Michael Emerson is a PERSON OF INTEREST

[Temis the Vorta]

Now that's the sort of episode I expected from this show - more complex and slippery, less predictable (although the kid being the child of a fallen fellow soldier was not too hard to guess), with some serious ethical lapses for Our Heroes (planting evidence, taking part in illegal activity), even with a little political sensibility (the scene in the bar with the drunk bankers - how's that for topical?)

What I found most intriguing was the development for Reese. I've been wanting the other shoe to drop for him - something that would explain his motivation to help Finch in his crazy schemes - but I figured it would be a Batman-esque rage at the world and an underlying tendency towards mayhem. The schemes are an excuse to unleash his rage at the world.

But for Reese to instead be motivated by his regret at living his life at an emotional distance (presumably this wasn't just a problem with his relationship with his girlfriend) is a less expected and more interesting way to take the story. He's cut off from humanity - from his own humanity - and the Batman routine is his flailing attempt to forge some kind of connection with people.

Given that it gets him into violent situations, it's not the most functional strategy he could have thought of. Why not just volunteer at an old folks' home instead? But this way, he gets to use his particular skills, which is the only way he knows to relate to life, and we get to see a teevee show about it.

And Caveziel has dropped the silly Batman whisper. Good.

 

[auntiehill]

Not really all that important I guess: the way the flashbacks were placed in the episode really irritated me.

Something I thought of during the episode: In episode two, we learned that some years ago Finch didn't have the limp thing (maybe from a back injury/fused spine), which made me think something happened between then and now that we would later learn. But in this episode, he's out in public a lot. And it started me thinking maybe the limp is just an injury that will make people he encounter remember that about him first and less about the specifics of his face or anything else. And it would be one more thing he would be able to surprise Reese with in an emergency.

Except that he limps even when he thinks he's not being watched.

I liked this episode, despite some of the predictable plot points. I liked the flashbacks and the Reese/Finch dynamic. I assume the M Walsh person is going to turn out to be the BIG BAD for this season?

 

[OsmiumJohnnycake]

Except that he limps even when he thinks he's not being watched.

Then again if anyone is going to presume he is always being watched, it's Finch. I mean that's almost the whole reason the show exists. If he's trying to avoid being identified, I wouldn't put it past him to act that way at all times.

 

[the G-man]

Except that he limps even when he thinks he's not being watched.

Then again if anyone is going to presume he is always being watched, it's Finch. I mean that's almost the whole reason the show exists. If he's trying to avoid being identified, I wouldn't put it past him to act that way at all times.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

Not really all that important I guess: the way the flashbacks were placed in the episode really irritated me.

Something I thought of during the episode: In episode two, we learned that some years ago Finch didn't have the limp thing (maybe from a back injury/fused spine), which made me think something happened between then and now that we would later learn. But in this episode, he's out in public a lot. And it started me thinking maybe the limp is just an injury that will make people he encounter remember that about him first and less about the specifics of his face or anything else. And it would be one more thing he would be able to surprise Reese with in an emergency.

Except that he limps even when he thinks he's not being watched.

I liked this episode, despite some of the predictable plot points. I liked the flashbacks and the Reese/Finch dynamic. I assume the M Walsh person is going to turn out to be the BIG BAD for this season?

I thought it might be Finch, maybe he's trying to find out who killed his wife. He has the money to afford Latimer.

 

[auntiehill]

But why would Finch show up and try to stop it, when he could've just let it happen, pick up the evidence and go? I was wondering if Finch's late partner, Ingram, might also still be alive and involved somehow.

Anyway, regardless of all that, I'm enjoying the little bits of back-story that they keep dropping for us. I like following the clues and seeing the threads, even if the major stories are a bit simple and episodic. I love watching Michael Emerson; I think Finch is far more interesting than Reese.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

I imagine he didn't want Reese to get killed, if he's using Reese to eventually find whoever killed his wife. But that's just me thinking, I'll probably be totally wrong

I agree though, Finch is way more interesting (although that might just be because Michael Emerson is better at creating intrigue in a character than Cavaziel (sp?) is.

 

[Belbo]

some serious ethical lapses for Our Heroes (planting evidence, taking part in illegal activity), even with a little political sensibility (the scene in the bar with the drunk bankers - how's that for topical?)

"Tonight on the Commie Broadcasting System, a fine upstanding young war veteran goes around robbing banks and beating up their executives. Consequences? Screw 'em!"

OK, not quite. But it was certainly jarring seeing these kind of sentiments openly pandered to on Network TV - has public sentiment really shifted that much in the US? I haven't been over since the crash .....

That aside, I'm kind of enjoying this. Emerson is his usual unreadable self, though I wish he'd tone down the limping a bit. With his partner being played by some sort of mid-90s George Clooney wax dummy it just makes me think of the spoof logline JMS came up with when reduced to working on Jake and the Fatman ("He can't walk. He can't act. Together they fight crime.").

 

[Temis the Vorta]

some serious ethical lapses for Our Heroes (planting evidence, taking part in illegal activity), even with a little political sensibility (the scene in the bar with the drunk bankers - how's that for topical?)

"Tonight on the Commie Broadcasting System, a fine upstanding young war veteran goes around robbing banks and beating up their executives. Consequences? Screw 'em!"

OK, not quite. But it was certainly jarring seeing these kind of sentiments openly pandered to on Network TV - has public sentiment really shifted that much in the US? I haven't been over since the crash .....

Eh, the bankers were presented as just a couple of drunk guys in a bar and only one of them was hostile. That might have been CBS's acknowledgement that there's been too much bashing of the Wall Street suits, and aren't they people too?

Or maybe I'm putting too much thought into the political content of a CBS show.

 

[1001001]

I watched the first three episodes today.


Overall, I think it's pretty good. I think I would like it better if they toned down the Rambo stuff a bit, and focused more on the detective work/intelligence stuff.


Finch is a great character.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The Rambo stuff is the main way in which this show is different from the usual CBS fodder. The writing isn't smart enough for the crimes themselves to be interesting, it's pretty much been standard stuff. Emerson + mayhem is what's keeping me watching.

 

[1001001]

The Rambo stuff is the main way in which this show is different from the usual CBS fodder. The writing isn't smart enough for the crimes themselves to be interesting, it's pretty much been standard stuff. Emerson + mayhem is what's keeping me watching.

I was thinking more like NUMB3RS.

But hey, it's good enough. I'll take it.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Well, the show hasn't gotten worse for me, but it also hasn't gotten better. I just don't care about these crimes of the week, they aren't that interesting. Finch's backstory is really the only intriguing part of the show, but it's not enough to keep me watching each week. I'm deleting the show from my series recordings.

 

[auntiehill]

I'll keep watching for a little bit longer. I enjoy Emerson enough to put up with the crime-of-the-week stuff.

 

[Saga]

i still find the show interesting. the crime of the week stuff may not be the most original, but sprinkled in are little bits of mystery about our main characters that i enjoy.

 

[Belbo]

Blech. After a moderately interesting instalment with the bank robber being let go this one could hardly have been more stupidly formulaic - "Dexter for Dummies", in effect. The bad-guy-of-the-week is ugly, a serial rapist and an investment banker? Subtle shading there .....

I held on hoping there might be an interesting twist, like perhaps the saintly doctor falling asleep in the OR and killing a patient - with that being the real reason The Machine flagged her up as a risk. I should have realised this ain't no cable show.

Michael Emerson continues to be fun in small scenes like the police interview, but not even the increasingly cartoonish violence can compensate for Catweazle being essentially catatonic - if Marvel ever get around to making a Brother Power, The Geek movie, he's their man!

 

[OsmiumJohnnycake]

The x-ray scene apparently does away with my suspicion Finch's injury could be an act. Oh well, maybe I was thinking of Lost's Ben and the things he was capable of more than Finch.

I thought the episode was okay, like the rest have been. Easy to predict the twist. The ending? I'm a fan of ambiguity at times but I feel like I just don't know this show's intentions well enough to be comfortable with the ending here. I guess network shows aren't exactly what you turn to if you want to see executions. I couldn't really see Reese letting the guy go. My gut feeling is the show left it ambiguous not because they wanted to keep the viewer guessing, but more because they don't want to explicitly show their main character murdering a person with lots and lots of onscreen premeditation.

 

[auntiehill]

I would have liked it a lot better if they'd had to guts to have him actually kill the creep. It would have at least been different.

 

[Aragorn]

I would have liked it a lot better if they'd had to guts to have him actually kill the creep. It would have at least been different.

Seeing as how Reese took the rapist to the house where the doctor had all the body-dissolving materials, I don't think the ending is as open-ended as it appeared.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I would have liked it a lot better if they'd had to guts to have him actually kill the creep. It would have at least been different.

Seeing as how Reese took the rapist to the house where the doctor had all the body-dissolving materials, I don't think the ending is as open-ended as it appeared.

Yeah I figured he killed the guy. He doesn't have time to babysit the guy indefinitely, what with the Magic Machine spitting out new assignments all the time. The greatest good would be achieved by just killing him and focusing on new assignments. Reese's objective was not to save the rapist, but to save the doctor from the impact of vigilantism, and he accomplished that buy taking the guy off her hands.

The episode did delve into greyer territory than the series has to date, but in a rather wimpy manner, to those of us who are used to Dexter. I'll give this show some more time to prove itself before bailing entirely.