Summary: In flashbacks, Collier is chosen for Vigilance and is pushed to do big things to make a difference by the mysterious texts. In the present, Collier begins his trial of all of the government people. Rivera is killed immediately after Collier judges him guilty. Collier threatens to kill Control next when she refuses to answer his questions. Finch intervenes and reveals that he built the Machine to the public. Reese and Hersh get to the courthouse area and start fighting Vigilance members. Hersh discovers a massive bomb. Shaw joins Root to help her in her mission. Decima men attack Collier and defeat his men, kidnapping him. Greer reveals that he orchestrated Vigilance and planned for this to happen. He has planted a bomb and will blame Vigilance for it. The bomb goes off and Hersh dies trying to stop it. Greer kills Collier. Reese frees Finch but Greer gets away. Root sets up the servers in Samaritan but she is unable to shut it down because there are 100 other facilities. She has set up 7 new identities for herself, Shaw, Finch, Reese and the 3 hackers so they can hide from Samaritan. Greer calls Garrison who agrees that Samaritan must be activated. Samaritan is finally activated at the end as Root, Reese, Shaw and Finch all part ways to stay alive.
The Good: Well, a hell of a lot of stuff happened here. This must be the craziest episodes of the show in terms of what happened, the pace at which it happened, and the effect that this one episode will have on the show as a whole. This was an actual game-changer of an episode. From the get-go everything is intense and dramatic. The trial was pretty good and it led to a few really cool moments. The biased nature of the trial was established immediately, and Collier's murder of Rivera established a sense of danger for Finch. It became pretty tense right away and I was curious to see what information would go public. I thought there were good character moments for Control and Finch. Control showed some heart and proved to be a loyal servant of the United States as she refused to give away information and also stuck up for Finch. While Finch had an even better moment when he decides to repay Control's act by saving her life. Finch had to weigh his morals as he had to choose between the secrecy of the Machine or another human life. Finch is ultimately forced to reveal his secret to the public in a pretty good scene, once more choosing to save a life over protecting the Machine. Furthermore, the argument with Collier over the pros and cons of surveillance is a really strong scene. The best stuff of the episode came after the trial. Once things fell apart, Greer took total control of the situation. Last episode I addressed how Vigilance being the true threat was a fantastic twist that turned a side-story into something much more engrossing and important. But that was just another misdirection as we got the shocking reveal that Decima actually orchestrated everything about Vigilance. The reveal felt important, made sense and tied up the many loose ends, even explaining how Vigilance got all of their information in previous episodes. It's a surprisingly good twist and explanation, so good that I'm surprised I didn't see it coming. What makes the twist better is the emotional resonance it has on Collier's overall story. His life ended up being really tragic in the end, and the twist completely stripped away everything he had worked so hard to accomplish in the last 4 years. This trial was his dream and he was clearly enjoying the trial which was the culmination of all of his plans. This was his ultimate victory, even if he died, the world would understand the truth. To take this away by revealing that the broadcast never even happened is heartbreaking, and it's made even worse when Collier realizes that everything he had done for the past 4 years had been for nothing, and only served to further the agendas of his enemies. His entire campaign was meaningless. It's a heartbreaking moment and it's impossible to not feel some sympathy for Collier in this scene. Greer goes the extra mile to cement himself as a despicable villain though. Collier firmly believed he was doing the right thing, never killing innocents. Greer could have killed him while he still believed this. But instead Collier is allowed to live long enough to see Vigilance's name tarnished as just another evil terrorist group as a bomb goes off, taking tons of lives with it. After dedicating the last 4 years of his life for a cause that he believed to be just, Collier got absolutely nothing in return. The most shocking thing about this episode wasn't even the twist. It was the fact that Greer actually won. Vigilance played right into his hands and gave him the exact leverage he needed to activate Samaritan. The threat of Decima has never been greater because Reese, Finch and co. are all living in Greer's world. Or rather, Samaritan's world since Greer lived up to what he had said to Finch in the last episode and is letting Samaritan fully control things. Honestly, I never expected to see Samaritan coming fully online like this. I always assumed it would be a temporary 1-episode story. But that's not the case. The show took a massive leap that I wasn't expecting and permanently changed the landscape of the story by allowing Samaritan to activate. How many other shows would have the guts to pull off a major move like this? Not many, I'll tell you. The ending montage was one of the show's finest moments. The use of music was excellent (who doesn't love Radiohead), and it added to the haunting atmosphere of the entire sequence. Exit Music is a great song to accomplish this, and I recall it being used spectacularly back in an episode of "Black Mirror". Root's monologue may have been a little cheesy, but it definitely had heart to it and some of her lines definitely resonated with me, particularly the ending bit about Pandora's Box. The actual content of the montage was really heartbreaking too. After 3 seasons we have to leave the library, and it is every bit as emotional seeing the library destroyed as you might expect. The writers even throw in a picture of Carter to make it even sadder. Worse than this is seeing all of our heroes going their separate ways, forced to live a normal life. And they aren't doing this to save other lives; they're just saving themselves in a desperate act of survival. It's a painful defeat and it's rough to watch. Really powerful stuff. There are a few other things I loved about this episode. For one, the editing was really good. I've always liked the techno-Machine stuff the show does, and it was done astoundingly well in this episode. The cinematic effects seem to get a lot more creative during these season finales, and I liked the way that the show introduced Samaritan using some slightly different effects. I liked the character interactions as usual. Root and Shaw's side story was good fun and their flirty interactions are always a joy to watch. I also liked Fusco's brief scene. It served as a good way to foreshadow that the broadcast wasn't actually live while also reminding us that Fusco isn't aware of the Machine, which explains why Root didn't need to set him up with a new identity. Lastly, I really liked that Root mentioned that Samaritan couldn't be stopped since McCourt survived. It makes Finch's decision have some very real consequences. The Bad: It felt odd that Collier would be so emotional and aggressive during the trial rather than factual and calm. I understand that he has been waiting for this moment for a while, but surely he would want to provide a fair trial so that the general audience don't think of him as the bad guy. If he wants a revolution, surely he should provide more evidence on camera which would suggest that the government is guilty. Instead he goes for confessions at gunpoint and obviously frightened and biased jurors. It's hardly reliable and it makes me wonder why Collier didn't plan something a little more damning and fair. After all, the government are obviously guilty, so why not put more effort into proving it? Lastly, Collier totally lost that argument with Finch about surveillance. It makes him look really bad. Hersh's death was pretty disappointing. After all the hype surrounding his character in season 2, he did absolutely nothing of note in this season and we hardly got to see anything about his character. Furthermore, his stoic and badass vibe was sacrificed so he could make some dumb jokes like Reese. Reese's jokes are fun and in-character, but Hersh's feel like they were just tacked on to make him more likable before he died. Additionally, his death is practically meaningless since he accomplished nothing by dying. What was the point of his character if this was his pay-off? The Unknown: What are Samaritan's commands going to be? How will Decima enforce them? What happens with Reese and co.? Will they keep getting numbers and doing their job? Will they somehow stay in touch? Will the Machine help them? How do they plan to stop Samaritan? What lies in Control's future? Will she work with Decima then or will she have problems with listening to Samaritan? Best Moment: The ending montage was a stellar scene. One of the biggest scenes the show has ever had. Character of the Episode: Collier again. His tragedy is hard to overlook. Conclusion: This was an outstanding season finale that concluded the season in a near-perfect way. It's astonishing how significantly this one episode changed the entire scope of the series and I have to commend the ambition of the people behind the scenes. And even with such a heavy plot focus, the episode still stayed grounded in emotion, focusing on the effects that these events had on its characters and the emotions they would be feeling. This episode accomplished some really impressive feats and it ends up being one of my favourite episodes of the series. This season was undoubtedly the best of the show. The show strayed away from its usual formula in a vast majority of the episodes and that really helped the show. The serialized drama was always the best aspect of this series. The focus on Decima, Samaritan, HR and Vigilance throughout the season made it that much more gripping and interesting to watch with fewer weak episodes than both of the previous seasons. It's rare to see a show live up to its full potential, but "Person of Interest" is doing that right now. Even though there are still issues with predictability, dialogue and cheesiness at times, this show is being its best self and I'm having a blast watching it. Bring on season 4! Score: 81
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Summary: Flashbacks show that Collier's brother was arrested after surveillance found him guilty of terrorism. His brother killed himself and was innocent all along. In the present, Root gets 5 numbers of government officials, including Control. Control discusses bringing Samaritan online and convinces Rivera to go with it. Shaw goes in to watch over Control and protect her. Greer speaks with Finch while hidden away. Power goes out across the city and Vigilance captures Control and the government officials, as well as Greer and Finch. Shaw and Reese ally with Hersh to save Finch and Control. Root is able to discover where Samaritan has been stored away and prepares to go in. Vigilance prepares to broadcast a trial of the US government.
The Good: One of the most remarkably consistent aspects of "Person of Interest" is its villains. Across the last 3 seasons we have gone through tons of villains (Elias, Stanton, Donnelly, Greer, Root, Simmons, Quinn), and pretty much all of them have been great. Somehow the show manages to come up with a fresh balance of charisma, relatableness, motivation and threat from each of these villains to allow them all to stand out and make an impact. It's fascinating to see how many different villains this show is able to produce on a regular basis. And now in this episode, they have done it again with Collier. Prior to this episode, Vigilance wasn't a group I was particularly invested in. All the scenes with them were good, but it always felt like the story was building up to something more, and Vigilance were simply being used as a way to maintain interest in an episode without doing anything too spectacular. As a result, I didn't find myself treating these guys as much of a current threat. I had labelled them as a future threat which would likely shine in one episode before being defeated. Plus, Collier hadn't done much to engage me in his story despite some strong acting and enjoyable lines of dialogue. Here, that all changed. We got an outstanding backstory for his character. We understood what his motives were, but we didn't know enough about him to care. With the heartbreaking tale of what happened to his brother Jesse, I found myself relating to Collier, understanding his pain and even supporting his cause. We have been told many times by people like Finch that we should sympathize with Collier but I hadn't really found myself doing so until now. The climactic twist was quite brilliant. I wasn't expecting the episode to end with Vigilance capturing pretty much every other important villain in the show. It was a big surprise, and immediately pushed Vigilance to the top as the biggest threat to these characters. The entire season, I had been much more worried about the threat Decima posed since they had been built up so much, that I never took Vigilance as seriously as I should have. Because of this, the twist reveal that Vigilance are the biggest threat this season caught me off guard and satisfied me in the way every good plot twist should. I really look forward to seeing what will become of this trial, as it could potentially change the show in a big way. The rest of the episode reminded me of "Zero Day". It was purely set-up for whatever is coming in the season finale and I really enjoyed it for what it was. It was interesting to see Root's plan unfold, and the involvement of the hacker group constantly kept me guessing what she was up to. It was satisfying to watch and the cliffhanger at the end with Root approaching Samaritan is exciting. There were some fun scenes in this set-up too. I liked Shaw having to swallow her hate and attempt to protect Control. The alliance between Reese, Hersh and Shaw was quite fun too. Also, I like that the show gave a reminder about why Decima men kill themselves since I forgot about the line which touched a little on this back in "Trojan Horse". The scenes with Finch and Greer were pretty awesome. The acting and dialogue was great and both characters paralleled each other nicely. I liked their philosophical discussion about creation as it provided some nice thematic exploration (I love it when the show explores the more thematic elements of creating AI), while also giving us some nice insight into Greer and what makes him tick. His speech about the blitz was phenomenal and did a lot to help us understand his motivations and hints at what his goals are with the activation of Samaritan. The Bad: I wouldn't call anything particularly bad here. The episode fell into the usual trappings of a set-up episode which prevents it from scoring too high. The Unknown: What did Root's hacker crew set up? Will they have a role to play in the next episode? What is Root going to do with Samaritan? Will she be able to shut it down? Is this trial the start of Collier's revolution? If he succeeds, how will the piblic react? What will be the consequences for Finch and co.? What was the truth about Jesse's death? Who was it that texted Collier? The government? Best Moment: Collier's emotional outburst at the government woman was a really strong scene, well-acted and powerful. I really felt for Collier and I found myself somewhat rooting for his success for a moment there. Character of the Episode: Collier. Conclusion: This was a great way to set up the season finale. While most of this was just an ordinary set-up episode, it got lifted up by the fascinating developments of Collier and Greer which added some focus and emotion to the episode. Score: 72 Summary: Samaritan is active and can't locate Finch. Greer discovers the next best thing, Grace and tries to get her to find Finch. Reese and co. attempt to protect Grace by hiding her in the police station while avoiding all cameras to stay off the grid. They set a distraction and escape but Decima intercepts Grace and kidnaps her. Root leads Reese and Shaw to find Grace in areas without any surveillance and they find a ship off the shore. Root discovers the ship is filled with generators from Samaritan. The group finds out where Decima's headquarters are and Reese and Shaw head over there while Root stays with the generators. Greer speaks with Grace to learn more about Finch. Reese and Shaw are unable to get to Decima in time and Grace is taken away with Greer. Finch reappears and negotiates a trade for Grace by giving himself to Greer. The trade goes off without a hitch and Grace is given a job in Italy to keep her safe.
The Good: The drama in this episode was really strong. It was really interesting watching a battle between the Machine and Samaritan as both Reese's group and Decima end up using their camera feeds smartly to stay one step ahead of the other. It was really neat to see Root leading Reese and Shaw around corners, while staying out of sight of key cameras. It manufactured tension in a really neat way. The ensuing scenes were all quite good at developing this tension too. I especially enjoyed the confrontation at the police station. There was a nice sense of impending doom with Decima surrounding the station and it was a nice addition. The rest of the episode did a decent job too. There was a nice sense of urgency as the group tried to get Grace back, and the discovery of the ship felt pretty significant, and also haunting as they discovered all of the dead bodies. Grace was used really well in this episode. She is portrayed well as a complete innocent and I enjoyed the challenge that this presented Reese, Shaw and Fusco to keep Grace safe without letting her know the truth about both Finch and Decima. This dynamic felt unique and it was enjoyable to watch the interactions between Grace and Fusco/Root/Reese. The scenes with Greer and Grace were a highlight. Greer was imposing as he interrogated her, but also curious as he didn't seem to want to actually pressure/harm Grace at all. It was interesting and I was curious about why he would do that. I liked that we got the answer at the end of the episode too. Greer simply respects Finch and didn't want to harm Grace as a sign of respect. It's a surprising characteristic for the villain to have, and it makes Greer stand out amongst the many other villains in the show. But rather than Greer, I thought Grace stole the show in this episode. Her outburst at Greer was emotional and outstanding, a scene filled with emotion. The final trade off was a strong moment too. I thought that Finch choosing to give himself away fit with his character very well. The actual trade didn't end up being very tense, but it served as a powerful moment for Finch as he comes closer to Grace than he has in several years. Michael Emerson's acting was terrific and carried the scene to a new level. I liked the return of FBI Root. Another fun moment. The Bad: Can't Samaritan use means other than visual camera feeds to find what it needs? We have seen Samaritan use sound before, so why doesn't it do that now? It seems like a bit of a plot hole. This episode didn't really hit that next level for me. There was emotion and there was drama, but I've seen much better from this show in previous episodes. That puts this one a little bit below some of the other fantastic episodes this season. The Unknown: Why do these Decima people just kill themselves at will? Virgil's suicide at the end reminded me of a similar death back in "Trojan Horse". What does Root plan to do with those generators she took? How much of an impact will her move have? Will Finch be reclaimed soon? What does Greer plan to do with him? Does he need him for a specific purpose? Will we see Grace again now that she is gone to Italy? Best Moment: The trade-off was probably my favourite moment. Such a powerful scene for Finch. Character of the Episode: Grace. Conclusion: This was a fun and intense episode with a lot of powerful moments. However, I feel that it was just missing that spark that the best episodes have. Score: 70 Summary: Root takes Shaw to deal with relevant numbers while Finch and Reese work on the next POI, a congressman named McCourt. Reese poses as a secret service agent to get close to him. Decima is after McCourt and leaks that Reese isn't who he says he is so Reese is forced to kidnap McCourt to keep him safe. After capturing a Decima agent with a returning Shaw's help, Finch and Reese discern that Decima made a deal with McCourt for Samaritan and are actually trying to protect him. Reese wonders if the Machine gave them McCourt's number because they have to kill him, but Finch refuses to do the deed. Eventually the group decides to leave McCourt alive and escape. Samaritan comes online for a 24 hour beta test and Greer begins to hunt down Finch.
The Good: This was a rock solid episode of drama with an outstanding final ten minutes. I'll start at the beginning first, before I get to that though. The episode felt important from the get-go with the focus being on discovering how Decima/Vigilance were involved with congressman McCourt. It was interesting to learn about McCourt, and unlike the mysteries in the usual POI cases, this one feels important due to its connections with Samaritan, which becomes a terrifying threat by the end of the episode. I enjoyed seeing the Finch and Reese dynamics again. With Shaw a part of the team, we don't get one on one interactions between Reese and Finch as often. It felt special to see them tackle a case together and the dialogue between them is as entertaining as ever. The story of the episode was exciting too with Reese becoming a secret service agent to investigate more into McCourt, just like a classic POI episode. But what made it stand out was Decima actually exposing Reese's identity, forcing Reese to actually kidnap the POI. It was a fresh new take on the POI stories with Reese's cover actually being blown. Everything after McCourt was taken was really fun to watch. I loved Finch's reaction to Reese's sudden move, and watching the group go on the run from Decima was very exciting, with lots of fun action and interesting interactions. This led up to a great plot twist when we learn that McCourt is actually Decima's link to activating Samaritan. It was a surprising change and it turned around everyone's comprehension of the mission they were doing. This led into the stellar final ten minutes as Reese brings up the possibility of the Machine actually sending the group on a mission to kill someone, a fascinating idea. This sparked a stellar debate involving Reese, Finch and Shaw as they debate on what to do with McCourt. What's so fantastic about this scene is the amount of character development being showcased in this episode. We get to see Finch fighting to save a man's life like he always does, sticking to his morals. Finch's disgust and disappointment at the Machine putting him in a position like this was wonderful to see and built up a nice conflict for him. I really liked Shaw getting a moment to recognize how much she had transformed by actually siding with Finch to save lives. That left us with Reese who brilliantly brought up Carter's death as a reason to go kill McCourt to save lives. This argument was terrific because all three characters were sticking to motives that made sense and that allowed u to have an emotional connection with what was going on. Furthermore, the idea of the heroes having to cross a line and actually kill somebody in cold blood was a very dark place for the story to go and I really liked it. The ending montage after Reese made his decision was terrific with perfect song choice and brilliant editing. It was a really atmospheric scene that suggested that Reese actually went through with the killing, which was a really dark turn to believe. Tying this in with the activation of Samaritan gave off a vibe of impending doom for the rest of the season and completely changed the stakes of the show. Next episode should be really fun. I enjoyed the scenes with Greer. The deal he made with Garrison was very big and it suggests that Control and the government may soon be tied in with Samaritan rather than the Machine. As ever, Greer's dialogue was great and he was a joy to watch. The Bad: I was disappointed with the cop-out reveal that McCourt survived. I feel that the dark ending would have fit much better with the tone of the episode and would have really opened the door for how far Reese could be willing to go to save the world. I thought the Root and Shaw story was odd. I liked the bar shot revealing everyone being knocked out, but it felt like a very random scene. Furthermore, I was confused by the purpose of Root taking Shaw with her if Shaw was simply going to come back by the end of the episode. The Unknown: Will Decima use Samaritan like Finch said? I feel that they may have a more sinister purpose than selling information to the highest bidder. I definitely want to learn Greer's motivation soon. Will there be consequences for Finch not letting Reese kill McCourt? Will Samaritan pile up on the body count when it gets activated? Did Shaw get shot there at the end? Let's hope she is fine. Best Moment: Everything from the moment Reese brought up the possibility of the Machine trying to get them to kill McCourt was phenomenal. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: This was another terrific episode. The first half of the episode was strong, but not quite great. However, the final ten minutes were outstanding and brought the quality of this episode up by a lot. I can't wait to see what happens next. Score: 75 Summary: The next POI is a government person named Leona. Vigilance kills her so Finch and Fusco go to DC to find more information. Reese and Shaw work on the next POI, an attorney named Matthew. They locate him at a high school reunion and determine that he was involved in a situation before where his senior year girlfriend Claire died in an accident. Matthew is harassed by another man named Doug and others who think he killed her. Shaw connects with him on the case. During the case, Reese and Shaw are attacked by Vigilance who got their location from Root who needed to distract them. It's revealed that Doug was involved in Claire's death and Matthew wants to kill him. Shaw and Reese calm down the situation and kill the attacking Vigilance members. Finch accesses a government file about Leon to learn why Vigilance killed her. Collier suddenly appears and takes the file. The file has information on Northern Lights and he leaks it online. Control is forced to shut down Northern Lights so the Machine routes all relevant numbers to Root.
The Good: It was refreshing to have a number actually die in this episode. It doesn't happen very often but to show the possibility adds on to the realism of the world. The episode certainly opened up on the right note. Vigilance's brutal attack set a tone and made it clear that Vigilance would be a big threat in this one. Their presence hovered over this episode nicely and added to the drama. The side story with Finch and Fusco was really interesting. Not only was it tense and exciting due to the late arrival of Vigilance, but it also gave us some one on one character interactions that we usually don't get from Fusco and Finch. It was a fun side story and nicely set up the exciting, game-changing climax. I thought the B-story carried this episode again, but the main story was far from bad. The actual plot was interesting and there was much more meat to it than most POI cases this season. It had an interesting twist ending which was surprising but also fit nicely into the emotional story they were trying to tell with Matthew (another Lost casting by the way). I thought Shaw was pretty good in the episode as she got to make a proper human connection and show off how much she has grown as a person since joining up with Reese and Finch. The humour in this episode was top-notch and I think it was one of the reasons that this episode was so much fun. This show has always excelled when it doesn't take itself too seriously, and it successfully did that here. There were loads of jokes at the high school reunion and between Shaw and Reese. It was a joy to watch the jokes entangled with the main plot which created a perfect blend of levity and interesting plot development. One of the best parts of the episode which benefited from this blend was the fight between Reese and "Phil". It was a really exciting and well-choreographed action sequence that also had some nice moments of humour with Reese getting offended about being called slow and him getting the win with a can of sloppy joes. The climax of the episode was a total success. The Collier and Finch scene was brilliant and it led to the welcome change in story coming from Northern Lights being leaked. The implications of the leak are massive and it has already drastically changed the course of the story by severing the connection between Control and the Machine. Now Root is even more important than before and I'm sure that Decima and Vigilance will be targeting her sooner or later. The Bad: Control doesn't come off very well after this episode. She needed to regain some credibility as a villain after Root outfoxed her but that really hasn't happened. If anything, she now comes off as weaker than ever since the congressman has complete control over her and completely destroys all of her power. Furthermore, her character doesn't come off very well since she shuts down the project surprisingly quickly. The Unknown: What is Root going to do about all of the relevant numbers? Will she do the cases herself? Will Finch, Reese and Shaw be involved too? What is Vigilance's next move? I'm certain that they aren't finish drawing attention to this great surveillance system. Best Moment: The Collier and Finch scene was really well done. The dialogue was great and it was easy to understand the perspectives from both characters. Plus there were high stakes with Collier getting access to the classified documents. Character of the Episode: Collier for being so successful. Conclusion: This was a really strong episode. It had a fun POI case which I enjoyed much more than the usual and also featured a tremendous climax which has completely changed up the plot of the show in a really big way. Score: 68 Summary: The next POI is a woman named Maria who is trying to free her lover Omar from being deported as a terrorist when he is innocent. Finch, Reese and Shaw try to free Omar without success so Maria take sit into her own hands. She has a friend named Sevon who helps her out. It is revealed that Omar is falsely accused because he has some information that can't be leaked about generators. Sevon is in on the plan and turns on Maria but she is saved by Reese, Finch and Shaw. Omar is freed and reunited with Maria. It is revealed that Decima was in on the plan and they have been given generators to power Samaritan. Root follows Greer and has an encounter with him.
The Good: The Root and Greer stuff was all terrific. I loved the sequence where Root was following Greer using information from the Machine. It was neat to see all of the technology she used to track him, and the ways that Greer used Samaritan to counter her were entertaining to watch. Plus the scene had a nice pay-off as Root comes back later with Bear and is this time able to track Greer using human methods rather than an all-powerful machine. The final scene of the episode was outstanding. The scene felt electric with engaging and exciting dialogue between two big players that will be important in the battle to come. It felt like a scene straight out of "Game of Thrones" in terms of how much I got invested into such a simple dialogue scene solely because I'm so intrigued by the characters involved in the scene. The main story was fine, but nothing special. I didn't think the action was choreographed very well, but the show has found a way to make up for this limitation. The scenes aren't designed in a way to create tension but rather they are played for laughs which makes it easy enough to enjoy the scenes without epic action. My favourite part about the main story was how each of the core four characters had moments to shine in the story. It felt like a true team effort which I really liked. This episode had more awesome comedy moments. Fusco is funny in just about every scene he is in, and I thought the brief moments in the fire truck with Shaw were very funny. I also enjoyed Reese's ridiculous over-the-top kills which nicely incorporated his dry humour. Lastly, Root calling Finch solely to convenience the plot by giving him a password was probably the funniest moment in the episode. The Bad: As usual, the POI story did little to fully invest me. It was important because it tied in with Decima, but it still failed to invest me emotionally in any way. Maria and Omar had relationship which left me feeling cold. I really couldn't be bothered to care about them and that hurt my investment into the central storyline. I was much for interested in the Greer/Root story and was itching to get back to that. I thought Maria and Shaw's scene was really poorly executed. The dialogue wasn't very good and the acting was pretty ordinary at best. Furthermore, the scene was tonally strange. The mood of the scene kept fluctuating randomly as Maria told her story and I thought that the shifts between Maria being angry and sad felt unrealistic and odd. Furthermore, the scene ended with the POI once more escaping from sight to get in trouble (albeit in a slightly more creative way than usual). It would help if the characters could acknowledge how often this happened and poke fun at it, but they don't so it feels like convenience for the sake of the plot. The Sevon twist was painfully obvious from the moment he was introduced. There is usually much more effort put into executing plot twists than this. I didn't care about the character and I predicted he was evil, so as a result I didn't care whatsoever about what happened with him. The Unknown: Is Root going to continue following Greer? Is there a possibility that Root could turn evil again? I don't think so, but it's a possibility. Best Moment: The final confrontation between Root and Greer was fun, cleverly written and very dramatic. I loved it. Character of the Episode: Greer. Conclusion: This was a fine episode. The POI story was the usual bland stuff, but the episode was helped along by fun uses of the main cast and a fantastic B-story with Root and Greer. Score: 61 Summary: Root is continuing to follow orders from the Machine. She intercepts a letter using a convict who looks similar to the guy the letter is for. She is given her next target, a janitor named Cyrus. Finch also receives Cyrus as a POI and he tries to convince Root to turn protection of Cyrus over to him but Root refuses. They discover that Cyrus is the only man who can access a secret lab which contains a highly advanced chip; Decima require the chip to activate Samaritan and Root is trying to prevent it. Decima gets Cyrus from Root by jamming her communications with the Machine. Root responds by getting a doctor to embed a transmitter of the Machine into her deaf ear. Root reveals to Finch that she was responsible for killing Cyrus' best friends and changing his life and feels guilty. Finch and Reese attempt to save Cyrus but Decima get to the chip. Root ultimately chooses to save Cyrus and Decima escape with the chip. Meanwhile, Shaw is engaged in a tense confrontation with Collier and Vigilance. Collier unsuccessfully tries to convert Shaw to his side. Both Shaw and Collier escape.
The Good: This reminded me of "Mors Praematura". The episode had the same wild feeling that comes from Root using her powers in chaotic ways like she did here. It was wildly enjoyable and was a real rollercoaster ride to experience. Root is always fantastic when she takes center stage and it was no different here. She's so spontaneous and exciting, and her interactions with all of the main characters are all fun. Whether she is opening up to Finch, being indifferent to Reese, flirty with Shaw or crazy with Fusco, she is a ton of fun and I have a great time watching her scenes. What makes this episode stand out over "Mors Praematura" was the story centering around Root. She is arrogant and fully believes that she is capable enough to take care of Cyrus on her own. Eventually she fails and we learn that Root was responsible for the deaths of Cyrus' friends. The conversation between Root and Finch discussing Cyrus was outstanding and it becomes clear that Root was more than ready to sacrifice Cyrus due to the guilt she is feeling for killing his friends. She tries to repress it and hide behind saving the Machine, refusing to face up to what she has done. The scene with Finch is so good because it finally allowed Root to face these emotions and deal with them accordingly. It forces her to take a full look at herself and she manages to emerge a better person as we see later when she chooses to save Cyrus instead of the chip. Her story is really strong and carries the episode to a higher level than it would have gotten otherwise. The suspense in the episode is terrific. There is great excitement raised from the question of whether or not Root will cause Cyrus' death, and the involvement of Reese, Finch and Shaw into Root's story only makes things more exciting. The episode builds up its mystery similar to a classic POI episode, but unlike most classic episodes, this one sticks the landing with an intense climax. The climax of this episode is so good because the stakes are raised a lot when we learn of Decima's plans to bring Samaritan online. That, along with Root's character journey, keeps me engaged in the story. The stuff with Vigilance ended up being pretty good. It seems like the show is paralleling Shaw with Collier to make Vigilance her story. It's similar to how HR became Carter's story earlier in the season. The interactions between Shaw and Collier were fairly enjoyable and I'm intrigued by Collier promising revenge for Shaw. I'm curious to see where this rivalry goes. I got a laugh out of Root joining the FBI overnight and producing a warrant. While I'm sure that this won't be followed up on, it was a hilarious over-the-top joke that made me laugh. The Bad: Cyrus as a character was very dull and he did nothing to make me invest in him. I only ever cared about Root in this episode and Cyrus bored me whenever he was on screen. I didn't like Collier leaving Shaw alive. He had the perfect opportunity to kill here right there, just shoot one bullet! Yet nobody does anything and his men just get wiped out and Collier simply walks away. Clearly the writers wanted this confrontation to happen but they couldn't come up with a good way for both characters to walk out alive. It was a sloppy moment. The Unknown: Is there anything stopping Decima from activating Samaritan now? Will we see Samaritan come online next episode? Is Root technically part of the main team now? I'm all for that development. What happened with Casey, Greenfield and the Asian boy? Are they being saved for something later? Best Moment: Root revealing her guilt about the deaths of Cyrus' friends to Finch was a touching moment. I love how her emotions were subtly hidden underneath an angry rant about humans and the things that they do. Character of the Episode: Root. Conclusion: This was a really great episode. It was the usual fast-paced and exciting episode elevated by a fantastic story for Root, turning her into something of a good guy. Much like the last episode, I had a blast watching this one. Score: 77 Summary: Majority of the episode is a flashback to 2010. Finch has a different partner, Dillinger, who doesn't get along with Finch at all. Dillinger is more abrasive and reckless than Reese. The next POI is Casey who is involved in something with the government. Dillinger observes that other people are following Casey: Reese and Stanton. After a shootout and involvement with a third party led by a man named Lambert, Dillinger escapes with Casey and takes him to Finch. Casey tells Finch that he was hired by the government to access the Machine and has accessed a segment of code which he is keeping on his laptop. Dillinger listens in with a bug. Dillinger drugs Finch and escapes with the laptop to sell it. Casey tries to leave the country but gets caught by Reese. Reese lets him go and pretends to kill him, as Finch watches. Dillinger is killed by Shaw but the laptop is sold and taken to Ordos. In the present, Root finds Casey hidden away and seeks his help.
The Good: Whenever "Person of Interest" changes up its formula, it always delivers the goods. Once again, I knew that I was watching something special the moment that the opening credits were tweaked. Because of this, I was immediately invested in what I was watching and I had a blast watching the episode go on. I like the idea of the show spending almost the entire duration of the episode in the past. It made the episode feel even more unique. The content of the episode was very strong. I've always wondered if Finch had others before Reese, and now we get to see him working with one of his earlier guys, Dillinger. The dynamic between Finch and Dillinger was nicely developed throughout the episode. Dillinger's recklessness and irritable behaviour is wildly different from Reese's calm and friendly demeanor, and it provides a fresh new dynamic for Finch to see him work with a guy who so obviously detests him. The relationship between Finch and Dillinger pays off nicely by the episode's end. Unlike Reese, Dillinger doesn't trust Finch at all and turns on him during the climax. Unlike Reese, Dillinger doesn't care about the lives of the POIs and is doing this job for selfish reasons. He isn't a good fit and Finch pays the price for trusting him and Casey nearly dies as a result. Yet Finch still has a heart and he attempts to save Dillinger's life, consistent with the peaceful Finch who we have gotten to know. He tries to save Dillinger, who stubbornly refuses in an attempt to get money. Dillinger's mistake leads to his own death which was well deserved by this point. But instead of celebrating his death, the show treats it in suitably somber fashion as Finch shows his humanity once again by burying his former partner (see: Best Moment). The funnest parts of this episode came from the many cameos from characters we are familiar with. First up is Stanton and Reese who provide some contest for Dillinger on the hunt for Casey. I liked seeing the parallels between Stanton and Reese as always, and their interactions were a load of fun. I particularly liked Reese letting Casey go alive after realizing he isn't a traitor. It was consistent with what we have seen with Reese and it made sense as a moment where Finch realized that Reese may be the right guy for the job opposed to Dillinger. I also really liked the connection with Decima Technologies even if it doesn't go anywhere. It's great to see how many attempts Decima has made to get something regarding the Machine, ensuring that we know that these guys have a significant backstory that dates back to a long while earlier. Also, we got a name for the head of Decima, Mr. Greer. I really liked Special Counsel, Control and Shaw's brief cameos. Their involvement nicely tied into the Ordos mission, providing more backstory to the laptop. Also, we got more background on Ingram's death, showing that the government did value him as a potential asset, but when he went rogue they could no longer trust him. Plus, we got some nice lines that hinted at Control ordering Special Counsel's death in the future. The ending is really exciting. The show is making it a regular cliffhanger to have Root show up, and I'm not complaining. It works as a promise of big things to come in the next episode. The Bad: It is a bit annoying that it took so long to get a name for Greer. The show pulled the same thing with Hersh and Special Counsel (though I accidentally stumbled upon their names online - whoops). It's a needless way to make my job a little harder by not giving a name. While I had few technical problems with the episode, I can't consider it one of the show's very best episodes because it didn't really have the same emotion as episodes like "Relevance" or "Prisoner's Dilemma". It was a total blast to watch, but outside of Finch burying Dillinger and watching Reese spare Casey, there was a notable lack of emotion. The episode raised one big plot hole. How did Finch upload a virus to the laptop if it was already taken from him by Dillinger who then sold it. The laptop was immediately taken to Ordos, so how did Finch upload the virus? The Unknown: How did Finch know about Reese before he saw him? Is there still more to their story? Who is Greenfield and why does the Machine want them? Why is Casey required for the job? Does he have a role to play? Will Finch's group get involved with this storyline somehow? Best Moment: Finch showing some heart and burying Dillinger after he died was a nice moment. Character of the Episode: Finch. Conclusion: This was another awesome episode. "Person of Interest" is almost always excellent whenever it engages in its long-term story and this was no exception. I look forward to the final episodes of the season. Score: 75 Summary: The next POI is a 911 emergency operator named Sandra. Finch becomes an operator to keep tabs on her. She gets a call from a boy named Aaron who gets kidnapped and held hostage. A man contacts Sandra with a request to delete all 911 calls from the past two days. Fusco works on a separate case about the murder of a girl named Tara and after looking into the 911 calls, he realizes that he and Finch are working the same case. Fusco gets a confession from the guilty party, so the man tells Sandra not to delete the calls. He sends a hitman to kill Sandra but Finch saves her. Reese and Shaw try to hunt down the location of the man on the phone without success. Eventually they save Aaron but fail to locate the man. Afterwards, Finch is contacted by the man who threatens to find and kill him and his crew.
The Good: This episode reminded me of the movie "The Call". Well, at least the first half of "The Call", but the episode was structured similarly. A 911 operator is given orders from a mysterious villain who has a hostage. The premise is the same and the way that the suspense is generated is similar too. The episode doesn't feel original as a result, but thankfully it is fairly exciting to watch because the premise is ideal for a TV show like this one. I thought that Sandra had a decent backstory and she was given a nice amount of depth for a POI. It's certainly better than what we usually get for the POIs and I found myself being more invested in her story than several of the ones from seasons 1 and 2. The main characters were pretty good too. Shaw has blended in nicely with the group and it's nice to see her joking around more. I also liked to see her showing some emotion towards Reese's life, ensuring that he doesn't get himself killed. This was also a good episode for Finch. We got to see his colder side as he creatively traps the hitman with threat of death before seeing his softer side as he provides some closure to Sandra. Fusco was a highlight in this episode. His increased popularity after avenging Carter makes a ton of sense and it's nice seeing the character adjust to a new situation and adapt to something of a mentor role when doing the case with Jake. Kevin Chapman gives a good performance as ever, and I liked the story even before it tied in with the main storyline. About that tie-in, the show has hit gold with the idea of tying storylines together later in episodes because it feels so satisfying. The writers just need to be careful not to use this trope too often. The ending of the episode was really strong. My favourite thing about premises like these is how the villain is constantly drenched in mystery, allowing our imagination to build up an image of who this man is. This episode sets up for an exciting villain reveal later on and that excited me. It's similar to the Root episode from season 1. The Bad: Once more, this episode didn't have much to stand out from your average episode. IT had a unique premise, but the structure of the episode was pretty much the same as ever. It was interesting when the mystery is building up in the first half of the episode, but in the final few minutes the episode loses my interest when I realize that the characters simply have to rescue Sandra and Aaron without any other interesting twists to the story. I had a few other nitpicks with the episode. I never really cared much for rescuing Aaron since he was such a tacked on hostage with absolutely no backstory. He's just a kid and apparently the writers thought that was enough to make us care about the story. Sadly, it wasn't enough. The Unknown: Who is the man on the voice? How does he plan to get back at Finch for handing him his first defeat? Are we going to get a twist similar to the Root twist from "Firewall"? Whatever happens, I'm intrigued. Best Moment: Finch providing Sandra with some closure at the end was a sweet moment, and it was the scene that gave me the biggest emotional reaction. Character of the Episode: Finch. Shaw and Fusco were pretty good too though. Conclusion: This was a solid episode that provided a decent story and set up a new villain as well. While this is far from the best we have gotten this season, it was good. Score: 60 Summary: The next POI is a woman named Kelli. Shaw and Reese investigate into her and discover she is a criminal being chased by an agent named Bouchard. Shaw stops her next crime but realizes that she is being used by another man, Cyril, who is threatening her by keeping her daughter. After this, the group has a change of heart and helps Kelli steal a valuable item. However, they don't give it to Cyril and instead get him arrested. Kelli is arrested to but Finch informs Bouchard of her situation. Bouchard lets her go.
The Good: The episode had its moments. The heist was fun to watch and there were some really neat moments of planning, like the distractions made to Bouchard and the 3D printing of the required fingerprints. It was decently fun TV. The ending scene was a great moment of humanity for the crew (see: Best Moment). I would love to see more moments like this based on emotion since they are much easier to connect to than the random drama scenes that preceded this. The Bad: Once again, the return to the POI formula results in an episode that's almost impossible to care about. The episode was a chore to get through more times than not with a generic story. Kelli wasn't at all interesting and was the same tired case of a seeming bad guy actually being a good guy controlled by a bigger bad. This show has had so many cases of villains kidnapping kids. It's honestly hard to remember any hostages that weren't kids, or to remember any kids that were introduced and not used as cheap ways to build emotion. The show relies too heavily on this. There was literally nothing new here. Where the last episode had some creative moments to make things feel fresh, this was as simple and unoriginal as possible. It was a bland thriller with very few moments that made me feel anything. Neither Kelli, nor anyone from the main crew did anything character-related to draw me in. This was the most lethargic episode of the season, with almost nothing for me to talk about. The ending was too cute for me. Kelli got off too easily and of course we needed to have the feel-good reunion scene. It was all too easy and the fact that the writers chose to play it safe with the ending somehow made this episode even duller. The Unknown: Nothing really. Best Moment: The final scene was the only scene that got me to care. Everyone was together in one scene (a rarity this season), and they got to share a drink in a surprisingly human moment. The little tribute to Carter was another lovely moment, showing the heart that these guys (and girl) have. A lovely scene. Character of the Episode: Fusco probably. Nobody really stood out. Conclusion: This was a very bland episode with nothing particularly good until the final scene. I'm sure this is just a fluke as the show builds to the season's conclusion, but I would have preferred something more original. Score: 47 Summary: Reese is booking a flight to leave but he gets placed on a different flight. The Machine contacts him with a new number, a person on the plane. He contacts Finch for help and makes contact with the POI, Owen. Owen is being escorted on the plane by marshals who lose consciousness. A man then tries to kill Owen but Reese stops him. Finch discerns that Owen is a relevant number and sends Shaw to get more information. Shaw contacts Hersh to get the information. Owen is revealed to be the head of a drug marketing system that has made a lot of money off of it, giving a cut to the ISA. He is being targeted because he wants to go public. Reese continues to save his life on the plane and sets him up to start a new life after. Finch visits him and Reese decides to go back.
The Good: This was a fun episode that felt original and different. Essentially it was the same old POI story, but it had a few fresh elements that made it stand out. I thought the concept was nice and original. The plane setting was a refreshing change and made this feel like (at times) "Non-Stop" in a TV show. The opening sequence set up the plane in a fun way. There were a fair amount of characters introduced that could all have become villains, adding to the suspense. The way they were introduced was also quite fun. Reese getting annoyed by everyone on the flight was pretty funny and started the episode in the right way. The inclusion of a relevant number was a terrific way to get me to care about this POI. By having him be relevant, Owen became much more interesting as a result and I was excited to learn why he was being targeted by the ISA and what he was actually doing. It was an engaging mystery that was pretty fun to uncover. Furthermore, I loved the Machine's role in the episode. The fact that the Machine was actively working to keep Reese in contact was really interesting. There were a few really fun confrontations throughout the episode. Shaw's scenes with both Foster and Hersh were really strong, continuing to follow-up nicely on her time working for Control. Reese's scenes with Owen were all pretty well-written to build mystery and also get some decent comedy in there. The best part of the episode was the story of Reese rediscovering his passion for helping people. Even though Owen was a pain in his ass, he was still grateful for what Reese did, and it seems like that made a difference in Reese's views; it's still worth saving people. Add in Holly who genuinely appreciated how he helped out, and it's clear that Reese can still save many lives. It's this realization for him that allows him to make the decision to come back. His subtle reveal to Finch was a lovely moment, and Finch's joyful reaction was really nice (see: Best Moment). The Bad: The story had some dull moments. Indigo 6A didn't really add much to the story, and neither did the Carlos twist. These two characters were sort of just there, not really adding anything to the story outside of some generic action scenes. I didn't like the climax of the episode either. Sometimes larger stakes, like the lives of so many civilians on the plane being in danger, detract from the episode since it was obvious that the plane wouldn't crash. Plus, it's mighty convenient that Finch just has a plane interface somewhere in the library. I thought that Reese's return to Finch was missing a key moment of realization. The story was so subtle that it actually missed the emotional beats I was expecting. It would have been more poignant had there been some more moments in the episode where Jim Caviezel got to play Reese's emotional state to make the final moment seem more earned and powerful. There were a few sloppy moments. The show needs to stop having the POI escape suddenly as a dramatic cut to commercials. It's so repetitive. Also, the marshals were so incompetent it was ridiculous. Who the hell trusted those guys? The Unknown: Why was Hersh asking about Shaw's happiness working under Finch? It was an interesting bit of dialogue. Could that suggest that Hersh is entertaining a switch to working under Finch? Best Moment: The most emotional part of the episode was certainly the end. Reese and Finch had a nice meeting with Finch being hopeful that Reese would come back. Reese being Reese, subtly hints at a return which Finch picks up on and Michael Emerson plays with such joy and happiness. It was a sweet moment that played off of the bond these two have developed. A lovely moment. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: This was a strong episode. For the most part it was the usual story, but there were a few creative ideas and emotional scenes that helped this stand out. Score: 65 Summary: In flashbacks, Finch hacks into Arpanet. In the present, Root saves Finch, Shaw and Arthur but she gets captured by Hersh and Control. Control tortures her to get admin access to the Machine but Root turns the tables with the Machine's help. She passes a message to Control from the Machine and leaves. Arthur reveals that his memory wasn't that bad and he was faking it to prevent Control from getting information from him. Arthur goes to a bank where he kept the back-up for Samaritan. Vigilance arrive shortly after, wanting to get Samaritan for themselves. Hersh arrives outside as well. Finch convinces Arthur to destroy Samaritan. The group escapes the bank. Root calls Finch and reveals that the drives Arthur destroyed were fakes. The real drives had been stolen before by Decima Technologies.
The Good: I enjoyed the pacing of the main story. We open up with a fantastic sequence that paid off of the previous cliffhanger in a great way. All of the pressing questions I had about Samaritan from the last episode were answered in a quick, efficient way without feeling overwhelming. Then we were treated to a nice action scene when Root arrived. It was a great way to start the episode. Root's storyline was a joy to watch. Control was intimidating and I was left wondering if Root's imprisonment was intentional by the Machine, or if it had somehow abandoned her. Control's words continued to build this conflict up and I became invested in finding an answer. I thought the scenes had a nice amount of tension to them. Root's torture gave her story a sense of consequence, without over-indulging into the violence which has detracted from torture in other shows (Game of Thrones). The way Root turned things around on Control in the end was very satisfying, and it was absolutely fascinating hearing Root directly convey the will of the Machine to Control (see: The Unknown). The Samaritan storyline was very well done. I enjoyed the way the plot was set up around the bank. Finch and Shaw were separated as the dual threats of Vigilance and Hersh closed in on them. It became tough to see a way out for the both of them and I was excited to see if they would make it out with Samaritan. Collier had great presence and he felt like more of a threat than usual. His conversation with Hersh was well written and extremely interesting, and suggests that Collier may be a more important threat than he has ever been (see: The Unknown). Finch and Arthur's conversations were the best parts of this episode. Making Arthur more conversable in this episode paid off big time and it allowed me to actually buy into him and Finch as old friends. It helps that Saul Rubinek and Michael Emerson are both fantastic actors that add that extra degree of realism to their work. I bought into both characters' and I enjoyed their interactions. The best scene between them was the conversation in the vault when Finch was telling Arthur to destroy Samaritan. Arthur killing his creation was a fascinating moment for him and it brought into focus whether it's right to simply destroy an AI or not. Better yet was how the Machine actually rewarded him at the end of the episode (see: Best Moment). Watching him relive his past memories with his wife was genuinely emotional. After all the time we spent with Arthur, I ended up caring about him. I've always wanted "Person of Interest" to have a POI case that carried over multiple episodes to give it more emotional resonance. It's not surprising that Arthur has to be one of the best POIs we have had so far when he was given multiple episodes for his story. The ending reveal was another outstanding plot twist. With the climax of the HR storyline, Vigilance's introduction and the reveal of Control, I had completely forgotten about Decima. The fact that they just acquired Samaritan was a big shock, and I'm excited to see what they plan to do with it (see: The Unknown). The backstory on Finch was a really excellent story. It nicely tied into "2PiR" with Finch hacking into Arpanet on a homemade computer. The story with Finch's father was genuinely heartbreaking and was a nice way to deepen our understanding of Finch while also suggesting a reason why he may have chosen to make the Machine. The Bad: The reveal that Arthur was faking it didn't feel entirely satisfying. If he had taken such good measures to be secretive from Control, why would he tell everything to Vigilance so quickly? It doesn't really add up. Reese's story was pretty much a dud unfortunately. It broke the pacing of the last episode, but I forgave it because it seemed to be setting up for something bigger. There wasn't much pay-off here and I found myself a little dulled out by his story. I was anxiously awaiting a return to the main plot whenever he and Fusco arrived on screen. It really hurt the episode's pacing by jamming it to a halt at a few points. The actual substance wasn't very good either. It's so tough to buy into Reese's new philosophy and there isn't a very credible reason for him to believe this, especially after working for the Machine for so long and saving so many lives. It would have been nice to see Reese's doubt in the Machine growing throughout the season rather than having him slowly develop a little bit of darkness if this is where his character was heading. Fusco and Reese arriving to save Shaw and Finch was very unsatisfying. How did they know where to go? How did they acquire the SWAT uniforms? It's too much of a deus ex machina. There was one bit of dialogue I really disliked. Shaw comes up with a great plan for Finch to escape without engaging the enemy. Yet Finch calls this plan reckless. What? No. A reckless plan would be for Shaw to fight through the enemy to get to Finch. This was smart and much safer, so why is it reckless? It seems that the writers wanted Shaw to come up with something reckless to fit her character and couldn't come up with anything. So to make up for it, they just had Finch call a good plan reckless to try to prove a point. It didn't work at all. The Unknown: Why did the Machine let Root be captured? Presumably Root could have been saved from Hersh, but the Machine didn't want that to happen. Did the Machine want to pass that message on to Control? Or could it be something else? Did Root just leave Control like that? What happened to Control? What will she do next? How does Collier know about Samaritan? Who are his sources that apparently know this? I'm hoping it isn't just a plot hole. What does Collier want with Samaritan? What does Decima want with Samaritan? They wanted to kill the Machine last season, so why have they obtained Samaritan? Do they want Samaritan to overtake the Machine? Why? What would change if this happens? Where is Reese going now? Back to Colorado? Will Arthur come back later? He was a pretty important character, so I think it's possible he may come back later. Then again, he is dying so he may not return. We haven't seen Leon at all this season and Zoe has hardly appeared. Will we see more of them later in the season? Best Moment: Arthur getting to enjoy some memories with his wife was genuinely touching. Fascinatingly, it seemed like the Machine provided Arthur with this moment as a thank you for him destroying his own creation. This is so fascinating because it implies that the Machine does have feelings and can express things like gratitude. I would love to see more on this. Character of the Episode: Arthur. Possibly my favourite POI character yet. Conclusion: This was another great and exciting episode. While the story was even better than in "Lethe", the flaws were more apparent, making this about equal to that episode. Either way, this two-part story was a big success and I look forward to seeing more. Score: 70 Summary: Flashbacks show Finch’s childhood. In the present, Reese has vanished without a trace. Fusco goes to look for him, finding him in Colorado. Finch is no longer accepting numbers from the Machine. Root gives him the next number instead. Finch recognizes the next POI, Arthur who is a man dying of a brain tumor. Shaw poses as a doctor to get information on him and discovers he has a secret service guard and that he is unable to control what he says. They discover Vigilance is after him so they hide him away with his wife. Finch learns that Arthur created Samaritan, another Machine and that is what Vigilance is after. Arthur's wife is revealed to be Control who wants information from Arthur. She threatens to kill Finch and Arthur with the person who tells her what she wants being allowed to leave.
The Good: This was a really strong return for the show. It felt different and nicely continued to build off of Carter's death. Most other shows would have its characters move on quickly after a major character death. But this show is proving its quality by allowing Carter's death to significantly affect the characters and plot, making it feel like the pivotal event it should be. Things like Reese vanishing and Finch being hesitant to get more numbers are awesome little stories. The episode did a terrific job of building mystery too. Arthur's vague responses, the fact that Finch clearly knows who he is, and the involvement of the secret service and Vigilance only served to make me more invested and intrigued as the episode went on. I was hungry for information and I desperately wanted more, which is a sign that the mystery worked spectacularly. The suspense was awesome too. This episode feels like a complete package for drama with many different ways of keeping my interest. There was loads of tension created by Shaw posing as a doctor (which was a great pay-off to the doctor reveal from last episode) and investigating in some really dangerous business. The interrogation scene with Easton was excellent, and the escape from Vigilance and the hideaway was equally enjoyable. After these early scenes packed with mystery and action, we got a lengthy expositional scene where we learned about Samaritan, the second Machine. The reveal was a genuine surprise, and while I'm not fully aware of what this reveal could mean for the series as a whole yet, I'm eagerly waiting to see where it leads. Samaritan has been treated with major importance so far, so I'm sure that this will lead to something big. The Samaritan reveal wasn't the best reveal of the episode. Instead, the twist that Diane was actually Control who had infiltrated Arthur's inner circle was superb. Unlike the Samaritan twist, the implications of this were evident immediately as the government people immediately flooded in, desperate to get their hands on some valuable information. This reveal stunned me, and provided a really dramatic cliffhanger which makes me eager to watch the next episode. Furthermore, there is also the interesting dynamic of Shaw speaking with her boss which I'm excited to see more of. The brief scenes with Fusco and Reese were excellent. Fusco continues to show his more aggressive side, which I'm all for, while Reese is getting a pleasingly in-depth storyline coming off of Carter's murder. Great stuff. I'm also liking that Reese's reaction to Carter's death is very similar to what happened when Jessica died. Perhaps we will have to see Reese learning to dig himself out of his own hole, instead of having Finch intervene to save him this time around. The flashbacks were interesting too. They deepened our understanding of Finch and even confirmed that Harold is his real name. I like that this episode delved a bit more into Finch's past not only in the flashbacks, but also with Arthur, as he and Finch got some nice scenes to reflect on the past. The Bad: Unfortunately, Samaritan comes off as a Macguffin until I know more about it. While I'm sure this won't be a long-term problem for the show, it does make the big reveal fail to be as memorable as it could have otherwise been since I'm unclear on how this affects both the story and the characters. The Unknown: Is Samaritan still active? Why? Who rebuilt it? Or was it never destroyed to begin with? What are the drives that Control mentioned? Why does she want Samaritan? Does she no longer trust the Machine now that it has gone rogue? Best Moment: The Control reveal was dramatic. Character of the Episode: Shaw. Conclusion: This was a great hour of drama. It sets up future storylines neatly with exciting, fast-paced drama which made this feel like more than just a set-up episode. Score: 70 Summary: Reese and Shaw have gone rogue to hunt down Simmons who has escaped. Finch gets in contact with Shaw and they work together to bring Reese back, who is still hurting from his injuries. They track down Quinn because Reese is heading there to get Simmons' exit strategy. Finch is forced to release Root to help them out. Reese gets the information from Quinn. Finch stops him from killing Quinn and leaves the information on a piece of paper. Reese is taken to a hospital. Root goes back to imprisonment. Fusco picks up the paper and confronts Simmons. They fight and Fusco wins, arresting him. In the hospital, Elias visits Simmons and lets Scarface kill him.
The Good: What was most striking about this episode was the tone. From the first moment, this episode latched onto a dark, somber tone with the slow-paced, soundless opening scene showcasing Reese and Shaw going hunting for Simmons to avenge Carter. This scene stands out because it's rare to see this show get experimental with its cinematography, and it tried something new here with a resounding success. There was also a terrific usage of Johnny Cash, using "Hurt" to set the tone of the scene. The rest of the episode more than lived up to the expectations. This was a fittingly serious episode, even Root wasn't as bubbly as she usually is. The main story of needing to find Reese before he gets himself killed was very engaging and it led to an enjoyable story centered around the odd, but enjoyable team of Finch, Shaw, Fusco and Root. Reese had a fantastic role as well. Since season 1, the show hasn't focused on Reese's more badass aspects very much, instead choosing to focus more on parodying the action hero and giving him a fun sense of dry humour. Here Reese is darker than he has ever been, going on a crazy revenge quest to kill Simmons and avenge Carter. It was awesome to see Reese mow people down viciously as he slowly bleeds out, determined to avenge his fallen friend (or lover, but I like it better my way). Watching Reese hunt down Quinn was engaging and Jim Caviezel gave his best performance yet with Quinn in a terrific scene. Quinn was pretty good here, being unwilling to betray Simmons for showing loyalty. It was pretty despicable, and it visually ticked off Reese who gave a fantastic monologue saying how he will kill Quinn. It's an out of character moment for Reese to give this monologue, but that's the point. Reese is here for petty revenge, and he fully plans to enjoy killing Quinn. Finch's timely arrival is great and he makes a compelling case to Reese. But what I love most is that Reese still tries to kill Quinn before he passes out in a final desperate act of vengeance. It was a dark change for his character and I really hope that the show sticks with it. It had been slowly growing in the last 10 episodes, and I really hope that Carter's death can spark a long-term character change for Reese. The flashbacks were really good too. The dull colour filter was nice, sticking with the tone of the episode while also providing good moments for the central characters as they speak with some form of a therapist. Finch's grieving started off the episode in the right way and also tied nicely into his grief over Ingram and why he decided to do this job anyways. Shaw's was very interesting (see: The Unknown), while Reese's fit perfectly with his character and even tied in with his dark character turn. It was Fusco who got the bets flashback though, reminding us of how much of a thug he used to be. I thought that "In Extremis" didn't portray the past Fusco effectively, but this was much more appropriate. Fusco coldly hunted down a revenge kill in the past and had no regrets. That sounds more like the man we were introduced to back in the pilot. The flashback perfectly set up Fusco's story in this episode. I was so glad that Fusco was allowed to be the one to finally take down Simmons since their rivalry is much more personal that Reese and Simmons. The fist fight between Fusco and Simmons was tremendous. Sure, it was a bit hokey, but I bought into it because Fusco has certainly been wanting to beat the crap out of Simmons for quite some time now. Plus, the flashback nicely set up Fusco's determination to give out justice to bad people. The best part was certainly Fusco's final speech which was one of the finest moments of the show (see: Best Moment). The ending of the episode was as close to perfect as you can get. Elias killing Simmons coldly in the night was a wonderful use of his character, giving somebody some well deserved vengeance over Simmons without compromising the character of any of the main cast. The Bad: It doesn't make any sense that Shaw and Finch would get to Quinn before everyone else. They had to choose whether or not to get Root involved which likely took some time, and after that they also had to get to Quinn's location, giving Reese and the Russians plenty of time to get there. I really wish that more was done with Elias this season. The final scene made me really wish that we had gotten to see more of his relationship with Carter, which could have made his murder of Simmons and even better moment. The Unknown: So Shaw was a doctor and I'm not sure if I like it. Shaw doesn't strike me as the kind of person that would go through med school and everything. Though it does explain how she can give herself medical treatment so easily. I wonder if this reveal will actually go somewhere. Why is Root still with Finch? Does she have a purpose? Is it the Machine's will or her own? What will it lead to? Best Moment: After beating Simmons down, Kevin Chapman gives his best performance on the show so far. Fusco passionately goes off on Simmons on how Carter saved his life, expertly conveying how much Simmons killing her really hit Fusco. It's a fantastic moment for Fusco who finally gets a big moment to prove how much he has changed over the course of the series. The final line when Fusco decides to arrest Simmons instead of stooping down to his level was terrific. Character of the Episode: Fusco. Conclusion: This was one of the show's finest hours which concluded the first half of season 3 in epic and emotional fashion. This half season has been a huge success for the show. The original POI-style episodes were pretty lame, but the more serialized episodes were pretty fantastic and there were a lot of them in this half season. The show is adapting, and has improved in leaps and bounds as a result. Score: 81 Summary: HR puts out a hit on Reese to get him killed. Reese and Carter traverse the city secretly with Quinn while Finch sends Shaw and Fusco to find them. Reese and Carter end up holed up in a morgue. Fusco gets captured by HR and is tortured to reveal where Carter's evidence is. HR try to kill his son Lee, but Shaw intervenes and saves Lee. Fusco escapes and kills his captor. Reese and Carter kiss. Reese uses himself as a decoy so Carter can leave. Finch helps out too. Reese is arrested by good cops and Carter makes it to the feds and turns Quinn in. Carter goes to free Reese and they leave together but suddenly Simmons arrives and shoots Reese and Carter, killing Carter.
The Good: I'll address the big point first. After last episode and the conflict seemingly being resolved in this episode, I thought the episode would end peacefully. Carter's sudden death came right out of nowhere and totally stunned me, ending the episode in a big emotional way, and making me absolutely loathe Simmons, a character who I already disliked. It was an excellent cliffhanger and an unexpected death that closed out Carter's story in a tragic way. I especially like the way the death scene was executed. Reese's tears mixed with Finch's shellshocked face as the phone rings in the background was chilling, and helped make this death scene so memorable and affecting. It will go down as one of the show's best scenes so far. The rest of the episode had some lovely moments too. I loved the callbacks to the pilot episode with Reese and Carter's final conversation as well as the subway scene. I also thought that the commercial break cutting between Reese getting confronted on the subway and him disposing of the knocked out bodies was an excellent transition. The action was enjoyable for the most part. The episode had lots of momentum with the desperate attempt to get Quinn to the feds and Shaw's attempt to save Fusco. The storylines were told and developed nicely as the episode went on. I really liked Shaw choosing to save Fusco's child and earning some respect from him as a result. It was a nice little background story that developed their story really like. I could watch Finch as the awkward action hero for days on end; his scene tasing the guard was hilarious. There was great tension created by Quinn, and I enjoyed his little acts to help himself, like breaking Reese's phone and leaving a handprint on the ambulance. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Finch and Root scenes were spectacular. Finch was left with a tough decision to make, and that created some great suspense. Root was also nice and persuasive, making me believe that Finch may let her go. It's telling of his character that Finch doesn't give in to her offer, instead choosing to go help Reese himself, and it also led to some good drama. The Bad: Having Reese and Carter fall in love was really bad. The story wasn't built up properly at all and it happened just out of nowhere. This really annoys me because it ruined what I love about their relationship to begin with, plus I just can't buy into them as a couple. Furthermore, the entire development seems pointless since Carter dies at the end. It seems like a weak attempt to make us sympathize more with Reese when Carter dies. Yet this is insulting, because it shows that the writers assume that we won't feel bad for Reese losing Carter unless they are in love. The Fusco storyline doesn't work that well. The torture bits are pretty tense, but the resolution wasn't very satisfying. Introducing this new guy to torture him felt like a weak way to give him some revenge on HR. It really should have been Simmons that was beaten by Fusco since Fusco's story with him has been ongoing for so long. I thought Lee's involvement was poor. The show only gives screen time to Lee and Taylor when they can be used for leverage which I think is a really poor way to utilize characters. We hadn't seen Lee for so long that I actually forgot he existed, so when he appeared, I knew that he would be leveraged against Fusco. It's a bad habit of the show. Had it not been for the Fusco/Shaw developments, this side story would have been a total waste. HR were disappointing as villains, and I thought that Quinn was defeated far too easily. One of the reasons I love "Prisoner's Dilemma" so much is because of how intelligent and threatening Donnelly was. Reese was in a real pickle, and I think the most satisfying thing was how he was actually unable to fully escape because of how capable Donnelly was. In this episode, Reese and Carter are in a similar pickle with the capable HR literally surrounding them and infiltrating the building. Yet they become so incapable so fast despite all of their power. It seems like they all enter the main building and none of them attempt to blockade the federal building that Carter was trying to get to. Somehow Reese and Carter aren't located in the morgue (all they had to do was locate the one room with the light on, come on), and somehow all the cops are distracted on Reese and Finch (even though we only see one cop after Reese). It's not clear how Carter evaded all of them, and it makes them all look especially incompetent. The Unknown: Is HR actually put away now or will they still kick around? We know that Simmons is still around, but does he have anyone else? What happens to Quinn? Is he really taken down? Best Moment: Carter's death was one of the show's best moments. Character of the Episode: Carter. I'll miss her. Conclusion: This episode was tense and had some awesome moments, particularly the ending. But the episode indulged in many of the worst drama tropes, making it more of a mixed bag of an episode than I was expecting. Sure, it was an exciting episode, but I was expecting better. Score: 68 Summary: Flashbacks show Carter's relationship with her ex Paul. Carter sets her plan against HR into motion. She cuts off Reese, Fusco and Shaw and starts placing attacks on HR to turn them against Yogorov and the Russians. HR try to kill the Russians, but Carter gives the police a tip and they arrest all the corrupt detectives. Carter saves Yogorov and puts him in lock up, getting him to sign a warrant to incriminate Quinn. She calls a judge to get him to prepare an arrest warrant on Quinn but the judge calls Quinn instead. When Carter arrives, Quinn is there to kill her. However, Carter reveals that the room is being recorded to get evidence on Quinn. Reese arrives and he and Carter capture Quinn. Simmons finds the identity of Reese on a camera and declares that he is going to die.
The Good: "Person of Interest" is so good at these ridiculously paced episodes that serve as big pay-off for long-running stories. These episodes are crazy fun every time and make perfect use of the show's natural quick pace. The show's naturally fast pace has been one of its flaws, as it never allows me to get invested in the repetitive POI episodes. But in episodes with a story that has meaning, consequence and emotion. The pace is what makes these episodes stand out among other action dramas I have watched. I've been critical of the HR story because of how little depth there is to it, but I'm pleased to say that it came together here really well. Carter's emotional connection to HR made them feel important, and as a proxy also got me to invest in HR since I care about Carter as a character. Watching Carter go full-tilt as she sets HR against the Russians was very entertaining and there were a number of clever tricks she pulled out that were pleasing to watch, including her shooting Quinn's office and the brief, yet satisfying Elias cameo. The show is really good at using its recurring characters at the right times. The story built up tension so well around Carter. As she continued to do things alone, the tension really built up and I was hit with the sense that she may not make it out of this episode alive. Add on the fact that this was a Carter-centric episode where she gets significant scenes with every character she has a relationship with, and it really feels like Carter's swan song. Perhaps she may still die in the next episode seeing that the story wasn't concluded by the episode's end, but then again, this show loves throwing red herrings so perhaps she will live. Carter's emotional story worked tremendously well. The flashbacks showed her ex Paul managing to overcome his obsession with dealing with his problems alone. It contrasts nicely with her refusing to get any help for herself in the present which seemed like it may be the fatal flaw that gets her killed. She had become too obsessed in her personal drama, and her trust issues once more got in the way of what she was trying to do. I thought her scenes with Reese and Fusco were terrific. Reese came off as a fantastic friend as he tries to help her, connecting Carter's struggles nicely with his own, and the same goes for Fusco. Carter manages to be entirely relatable as she refuses Reese and Fusco, adding a bit of melancholy to those scenes since we can't be sure if Carter would actually ever see them again. There were a number of moments which made this episode function well as a piece of drama. The best of which was the ending cliff-hanger. It worked really well, and makes it virtually impossible to not watch the next episode right away. It took quite a bit of restraint for me to write this review before turning on the next episode. The Bad: There are a few flaws that prevent this from getting the massive score I want to give it. For one, unlike "Prisoner's Dilemma" and "Relevance", this episode wasn't a complete story. It feels like a part one based on that ending, meaning we didn't get the satisfaction of a complete conclusion. Also, we are completely robbed of the emotional pay-off of Carter finally accepting Reese and co.'s help. The whole episode feels like it's built on Carter's choice of accepting help, so naturally the biggest moment of the episode should be when she finally accepts help. And in a way it is. The climax comes where it's revealed that Carter has accepted Reese's help, so he saves her and captures Quinn. But I have to bring up that it would have been way more satisfying and powerful to see Carter eventually make the decision to call Reese. The show sacrificed a powerful moment to provide an extra plot twist which I think was unnecessary and didn't add much drama at all. Quinn still isn't a great villain. His capture didn't seem like as big of a moment as it should be. I feel like I should be cheering that Carter finally got him, but I'm not. Had Quinn been developed as more of a character, the climax would have worked a bit better than it actually did. Also, Quinn is stupid for going to get Carter in person. Surely he could have amassed a few HR cops like Simmons to kill her instead. Quinn doesn't seem like a man who would do this work by himself, so this feels like villain stupidity for the sake of the plot. If only Quinn had more of a character, then maybe this would make more sense. The Unknown: What will HR do to get Quinn back? How are they going to try to kill Reese? Will Carter die soon? The story seems set up for it. Reese's comment about the Machine blowing a belt early in the episode made me think a little bit. What is the structure of the Machine? How big is it? What does it look like? How did Finch physically create a device to house such a complex AI? Best Moment: Plenty of good moments to choose from. I'll go with Reese and Carter's conversation across the camera. Both characters' emotions were clear and there was some good dialogue that nicely touched on their relationship. Character of the Episode: Carter. Conclusion: Even though this episode didn't have a complete story, it still provided a fantastic emotional journey for Carter surrounded by some great storytelling and action. Score: 76 Summary: The next POI is a therapist named Hayden who is discovered to be a con man. He has ripped off HR in an attempt to start a new life with his girlfriend. Reese, Shaw and Finch get involved and try to get him to do the right thing. HR has lost millions from the con so Simmons is pressuring Terney and Laskey to fix things. Hayden has stolen a baseball worth 4.4 million dollars and HR wants it back. They threaten to kill Natalie until Hayden makes the trade. Hayden trades but the ball is revealed to be a fake. Natalie conned Hayden and has taken the real baseball for herself. Terney goes to Laskey to fix things and discovers he is working with Carter. Terney kills Laskey and Carter kills Terney. Before he dies, Terney reveals that Quinn is the head of HR.
The Good: I liked the POI story. Hayden's schemes were fun to uncover, and I thought the story was cleverly constructed. I enjoyed the level of detail put into the money laundering that HR had set up. The auction setting was pretty cool, and I thought that Hayden's con was nicely set up. The final twist with Natalie conning Hayden was also pretty good and served up a fitting conclusion for Hayden's story that also managed to surprise me. The HR story had some great moments. Laskey dying after finally doing the right thing was pretty tragic at the end, and it's easy to feel for his fate. Watching Terney die was especially satisfying after he killed Laskey, making the moment stand out as an effective climax. Finch and Root's scenes were really good. The best dialogue of the episode was there and they offered some more fascinating glimpses at the great dynamic between those two. The Bad: The story here was pretty dull overall. After there have been so many plot-driven episodes, I'm finding it tougher than ever to engage in POI stories. Thankfully Hayden's story tied in with HR, because it would have been a dud otherwise. Unfortunately, the HR storyline is probably the show's weakest long-running story. Quinn is such a boring bad guy, and HR has never been interesting or exciting to watch. They are the most generic villains on the show and the only thing driving their story right now is Carter, who takes the back seat in this episode. There were some weak moments here. Hayden escaping so easily was annoying. The POI has escaped countless times by now, yet Reese still hasn't learned to keep better watch on them. Hayden's lines about Natalie were really poorly written. This show doesn't have the best dialogue normally, but Hayden's love for Natalie was so forced and cheesy that it stood out a lot, taking me out of the moment. I didn't like that Terney decided to reveal who the head of HR was. There was no set up to him turning on HR like he did, and I was left confused as to why he chose to help the person who murdered him. Furthermore, the Quinn reveal was meant to be a huge moment but it really didn't work because Quinn is such a nothing of a character. I didn't buy into Carter's shock because I hardly knew about her relationship with Quinn to begin with. The Unknown: Root predicts that something bad will come. What is it? Best Moment: The first Finch and Root scene was great. Character of the Episode: Laskey. Conclusion: This episode was pretty weak. The HR storyline has never been the show's best, and all of its flaws were on display here. There were some strong moments, but they were brought down by other weaknesses. Score: 57 Summary: Root has been told by the Machine to recruit Shaw but she doesn't know what for. Root takes Shaw around doing random tasks that the Machine has told her to do. Shaw is resistant but eventually decides to work with her. Root has Shaw arrest her and impersonate a CIA agent. Shaw takes Root to a CIA lockup. Meanwhile, the next POI is a man named Sloan who is investigating the mysterious death of his brother Jeremy. Reese and Finch realize that Collier is the one who is trying to kill Sloan. They realize that Jeremy is actually still alive and in a CIA lockup. Root meets with him and reveals she is there to save him. Shaw drives a transport with both of them inside. Root escapes and frees Jeremy. Meanwhile, Collier has captured Sloan and is now going to kill Jeremy. He attacks the truck but Reese stops him. Collier escapes. Root helps Jeremy escape and start a new life. Shaw knocks Root out and she is now imprisoned in Finch's library. Laskey is scarred by HR and begins to open up more to Carter who continues to use him.
The Good: This was an extremely fun and chaotic episode which served as an excellent part 2 to the last episode. This episode, like the last, had several storylines starting the episode and they ended up converging in a really satisfying way which amplified the pacing and provided a thrilling climax. The Root and Shaw story was certainly my favourite of the episode. Their dynamic was really fun as Root was playful while Shaw was cold and vengeful. I also really enjoyed Root's random bursts of knowledge which would lead to a satisfying pay off later. Her random acts and cryptic clues early in the episode (impact, the package, cutting the sewer grates) were a ton of fun and the reveal of what was actually happening was really fun. The team up reminded me of the episode "Dead Reckoning" which featured a similar hero/villain team-up with a mysterious motive which isn't revealed until the end. Some bits of the story provided some awesome moments. Shaw and Root against the man in the apartment was a ton of fun and it perfectly encapsulated the personalities of both characters. Shaw immediately fights the man while Root casually eats an apple on the table, only stepping in to win with a strategic taser. The POI story started off pretty flat, but when it became apparent that the story tied in with both Collier and Root, it became a whole lot better. It got me a little more invested and even got me to care a little more about Sloan and Jeremy. The scenes with Collier were a highlight in the episode. He remains a mysterious and scary villain, and the reveal of Vigilance was really cool, making Collier seem like even more of a threat. I'm excited for the inevitable moment when Vigilance learns about the Machine, the ultimate disruptor of privacy. That would put Collier and Reese's group at odds in a big way. The tie-in in the middle of the episode was great. When Jeremy was brought right next to Root, it was an immensely satisfying moment that made a lot of things clear. Root cryptically telling him what to do was enjoyable and I thought that their conversation was extremely well written. What I really appreciated was that this scene actually explained in more detail why Collier targeted Kruger. It was a surprising piece of continuity. Carter and Laskey's scenes were also quite strong. We get a better understanding of how HR is recruiting these new cops and why they are seemingly never-ending. They have been infiltrating NYPD with corrupt Russians who work for Yogorov. The story nicely built to Laskey with this reveal and the show also did well to make me sympathize with Laskey after he is forced to bury a friend. Another "Lost" casting with Nick being the same actor who plays Essam. The Bad: The pacing is so fast early one, it's ridiculous. It's just intense scene after intense scene, with no chance to breath. While it's a fun experience, some of the story doesn't quite stick like it should. Sloan and Jeremy are also a total afterthought for most of the episode and their storyline kind of gets lost in the shuffle. The climax wasn't done very well. The action was messy, the music took me out of the moment and I thought it didn't quite live up to what I was expecting after all of the hype earlier in the episode. The Unknown: When will Vigilance discover the Machine? How? Will they look into Reese now since they have encountered him twice? What is Collier's goal? He mentions another revolution, so is that his long-term plan? Does Jason have a role to play still? Surely the Machine saved him for a reason. What happens now with Root imprisoned in the library? Is she actually isolated from the Machine? Is this the Machine's will? Why would the Machine want Root imprisoned? To get her to work with Finch? Or is Finch working against the Machine like Root was suggesting? Best Moment: I'll go with the fight scene in the apartment. The way both Root and Shaw were handled was superb. Character of the Episode: Root. Conclusion: This was an excellent episode that was just as great as the last one. While it didn't have as much of an emotional edge to it, it was an exciting hour of drama and had me completely invested the entire time. A great example of an episode built on drama. Score: 73 Summary: Flashbacks show that Shaw was just as cold as a child as she is now. In the present Shaw is assigned the next POI, a little girl named Gen who is also a spy. Shaw starts to bond with her but remains emotionally distant. Shaw discerns that Gen left bugs in her apartment to monitor for illegal drugs but has gotten involved into something much bigger. Gen is kidnapped and Shaw is knocked out. Shaw awakens and is determined to get her back. Carter meanwhile is investigating HR. Reese's investigation surrounding Gen connects with Carter and they realize they are tracking the same case. HR has captured Gen. Reese fights Simmons to get her back but discovers Gen has been moved. Laskey diverts Carter but Carter reveals that she knows he is HR. Carter threatens him and gets him to work for her. Shaw finds her and kills everyone hiding her. Shaw lets her go and they briefly bond. Later, Root captures Shaw while she sleeps.
The Good: It was great to get another Shaw episode. I feel like Shaw has been slightly tweaked as a character since season 2, so it was necessary to get an episode to showcase more or less what we should expect from her going forward. This episode worked because it showcased the deeper elements of Shaw's character which we haven't seen much of this season. It also had some great callbacks to "Relevance" with Shaw taking blood from Yogorov and going back to being a brutal killing machine in the climactic scene. The flashback scenes did an excellent job of fleshing Shaw out a little more while also explaining why she is so cold and detached. Tracing the issue back to her childhood makes sense and makes it seem like more of a personality disorder than an actual character trait for her. It's a nice take on her character that feels original. I liked the connection she built with Gen. We have seen all of the other main characters develop connections with the POI, so now it's Shaw's turn. I thought this one worked much better than all of the others because of how Gen feels almost exactly like Shaw as a child. Shaw projects herself onto the little girl and slowly develops a bond with her. Furthermore, it's more satisfying seeing Shaw create a bond with somebody considering her antisocial persona. The ending hug scene is very well done and ended up being a touching moment. Carter's side story is a lot of fun. Seeing her investigate HR so thoroughly is engaging, and with Laskey lurking around her, it felt like the story was going somewhere meaningful in the episode. The tie-in to the POI story was a fantastic moment and combined momentum in both storylines. I love the idea of combining storylines a lot since it can ensure that I'm engaged in both storylines in an episode instead of only one. It's one of the reasons that I find episodes like "God Mode" so enjoyable, since all of the storylines are interconnected and end up being equally fascinating to me. The bar scene near the end of the episode was awesome. It seemed set up for something bad to happen to Carter, but pleasingly Carter turned things around. It makes perfect sense that carter would be careful enough to figure out that Laskey is HR, and the badass way she handles him is incredible to watch. We have seen in previous episodes that Carter is determined to shut down HR. Here we get to see how far she is willing to go as she coldly murders an HR affiliate and threatens to frame Laskey for it unless she serves her. Looking at the fear in Laskey's eyes, it's a cold moment for a protagonist to go through. Carter's dark turn nicely parallels Reese's newfound darkness. Seeing him leave a man with nitroglycerin on his hand was very cold and nicely continues his development. While Reese was in the background for the most part, this moment still managed to continue his development nicely. The ending was stellar. I can't wait to find out what Root wants from Shaw. There were some funny moments throughout the episode. Finch finding sex on one of the tapes was hilarious, but better yet was Finch's "enough" when asked by Shaw how much he knows about chemistry. It was the perfect line delivery from Michael Emerson that made me laugh out loud. The Bad: The nitroglycerin stunt that Reese pulled was pretty dumb. The cook had valuable information, and surely Reese would use less insane method before to see if the man started talking. The scene reminded me of Locke's ridiculous grenade stunt from "Lost", though it wasn't as bad as that. After Finch tries so hard to be pacifist with Shaw, it feels strange for him t excitedly blow up a lab. Furthermore, Finch earlier brought up that he doesn't want to scare Gen with Shaw murdering people. Yet he says nothing while Shaw massacres everyone in the lab. I guess it's meant to be growth for him, but it feels so sudden and isn't written very well. Finch desperately needs a story in this season since he has been nothing more than just the boss in recent episodes. The same goes for Fusco who isn't even present in this episode. The episode felt too tropic for my liking. The fight between Reese and Simmons was such a generic action fight. It's hard to buy Simmons and Reese fighting on par with each other, plus Reese comically putting the gun away for a fist fight felt pretty dumb. Gen is pretty ridiculous too. I've seen the trope of badass kid beyond her years so many times and it has never really impressed me or felt realistic. Lastly, slapping on the tough woman with a soft heart thing was pretty annoying even though it wasn't played up too much. I thought Gen's low volume metaphor was too on the nose for me and the story would have probably been better off without it. The Unknown: What does Root want from Shaw? Has the Machine sent her to get Shaw? Why? What does the Machine want? What does Carter plan to do with Laskey? Will Laskey be her key to HR? Best Moment: I really liked Carter getting Laskey to her side. It also nicely paralleled the way that Fusco was recruited into HR in season 1, making it feel more like sweet justice. Character of the Episode: Shaw. Conclusion: After a lot of episodes that didn't offer me very much to talk about, this felt like a lovely change of pace. The storytelling here was damn good and the story was gripping from start to finish. Shaw is still captivating, and naturally an episode centered around her is the best of the season so far. Score: 72 Summary: The next POI is a woman named Vanessa whose husband recently died. She is suspected for killing him. Reese and Finch are unsure of if she is innocent or guilty. Vanessa escapes confinement and continually does some mysterious actions. Eventually Reese catches her and they quiz her. They discover that her husband, Jeremy is still alive and framed her. Determining her to be innocent, they let her go. However, she goes to kill Jeremy for revenge. Reese goes to stop her, but determines that they are both bad people. Reese lets them both kill each other.
The Good: This episode has fun moments. The opening scene was fairly pointless, but it was decent comedy and was a clever use of Bear. Shaw had some really fun scenes as well. I enjoyed the brief book club bit, and Shaw debating whether or not to murder the slow banker was pretty funny. The main story was built nicely on mystery. I wasn't ever sure about Vanessa's intentions until the episode's ending, allowing the interesting mystery to carry the entire episode's drama. There were many intriguing aspects to it, in particular the brick of cocaine, Jeremy's status and the intrigue on whether or not Vanessa is lying. The ending of the episode was really strong. It was surprising to see Reese do something so dark when he simply allowed Jeremy and Vanessa to kill each other. It was a surprising turn for his character to make, and I think it's safe to say that his time with Shaw has influenced this change. Seeing Reese develop a darker side makes him more interesting, and I hope this leads into a larger storyline for his character. The Bad: The story didn't do much to grip me. After getting used to the more serialized storylines last season, it's tough to adjust to an episode with almost nothing for the overarching story. All we got was confirmation that Laskey is HR, which I was already suspecting so it didn't do much for me. While the story was fine, it didn't get the assistance of a serialized story to become anything more than average. There were parts of the episode which made me groan. The dumb trial scene was a really stupid joke and only served to break my immersion due to how unrealistic it was. They just had to ask Vanessa some questions, there was no need for the objection stuff. This show's dialogue has never been the best, but it was especially noticeable in this episode. Vanessa telling Carter "I didn't kill my husband" didn't feel like a real moment and she only said that to continue the mystery in dramatic fashion. I feel like Shaw's character is being sabotaged for comedy. While her scenes are fun, they solely focus on the angry aspect of Shaw's character. It's fine to focus on specific elements of a character as long as the character's other traits get some time as well. Unfortunately for Shaw, she seems to have been horribly simplified in these early episodes and I really hope that she can reclaim the depth that initially got me invested in her back in "Relevance". The Unknown: Is there a darker side to Reese that has been unlocked by Shaw? Best Moment: Reese deciding that Vanessa and Jeremy aren't worth his time was a shocking moment. How many times have we seen Reese in a similar situation? Many times, with the last one being as soon as two episodes ago. Every time he has tried his best to prevent any casualties, even with bad people like Kruger. It was surprising to see him leave two people to die, even going as far as to give a man a gun so he can kill his wife. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: This was the most procedural episode in a while which makes it a weaker episode than what I'm used to. However, the story was told well which prevents this from being that bad. Score: 58 Summary: The next POI is a man named Ian and the group learns that he is a stalker that dates many women and likely kills them. Carter is sent in on a date with him and they eventually realize that he is being targeted by a man named Wellington. Ian married Wellington's daughter and got her pregnant and Wellington wasn't pleased so he sent Ian away. After his daughter died, Wellington wants to kill Ian. Reese figures out that Ian has a kid and tells him. Ian makes contact and Reese's group provide him with proof of paternity. Meanwhile, Hersh locates Root and goes to kill her. Root is prepared though and shoots him but doesn't kill him. Root escapes the hospital.
The Good: I can see the purpose of these slower early episodes. Shaw is new to the crew so we need to see her go on a few missions with the main cast to build up a new group dynamic and to help us get more attached to her. It has worked so far and I'm buying into her as a useful asset to the group. This episode sees her introduced to Carter and Zoe which is important to touch on. Root continues to be my favourite part of these opening episodes. It's entertaining seeing her explain her plan to a normal guy in Carmichael. The scenes don't necessarily offer too much of emotional substance, but they are carried by Amy Acker's fantastic acting and natural charisma. It's fun watching her express her excitement for the ensuing chaos to Carmichael, and the actual action sequence when Hersh comes after her is pretty great. The Machine assists Root to defeat Hersh in an entertaining way, but more intriguingly the Machine allows Hersh to live (see: The Unknown). The main story has some fine moments. There is some emotion, which shows the episode has its heart in the right place. The Bad: Unfortunately, the POI story is completely average and provides nothing of particular substance. Carter's attachment to Ian is pretty meaningless and leads nowhere. It's a far cry from prior episodes where Finch and Reese grow attached to a POI. Furthermore, the villain is completely underwhelming. Wellington is hardly even a character and he provides absolutely no drama or tension to the episode. The set-up early on doesn't do much to make me interested in Ian's story, and the actor doesn't do a particularly good job either. The biggest problem with the main story is the lack of resolution. We get no closure for Ian and we don't know if he actually gets his son back or not. Furthermore, the Wellington conflict is never actually solved and that makes the end of this story feel like a total disappointment. The Unknown: Why does the Machine want Hersh to live? Does Hersh have a role to play still? Best Moment: Root revealing what is going to happen to Carmichael was ominous and creepy. Character of the Episode: Root. Conclusion: Without the Root story, this is a dud of an episode. Season 3 is off to a rocky start so far. Score: 53 Summary: The next POI is a business owner named Kruger. Reese and Shaw investigate him and they discover that somebody is trying to humiliate him and ruin his life. They find several people who were responsible, all of which who were wronged by him in the past. They were given a package on how they can ruin his life by some mysterious other person. Reese and Shaw discover this person is a custodian, Sommers. Kruger is lured out of safety by the prospect of saving a business deal he was trying to make with a man named Collier. Sommers tries to kill him but Reese stops him. Collier reveals himself as the real perpetrator, shoots Reese and kills Kruger.
The Good: This was solid stuff. The main story was decent enough and had some good twists from the usual format to make it stand out a bit more. Having Kruger be a total asshole was very unique and it made me hate him and not really care about Reese and Shaw saving his life. I was instead hooked into the episode by the prospect of seeing this character get what he deserved and it was pretty satisfying to see his life fall apart. The final twist was great because I didn't see it coming at all. I thought the Sommers reveal was the main twist, so when Collier went full evil and murdered Kruger, I was caught completely off guard. It was a great moment and sets up yet another big villain for the show. Shaw continues to be a whole ton of fun. The fact that she doesn't conform to Reese and Finch's morals adds an extra amount of both levity and tension to the episode. She is good for laughs and also has me on the edge of my seat because it's always more likely for things to go wrong when Shaw is around. I really like that Carter is still grieving Beecher. I've seen so many characters simply cease to think about other dead characters in following episodes, and thankfully this isn't the case here. Beecher is treated as an important part of this HR storyline and that adds to the story. I thought the Laskey story was fine build up and I'm interested to see where it goes. The Bad: Kruger absolutely should have died in that elevator drop. It fell 40+ stories and crashed on the bottom. He should not have been able to take that landing. The Unknown: Is Laskey a member of HR? I think it's pretty likely that he was sent to watch over Carter, though it may be another bait and switch like with Beecher. Best Moment: The Collier reveal was great and it was a genuine surprise. Character of the Episode: Collier. Conclusion: This was another average POI story amped up by a great reveal at the end. Score: 61 Summary: Finch, Reese, Carter, Fusco and Shaw are regularly working together saving POIs. The next POI is a man named Jack who is a sailor and gets involved with some Devils Dogs when his friend, RJ, steals some diamonds from them. Reese and Shaw get tasked to get them both out of trouble. The Devils Dogs already captured RJ and are threatening to blow him up with IED. Fusco has to disarm it while the other two save Jack. Jack is saved after a gunfight ensues with the Devils Dogs and the Russians who were buying the diamonds. Carter has hidden Elias away to keep him safe and is plotting against HR. Meanwhile, Root is stuck in a psych ward but is in frequent contact with the Machine.
The Good: This was a tame but effective season premiere. The most enjoyable aspect about this was the comedy. The entire episode kept to a lighter tone, more focused on fun than intense story movement. The fun was very well done too. Shaw has now joined the crew and she is a very fun character to have around. Whether it is her penchant for violence, or the fact that she eats steak off of a fork, she remains fun throughout the episode, getting some good laughs. Reese does well too. His one-liners are intentionally stupid, and manage to be funny as a result. It's good to see Reese taking this case so lightly as it emphasizes the focus on fun over tension. Carter's story is pretty good too. She seems to have a colder personality than before after HR has damaged her reputation. She is thirsty for revenge and has also allied with Elias to get more assistance taking down HR. Her desire for vengeance has come off really well so far and is the shot in the arm that the HR storyline needed. The strongest parts of the episode were with Root. We learn that Reese and co. sent her to a psychiatric ward after they bested her and that's where she is locked up. Her connection to the Machine is demonstrated well and it's also nicely shown how insane she must appear to a normal person. Carmichael's reactions felt natural and they carried the story along nicely. The final scene where Root totally goes off on Carmichael was wonderful and amps up her story in a great way. I liked the brief cameo from Steven Ogg before he got famous. Nice. The Bad: The POI story is very generic and doesn't offer anything special. Reese's connection to Jack doesn't add anything new (we saw a similar story with Finch back in "All In"), and the drama is nothing more than average. While it is funny, it is beyond stupid that Reese would task Fusco with defusing a bomb without giving him any information. They also probably should have told him when Reese was going to enter the store to inform Fusco that his chance of death just got much higher. The complete failure to care for Fusco's life is pretty ridiculous and takes away much more from the episode than it adds. The end of the episode was pretty odd. We understand why Root believes that things are going to change, but what about Finch? What happened in this episode that made Finch think that something big is coming? It's not clear and it is a needlessly cryptic line. The show has used dialogue like this in previous episodes but it's usually earned. This was not. The Unknown: I noticed a black and yellow box on Root. What does that mean? Why did Elias need the money and the diamonds? Does he have a plan to buy something or someone? Did Root have a special Machine interface there at the end? It's different from anything we have seen of the Machine before. Best Moment: The final scene with Root coldly telling the truth to Carmichael was a lot of fun. Character of the Episode: Root. Conclusion: This was a fun episode, but pretty safe as well. It was easy to watch with nothing that really stood out. Score: 59 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
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