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
2 Comments
Ben
4/24/2019 04:33:40 pm
I recently rewatched this episode because while I remembered it was a good episode, I had forgotten a lot of the plot points. I was most surprised by how funny it was. Root has a lot of great quips and I enjoy the banter between Fusco and Root a lot; she always has enough information to freak him out. Best line was probably Fusco asking how he could have explained to his boss that Root wasn't really FBI but a superpowered nutball ("Just ask my buddy, the urban legend"). I agree that Finch and Root's scene is really great and I enjoyed their talk about the nature of helping people.
Reply
Aaronic
4/25/2019 04:52:25 pm
The humour was a highlight of this episode. It's amazing to see how much the dialogue has evolved from the generic writing that was in the early season 1 episodes. Now the characters are fully formed and their interactions feel more organic than ever.
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|