The end is near. As ‘Person of Interest’ heads into its final episode in the coming week, we look at the penultimate outing ‘.exe’ to see how well it was executed…
Harold Finch is ready to make some of the hardest choices of his life – realising that to stop Samaritan he might not only have to sacrifice the Machine but also himself. While not telling him what he should do ‘she’ reveals to Harold what she has calculated as the most likely scenarios and journeys of himself, Reese, Shaw, Root, carter and Fusco if they had never come together to work out and protect the various Numbers.Though some of the stories point to better outcomes, most are sobering, ironic and tragic.
With Samaritan safely encased within the highly-secured walls of a NSA facility, Finch uses all his connections to get past security – but with Reese and Shaw hot on his trail and determined to help him whether he wants them to or not, time is quickly running out. Captured before he can execute a kill file that would annihilate Samaritan and the Machine, it looks as Harold’s gambit has failed. And Fusco, far too long on the sidelines, begins to realise just how far this new threat spreads and how much he may be at risk from even familiar faces from the past…
Many shows over the years have had ‘It’s a Wonderful Life‘ styled finales and POI‘s penultimate outing toys with the idea. It’s always interesting to play the ‘What if…‘ game with characters’ lives. This is no exception, though the various situations and fates of the characters we see don’t always seem the most likely. Some changed sides, some were never redemmed and some died regardless(and what a pity not to even catch a stock-footage glimpse or Taraji P. Henson as Carter, even though she’s referenced – presumably AWOL because of Empire commitments).
The ‘numbers’ factor is almost non-existent here because we’re so close to the end that anything other than elements that play into the final AI-confrontation would likely feel like a waste of space – we’re now in pure mythology territory, paying off the loyal viewers for five years of drama. The truncated season effect does come in to play here and one gets the feeling that, with the end now in sight, several key plot-points were squeezed into this episode which would have worked out better if played out more organically. The infiltration of the NSA building is seemingly justifiably difficult to begin with, but this is somewhat undermined by Shaw and Reese later breaking in to the building conveniently next door and simply crawling through an air-duct/tunnel which seems a little too easy and unlikely to succeed… The demise of John Nolan’s Greer – a suicide of sorts by literally sucking the oxygen out of the room – feels somewhat anti-climatic given his almost ‘chief-acolyte-nemesis’ position throughout previous seasons.
However, Harold’s ‘suicide mission’ and big decision at the end feels suitably poignant – though we’re well aware there’s still an episode left for everything to play out. Which leaves the question of – what next? Clearly the threat of Samaritan isn’t over despite the events of .exe. The teaser trailer for the series finale itself look less than happy for some of our main characters – with guns blazing and injuries glimpsed. It will have to aim high to beat The Devil’s Share for sheer emotional punch but it does feel as if the Powers That Be will go with their track-record of taking risks with expectations.
The final episode, Return 0, hits American screens this Tuesday. Either way, it will be the end of an era.
8/10