There were three, yes… count ’em, THREE new ‘Person of Interest’ episodes on television this week. It was a mixed bag of ingredients that pushed the stories forward…
There’s a great deal of fun to be had with A More Perfect Union and it’s a good example of an episode that can have several stories of differing tone that ultimately balance out well.
The ‘wedding’ strand may have a ho-hum climax, but it allows Michael Emerson’s Finch to sing (well, kinda) and for Jim Cavisel’s Reese to find himself at a Hen Night rather than the crime scene that he’s been led to believe he was heading into. Even Root (Amy Acker) channels her inner nuptials by finding any way to attend the event and perhaps prove to herself and others that being cynical doesn’t mean you don’t WANT to see a happy ending.
That being said, there will be many viewers who will have justifiably rolled their eyes that the entire second strand of story gives us a Shaw drama that… yet again… turns out a simulation. I’m happy to see Sarah Shahi’s assassin in action once more, but sorry – while I understand the point that Team Samaritan are making about the fact that its version of a powerful Artificial Intelligence could arguably act more pro-actively to stop big atrocities than the Machine (at a cost of liberty) and that child-interface is as scary as ever – the burn-off schedule off the this final run (and the episodes close proximity to each other) make a repeat of the deceit format annoying rather than effective. It’s forgivable but frustrating and might have worked better if this was the episode where they first tried first it rather than earlier in the run.
The third plot-line, with Fusco (Kevin Chapman) investigating that the decrease in crimes is balanced out by a rash of unexplained missing people, perhaps demonstrates one of the weaker parts of the POI mythology. It’s easy to have forgotten that for all his interaction with Reese, Finch and Root, the diligent police-officer actually has no knowledge of the Machine or the origin of the ‘numbers’ that the team acts upon. He’s been deliberately kept out of that loop and though he’s time-and-time again proved his loyalty and ability, the Team has seen fit to exclude him. There’s now no real reason for him NOT to know and the Team’s arguments that he’d be in more danger feel strained and unrealistic. Of course, then someone drops a building on him, so…
8/10
QSO… is a Root-centric episode and again manages to drop moments of grin-inducing levity into the drama. After a string of ‘jobs’ that see Root reluctantly assuming very different identities, though she’d rather be looking for Shaw. The roles include ‘Black Swan’, ‘Wench’ and even ‘Crossing Guard’, but the main event has her as a personal assistant at a radio station. The ‘Mysterious Transmissions‘ show is a magnet for conspiracy theorists that would make Fox Mulder not want to believe any more, but it turns out that the host, Max, may actually be accurate regarding elements of Samaritan’s monitoring/behaviour that could make him a target. Root also realises that she might finally have a way to send a subversive message to wherever Shaw is being held, but will it arrive before a now suicidal Shaw finally gives up?
Amy Acker has come a long way since her days on Angel and it’s always good to see her flex her considerable acting muscles while clearly having fun. The other members of the cast are all here, – Lionel Fusco thankfully survived but wants out of any arrangement with the team – but it’s definitely Acker’s episode with cutaways to other aspects of the POI mythology.
There’s much arc-centric discussion about the evolution of the Machine and whether letting it ‘out’ would be the kick it needs to find a way to beat Samaritan or a fatal step into a world that’s not unlike the one Samaritan itself wants. Emerson’s Finch wrestles with the dilemma. The episode ends on something of a cynical note – Team Machine failing to save the radio host from his own actions in pursuing, but the show always likes to indulge its grey-areas. This is also an outing in which Shaw kills an innocent, now convinced she’s just reliving another simulation and (on realising her culpability in that) was about to stab herself in the eye with a syringe before getting Root’s message. (For the record – and it’s easy to miss it, even if you’re a loyal, regular viewer – the ‘4AF‘ message that makes Shaw relent refers to the last time Shaw and Root saw each other and Shaw noted that ‘You and me together would be like a four-alarm fire in an oil refinery...’ Awww, bless.
8/10
Reassortment... plays off the reveal that Shaw has been held in a facility below a prison (though maybe an experimental one)… in South Africa, so that may mean it will take her a little bit to get back to New York, but it’s good to see Shaw back in action in something that’s not a surgical room or a simulation, even if the fight choreography isn’t quite as smooth as it has been. However Shahi’s ability to emote and her quips are still up to par, basically telling a Samaritan nurse about how she’s not going to try and escape in a certain way and then following through on that plan almost immediately – even if missing out one step that she ‘fixes’ lie a cat. There’s also some satisfaction in the fact that she finally disposes of the snarky, over-confident Samaritan lackey Lambert in a way that echoes Total Recall‘s similar dilemma.
The ‘numbers’ strand is set in an ER that looks to have a highly contagious outbreak – with Reese and Finch caught in the quarantine zone. We’re also reintroduced to Jeff, the ex-con turned by Samaritan and a character who has something of a crisis of conscience. It’s still not clear how his story will ultimately play out, but at least it feels like there IS an arc there we’ll see before season’s end. Once again, it’s the feeling of pieces of a jigsaw or trains on converging tracks that are sometimes better than the singular ‘number’ of the week element.
And yes, it’s always good to see Elias (Enrico Colantoni) on screen and interesting how his and Fusco’s interests are becoming aligned – both being frustrated at being kept out of the bigger ‘AI picture. This is one element that continues to complicate that bigger picture and it will definitely play into the season’s endgame – for better or worse.
8/10
