At the time of publishing, it was exactly one year ago today that Elias and Scarface delivered one of the most badass and superb scenes on the show, during which you could almost hear the entire Person of Interest fandom shout with joy at their television screens as Simmons was garrotted. Last night, it was the complete opposite emotion, as Elias’ right-hand man
Elias has always been a great character. Though he’s always been an antagonist, he’s always been true to himself and to others. I always go back to ‘God Mode’, and one of my favourite Elias moments. His frustration that “oath-breaker”/”worm” Terney was going to kill him as opposed to his “fair is fair” attitude towards Peter Yogorov killing him is the perfect way to epitomize Elias. He’s loyal to himself and those around him, and especially so to those loyal to him.So when Anthony’s life was in jeopardy, and Elias was offered a way to save it, he was never going to leave his childhood friend. I think that deep down, Elias knew Dominic was never going to release Anthony. Dominic isn’t like Elias. He has the cunning, the mind that allowed him to get the upper hand on Elias. What he lacks is the honesty, the ability to keep his word. This makes him less respectable than Elias, but at the same time very dangerous.
Enrico Colantoni and David Valcin both stood out in this episode. The final phone call between the two was magnificent. Seeing these two seemingly tough mobsters share one final moment of emotion was a great way of ending things between the two. This scene, combined with the reveal to us that the pair met in a childhood home (even more fittingly, the same place Anthony died) and are almost like family - “a real brotherhood”, as Elias said - made the conclusion to their relationship even more satisfying. This (along with various other scenes) raises an interesting point. While Elias has now vowed to make Dominic pay for Anthony’s death, if Link were to die, would Dominic even care? “We can always find more soldiers” is the line Dominic delivered towards the end. His gang’s name is quite contradictory in this sense, as a real brotherhood would see its members care about one another, and not just be willing to put their deaths down as an acceptable loss.
I do wonder now if there will soon be a divide between Link and Dominic. After his conversation with Anthony about being the right-hand man, this ‘don’t care’ attitude from Dominic may be the thing that leaves Link wanting out, and at the very least, not willing to do his job to the extent he should. Would he lay down his life for Dominic? I highly doubt it.
The final scene was shot perfectly to contrast with the final scene of ‘Witness’, in which Elias first appeared. Just three years ago, he was surrounded by his men, with little care in the world. Now, he takes to the boardwalk alone. It’s a sad decline in power for Elias, and even away from the power, it's sad to see him all alone.
Considering the cliffhanger last week, not a whole lot happened in the story with Shaw – understandably so, given that the focus was, quite rightly, Elias. It was quite obvious that she was going to avoid being killed by Martine in the store, though she did it in style. I love that she keeps a machine gun hidden beneath her counter.
They really pushed at the idea of a Root and Shaw pairing again this week. Root’s ‘other people care for you’ line was one of the more obvious instances, while scenes such as the one in the truck as Root holds Shaw was one of the slightly more subtle ones. Shaw even reciprocated a little, albeit in a more sarcastic way, when she threatened to purposefully expose herself if Root didn’t take her to Reese. Whether or not Person of Interest chooses to pursue a relationship between the two is yet to be seen, but they’re certainly building the foundations for it.
The only other thing left to discuss is Fusco. He’s still yet to discover how the team gets their information, and doesn’t need a cover identity. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t in danger, as we saw in this episode. Martine tracked him down after he helped facilitate Shaw’s escape at the truck, and Fusco did a great job of throwing her off.
Though it doesn’t quite top the year ago episode, ‘The Devil’s Share’ (which is still the show’s number one episode in my book), nor ‘God Mode’, ‘The Devil You Know’ slots nicely into number three on my list of the best Person of Interest episodes. It had a fantastic balance of intense story, emotion and when combined with some brilliant acting, formed an incredible, thrilling episode.
Odds and ends:
- I didn't mention it above, but that final scene looked beautiful, didn't it? Shooting on location made that scene look so much better.
- Bear’s sad look towards the end was a change of tone from last week.
- Fusco getting upset at the camera watching him was funny.
- As much as I dislike Dominic, I have to credit Winston Duke who is doing a great job in the role. He makes the character feel very intimidating and powerful, just as he should be.
- Also, everything looks to be converging with Dominic learning more about Team Machine. Is it too much to ask for a three-way army battle between Team Machine, Team Samaritan and the Brotherhood?
- So many callbacks to ‘Witness’ in this episode. The boardwalk scene, Reese running around protecting Elias, Elias ending the episode with a Latin saying and Elias making Reese regret giving him a gun. I love it when the show does this kind of thing.
- I love the hat Elias wears during this episode.
- “Look on the bright side, Sameen. I’m pretty sure you just sold your last tube of luminizer.”
- “You go through identities like they’re Dixie Cups.”
- “It’s my building. I bought it.” “To become a slumlord?”
- “Morior invictus” = death before defeat; “Invictus maneo” = I remain unvanquished
- I don’t usually mention the ratings, but Person of Interest beat Chicago Fire for the first time this season. Hey, Chicago Fire - Veni, vidi, vici.
- No new episode next week, or the following week. The next episode is the midseason finale, ‘The Cold War’, and that airs on December 16th.
All that’s left to say is RIP Anthony ‘Scarface’ Marconi.
So, what did you think of the episode? Are you going to miss Scarface? Are you excited for Elias getting revenge on Dominic? What will happen with Shaw? Are you going to be able to cope without POI until December 16th? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
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Thanks for the recap/review.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would like to add is that great cheers sould go to both the writers and to David Valcin for Scarface. It's not something you see everyday that a sidekick of a not-so-often-recurring character, with almost zero lines has this much presence on the screen. Normally these characters are just noname bullet fodders.
Yes, they made him a character. And one that is widely loved too.
ReplyDeleteGreat Review, as always! :)
ReplyDelete"Elias has always been a great character. Though he’s always been an antagonist, he’s always been true to himself and to others. I always go back to ‘God Mode’, and one of my favourite Elias moments. His frustration that “oath-breaker”/”worm” Terney was going to kill him as opposed to his “fair is fair” attitude towards Peter Yogorov killing him is the perfect way to epitomize Elias. He’s loyal to himself and those around him, and especially so to those loyal to him."
So true. 100% agree!
"Shaw’s desire to get in on the action ended up backfiring on her, as Root took a tranquilizer to her neck in order to keep her safe. Clearly, Root’s earlier line that other people who care for her are scared, even if she isn’t, had no effect on Shaw whatsoever. Shaw’s recklessness is going to be her eventual downfall, and it’s frustrating because she seemingly has no regard for her own safety."
I'm not sure about that, because you could say that same thing about Root and Harold making the choices they made here too. It was out of fear for Reese's (Shaw's motive) and Fusco's life (part of Harold's motive) (and even what Elias and Scarface did for each other) that they also acted. I do think Harold and Root both get the bigger picture aspect more though, even though they are often at odds about with method or truth is accurate---but this is what makes the show so good. It puts everyone in the same boat until what we see what the bottom line is at the end of the series...
I really thought at the end when Reese and Finch were looking at Shaw passed out that they were going to turn around and Elias would be there too!! Blahhh I just want him to be part of the team lol!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I think Reese and Root are both like Shaw, but they know where to draw the line (maybe not Reese when trying to kill Simmons). Shaw doesn't.
ReplyDeleteI think the other thing about Dominic is that while he is very cunning his downfall will be his arrogance along with lack of true loyalty that you mentioned. He seems to just think that Elias is past his time and he can simply beat Elias with his soldiers and bribing former associates. His arrogance is blocking how capable Elias is and the fact that he always has a Plan A, B and C.
ReplyDeleteAlso, not much of a mid season finale lol. It just another two weeks off after the Cold war before the jekyl and hyde schedule resumes in January. Really wish the show would just do a real break til March and then play them all.
Agreed. He's far too arrogant and not good enough to warrant it.
ReplyDeleteLol, I'd hate ANOTHER 4 month hiatus. We already have the summer, and that's bad enough.
What was young Elias' speech to the gangsters? Something like this: "You two think you're safe because there's just one of me. That I'm weak and that you're strong. That's not strength. That's weakness. Look at you... A bunch of jealous idiots. Liars, betraying each other. I get my strength from being alone, and that's why I'm gonna destroy all of you."
ReplyDeleteYou two think you're safe because there's just one of me.
That I'm weak and that you're strong.
That's not strength.
That's weakness.
Look at you... A bunch of jealous idiots.
Liars, betraying each other.
Read more at: http://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=195&t=12068&sid=59e62db830c2a41083294ed3472e7a30
Amazing episode. Best episode of the season.
ReplyDeleteBradley, your review was terrific and had me reliving all the great moments past and present.
ReplyDeleteI agree. When Anthony asked Link about his value to Dominic, you could see him questioning that. Then when Dominic said we can always find more soldiers I think he had his answer. They're all just fodder to Dominic's ambition, and that might be his downfall in the end.
ReplyDeletehaha i also think of could Elias be one of the team member now? but i know there is not much space for him in this team already...
ReplyDeleteI actually cried when I predicted it would be a trap in that safe, the loyalty from Anthony and the rare true friendship between him and Elias in this cruel mob world really touch me. I am more depress than watching carter death in last season break, why the writer need to push Elias be such a lonely character...
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Bradley. I'd say you touched on just about everything that I was going to comment on, including the potential for an official Root/Shaw pairing, lol (they're hot).
ReplyDeleteAll-around phenomenal episode, and I'm really going to miss Scarface Anthony. The combination to the safe was 1-0-3-0-7-4, or 10/30/74, the date of 'The Rumble in the Jungle' where Muhammad Ali beat then-undefeated champ, George Foreman. Also in the restaurant where they met Gino, one of the photos on the wall was Foreman standing over a defeated Michael Moorer from the 'One for the Ages' fight in 1994. I thought that was great symbolism (and foreshadowing of Elias regaining his footing within the crime universe).
Though it doesn’t quite top the year ago episode, ‘The Devil’s Share’ (which is still the show’s number one episode in my book), nor ‘God Mode’, ‘The Devil You Know’ slots nicely into number three on my list of the best Person of Interest episodes. It had a fantastic balance of intense story, emotion and when combined with some brilliant acting, formed an incredible, thrilling episode.
Respect your views as always, though I'd probably place 'The Devil You Know' in fifth after the other two you named, along with 'Deux Ex Machina' and 'The Crossing' (no particular order, but those are my top five). The loss of Carter was a moment that burned deeply into my mind, and not something I'll ever forget about this show. It was a bold, risky move that demonstrated to the loyal audience that it wasn't going to be a 'cookie-cutter' series and showed that there are fatal consequences to doing the work that Team Machine does.
I hold the final four episodes of season 3 as the gold standard of poi with deus ex machina being the best person of interest episode in the series until proven otherwise so i can't say for me personally its on the levels of those four but thats just me i've always been a huge fan of the decima storyline. but i will say this was better then the crossing in my opinion. this was a better top to bottom episode then the crossing, sometimes i think the crossing is overrated because of the death scene but the stuff before that was just very good.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recap.. It was a powerful episode indeed showing how powerful honest and loyal the old school was and how wild intelligent and driven the "new" school is.. I'm dying to see more of link and dominic characters. I love Jamie Hector acting.. His words maybe bland however his expressions are awesome and makes for a cold calculating and awesome villain. Eager to see more of these characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree, maybe one of the best core concept of the show is that people can have very different motivations regarding why they went to war and this could result completely different, sometimes purely contradicting situation evaluations from them. That makes the characters interesting, because on their own each of them is right, yet they are often against each other's decisions.
ReplyDeleteThat's the reason why I'm not completely happy with how Root has been "tamed" recently. IMHO keeping her more on the "believer" side, where she cares about the "bad codes" only because that's her God's wish would keep up more tensions. That could have resulted more potential plot turns than when she develops real emotional connections with the team members.
The biggest surprise for me this episode was the fact that ''Anthony'' was apparently not just a goon to Elias, but an actual friend. I like that. All this time I expected Elias to turn on Team Machine and reveal his evil side after all that time, but that didn't happen. He actually cares. As Decima would put it, he has relationships. Unlike the Brotherhood, which consists of ''soldiers''. And that's what's going to lead to Dominic's defeat. You could tell that Link was scared of Dominic when he found out he was just another agent to him (which is a bit odd considering ''We all die in the end'' is their motto).
ReplyDeleteThat contrast between Elias and Dominic parallels the Samaritan/Machine stuff. One side is all about the mission, and the other sees the importance in relying on other people. It's great that they're now exploring that theme, since the whole show is based around a Machine that has ''human'' feelings. It raises some interesting questions. Having a human relationship is why Shaw's cover was blown, but for Elias it worked because Scarface helped him out in the end. It was great that Elias pointed out the irony in Dominic calling his group a ''Brotherhood'' when he doesn't seem to care about his people.
That would have been awesome lol. But the way they ended with Elias on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk, with that golden sunlight, and then "Invictus Maneo!" -- Just perfect.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a brilliant idea for a future episode! :) In fact, it seems both Dominic and Elias are currently on set at the Subway Batcave... https://twitter.com/Winston_Duke/status/537757774436777984
LOL it would be 3 months max. Mid December-Mid March(if not first week of March). That way we get every episode close to simultaneously. Rather than the 1 episode, 2 weeks off, 2 episodes, 1 week off, 1 episode, 2 weeks off, 1 episode, 1 week off. Best way to keep these ratings climbing is to throw in some more jaw dropping episodes and do them all in a row!!
ReplyDeleteFar too long, still. Would probably help the ratings, but having two long periods without the best show on tv would be awful.
ReplyDeleteThat had dropped right out of my mind. The whole thing's even more awesome now.
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
ReplyDeleteI think it's incredible how they've made Elias so likeable.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yes, that pretty cool symbolism. Also I read yesterday that 10/30/14 was also the last day of shooting the episode, which just adds even more to it.
ReplyDeleteMy top 6 list looks like this: Devil's Share, God Mode, The Devil You Know, Zero Day, The Crossing and Deus Ex Machina. I thought The Crossing, though it crossed (pun partially intended) into bold territory, on the whole the episode wasn't as strong as the ones above it (but taking nothing away from The Crossing, on most shows it'd be the best episode they'd done by a considerable distance). And I loved Deus Ex Machina, but the others were even better than it imo. But personal opinions and all that ;)
Yes, I feel that The Crossing receives more acclaim because of the ending than the whole episode, and though I still thought it was sublime, it maybe wasn't as good as a few others.
ReplyDeleteThough I wouldn't rank those last 4 last season as the very best of POI, I really loved them. There was so much moral debate within and I think that's one of POI's best elements.
I think the reason that Elias didn't turn on Team Machine wasn't because he cares, though he does to an extent, but because of loyalty. Reese saved his life, Carter saved his life (and though he repaid the debt to, he still has the connection to the team through her), Finch was his chess partner etc. But he does seemed to have developed a caring side for Team Machine, which is a fantastic element to his character.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point about the parallel. The show does parallels so often but so well.
Thanks! POI won't get cancelled. Not this season, anyway.
ReplyDeleteYep, I can see him turning on Dominic soon too. Wonder if he'll join Elias. If Elias was to die killing Dominic then it would be fitting. Scarface laid down his life to protect his boss/effective brother and Elias, being the loyal and true man that he is, Elias dying in the process of getting revenge would be something he'd be ok with, I'd think. Elias' theme is superb, you're right.
Shaw's recklessness was frustrating to me, too. Like you said, "she seemingly has no regard for her own safety" In an earlier episode (the one where she got kicked out of med school for eating a candy bar while delivering a terminal notice to a patient's loved ones), they said she should know what her "condition" is........Axis something. She has some sort of anti social psychiatric / personality disorder that makes her feel almost nothing for people. So, this would make sense that she would be so reckless. But it is frustrating. And when I see her having more emotions, it seems a bit unrealistic. If her character truly has an Axis whatever number personality disorder, it would be hard for her to increasingly feel emotions, unless she went on psych medications. But, I know, it's just a TV show, I should just "roll with it" and suspend reality sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking that Elias could become one of their team members, too. And that Dominic's right hand man could join their team, too! They need more people to join their team since Carter died. I know Shaw joined, but...........they need at least one more person to join their team. Especially with a lot of the team having to remain "underground," they need more people to get out and save the "numbers."
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting me know - it was Brighton Bch boardwalk. I had been wondering.
ReplyDeleteYes, it would!
ReplyDeleteYes, terrific review!
ReplyDelete