We had dvr'd the last 2 episodes and watched them back to back. Terrific! I love Bear, and the way Carter's activity was shown. You know, I don't like Root, but I like Root, and I don't think it's just because of Amy Acker. Root may be wrong I many ways, and kinda unstable, but she's not totally wrong. And I liked how, when Harold shut off the "non-relevant" aspect, the next person p was Nathan. Dang!
^Yeah, that was a nice bit of drama there. I'm really interested in seeing how Nathan got killed and how Finch was so badly injured. I imagine they will hold off on that for a little bit.
Part of the reason I enjoy this show so much is that every single regular or recurring character except the HR crew is a shade of gray, some admittedly much darker shades than others. Broadcast TV tends to be a lot more black and white, unfortunately.
If you follow anyone From HR home, you'll see that they have a spouse and 3 kids... Or a mistress with a meth problem. In either case the Detective 2 Grade basic is not going to cut it.
Excellent season finale. I like that the machine isn't in one specific location. I also wish that Root Spoiler: spoiler had been killed. Shaw said she was going to shoot her, but "not in the knee." I took that to mean kill her--but Shaw just got her in the arm. I think it's been made pretty clear just how dangerous she is---they really should have killed her off.
God-Mode would be so handy in everyday life! I'd definately have a nicer car than I do. I was expecting another huge cliff-hanger, but what we got was much better. The 2 seasons of this show wrapped up the story nicely, coming full circle. We got answers to practically all the outstanding questions. If there was no season three, I'd be happy with how it all came together. Very glad, though, that it is continuing. Looks like all three parties that got the call have a role to play in The Machine's new agenda. Can't wait for September to see where this is going.
A lot of the stuff with Reese and Shaw was over the top and silly but the case of the week that was resolved in 2 seconds was pretty funny. I thought it was and they just moved the whole thing to another location one part at a time.
Random observations: --Shaw's reaction to the Ferrari in storage and giving John the gun was downright hilarious. As for that Ferrari being a Batmobile of sorts, it stands out a little too much amidst the normal cars in NYC, methinks. --About Shaw not killing Root, I guess hanging out with John has made her a softie. That's the only way I can explain that aside from the writers wanting to keep Root around to engage in future havoc. --The reveal with how Ingraham was killed and Finch got injured was about as predictable as it could be but was still very well executed, adding another layer of depth to Finch. The scene with Finch's fiance freaking out looking for him among the survivors was gut-wrenching. --I thought the Machnie was in one specific location, and that it was moved over a few weeks to a new location. --How did they manage to not put Root away in a higher security setting? Even if she does make some valid points, she's not all there and clearly a danger to society. It looked like she was wandering around a mental hospital freely, judging from the other patients who looked like they were zoned out on meds. Great season finale, overall. I'm kind of glad we didn't get another cliffhanger as those become increasingly hard to top each season without getting into the ridiculous. The episode did wrap things up surprisingly tidily but left some loose ends that will surely become next season's major plot points (HR and Elias/Carter, Root, the Bigger Bad woman in the limo). I hope CBS lets the producers and writers continue to do their thing and don't move the show in a more boring procedural direction.
That was a fantastic season finale, and really almost movie worthy in many respects. Hell, it's better than movie worthy if that movie is Eagle Eye, which essentially is what this show is but with the film being not nearly as good, and with everything in society being even more ridiculously automated than it is even in PoI. Batman Jesus playing straight man to Shaw at the Ferrari was funny and hopefully will be a frequently recurring aspect of the show in the future, as I think they make a great team. Plus, I love Sarah Shahi and would be delighted to see her get a bigger recurring role on a show I enjoy, since the last one was the great show Life, which she starred in. The explanation of what happened to Finch's friend and how Finch was hobbled was indeed predictable but still handled well. The explanation behind the virus, the code, and how the sleight of hand with the location of the Machine was very good, though it was disappointing not to catch a glimpse of Machine. It must be immense though given the size of the room it was being housed in and the massive power requirements. I loved when the Machine started calling out approaching bad guys and the different ways in which Root and Reese wanted the information delivered. Reese went with the standard "1-12 o'clock" approach without alteration befitting his military background and lack of innovation, while Root played with the system immediately and went with a more advanced method befitting her rogue hacker background. Indeed, the "God Mode" would be incredibly handy. I had no idea Harold was that intimately involved with the Machine every minute of every hour of every day. I thought he would get his marching orders occasionally with the numbers and have a few interactions, not that it would tell him when to move and where to go all the time. That certainly makes things more interesting and makes you wonder who was really the Admin (metaphorically speaking, not literally): Finch or the Machine itself. I agree that Root being allowed to walk around freely and have access to communications seemed highly implausible given all that she had done. I like the bit with Carter saving Elias (and how it mirrored the attempted assassination of him as a young man) and the fact that they've kept up with him even when he is not part of the central plot to the story, and even made him a distrusted but still useful ally of sorts. I'd give that finale an "A." I hope they keep up with the scifi aspects of the show and allow it to have a greater presence. I'll gladly sacrifice a few of the more boring number of the week stories for this more grand narrative.
I read an interview with Carrie Preston where she mentioned she filmed her scene for the finale back in December so it wouldn't conflict with True Blood, so it's nice to see one show that says they have things mapped out to actually mean it.
Spoiler: response to Spoiler "I think The Machine, being AI, was aware that Root wanted to set it free and, in a way, appreciated Root's efforts. Also, The Machine can make use of Root's fanaticism, both about computers in general and her adoration of The Machine." Pretty sure any comment on the spoiler would itself be a spoiler.
As the show gets older and new viewers are less likely, I bet CBS will let the writers drop more standalone stuff and go almost "Lost" esq heavy on the overall Arc.
I can see the argument going both ways. "Hey! Person of Interest is a Top 10 show. We shouldn't muck with the formula too much and let the writers do what they want to do since what they've been doing is clearly working!" (YAY!) OR "Hey! Person of Interest is a Top 10 show. With a few tweaks to make it more accessible to the masses and not drown the show in serialized arcs, we can make it a Top 5 show!" (BARF)
That was pretty cool, perfect season finale really, wrapped up the main arcs while setting things up for next season. Bit strange that Fusco hasn't been in the last couple of episodes though.
According to IMDB, the actor who plays Fusco (Kevin Chapman) is in two upcoming films. My guess is he needed time off of work to film some scenes.
Phew. I thought they were cutting him off the show. He's great on it. Can't wait for the next season!