline. Carter slowly began to clue together that Fusco was involved with something and that led us into a good confrontation in the bathroom. I really enjoyed Fusco trying to defend himself, owning up to past mistakes and saying how he sometimes saves people now. Kevin Chapman performed really well and it was a great catharsis to see Fusco genuinely defending himself as somebody trying to do good after he started the show as a dirty cop. What I appreciated the most about the drama in the episode is the way it resembled "Witness". That episode had a similar setpiece with Reese being trapped with his POI in a building under assault. Only this episode didn't go as smoothly as Reese planned which allowed it to be a lot better. I was expecting Reese to easily escape once the helicopter was mentioned and I was a little disappointed by that, but I was subsequently impressed when the FBI locked down the helicopter to ensure that escape wouldn't be easy. It was after that moment that the show was able to show us what it had learned throughout its run by getting the drama to hit a whole new level from "Witness". And like "Witness", this episode stuck the landing with an excellent twist that I probably should have seen coming (it was exactly like the Elias twist). But I didn't see it coming, so the Root reveal worked really well and provided an important ending to the episode. Every confusing aspect of the episode clicked into place with that reveal and it left us on an epic cliffhanger with Root taking Finch. The Bad: Some aspects of the story weren't fleshed out enough. The downfall of HR was too sudden and out of nowhere. It's a good moment for Fusco, but it probably should have had more focus. The Alicia story ended up being pretty weak. While her character entering the episode gave some more tension, she didn't give us anything particularly useful. Her motives were shallow and I was confused as to why she wants to destroy the Machine. After all, she seemed to acknowledge the real enemy (see: The Unknown) anyways. Why not be afraid of them? I was glad to finally see Reese get identified by someone. But did they really have to catch him on a random street camera? It really begs the question of why Reese was never noticed in any of the other episodes. Furthermore, why wasn't there somebody from the FBI watching over Reese through the cameras? Instead, only Carter is able to do this and she is able to warn him. It's glaringly stupid. The shootout scene didn't work for me. While I liked seeing Fusco and Carter showing up to save Reese, I've never found these shootouts where every bullet seems to miss to be any good. It makes the characters seem too invincible and it removes the drama. The Unknown: Did the Machine get Ingram killed? How? Did it also cause Finch's injury? Who are the enemies that Alicia referred too? Was it Root? Or was Root's arrival just a coincidence and there is somebody else. What does Root know about the Machine? Has she known about it for a long time, or only recently? Or did she just find a way to hack into it? What does she want with Finch? That ending was excellent. Did it just imply that the Machine is sentient? Now that is a big surprise. How will this affect the series? Will the Machine actually help Reese save Finch? Best Moment: The Root reveal was awesome. There were plenty of epic moments to choose from, but this was the best. Character of the Episode: Fusco. Conclusion: This was "Witness" only bigger and better. This episode felt like a season finale and it delivered one of the best tension-based hours of drama I have ever seen. While it still suffered from some of the show's classic problems, it was a big success that makes me want to tune in for season 2. This season was a bit of a rollercoaster. It's amazing to look back and see my scores for early in the season. The show wasn't satisfying back then and it was flawed beyond belief. The series steadily improved as it went on, but it did so in a surprising way. Rather than correcting the issues I had with the show, I noticed that the show instead chose to work around the issues. A lot of the complaints from the first few episodes still hold up in these later episodes (plot movement is too rapid and sometimes tedious, Jim Caviezel is a bad actor, the show skips over some important details). Rather than fixing these problems, the show found a way to make the show become enjoyable in spite of these issues. Reese's character was used and explored in a way that almost makes Jim Caviezel look good, the rapid plot movement was corrected with an increased amount of emotional connection, and the important details are (usually) addressed with a single line of dialogue rather than being shown. Despite the methods of improvement, it's great to see that the improvement is there at all. 15 episodes ago, I wouldn't have expected myself to continue on with season 2. But after several consistently good episodes, I can't wait for season 2. Despite all of its flaws, "Person of Interest" ended season 1 on a high note. Score: 72 Summary: Ross is kicked out of his apartment so Chandler and Joey let him stay with them. But Ross' annoying habits really grind on them and they try to get him to leave. Rachel tries to get the mental advantage against Danny. Phoebe gets in a relationship with a health inspector.
The Good: This episode was decently funny with some good stories. Ross is funny with his annoying habits and both Joey and Chandler are great as they react to him. They are both funny as they try to force him out before feeling sorry about what they did. The story is told well and has some really good moments. Rachel's story is really good too. Her overreactions and overanalysis of Danny's actions are hilarious and fit with what we know of her character. Phoebe's story is good for the odd laugh. The Bad: This episode lacked subtlety which prevented it from being amongst the show's best. A lot of scenes were funny, but they felt unrealistic because of how over-the-top they were. This was especially noticeable in the Ross story. Phoebe's story does feel like filler. I would have preferred a greater focus on the other two storylines instead. Best Moment: Rachel dismissing Tommy was awesome. Tommy's first line was superb and made me laugh ("Bloomies"), and Rachel's harsh dismissal of him felt both sad and hilarious. Character of the Episode: Rachel. Conclusion: There were two excellent stories here with tons of funny moments, but a lack of subtlety and a weak third story damage the episode. Score: 70 Summary: Flashbacks show Finch preparing the Machine for the transfer to the government. Ingram decides to make a back door into the Machine as a backup. Reese continues following Finch and discovers that he gets the POI numbers from a payphone. The next POI is a man named Peck who is being targeted for asking too many questions about something. Finch eventually realizes that he has uncovered details about the Machine and it is going to get him killed. Reese attempts to save him without revealing himself but it proves to be tougher with government assassins hunting him down. Peck arrests himself for safety and eventually realizes that the Machine is real. Reese gets him out but Peck escapes. Finch meets with Peck and confirms that the Machine exists and in exchange Peck goes off the grid. Reese discovers that Finch had a woman in his life but he had to leave her to protect her.
The Good: This was another really strong episode. While not quite as good as the previous episode, this one told a great story with a combination of plot and character development. First, we got some really important plot developments. Now we know where Finch gets the numbers, and the answer was not what I was expecting. The idea that a payphone provides the numbers is really interesting and it also provides a good reason for how Finch is able to access the Machine without being detected. I'm interested to learn more about this (see: The Unknown). The flashbacks were also quite good. We got some key information regarding the confidentiality of the Machine, while also getting more information on who Alicia Corwin was. Additionally, there was a nice reveal about the creation of the Machine's back door. It seems set up for the back door to cause some trouble and I'm unsure if this trouble is what led to Ingram's death or if the trouble will be coming in the present day. The character aspect of the episode was also really good. This episode seems to have concluded the storyline of Reese following Finch. The story ended on a high note as we got the surprise discovery that Finch had a woman in his life who he was forced to leave. Finch's story at the end was pretty tragic and it made his character a little bit more human by giving us a glimpse into the life he had lived outside of the Machine. The POI story in this episode was good, helped by its connection to the Machine. I liked the idea of Reese having to save Peck without revealing himself since it created a different sort of tension than the usual. Of course it didn't last very long, but it did lead to the funny moment of Reese immediately revealing himself as Finch tells him not to. The action sequences in this episode were some of the strongest in the show. By having other professional assassins challenge Reese, we got some of the best choreographed action sequences in the episode. There were a few other details I liked. I really loved the idea of Peck getting himself arrested to ensure his own safety. I thought that Fusco dismissing Peck's very correct guesses about the Machine was hilarious. The ending provided a great cliff-hanger. I'm very interested to see what Alicia does now that she knows that Finch created the Machine. The Bad: Some bad clichés in this episode. Reese following the guy only for him to vanish when the truck went by was pretty stupid and improbable. Where could he have gone? Also, the running away cliché featured again, though it made more sense this time. Still, it's present in nearly every episode which is laughable. Also, it's really dumb for both Reese and Finch to follow Peck so openly, especially when he is looking around for people following him. The Unknown: How does Finch get the numbers through a payphone? Was that the contingency plan? Or is this something else? How are the numbers sent through payphones? Is it only that one specific payphone that provides the number? Is it any payphone? Is there a set time that Finch needs to be there? Did Ingram or Alicia tell somebody about the Machine? If so, who? What will result from Ingram's contingency plan? I imagine the government could find out which would lead to trouble. Who is the boss of the assassins? Was it that man at special counsel that Finch mentioned? What does Alicia plan to do? Best Moment: Finch's speech at the end about Grace was wonderful and it provided more insight on the show's most mysterious character. Character of the Episode: Finch. Conclusion: "Person of Interest" remains consistent. The show has found its groove and it has delivered another very enjoyable episode that provides a lot of suspenseful action mixed with insightful character development. Score: 69 Summary: The friends grow upset when they discover how much Ross has to sacrifice to be with Emily. Rachel accidentally fogs a man named Danny who lives in their apartment block and tries to apologize. Phoebe receives a fur coat from her mother and is conflicted over what to do with it.
The Good: This was another strong and very funny episode. Ross' story with Emily comes to a sad conclusion, and while I think the emotion is underplayed (see: The Bad), the comedy surrounding it is all brilliant. Joey in particular does an excellent job. The Chandler/Monica story continues to be fresh and it is still one of the show's very best storylines. The opening scene with Joey was, yet again, terrific. Rachel and Danny's story was pretty good too and I got a laugh at how Danny turned things around on Rachel and they both ended up getting pizza. Phoebe's story is fine for the odd laugh and it was a decent idea for a C-story considering her character. The Bad: Ross' marriage ending should have been one of the sadder moments of the show, but it didn't feel like that. Part of this is because there were too many jokes, but also it's because it never seemed likely that Ross and Emily's marriage would be a success since Emily is only a guest star. Best Moment: Joey doing the smile-frown thing as Ross' marriage ends was a perfect example of lighthearted fun humour mixed in with dark, messed up humour. It was great. Character of the Episode: Joey. Conclusion: This was a fun episode with a lot of laughs. Even with Ross and Emily's divorce failing to deliver, the comedy presented throughout the episode is enough to give it a good score. Score: 72 Summary: Flashbacks reveal that Jessica was accidentally murdered by her abusive husband Peter. Reese learns this and seemingly kills Peter. In the present, Donnelly involves Carter on his investigation of Reese which leads to Jessica's murder. She eventually learns of Reese's relationship to Jessica. Finch gives Reese a day off since the next POI case is a woman running from an abusive husband. Reese gets involved anyways and lets his emotion take control. Reese captures the husband, Marshall Jennings, and plans to kill him. Carter meets up with him and convinces him not to. Reese ends up putting Jennings in a Mexican prison.
The Good: This was a really strong episode with some great storytelling. It almost felt like "Lost" at times because of the way the flashback story impacted the main narrative by explaining Reese's motivations in the present through a story from the past. The format worked for "Lost", and it worked just as well here, providing the show's best episode yet. Reese's emotional journey was really strong. His utter disdain for abusive husbands was explained really nicely since abuse was the reason that Jessica died before he could come back to her. Better yet, the show capitalized on Reese's emotions to make him a proper loose cannon. He was burning hot with anger and that anger led to him behaving irrationally throughout the episode and that added a lot of tension. We could never be sure what Reese was going to do or what consequences he would be faced to endure due to his overly emotional state. This unpredictability is very different from what we usually get from this show, and it allowed this episode to really stand out and provide a more emotional experience than what we are used to. Reese's evolution as the show has gone on has been wonderful to see. He started off as one of my least favourite parts of the show, an overly serious badass that had little to no charisma. But as the show developed a sense of humour, it has used some lovely repetition (lines like "hello Lionel" whenever Reese appears out of nowhere) and smart dialogue to make Reese a more charming character. They even managed to make Jim Caviezel's discount Batman voice fit with the character by structuring some dry humour around him. It has worked superbly well, and coupled with the familiarity effect, it has turned Reese into a character that I enjoy to watch. Some of the tense sequences were really great. Finch's investigations are still some of the most exciting scenes to watch. I enjoyed watching him patiently track Sarah, and having him get caught by Marshall Jennings was really tense and I was excited to see how he would get out of the situation. I thought Reese's save was really good and I laughed at the idea of Reese just happening to have a police badge on him. Naturally, somebody like Reese would actually have a police badge on hand. I was really happy to see that the police were notified this time when Reese did something stupid. I also like how it tied into Carter's story and got Donnelly away from her when she was investigating Reese. I like the idea of her learning more about Reese. Taraji P. Henson did a great job of conveying Carter's feelings for Reese. After learning more about his past, she has come to view him as another person and her opinion of him has changed. Reese with a beard looked remarkably similar to Jack from "Lost" in that one episode. Those who have seen "Lost" should know. I found that to be a neat parallel, especially seeing how both characters were in similar states. The Bad: I was surprised by how easily Reese was able to get away from the Marshalls. He just assaulted one of them, and they just let him go. Apparently nobody got a look at his face either which is ridiculous. Also, he certainly appeared on some security footage, so he should be a wanted man now. Sharon started talking about Reese really suddenly to Carter. I understand that she would want somebody to talk to, but I felt that the scene was set up poorly. Sharon's emotional state wasn't clear enough for the scene to work. The running away cliché featured again when Sarah made her escape. The Unknown: Very interesting ending. Was Finch aware of Jessica's existence? Did she appear on the Machine? Or was he following Reese? Why? Was he casing for a new partner? Why was he in the hospital anyways? Evidently he had just had the injury which caused his limp. What will Carter do now that she understands Reese more? Best Moment: I really enjoyed Reese grimly speaking to Peter moments before he (seemingly) kills him. It was a very powerful scene that nicely displayed Reese's regrets. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: The show's first truly great episode. This episode was a great emotional journey for Reese while finally giving us all of the information we need to truly understand him. Even outside of the emotional subtext of the story, this was still a very enjoyable episode to watch which makes it a big success. Score: 70 Summary: Ross is faced with telling Rachel that he can't see her anymore but struggles to get it out. Chandler and Monica take a weekend retreat to have some time alone but the weekend goes very badly.
The Good: This was a really strong episode with a number of really funny moments. It's helped by the fact that the episode focuses on just two major storylines which are given a chance to breathe and get the most jokes and emotion. Ross is fun as he is constantly foiled in telling Rachel about their situation. When he eventually does reveal the information, the scenes are solid. The emotion is appropriately conveyed by both of them and it's still kept nice and light. Monica and Chandler's story is pretty strong too. Their argument is pretty funny and both of them find logical things to get more interested in than each other. I liked them making up again as it once again highlighted the great chemistry that Matthew Perry and Courtney Cox have. The bookend scenes involving Joey were terrific and packed loads of laughs. The ending bit where Joey finds out was one of the show's best ever moments and it had me floored in laughter. Phoebe had some funny moments towards the end of the episode though I didn't like how she got there (see: The Bad). I really enjoyed Joey's secret box in Monica's bedroom as it led to several fantastic jokes. The Bad: Phoebe is a bad friend if she is so excited at the idea of leaving the others behind. Her character has lost her essence ever since she got pregnant and that's a shame. Monica and Chandler look bad since they are fighting in most episodes. While their storyline has been the best this season, I hope we get to see something new happen between them. Best Moment: Joey finding out was hysterical. A series highlight. Character of the Episode: Joey. Conclusion: This episode had some of the best moments of the entire series and that helps it out a lot. Outside of some sloppy writing, this episode was consistently funny with several tremendous moments that made it even better. The strongest episode of the season. Score: 78 Summary: In flashbacks, Reese and Stanton are sent on a mission to retrieve a laptop which contains data about the Machine. They are both given instructions to kill the other by Snow. They discover that the CIA wants them both dead to erase all evidence of the Machine. In the present, Reese works on a POI mission where he investigates a man named Tommy. Tommy robs a grayling truck of over $1 million worth of platinum. Reese investigates but gets caught by Tommy's girlfriend Ashley. Ashley kills Tommy, but Lynch kills Ashley. Lynch was part of the deal to get a cut from the platinum. Lynch sees Reese and threatens to kill him but Fusco shoots Lynch. Reese is freed. Snow finds a lead on Reese and investigates but finds himself captured by Stanton.
The Good: This was another solid episode with plenty of things to enjoy. The humour presented in the show has gotten better as it has gone on. I thought the opening scene with Carter and Reese was pretty strong and did a good job of showing Reese's sense of humour. The decision to give Reese more of a sense of humour was great as he has become a lot more enjoyable than in those early episodes of the show. The POI story was pretty fun. I liked Reese's infiltration of the grayling services and his fear of a robbery allowed those scenes to have an appropriate sense of tension. I particularly liked the prank scene as it served to be a strong tease of an action scene. Perhaps more importantly, I thought the actual robbery scene also delivered. The explosion that derailed the truck was surprising and caught me off guard. The chaos of the ensuing scene was conveyed really well with a clever use of sound and cinematography which helped put us in Reese's disoriented state as he tried to save Tommy's life. I thought it was a very clever way to make us understand that Reese's usual ability had been lowered which left him vulnerable to getting shot. I thought the climax of the story was strong too. I like the way that Fusco's story combined with Reese's at the end and it led to a lovely moment where Fusco willingly saves Reese's life. It was a great way to show how far their relationship has grown from that first episode. By waiting 20 episodes for this scene, the show was also able to use longevity to their benefit, making it appear that Fusco and Reese have known each other for ages. It makes it much more plausible that the two of them have grown attached to each other over the course of the show. The drama with Ashley and Tommy was solid too and there were some good twists at the end of the story. I feel like a terrible person for laughing at how sudden Ashley's death was when she attempted to run away. The flashback story was really good too. It was important for us to know how Stanton "died" and to see what led to Snow's claim of Reese killing her. Learning more about what happened, it has become clear that Snow is the real villain here. Evidently he somehow got involved with some shady dealings regarding the Machine, and was willing to sacrifice both Reese and Stanton to keep the Machine hidden. It's a very interesting plot development that increases my overall interest in the show. I also like that this information was given through a story where Reese was put into conflicts regarding him wanting to help Jessica vs him not wanting to murder Stanton. The ending was fantastic too. The reveal that Stanton is alive feels very important and it provides an exciting ending. I'm very excited to see how she slots into the story and I'm intrigued by what she has planned for Snow. The Bad: Reese recovered unusually quickly from that gunshot wound. It stands out more since the last time Reese was shot, he was out of action for a while. The Unknown: What is happening with Jessica? Is whatever this is the event that led to her death? What is the CIA's involvement with the Machine? Were they doing something illegal with it? Who were the people that got the laptop that had information of the Machine on it? What did they learn? Why has Stanton captured Snow? What will she do with him? Did she get him solely for vengeance or does she have other plans? Best Moment: This episode had a lot of strong reveals, but the best one was at the end. Stanton surviving was a great twist and mixes up the story in an interesting way. The end of the season is being set up very strongly. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: This episode delivered good reveals, some solid character drama and a few powerful moments. This was probably the most consistently enjoyable episode of the show so far. I had a good time watching this and I'm starting to get pretty excited for whatever the show has planned for the end of the season. Score: 67 Summary: A new group of survivors arrives at the prison and Carl helps them but locks them in a cell. At Woodbury, Rick's group infiltrates the camp and locate Glenn and Maggie. They rescue them and try to escape but Oscar is killed in the ensuing chaos. Michonne waits for the Governor and finds Penny while she waits. She kills Penny and fights the Governor, stabbing his eye with a shard of glass. Andrea arrives so Michonne leaves. The Governor is angry at Merle and puts him in a deathmatch with Daryl, who was captured.
The Good: For the most part, this was a tense and exciting mid-season finale that provided a lot of fun. The assault on Woodbury was enjoyable with a number of fun sequences. I liked the use of flashbangs and smoke grenades as a way for Glenn and Maggie to be safely taken away from Merle. The sequence was shot really nicely and was very tense all the way through. The best parts were everything between Michonne and the Governor. I really liked that Michonne crept into the Governor's chambers and simply sat their waiting. It was pretty cool and was the one badass Michonne moment that I thought worked in terms of her character. The ensuing fight was very gritty and dramatic and was probably the best action drama that I've seen in this show so far. I really liked Michonne's execution of Penny as well. It added some emotion to their scenes as the Governor begged Michonne not to kill her, and it led to that brilliantly gruesome visual of the Governor crying over his dead daughters body with a shard of glass sticking out of his eye. I thought Daryl's conflict was really good. I liked seeing him grappling with saving Glenn and Maggie and talking to Merle. It was a nice extra layer of tension because we couldn't be sure about what choices Daryl would make that could jeopardize the mission. It seemed certain that something would go wrong with the mission to add some more drama and I had suspected that Daryl would be the cause of this. Instead, it was Rick who was the cause. The hallucination of Shane was an interesting choice. While I don't currently see its relevance (see: The Unknown), it does open up for some more interesting story for Rick. The Bad: The big gunfight in the smoke was lame and generic television. I enjoyed the other action scenes because they were creative and tense. Unfortunately, the big gunfight was neither as it was a classic TV gunfight where hundreds of bullets are shot and none seem to hit the mark. Gunfights like these really bother me. Oscar was the only character who died in the episode and it was incredible how little I cared. Next time, develop the characters instead of just killing them for no reason other than "oh look he died". Rick's plan was a bit stupid. I was annoyed by him giving Michonne hell for not knowing where Glenn and Michonne were. How was she supposed to know? Furthermore, the decision to split up was beyond stupid. It seemed like an easy way for all of them to get killed. Even though Michonne had her best scene in this episode, she is still frustrating. Her encounter with Andrea was really bad. The scene was played for emotion but it failed in every way because of how poor Michonne has been as a character. It's frustrating that she doesn't tell Andrea anything to let her know that the Governor is dangerous. Maybe mention the imprisoned Glenn and Maggie, the Governor's head collection or something else to help her understand why the Governor shouldn't be trusted. Instead, Michonne is a terrible friend and leaves Andrea in the hornet's nest. The cliff-hanger was really weak. It was a classic prisoner swap story which isn't particularly interesting to me. I never liked those stories because it always feels like nothing was accomplished from freeing the initial prisoners. I thought it was a poor cliff-hanger to end of the first half season. Last season had a great climactic moment with the walkers in the barn and Sophia's death signifying the end of season 2A. This season failed to replicate the same sense of closure by its halfway point. I thought the new survivor group's story was fine, but it feels like a storyline that should have been introduced in the next episode, not this one. Hershel letting Carl go out to investigate because "his father would do the same" was really awkward. Was Hershel really convinced by that? The Unknown: Who are the new group of survivors? Can we trust them? Where have they been this whole time? What is Axel's backstory? He screams sex offender to me. Best Moment: Michonne and the Governor's fight was brutal and exciting. Character of the Episode: The Governor. Conclusion: This was a relatively fun mid-season finale that provided some quality scenes. However, the episode fails to be special due to a number of flaws and a lack of emotional connection to the events. This half season has been fairly enjoyable so far, but inconsistent. There has been some great episodes and some weaker ones as well. But it is still enjoyable, and I hope that this quality can be maintained for the next 8 episodes. Score: 64 Summary: Ross gets in contact with Emily and attempts to get her to forgive him. She leaves him to make a tough decision. Chandler starts acting obnoxiously after Rachel mentions that Monica's mystery boyfriend is the "best sex she has ever had". Phoebe tries to prove to Joey that there is such a thing as a selfless good deed.
The Good: This was solid and fun with three storylines that I enjoyed. Phoebe and Joey have a nice story with a few fun moments in it. Phoebe trying to prove that there is such a thing as a selfless good deed is fun and I appreciated the way that she accidentally kept making herself feel happy. I thought Ross' story was strong too. He gets a ton of great lines and carries a lot of the comedy. The conflict of choosing between Emily and Rachel is a good story for Ross and you really feel for him. It's a testament to how good the humour in this show is that there are a lot of laughs resulting from Ross trying to reach a decision. Chandler and Monica continue to be a delight that makes for fresh new comedy. Monica and Chandler nearly getting caught at the beginning of the episode was hilarious. The Bad: The episode isn't particularly memorable, so it's not the show's very best. The selfless story makes little sense because Phoebe is doing the deeds to prove Joey wrong, meaning they are not selfless. I was surprised that the show didn't use this as the final joke because I was certain it was building up to this. Without addressing that, the plot becomes a bit awkward. Some jokes here didn't work very well like Phoebe thinking Santa Claus is real. Best Moment: The beginning scene where Monica tries to explain herself to Rachel. This Chandler/Monica storyline has been great so far. Character of the Episode: Ross Conclusion: This was another good episode, but it was also another episode that failed to be spectacular. The show hasn't gotten back to the consistency that it had in the first two seasons, but it still remains really fun. Score: 69 Summary: Flashbacks show where Elias' hatred of his father stemmed from. In the present, Carter gets word that Elias has withdrawn $4 million and is planning something. Finch deduces that Elias plans to kill the five major mafia leaders after they are all declared POIs. Reese starts investigating and one of the men die. Carter brings the other 4 into police custody with Fusco's help. Elias kidnaps Taylor, Carter's son to get a hostage. Carter refuses to back down. Reese frees both Taylor and Gianni from Elias. Finch convinces the HR department to leave Elias' cause and they arrive to back up Fusco. Elias stands down and is arrested. Gianni is killed by a car bomb orchestrated by Elias.
The Good: This episode felt really big and important since it was the big blow-off for the Elias storyline. Because of this, I was immediately hooked into what was happening. The episode kept my interest in a way that no other episode has done so far. Elias had been built up so well, so I was excited to see what would happen when Elias finally made his move. The set up for this episode was awesome. The whole episode was tense with a rapid pace and with many characters being in a precarious position where things could really come crumbling down. After Elias kidnapped Taylor, I thought that Carter may be about to face some huge consequences for not sticking with Reese by being a potential casualty of this storyline. Elias had set things up so well that I actually thought he might successfully take over the entire mafia. This sense of fear, helped by how capable Elias has been shown to be, made the first half of this episode extremely enjoyable and some of the best television that this show has provided. The action was similarly strong. It was choreographed extremely well and that led to a lot of exciting moments that helped give this episode the climactic feeling it was going for. I really liked the storylines for Fusco and Carter in this episode. They were cooped up together and were both under pressure. I thought that this episode may have also been building up to both of them realizing that they work for the same guy, but that didn't happen. Despite it not happening, the thought that it would happen did make the episode more exciting for me. Furthermore, Fusco's storyline was good here. I liked how Zambrano played Fusco against Carter and got me to question if Fusco was actually about to turn on Carter so that he may survive. I liked the Elias flashbacks. It was good to get some backstory on his hatred for his father and why he wants to kill him and take over the mafia. His backstory helped deepen his character a little more which was useful in an episode which focused so heavily on him. The Bad: The first half of this episode did such a tremendous job of hyping up whatever Elias was going to do that the conclusion ended up feeling really flat and disappointing. I was thinking that this was going to be the best episode of "Person of Interest" so far, but the anticlimactic ending left me thinking "that's it?". It's never good when a show does that to me. I thought that Elias' arrest came right out of nowhere and was a very unsatisfying conclusion to Elias' storyline. After all that build-up, Elias was just another villain who was dispatched of in one episode. It's disappointing and it prevents Elias from being an even better character than he already is. The ending felt anticlimactic because it made Elias seem so much more incapable than he has always seemed. Did he seriously attack Carter and Fusco with the grand total of two henchmen by his side? That's so stupid, because Carter and Fusco could likely beat Elias, even if he did break in. Also, if Elias was just going to break in, why kidnap Taylor? He surely has the guys to just kill Carter and Fusco, so why not kill them both? It would have saved him the trouble. Also, what the hell was the point of having his cops show up if they just stood outside doing nothing? It's just poor planning. All these failures make it even more painful that Elias would go right to the scene of the crime instead of letting his guys do the work. I was also very displeased with how easily Elias' plans came crashing down. Elias waited so long before doing this, so surely he would have took more care in ensuring that he had a suitable number of guys working for him. But he didn't, and Reese had to kill just three guys (by my count) to free both Taylor and Gianni. That was sloppy. It seems that Elias relied extremely heavily on HR, which makes no sense. He had several guys tailing the HR people, so clearly he didn't trust them. So why didn't Elias have back-up men in case HR betrayed him like they did in this episode? The way this plot was resolved feels like an insult to everything that Elias had done right in prior episodes. Additionally, the way that Finch got HR to betray Elias felt way too easy and it didn't feel like a satisfying development. It's annoying to see Elias' plans gone awry so easily, especially sicne he took a long time to get to this point. Plus, now Fusco is free of his conflict without the character doing anything to earn this freedom. That's not how to resolve a character's inner conflict. I didn't like the way Carter went back to Reese either. The reason she left was because Reese was trying to do what cops could do with greater efficiency. So naturally Reese has to prove to Carter that he is worth working for because he is just as good at justice. So naturally, the way to do this is to... help her out one time? That's quite sloppy and makes Carter leaving a pointless development which never went anywhere. I don't like the idea that all of these gunfights and explosions can just happen in the New York streets with no witnesses or anything. Surely a wanted man like Reese would be spotted by several people. The Unknown: Does Elias ever get out of jail? Where does his story go from here? Was getting imprisoned somehow part of his plan? He seemed pretty happy by the episode's end, but perhaps that was just because he had just killed Gianni. Best Moment: It's tough to pinpoint a single moment that stood out in this episode. I'll go with Zambrano, Fusco and Carter all having their guns drawn and pointed at each other. The scene was insanely tense and it felt like a lot of different outcomes were entirely possible. Character of the Episode: Elias. Conclusion: I know I went off on a lot of things in "The Bad", but I still enjoyed this episode. It was really exciting all the way through and it was certainly the most engaged I have ever been in a "Person of Interest" episode. But so many things in the second half of the episode were disappointing, and I can't ignore that in my score. Score: 65 Summary: Finch gets a new POI and discovers that the person, Hester, is actually two individuals and one is impersonating the other. Finch follows the female Hester and Reese follows the male. Reese discovers an ecstasy lab and discovers that one is a drug dealer. Reese suspects it's the male. Finch sees some men going after the female Hester, so he befriends and saves her. However, the female is actually the impostor and she drugs Finch to disable him, leaving him to die. Reese comes into contact with the male Hester and decides to help him take out the female, whose name is Tara. Tara is able to overwhelm Reese and Hester but they both escape and get the cops to arrest Tara. Fusco saves Finch.
The Good: The main storyline was really fun. Whenever the show decides to do something different from the usual POI formula, it results in a better episode. This continued that case as the impostor gimmick worked really well and made for some really tense and exciting viewing. I thought that Tara was a really successful villain for a one-episode storyline. While I did see the big twist coming (see: The Bad), it was built up really nicely with a lot of hints that make the reveal blatantly obvious on rewatch. It was very satisfying storytelling that created an uneasy sense of tension as the episode went on. As it became more obvious that Finch was revealing himself to the wrong person, I became a little more worried about what was going to happen to him since Tara was clearly more than she let on. This helped engage me emotionally and made this episode mean so much more because of that. I think that Finch is criminally underused in this show. He is so vulnerable, so unlike with Reese there is some actual tension in his scenes because it isn't guaranteed that he will get away by being a superhuman. I'm liking some of the scenes where the show addresses how Reese gets out of a pickle. Before, the show used to gloss over these things which left me unsatisfied. But now, the show has started to address them in fun, comical ways. This episode had the great joke regarding the sprinkler system which was briefly touched on to explain how Finch escaped without slowing the rapid pace of the episode. It's a win-win as I get satisfied by the details without the show sacrificing the style that it clearly wants to stick to. Finch getting drugged ended up being surprisingly funny. It didn't add much to the story (minus the great ending reveal (see: The Unknown)), but it was pretty fun. Seeing Finch so vulnerable and carefree is really different from what we're used to and I think that's good. The show needs to be more creative to remain enjoyable. A lot of the jokes were pretty funny and I was pleased to see a fairly accurate representation of what ecstasy does to somebody, especially since the stink of what "13 Reasons Why" did with ecstasy is still relatively fresh to me. The side storylines for Carter and Fusco were really strong. I enjoyed seeing Carter get back to being a homicide detective with a few thoughts regarding Reese, wondering if she did the right thing. But she is still comfortable with her choice which is the right decision. Let this storyline play out before Carter goes back to Reese (because, let's be honest, she is most likely going back to Reese at some point). Fusco had some good moments too as we get some nice metaphors regarding his position as a crooked cop who now wants to be seen as a good cop. His connection with the imprisoned Morris tied in to this story nicely and it gave him a good moment as he helped prove an innocent victim as not guilty. The Bad: The twist was a bit too heavily choreographed and didn't surprise me. It's not a bad thing because I think that the early realization allows for the rest of the episode to have some excellent tension. But the issue comes from the fact that Reese and Finch aren't able to clue into this. Being as smart as he is, it seems weird that Finch wouldn't have a more open mind regarding the case. Furthermore, I find it odd that Reese wouldn't communicate his very clear suspicions to Finch as he continued his investigation. The climax of the episode was underwhelming, but it was always going to be. After Tara revealed herself, it was only a matter of time before Reese, Finch and Fusco took her down. That obvious sense of where the episode was going made the drama after the reveal substantially weaker than the drama before it. Surely using Finch to follow a POI is pretty stupid. He has a limp and is easily distinguishable. I'm certain that I would notice this limping man following me after an hour, never mind an entire day. Why Finch and Reese never thought of this is beyond me. The Unknown: The ending was very interesting. Does Finch calling Reese Nathan imply that Ingram was the man doing Reese's job before the series started? Does this mean that Ingram faked his death to work for Finch? Could he still be alive? There are some exciting directions that this story could go. Best Moment: Finch realizing that Tara is the impostor was a wonderful moment to pay off of the tension which had been building up throughout the episode. Character of the Episode: Finch. Conclusion: This was a strong episode with good drama and a better story than what we usually get. I enjoyed this, and I want to see more episodes like this one. Score: 66 Summary: Stefan is a video game programmer in the 80s, programming a choose-your-own-adventure game called "Bandersnatch". He works alone on the project and slowly devolves into insanity. The ending of the story depends on the choices that are made throughout the film.
The Good: I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Going into this, I was very skeptical about the idea of an interactive episode of television. I was worried that the gimmick would overshadow the story in its entirety and it would leave me feeling hollow. Thankfully, I was wrong and this short film ended up being one hell of an experience. Before I delve in any deeper, I will warn that this review will discuss the entire film and may spoil many of the endings. I liked the way that the gimmick was introduced to us. While some of the early choices may appear to be meaningless to most, they all served a purpose in getting us acquainted with how this story works. The cereal introduces us to how we get to make decisions (it also has a nice easter egg later where the selected cereal will show up in a commercial before JFD's documentary) and the music shows us how the story changes based on what we select (Colin asks Stefan what music he listens to, and his answer depends on what you selected). Some people are frustrated with the first main decision of accepting or refusing the job offer as it is restricted to force you into making one specific decision with the other being the "wrong path". But I think this is a really strong way to introduce us into how this story works. All choose-your-won-adventure books have these bad endings that you can get, so they need to be implemented into this story too. This first question is used as a way to introduce you to this because most people will select "accept" (the wrong answer), since the story heavily pushes you to picking that answer. Furthermore, there is some great foreshadowing that comes from selecting "accept" as it hints at Stefan being aware that he is being controlled and also hints at the multiple timelines thing that Colin mentions later. I thought the gimmick actually worked really nicely. I found myself projecting my own conscience onto Stefan and that made my immersion into his story so much greater than it would have otherwise been. Now that I got to make his decisions for him, I began to care about him and I had a drive to get him to succeed at making the best possible version of Bandersnatch. That's the real genius behind this format. The immersion is so much more than it could otherwise be. The only thing that is a worry is the story being told. Seeing that the writers probably had something like half a year to get the story down before they started filming, it shouldn't be a surprise that the story is written really well with lots of connections, foreshadowing, symbolism, colour and thematic exploration. The writing here is stellar and the entire film feels like a treasure trove as you uncover the multiple endings and discover how the story had hinted at these endings beforehand. There were so many details that I heavily enjoyed uncovering with a rewatch. The foreshadowing of Stefan becoming aware that he is being controlled, the foreshadowing of the hound which digs up Stefan's dad's body in one of the endings, the secret backstory of Stefan and his mother and more are all very pleasing to find. As for the emotional impact, it works for the most part. The story isn't anything special, but it gets its point across and is easy to get invested in. The endings are a bit of a mixed bag (see: The Bad), but there are some that I like. I appreciated the use of a 2.5/5 rating for Bandersnatch as a sort of game over to tell you that you've made a wrong choice. It was a clever way to motivate me to attempt to find a better ending instead of simply giving up there. I really liked two of the five endings. The history repeats itself ending is really interesting and even suggests that a sort of curse exists over the Bandersnatch novel and game since everyone involved seems to go insane. My favourite ending was the death ending though as it wrapped up Stefan's story really nicely and it left the most emotional impact with me. The idea of the story ending after we correct the one wrong decision that Stefan made in the past is really clever and is a thematically wonderful way to conclude this story. I really liked seeing Stefan's descent into madness. There were two really great sequences to illustrate this. The first was Colin and Stefan's drug trip which was conveyed beautifully with all of the lightheadedness that drugs would cause. The second was Stefan listening to the documentary and slowly beginning to accept the possibility that he may be being controlled. The words were timed wonderfully with Stefan's thoughts and Fionn Whitehead's acting conveyed everything really well. I also really like that most endings put Stefan up against his dad, who is his primary source of conflict, and it's common to see Stefan killing his dad with his cigarette tray (another thing that was actually foreshadowed very nicely). I thought there were some really interesting things about the themes in this story. It's almost as if the creators were trying to tell us about their struggles while trying to make this impossible storyline. I don't think it's a coincidence that the ending that resulted in the best game was the one where Stefan realizes that giving the illusion of free will is the proper way to go about a story like this. One of the biggest complaints I've seen is how so many decisions in this story are meaningless as the story still leads to a specific point no matter what. And while I have my problems with this (see: The Bad), I think that this is the best version of "Bandersnatch" that was out there. Stefan's epiphany that giving the illusion of free will may very well be Charlie Brooker speaking out to us through his character and letting us know how difficult it is to create a story with so many sprawling endings. It would be too messy and would only get a 2.5/5. But when the ending is pre-determined and the story is more organized, only then can "Bandersnatch" obtain a 5/5. I really liked the idea of Stefan becoming aware that he is being controlled. The breaking of the fourth wall is really clever and makes it so that this story isn't an interactive one without reason. Instead, being interactive is an actual plot point that cannot be removed from the story being told here. Furthermore, it works as a really good twist that caught me completely off guard and delighted me. I was impressed to see the story acknowledge my presence, and I was further impressed when I was given the option to reveal myself as a Netflix watcher from the future. The continued ending with the over-the-top action scene was pretty funny and I got a good kick out of it. The Bad: The biggest issue I had with this was that there is no way to find the best version of this story. All of the endings exist, but aside from the death ending, none of them really impacted me fully. Yet the death ending doesn't feel quite right since it all seems too quick and it misses out on some of the best moments in the story, such as the fourth wall-breaking plot twist and Stefan's meltdown. The history repeats itself ending is the opposite as it has Stefan's breakdown, but doesn't resolve the story with his mother at all. None of these endings leave me feeling wholly satisfied and that leaves me disappointed in the end. I understand that it's the purpose of a story like this, but it still feels unsatisfying. While the game over endings are consistent with choose-your-own-adventure books, I don't really like them that much. The only ones I actually appreciated from a story-perspective were when Stefan breaks his computer and his dad runs in to console him. Aside from those, the other game overs are pretty lame. Also, if you have an affinity for constantly getting the game over endings (like me), the story gets bogged down by the fact that you're replaying moments over and over again. It breaks the engagement of the story and leaves me feeling disappointed that so many storylines I want to trigger apparently don't exist. This must be how Mr. Thakur felt when he selected to worship the demon king only to discover that it wasn't fully programmed. Disappointed and confused. It also led to me being bored a lot of the time as I waited for the story to go through parts that I have seen several times already because I keep being sent back. It made for a rather disjointed experience that countered everything the film did well with immersion. The Unknown: I'm unsure about where the concept of interactive films goes from here. This film alone already did some major innovations to the genre by breaking the fourth wall and using interactive stories as a theme. The question is, how can anything else top what was already done here? This story used the concept to its fullest and already showed us its bag of tricks. It will be difficult to imagine a story that can meet the expectations of this new genre after this film. This genre has already shown me what it can do and I'm uncertain that there is more to it than what I've already seen. Best Moment: I thought the breaking of the fourth wall was a really stellar piece of creativity. Clever innovations like that are what made this story work as well as it did. Conclusion: This was better than I could have ever expected, but it still felt flawed. While the story did more than I expected with its theme, immersion and excitement, it was hurt by issues that have plagued choose-your-own-adventure books as a whole. While I did enjoy this a lot and had a ton of fun, I get the sense that the role of interactive films in my life will be the same as those choose-your-own-adventure books. I'll have fun with a few, but I'll always turn back to novels for a richer emotional experience, and I'll hardly ever look back. Score: Due to how different this is from most television, I'm not sure that I can accurately score this as an episode of television. Furthermore, this is technically a movie so I'll restrain on scoring it. I will say that my overall response to it is positive, but I don't think I'll be remembering much about this in a few years. If I would give it a score, it would likely be around 65-70, but take that with a grain of salt. As of now, there is nothing else to compare that score with. Summary: Moretti is released from prison so Carter and Reese watch over him to ensure Elias doesn't attack him. Moretti is attacked but Carter ensures he is safe and move shim to a safe location. Finch notices that the next POI is Leila who is a six-month old infant in a hospital. Finch realizes she is in danger and steals her from the hospital. Reese tries to discover why somebody is trying to kill Leila. He figures it out but Leila is kidnapped. To get her back, Reese goes to Elias for help. Elias helps but threatens to kill Reese and Leila, only letting them live after Reese gives up Moretti's location. The baby is saved but Elias gets to Moretti and captures him. One of the cops Carter left to watch over Moretti is shot and she decides to stop helping Reese.
The Good: Now this is more like it. Whenever "Person of Interest" indulges in its long-term stories, it results in a strong episode. This was no exception. The episode's dual storylines worked really well. It established tension at the beginning of the episode as Reese was worried about Moretti and Finch was worried about Leila. I really liked how both stories converged into tense moments which had exciting conclusions (the brief shoot-out and the hilarious reveal that Finch kidnapped a baby). Additionally, it resulted in a dramatic final act where Elias joined in with Reese during the baby storyline. Elias is fantastic. I love his character because he is a genuine threat to Reese, which is pretty rare to find. Elias is currently 2-0 over Reese as he has outsmarted him twice now. That's really good because it means that Elias is a big deal whenever he shows up, since he is an established threat that we have been conditioned to take seriously. The conversation that Elias and Reese had in this episode was great too. I liked the way that Reese convinced Elias to join his cause, but better yet was how Elias betrayed Reese halfway through and ensured that he would be gaining something by helping Reese out. I thought the ending was really smart too. Reese took a risk by working with the one man who has bested him before and he has paid for it by losing Carter's trust and loyalty. It was a surprising turn of events but it makes a lot of sense for the characters. Carter refusing to help Reese is logical, especially considering that she works as a cop whose job is to protect people, and she was doing a fine job of it before Reese came along. I'm pleased with this development as it shakes things up and increases my interest in what the show has planned as the season's final act. I think Fusco has been given a strong storyline too. His involvement with HR has given him a good conflict to help explore his character by forcing him to be dirty. I like that Fusco has slowly transitioned from a dirty cop to a decent guy throughout the series as he continues to do work for both Reese and Carter. This character transformation got a great moment in this episode when Fusco refused to give up Carter's secret to Simmons, showing that he has no desire to be dirty anymore. The action scenes in this episode were pretty solid and tense. I liked Leila's kidnapping scene, Reese's violent attack on the Petrosians and Reese halting the baby swap. They were all dramatic moments, as well as the scene where Elias trapped Reese and Leila in the refrigerated truck. I thought that having the kidnapper put Leila in a zipped up bag was incredibly smart. It's such a reckless thing to do, and it immediately made me hate the guy who did it. This paid dividends when Reese shot the guy in the head. I was cheering to see the man die because the show added the extra detail to make me despise him, even though he only said like 2 lines of dialogue. The Bad: It was weak seeing the same car accident trick two episodes in a row. Last episode, it was an attempt on Adam's life and this time it was an attempt on Moretti's life. Elias is going to need to find different ways to kill people. I was really angry to see Finch walking around in public getting baby formula when he is a suspect for kidnapping a baby. Just send Reese to do this! It was really out of character for the cautious and paranoid man to do this. The show loves to do the dramatic reveal of the POI escaping from Reese/Finch to leave us with a cliff-hanger before commercials. It's getting comical how frequently this is happening. I find it hard to believe that Leila would escape so easily from Finch, and I find it harder to believe that Finch believed that some small books would keep Leila inside. Reese breaking into the Petrosians house was tense but also incredibly stupid. Now both Finch and Reese should be suspects who have been seen in public and can be recognized on sight. The Unknown: So why did Elias contact Reese in the last episode? The cliffhanger went nowhere. What is Elias planning to do? Is he just going to kill Moretti? Does he have other plans? Is Carter actually going to stay away from Reese now? Will she come back later? Best Moment: Carter deciding that she was done was a really strong moment. Character of the Episode: Carter. Conclusion: This was a good episode that was pretty fun. It gave the show some momentum and provided a fun story to boot. This was a solid return to form after a few weak episodes. Score: 65 Summary: The next POI is Adam Saunders who is a businessman on Wall Street. Reese reads up on Wall Street and gets involved with Adam. He discovers that Adam discovered something he shouldn't have while researching where to invest and is now in danger. Reese protects him but his accomplice, Sydney Baylor is killed. The company where Adam invests his stock suddenly crashes and Ada loses his uncle's money and wants to get it back. Finch helps out by investing a ton of stock in the company and raises the price back. Carter gets a phone from a criminal and gives it to Reese. Reese calls a number and Elias answers.
The Good: I liked the idea that Reese had to study to blend in on Wall Street. It makes him seem more human since he didn't conveniently know everything about Wall Street before the episode. The story throughout the episode is pretty good. I think it was more enjoyable than the usual episode since it had a lot of twists and turns, as well as a better POI story than usual. Adam was one of the better POIs who had a pretty good story to tell. The overall story left a good impression with me. The ending of the episode was very strong. I'm excited to have Elias back in the story as it can give the show some much-needed momentum. I liked the throwback to Virtanen in the early parts of the episode. The Bad: The episode just doesn't engage me like a good episode of television should. I think the big issue is that the episode just doesn't feel important. With bigger storylines involving characters like Elias, Will, Snow and Root, these individual episodes don't give me a reason to care about them. Even though there was a story which had a lot of effort put into it, I couldn't get invested. The other big issue was how complex this story was. Cramming so much story into 45 minutes is very exhausting for me and it can only work if the story has enough substance to it. Considering that I wasn't very invested, this episode didn't succeed in that regard. I spent too much time trying to follow the story instead of getting engaged, making it convoluted and unsatisfying. I've been saying this from the start of the show, but we desperately need multi-episode stories in this show. Something like this would have worked much better if it had some time to breathe. The Unknown: What does Elias want with Reese? What was his involvement with Rasmussen? Why did he kill him? Best Moment: The ending was exciting and promises that this story will pick up now. Character of the Episode: Elias. Conclusion: This episode was fun to watch on the surface, but emotionally it did absolutely nothing for me. Episodes like these are what make this show difficult to watch for me at times. This was far from the worst thing the show has done, but it's disappointing because I see potential for so much more than what we got. Score: 55 Summary: Merle tortures Glenn in an attempt to discover where the group is. Rick lets Michonne into the prison and she tells him about Woodbury and that Glenn and Maggie were taken. Rick decides to take a group to Woodbury to get them back. The Governor steps in to aid Merle and Maggie gives up the location of the prison. Andrea oversees an experiment that Milton is conducting about walker conscience. Andrea saves his life and Milton realizes that walkers are just monsters.
The Good: This was a really good episode that built up the mid-season finale in exciting ways with three really good stories. The torture scenes ended up being tense and exciting. Merle's vicious beatdown on Glenn was violent, but unlike in "Game of Thrones", the scenes were shot with enough restraint so that I won't ever be tempted to turn off the TV watching those scenes. The walker fight with Glenn was really nicely choreographed as well and I especially liked how Glenn was able to adapt to the situation and survive. But, the best scenes in this story came from The Governor. Watching him threaten Maggie with rape was genuinely unsettling and at times frightening. I was horribly unnerved by it all, but also impressed with the way that The Governor was able to get the information he wanted through threats alone without actually doing anything violent. He simply played his mind games on Maggie so she easily cracked when The Governor threatened Glenn's life. Milton's experiment was really enjoyable. Even though we are well aware that Mr. Coleman won't have any conscience left after he dies, Milton is not. The genius of this scene is how we know exactly what Andrea knows and we end up seeing the entire scene through her eyes. Milton is put in a sympathetic light in this scene because Andrea maturely sympathizes with him instead of shoving her beliefs onto him like so many other characters in this show have done. It's a good way to get us to invest in a new character who is finally getting a bit of a spotlight. I was really happy to see Rick and Carl discussing Lori's death, albeit briefly. After Rick went into hiding for a while, he never really had a chance to speak with Carl. I'm pleased that the show chose to address this and didn't just leave it. The scene did a nice job of showing how Carl has matured following Lori's death with the way that he swallowed his emotions. His character development is pretty unsettling, but it's fitting for the world we have been shown. I also liked that Carl got to name the new baby Judith. It's good to have a name for her now, and I think the idea of Carl naming her after a teacher he had in the old world is a good metaphor for how Judith represents the hope in the group. While the scene at the cabin was essentially filler, I really liked it. I was intrigued by the man living there (see: The Unknown) and I thought he presented a logical threat to demonstrate that Rick is still performing as a capable leader and that he hasn't become soft following Lori's death. I also thought that the use of the man's body to allow the group to sneak away was really clever. The ending was really good. The cliffhanger works really well and leaves me really excited to see the next episode. The Bad: Michonne remains a problem with her impossibly bad communication skills. It's highly unlikely that she wouldn't tell Rick's group everything if she wants them to destroy Woodbury and free Andrea. Surely she would mention both Merle and Andrea. The Unknown: The man in the cabin seemed to be unaware that the world ended. How is that possible? Has he been so isolated for so long that he never noticed? Have walkers never gone to his house before? Or was he just startled or drugged? I was going to put this in The Bad but it's possible there was more to this character than I initially thought. It's left me thinking and is an interesting addition to the story. Best Moment: The Governor threatening to rape Maggie was creepy and it was the scene that elicited the largest reaction from me in a good way. Character of the Episode: Glenn. Conclusion: This was a very good episode that sets up the mid-season finale very well. I look forward to what should be an intense bloodbath next episode. Score: 69 Summary: Reese infiltrates a smuggling group operated by a man named Vargas. He is surveying a POI, Cahill who is part of the group but it also secretly a cop. The group is ratted out and are forced to hide in a warehouse. Vargas knows there is a rat in the group and Reese prevents Cahill from being discovered but nearly dies in the process. Fusco helps Reese save Cahill's life but is captured by a corrupt cop and is put in danger. Reese is able to save both Cahill and Fusco.
The Good: There were some strong moments of tension that made this fairly exciting. The gun shootout with the Asian man was pretty tense, as was the ending shootout. Fusco's arrest was a really good moment too as it added some unpredictability to the episode. Reese taking Cahill's phone was also good because I wasn't sure what he was planning to do. He could've framed himself, framed someone else or simply gotten rid of the phone. I got a laugh out of Fusco and carter running into each other and giving each other suspicious looks as they parted ways. I liked hearing "If I had a Heart" again, as I had last heard that song on "Breaking Bad". The Bad: This was the weakest episode in a while. This episode fell right into all of the show's biggest traps and ended up being very unsatisfying as a result. First and foremost, the episode was dull. It was tough to invest in the central POI story, and it was made tougher by a plot that was far more convoluted and fast-paced than it needed to be. Without any investment, I found it really tough to keep my attention on understanding the plot. It made the episode much more tedious than it needed to be. Some of the show's worst clichés were involved in this episode. Reese conveniently infiltrating the gang without showing us how he did it was poor. It was explained away with a "cool" line of dialogue. I was really displeased with the scene where Reese watched Cahill break into his own house. Finch telling him to kill Cahill before he hurts any innocents only for Cahill to be acquainted with the innocents was very familiar. I can't pinpoint which exact episode, but I am certain that this exact scene has happened in a prior episode. I immediately predicted the reveal so it ended up being more cheesy than surprising. The death tease was extremely bad. Unlike in "Number Crunch", I never felt like Reese could die in this episode so the tension was completely lost as I just waited for him to reveal he is alive. There were loads of problems with the execution as well. The idea that Reese would pass out from a graze is pretty stupid, especially for a man like Reese who was shot pretty badly back in "Number Crunch" and still managed to survive. Furthermore, Vargas is a total fool for thinking that Reese was killed without any bullet hole in his skull. Lastly, the burning of the car sucked. Any smart person would put the two bodies in the front seats to avoid any suspicion from cops. If the bodies are in the trunk, that immediately puts the cops onto them. The climax was poor as well. Finch sets up that Reese can't save both Cahill and Fusco in time. So to solve this... Reese simply just saves Cahill and Fusco anyways. So what the hell was the point of Finch's statement? It was a cheap way to attempt to add tension. I expect stunts like these from downright bad shows and it disappoints me to see something like this from this show. L.O.S. ended up being the most boring villain on this show. He was introduced towards the end of the episode and accomplished absolutely nothing to make me view him as a threat. But then he was revealed as CIA and I thought that perhaps he would be a major player because of this. But then he's unceremoniously murdered by Snow which makes me wonder what the point was. The flashbacks didn't do much for me. I didn't learn anything new about Reese from them and they weren't very interesting. This episode hardly had any Finch in it. That's a problem. The Unknown: Did Reese and Jessica get back together? Did L.O.S. just give away to Snow that Carter is helping Reese? What will Snow do about that? Best Moment: Probably Fusco running into Carter. A nice moment. Character of the Episode: Fusco. Nobody else was interesting. Conclusion: This episode was really hard to care about. Add on the bad moments and this episode ends up being one of the worst ones so far. It's a shame to see two weak episodes in a row since the show was just gaining momentum. We need to get back to the Reese/Finch story, Elias, Will and others to help the show get back on track. Score: 48 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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