Summary: Finch notifies Reese that the next POI is an ordinary plan named Powell. They suspect that he is planning to kill a congressman but eventually realize he was set up by a professional hacker. They try to hack the hacker to get more information but the hacker is better than they expect and their system is compromised. Powell is arrested and Reese has to get to him to make sure he isn't killed. Finch brings Zoe in and together they figure out that a congressman named Matheson is working with the hacker. They arrange for him to be framed. The hacker cuts ties with Matheson and arranges for him to be killed. Powell is proven innocent. Finch is contacted by the hacker who relishes in a formidable opponent. She identifies herself as Root and reveals to know Finch's identity.
The Good: The opening scene was pretty fun. I liked Finch calling Reese in the middle of a fight and it allowed for some rather funny moments of interaction. Pleasingly, this continued throughout the episode and it led to a few more fun moments between the characters. I especially enjoyed Reese lecturing Finch about stakeouts. Reese brought out some good dry humour which helps with the big issue of his character being boring. The hacking details of this story were well done. The story was easy to follow and never veered into being too complicated which is impressive. Dumbing down hacking to make it understandable for the general population is pretty tough to do and I've seen many TV shows and movies unsuccessfully attempt it. More impressively, the hacker, Root, was able to come out of the episode looking extremely intelligent and threatening despite the simplicity of the hacking. The ending cliff-hanger was really strong and I'm excited by the possibility of a character being out there who is aware of who Finch is and could possibly even be aware of the Machine (see: The Unknown). Powell's story was fine in this episode. I like that his character was allowed to have some common ground with Reese which was nicely explored in the subway scene. The drama in the episode was very strong as expected. The action scenes in particular stood out as all three fist fights were well choreographed. The bathroom brawl was particularly good as it used the environment nicely to add to the struggle. It was nice to see Zoe again even though she didn't do a whole lot. I'm more pleased at this development because it confirms the possibility of POI characters potentially returning if needed. The Bad: The show really likes to cut to commercials with Reese/Finch making some important discovery about the person they are investigating. I've been noticing this pattern in every episode and it's starting to stand out to me. I thought that Finch and Zoe's conversation was a contrived method for them to suspect Matheson. The entire basis of their discovery was based on speculation which is a very unsatisfying way for the plot to develop. They got a little too cute at the end with Reese magically vanishing. The Unknown: Who is Root? How does she know who Finch is? Is she aware about he Machine? How about Reese? It's so interesting to have a character with this much mystique surrounding her. Best Moment: I'll go with the ending. Finch's identity has been so secret that nobody has ever figured out who he is. Yet somehow this hacker managed to derive his identity through his computer. It's a huge moment that feels even bigger because of how frequently Finch's secretive nature has been played up this season. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: This was a solid episode that introduced another big villain in entertaining fashion. There wasn't anything particularly special here, but it was pretty good. Score: 64
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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