Summary: The next POI is a girl named Silva. Reese thinks she is planning to kill someone but Finch discovers she is an undercover cop who has discovered a mole from the Brotherhood trying to work in the police. The Brotherhood try to kill her but Reese saves her. Reese and Finch realize that Mini is Dominic. Martine investigates on Shaw and tracks down Katya and Romeo. Her investigation leads to her finding Shaw and they face off. Finch gets the next POI and it's Elias.
The Good: This was a fine story and I had a good time watching it. Moments like Shaw and Fusco on the stakeout and Reese having to deal with Dr. Campbell are both examples of some fun bits of this episode. I also liked the scenes with Dominic who is showing more and more personality with each passing episode. The strongest storyline came from Martine. It was fascinating to watch her search for Shaw and I thought that the two scenes with Katya and Romeo were very fun. Both showed different aspects of her character. The scene with Katya showed the calm, assertive and manipulative aspects of her character, whereas the scene with Romeo shows her smart, violent and cunning she is. These two scenes were perfect at building up a new villain character and I find myself really excited to see what goes down between her and Shaw in the next episode. The ending of this episode was pretty awesome. This isn't a show which uses cliffhangers very much, but when it does, they are quite good. I can't wait to tune in for the next episode to find out what happens with Martine and Shaw, or what is going to happen to Elias now that his number has popped up. The Bad: The story is rather generic though and it doesn't hit any memorable emotional beats. It's very by-the-numbers with some of the usual strange moments. For example, Reese blowing up a grenade int he swimming pool for a convenient escape (which we aren't even shown) was pretty stupid. I also didn't care much for Finch conveniently figuring out the connection between Mini and Dominic. I didn't like that Reese brought up Carter and who he was before to Silva. We saw him go through something similar in the last couple of episodes, so it's redundant to see it again. Plus it makes Reese spilling his guts feel less special if he does it all the time. The Unknown: What will Martine do with Shaw? Can Shaw get away? Will she be able to get any help? Who is threatening Elias? Presumably the Brotherhood. What could they be planning for him? Best Moment: The scene with Martine and Katya was great. Martine was the perfect mixture of kind and cold which made he seem like a genuinely scary and intimidating person. Cara Buono played her to perfection. Character of the Episode: Martine. Conclusion: This episode was your usual effort, bolstered up a bit by the great Martine storyline. I presume that next episode is going to be a big one. Score: 58
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Summary: Shaw quits her job as a thief. The next POI is a thief named Tomas. Shaw infiltrates the group and helps them out with a heist. They steal a virus and Tomas' crew turns on him, stealing the virus. Reese finds them later on, dead. Shaw and Tomas work to recover the virus. Finch and Root infiltrate a building and burn files that Samaritan was going to use to give personalized tablets to all children in schools. Shaw is able to escape with the virus but she is recognized by Grice, a government operative sent to destroy the virus. Grice lets her go but Samaritan notices and works to uncover Shaw's identity.
The Good: The start of the episode is decent fun with Shaw infiltrating the gang and both Root and Finch doing work investigating Wilkins. There were decent moments throughout and some fun lines of dialogue. I especially liked Root dropping in on Shaw while she was talking with Tomas and offering her comments. The episode really took off with the dual missions going on in the second half. The main story with Shaw and Tomas was fairly enjoyable. The villain of the episode was terrible (so bad I forgot his name), but thankfully he had limited screentime and was overshadowed by a number of other factors. The arrival of Grice and Brooks added some immediate stakes to the story and made the episode more about Shaw trying to stay hidden from Samaritan, instead of focusing the conflict on the villain. The villain was just an extra obstacle to overcome, which was a good call and added to the drama. The other mission with Root and Finch was just as great with the main threat once again being Samaritan. A pattern of this season is that it's always at its strongest when Samaritan is the primary threat, for obvious reasons. Furthermore, I thought the cinematography was outstanding for this heist and there were a number of excellent details added in. I particularly liked how we were frequently taken to the Samaritan overlay so we can actually see Samaritan's "thought process" as it watched Root infiltrating the building. There were a few good character moments too. I liked the crew having to briefly debate going through with Shaw's operation due to the big risk it poses them. I liked that this dilemma occurred very quickly. We have seen conflicts like this very frequently in the show, and to have the characters make their decisions quickly shows that they have learned and mature from their prior experiences. Furthermore, I think it's great that their decision to push through with the mission led to some consequences with Shaw potentially having her cover blown. I also liked the scene at the end with Root and Shaw. The show is definitely leading to them hooking up, and like I said in a previous episode, I'm fine with this. The Bad: The dialogue and comedy in the episode is a bit hit or miss. The Shaw and Tomas relationship is pretty dull and their chemistry sucks. It wasn't very interesting to watch. I was surprised that Shaw's stint with Romeo was over so suddenly and quickly. It makes me question why that story was introduced to begin with. Furthermore, I thought it was odd that Shaw quit so suddenly. She enjoyed thieving because it was so much better than her other job. Why quit thieving so suddenly if her new cover job will inevitably be something much more dull? The Unknown: Will Shaw's cover be blown after this? Or will Samaritan still be unable to identify her? What will happen to Grice now? Is Samaritan aware that he didn't do his job? Will he be punished for it? Best Moment: There wasn't any scene that stood out, so I'll give it to the final moment with Shaw being examined. It suggests that there will be a huge change in the stakes going into the midseason finale. Character of the Episode: Shaw. Conclusion: This was a solid episode which was fun to watch, and also set up the main story in a nice way. Score: 64 Summary: The next POI is a man named Walter. Shaw and Reese investigate and discover him snooping around a case involving a man who committed suicide named Abel. Walter is pretending to be a detective and gets involved in a dangerous situation. Reese learns that Abel was killed and was involved in smuggling in dangerous weapons. Walter has Abel's phone and the men want it because it will reveal the location of some missing weapons. Elias is also linked to the case so Reese inquires more information. Together, they take out the dangerous man who is known as the Armorer. Walter is safe. Elias realizes that the Brotherhood was behind everything so he meets with Dominic. Finch uploads a malware on the computer of Beth Bridges, who Samaritan is interested in.
The Good: This was an interesting episode. This show has been really good at slightly changing up its formula with new methods of storytelling from time to time. Last season, the show frequently introduced multiple storylines which were completely separate before uniting them by the end of the episode. This season has found a new pattern of starting off episodes with an unimportant feeling which will follow with an increase in stakes and importance as the episode goes on. This episode follows that new pattern, and as a result, I liked it. The episode had a good sense of levity to it as well. There were a number of great lines of dialogue which made me smile, and some of the jokes were great enough to make me laugh. Walter in particular became a fun, quirky character by the end of the episode and I enjoyed seeing his antics throughout the episode. In particular, I thought the superhero joke was really well done, and I laughed at how the show made Shaw and Fusco's entrance so overly epic. The ensuing interactions between Reese/Fusco/Shaw and Walter were very fun, and I really liked things like Walter pointing out Reese's discount Batman voice and wondering why he and Shaw aren't dating. The plot became really excellent by the end of the episode. I predicted that the Brotherhood would be involved with this plot, but I don't think it took away from the episode. Rather it kept my interest because I wanted to see if I was correct, and that made Dominic's arrival near the end of the episode much more satisfying. I've been critical of the Brotherhood so far, but if any show can make a great story out of something that feels lackluster, it's "Person of Interest". Just look at the outstanding conclusion to the HR story. I'm hoping that the Brotherhood storyline will go somewhere worthwhile, and with this new feud brewing with Elias, I have faith in the writers. Speaking of Elias, his role in this episode is wonderful. I'm like a broken record by this point, but I'll say it again: Elias' involvement in the episode made me much more interested in the story. The character of Elias is so good because what he will do next is so unpredictable. He is more or less one of the heroes, yet he still has this mysterious darkness surrounding him which makes me believe that he could turn on Reese and Finch in the blink of an eye. His scenes are so interesting as a result. The highlight for me was his scene with Dominic which had some really terrific dialogue. I liked that Reese actually got shot in this episode. Little things like this can add a lot of drama to the story since it makes Reese feel less invincible. There were some obvious parallels to "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" with the character of Walter who was a super cool detective in his head. I thought that was a neat little nod. The Bad: The first 15 minutes or so were ridiculously bland. I suppose that's bound to happen with the new format that season 4 is testing, but I just wasn't entertained in the opening parts of the episode. The pacing was slow, the stakes were non-existent and I was struggling to care. Furthermore, I felt that the episode just didn't click in its first half. The dialogue felt very obtrusive and poor in the first half of the episode, and a lot of the writing felt convenient and dull. Even the acting felt off at times. It's quite odd that the first half of this episode was so poor, especially considering how strong the back half of this episode was. The Finch and Bridges story wasn't very interesting to me until the end (see: The Unknown). Their early scenes together dragged like crazy and were totally... boring. I understand the writers were trying to build up the story, but surely there was a more interesting way to do this. The only people who could possibly be entertained by Finch's discussions with Bridges are fellow professors and scientists. I couldn't care less about what they were talking about, so I was just drop-dead bored during their scenes, and I'm sure that many others will feel this way. Their scenes should have been written much better. It's a bit odd to see Reese getting back into shootouts one episode after he had to visit a therapist over this problem. Did the police just choose to let him do his thing anyways? What happened to the threat of him losing his job? The Unknown: What was that malware that Finch uploaded to Bridges' laptop? Is he preparing for an attack on Samaritan? Or something else? Why is Samaritan interested in Bridges anyways? What is Elias planning to do? How will it conflict with the Brotherhood's goals? I'm very interested to see where this goes. Best Moment: Elias and Dominic vaguely threatening each other in a great meeting. Character of the Episode: Elias. Conclusion: This episode was a story of two halves. The first half was weak, boring, and badly written. But the second half was intense, epic and funny. In the end this is a middling episode, but still fairly good. Score: 62 Summary: Reese continues to get in shoot-outs and is put in therapy to keep him in check, with his job in danger. Finch encourages him to do the time and keep his job. The next number is Simon, a man who predicts election results. He is wrong for the first time and is convicned the election was rigged. It was, by Samaritan. Simon gets himself in danger by investigating and he is stalked by Martine, a Samaritan operative. Root, Shaw and Finch try to save Simon without letting Samaritan track them or him. Martine finds Simon and Root engages in a shootout with her. Simon is saved and gives up his investigation, ensuring his safety. Root dons a new identity afterwards but Samaritan is actively hunting for the Machine now.
The Good: Reese's story here was really strong. It was refreshing to see him deal with a personal conflict, forcing him to hold back on his naturally heroic behaviour to ensure he remains safe and keeps his job. It was enjoyable to watch Reese deal with this conflict and his therapy sessions were quite good. The show has excelled at having characters go through a catharsis by indirectly speaking about an emotional moment in their life. This episode, we see Reese go through this catharsis as he talks about Carter's death to the therapist in an excellent scene. The main POI story was very good too. Samaritan's involvement once more increased my investment significantly and the main story from then on was an absolute blast. The cat and mouse game between Simon and Samaritan was awesome to watch and there were creative ways that the show used suspense to keep my interest. The idea of hiding from surveillance is a ton of fun and I loved seeing Root/Finch/Shaw attempt to hide Simon from the cameras without giving themselves away. It was very creative and there was evidently lots of thought put into these sequences, due to how detailed and logical they are. The final shootout between Martine and Root was excellent, a very clever piece of action which carried the atmosphere of two gods doing battle. It was a hell of a spectacle, and was the first of (hopefully) many Machine vs Samaritan battles. What I liked most about the structure of this episode was how different it felt. Going into season 4, I had expected a big change in the storytelling, as I mentioned a few episodes ago. This episode finally showed the change I was expecting. Samaritan's presence is constantly felt and it is a huge threat the entire episode. In response, the crew can't use all of their normal techniques and have to change things up, which is really fun to watch. What was really great about this was how the characters remained in focus throughout these epic action sequences. Root and Finch both had a wonderful episode as their relationship got some extra focus to it with some brilliant conversations regarding the Machine. Finch's fear of his creation is a wonderful development and really adds to the swinging emotions he has had in the past 10ish episodes. It's not that he is no longer interested in saving lives; he is just afraid of the consequences of listening to the Machine now that it's free. This also nicely tied into the excellent flashbacks (great to see Ingram again by the way), which showed us the struggle of making an AI that can be both useful and trusted. The flashbacks also seem to ominously suggest the route that Samaritan may take with Greer in the near future. Root is similarly excellent as we get the terrific reveal that she actually hasn't gotten any input from the Machine. She is just as alone as the others and just pretends that all is fine. I thought Root's character got a great examination as she gets to release the emotions she hides underneath her charismatic personality. Her potential farewell to Finch near the ending of the episode was poignant and it neatly highlighted the relationship she has built with both Finch and Shaw. Greer's deal with Dawson is quite interesting. Now Decima has a face to do their bidding, giving them even more control over USA. The Bad: Some aspects of the story didn't work very well. The great reveal that Root isn't in contact in the Machine was diminished since she got contacted a few minutes later. The impact of the Machine returning to her was lessened because we had very little time to comprehend that Root is just as alone as the others now. The philosophical conversation about AI between Finch and Root was excellent. But surely this should have been discussed in an earlier scene between them, even during season 2. It feels like something like this should have been addressed much earlier, especially when the Machine was actually being set free. Simon's story had odd moments. It felt weird that nobody would address his claims that the election was rigged. Additionally, it made no sense that Simon would simply let go of his investigation after Finch talked to him. I feel like anyone would only be more convinced that a higher power is going after him if all of this crazy stuff is happening to him. I can't buy into him simply forgetting about it. Nor can I buy into Samaritan deeming Simon as a non-threat. Surely a machine as logical as Samaritan wouldn't want to leave any loose ends like Simon. The Unknown: Why did Samaritan feel the need to kill Perez before appointing Dawson? Is there a specific reason he was picked other than he is easy for Decima to manipulate? Did Root just admit that she loves Shaw? I had suspected it for a little while and I think the show just confirmed it. If so, I like this development. What are Greer's goals exactly? Or rather, what are Samaritan's goals? What are they both planning to do next, now that they have a government representative? Will the Machine respond to Finch and set up a talk between them? Best Moment: Both of the big Finch/Root scenes were awesome. The second one where Finch admits that Root is a friend was the one that stood out most for me. Character of the Episode: Root, though Finch is a close second. Conclusion: This was an excellent episode which got me into the season with strong storytelling and exciting drama. Episodes like this are more like what I was expecting with season 4. I would love to get more of this. Score: 72 Summary: The next POIs are two kids, Malcolm and Tracie who Finch connects to the Brotherhood. Their mother was arrested for a gun charge and they stole some money from the Brotherhood to help free her. As Reese protects the kids with the help of DEA agent Lennox, Shaw captures Mini, a member of the Brotherhood and tries to use him to find their boss Dominic. Lennox is found to be a Brotherhood mole so Reese has to escape. Malcolm tries to sacrifice himself but Reese saves him by giving himself to them. Shaw frees Mini in exchange for Reese. Mini is revealed to be Dominic and he kills a captured Lennox.
The Good: The involvement of the Brotherhood helped make this episode feel more important than the average episode. After being mentioned in the season premiere, this episode is the one that cemented them as a major force, and I suspect that they will be the main villain of this season, akin to Vigilance from last season. The Brotherhood had its moments for sure. Link is pretty enjoyable to watch, and I thought the introduction to Dominic was well done. The final scene where he coldly executed Lennox was solid, and I thought that the twist reveal worked pretty well. The Lennox twist was set up well too. It nicely capitalized on the fact that Reese had been making friends as a detective (like his captain in the last episode) to make me not suspect her to be a bad guy. The twist did surprise me and nicely changed the dynamic of the episode. Elias has been fun this season, and I loved his conversations with Finch on how the world has changed. I would be excited if Elias is brought into the fold as a major character once again, and I like the idea of him becoming aware that something has happened to the world. The Bad: Unfortunately this episode was disappointingly weak. Vigilance was introduced in perfect manner and they were immediately both threatening and interesting. The Brotherhood has not accomplished this after this episode. I don't know anything about their goals or motives, so I'm finding it tough to be invested in them as villains. They are intimidating, but not much else and I don't know the characters very well yet. Dominic didn't deliver as a villain for me. He was completely owned by Shaw throughout the episode and was helpless against her throughout. It made him look weak and because of that, I don't view him as much of a threat. His vague lines of dialogue with Shaw weren't interesting at all to me and felt ridiculously boring. Dominic doesn't appear to have any of the depth that Collier had, and I hope that this can be rectified in future episodes. I found the behaviour of the Brotherhood to be confusing as well. I wasn't sure why they would actually consider recruiting Malcolm and Tracie, especially when they mocked the idea earlier in the episode. It left me feeling quite confused. What was also confusing was how the Brotherhood killed Lennox at the end. Why did they do that? What did she do? Perhaps I missed a crucial line of dialogue, but I was left pretty confused and underwhelmed by the pay-off of the Lennox twist.. The main story wasn't very engaging and I found it tough to care. The kid actors who played Malcolm and Tracie were not good at all and I found it difficult to invest in their story because of how fake the acting felt. The dialogue that was written for them was actually even worse and it took me out of the episode. The Unknown: What are the Brotherhood's motives? How will they stay involved in the series? Do the members of the Brotherhood know who Dominic is or do they think that Mini is just another member of the group? Will Malcolm return as a member of the Brotherhood? What will Finch tell Elias? Could he become a more significant member of the crew? Best Moment: Finch and Elias at the end was quite good. Character of the Episode: Elias. Conclusion: This episode made effort to be more than just an average episode. But unfortunately the story was boring and the recurring villains uninteresting. This should have been better than it was. Score: 52 Summary: Reese gets in trouble with his captain for shooting people in public so he works on earning her trust. Fusco is put on the next case and investigates a wingman, Cooper who is involved with something. Shaw assists him. Cooper was friends with a man named Mickey who did something illegal and doesn't trust Cooper to stay silent about it. Mickey attacks Cooper and kidnaps him and Fusco. Shaw bails them out and Mickey is beaten. Meanwhile Finch goes with Root on another mission. The Machine allows Finch to gain enough money to support his operation.
The Good: I liked some of the conflicts in this episode. Reese not mixing in right with the police made sense and I was pleased that the show slowed down to focus on this story. Seeing Reese charm his superior was fun and it offered the odd good moment. It worked as a C-story for the episode. Fusco taking center stage was a pleasure as always and I enjoyed his relationship with Cooper. The story was fine (if unspectacular) and it was easy enough to follow and enjoy. Root and Finch had some great scenes. Root is still a lot of fun as expected, and seeing her take Finch a little out of his comfort zone was a blast. I loved Finch's terrorist impression as a joke, and I thought the writers did well to also include Finch's morality and his grudge against the Machine throughout the story. It was an effective way to win Finch's trust back. I also like the idea behind having episodic stories of the Machine arming Finch and co. with the required resources the battle Samaritan. It's a good way to help bring them back up to their former strength. I also like that the show touched on the fact that Finch doesn't have unlimited money like he did before. The Bad: The POI case was ordinary, and as usual it was pretty underwhelming as a result. The story didn't have much to go for it so it wasn't as engaging. The opening scene was very poor. Would Reese really be dumb enough to bust out his weapon in public like that? It felt unrealistic and it was out of character for Reese to care so little about the public. What's worse is how everyone just clapped when Reese revealed he was a cop. Would everyone really do that? The moment was so weird and didn't flow well at all. I also didn't like the sudden way that Fusco revealed he was a cop. Would he really need to go full cop against some upset guy? Just try to calm him down first! It's especially bad because Fusco was purposefully trying to hide his identity and this stupid move nearly ruined his mission. It's an example of weak writing where the writers require Fusco to reveal he is a cop so they manufacture a stupid situation where he shows his badge. The Unknown: What other resources will the Machine give to the group? How about the missile? Does the Machine have something in mind with the missile? Could it be used to destroy part of Samaritan? Best Moment: Probably Finch choosing to not hand over the missile to the mob. It was the best character moment of the episode. Character of the Episode: Fusco. Conclusion: This was your average "Person of Interest" episode. It didn't add much to the overall story but it was a decent watch. I expect to get great episodes later in the season so a few lesser episodes are no problem. Score: 59 Summary: Reese sets Finch up on a new POI case following a girl named Claire. Claire is playing a sort of mysterious game investigating some Nautilus signs. Others are playing the game too. Finch is noticed by Claire who thinks he is playing too. Finch discovers that the military is after Claire for stealing some documents. He also discovers that the game is run by Samaritan as a recruitment process. Finch confronts Claire and tries to get her to stop but Claire is determined to continue. Claire finishes the game but is confronted by the military. Samaritan kills them and allies itself with Claire. Finch completes a new base in the New York underground.
The Good: This episode was better than the last. I thought there was a better focus on staying hidden from Samaritan in this episode as opposed to the last. Scenes like Reese indirectly setting Finch up on a mission were perfect in fitting with this theme and I thought it was a suitably intelligent move from these two. The concept of the episode was really engaging. I thought the nautilus game was a very interesting concept (it reminded me of "Black Mirror" in a way), which provided the episode with stakes, mystery and an engaging plot. I was consistently intrigued watching Finch and Reese attempt to discover the nature of the game that Claire was involved in. But I got fully engaged when the staked were increased later in the episode. The Samaritan reveal was so good because it makes the episode feel that much more important, and even adds the extra layer of enjoyment when you realize that we may be seeing the birth of a new villain in Claire. Claire was a more interesting POI character than what we usually get. She had a sad backstory, good motive and genuine dedication which was admirable to see. Having her stand her ground against Finch who tried his best to help her stay away from Samaritan was a load of fun, and their dialogue was well written for the most part. Furthermore, I'm interested to see if Finch's will to help save this young girl is actually what causes him to be discovered by Samaritan if Claire is able to somehow inform Samaritan that she met Harold Finch. Finch's arc in this episode was also quite good. We are shown early on that he is still skeptical about doing POI missions again. The events of "Death Benefit" and "Deus Ex Machina" still haunt him. This episode nicely shows Finch slowly regaining his personality as he just can't help himself from saving innocent people, especially those who he can understand and relate with, like Claire. I thought the final scene was really strong as the formation of a new base nicely ties with the return of Finch's desire to save innocents. The side scenes in the episode are fun too. Shaw's new job was hardly shown, but what we got was good. Root's involvement was tons of fun as per usual. The Bad: Nothing that I would call bad. This was a solid episode from beginning to end. The thing that prevents this from being special is the fact that it took so long for me to get fully invested in the episode. I understand that the structure of the episode is intentionally made to be that way and I don't have a problem with it. It's just that I believe that episodes which get me emotionally engaged in the first few minutes ("Prisoner's Dilemma", "Relevance", "Endgame" and many others) are much better. The Unknown: Who shot the military men at the end? Was it Samaritan's men? Or does Samaritan somehow have the ability to control weapons? Also, did that switch do anything in particular? What will come of Claire joining up with Samaritan? Will she be able to reveal that she encountered Finch? What does it mean when Samaritan labeled her as an "asset"? Best Moment: I really liked Finch trying his hardest to save Claire on the rooftop. It was a powerful scene that shed a lot of light on Claire's character while also showing Finch's desire to save people surface once more. Character of the Episode: Finch. Conclusion: This was a really strong episode that got the show back on track after one weaker episode. The central story of this episode was really good and it nicely nudges the plot along by setting up some importnt plot lines. Score: 68 Summary: A mysterious Samaritan operative kills a man who began to suspect Samaritan's existence. Reese, Finch and Shaw get on with their new lives. Reese is a detective, Finch is a teacher and Shaw sells perfume. Root and the Machine keep in contact through subtle means and they give numbers to Reese and Shaw. Reese is kept in check by Shaw as they try to save Ali, a store owner being threatened by a gang. Finch initially doesn't want to risk doing the numbers, but after a conversation with Root, he helps out. Ali is saved by Reese with Finch's help. Using Ali's work, Finch is able to create a communication network hidden from Samaritan. The Machine guides Finch to a new base that's off the grid.
The Good: The episode started on a really cool note. The Samaritan officer killing the man who had started to become aware was really chilling. I thought it was an effective way to show how Samaritan protects itself, and how its awareness is a big benefit to the government. The woman who was sent by Samaritan seems like a big threat, and introducing her early in the season is a good decision, giving the season some momentum right off the bat. It gets more interesting when she arrives later in the episode, suspecting the presence of somebody who is aware of Samaritan. This premiere had a good focus to it. The premise of introducing us to the new lives that each of the characters' are leading is pretty good, and it's interesting to watch. Finch being a teacher makes perfect sense, especially after "2PiR", Reese being a detective is smart and also allows him to keep in touch with Fusco, while Shaw being a perfume saleswoman is hilarious. I can't help but feel that Root gave her that job specifically to mess with her. The focus on these new lives also led to Finch having a very strong story in this episode. Finch is still refusing to work with the Machine, continuing his story from last season. He is stubborn and it leads to some really good scenes where the others try to convince him to help. Both of the conversations with Reese and Root were very strong. Reese and Finch's scene once more highlighted their excellent relationship with callbacks to what they have done for each other. Root's scene was more powerful because it showed us something new with Root playing up her relationship with Finch, but also hitting Finch in personal areas to ensure that he will return. There were a few other moments I enjoyed. Elias' return was great and his interactions with Reese were as fun as ever. The overly dramatic "we are the store" emotional moment near the end of the episode was unintentionally hilarious to me (or maybe it was intentional) and I enjoyed it more than I should have. Jamie Hector was the bad guy! Great casting choice, though I do wish he had a larger role. The Bad: As usual, the POI story was dull and didn't do much for me. It was hard to care about anything that went on involving Ali. Overall, I found myself to be pretty disappointed by how familiar this episode was. After "Deus Ex Machina", the show really needed to make some major changes to put over how dangerous Machine work has become for the main crew. Instead, everything was the same. The force pairing still worked undetected. They could still communicate without issue. They didn't have to be careful enough to avoid crime. It was more or less the same, with some lines of dialogue telling them to be careful. I feel like this was a missed opportunity to make a big change and freshen up the show a bit. I thought the show was very inconsistent with the rules it laid out too. Finch had said that they couldn't even communicate on phones without blowing their cover. Hence the importance of the hidden network that Finch discovers at the end of the episode. I can buy the hidden network reveal because it's likely that The Machine provided Ali's number so they could get this network. But the big issue is the fact that we see characters communicating via cell phone throughout the episode anyways! The show didn't even try to stick to the rules it established which was really disappointing. Would it hurt to have the characters go to safe zones to discuss Samaritan? Surely Samaritan would detect people using its name, so wouldn't the word Samaritan be taboo? But instead many of the conversations are unfiltered and loud, made worse by the fact that they are happening in public places. Would it be too much to ask for a little bit of change? It really diminishes the Samaritan threat if its presence is ignored and the characters seem unconcerned with protecting themselves from it. The Unknown: Who is the mysterious woman? Does she work for the government or is she somehow independent? Does she suspect Reese? Will she investigate further? Will Finch turn that area he found at the end of the episode into a new base? What is Root's job? She is the only one we didn't learn mush about. What is Romeo recruiting Shaw for? He seems like a criminal, so is Shaw about to become a robber? That could be a fun development. Best Moment: Root trying to entice Finch to join the crew again was great. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: This episode felt too familiar. I'm okay with the season starting off slowly, but I was disappointed by the lack of change after that epic season 3 finale. Score: 50 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 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 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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