Thankfully, as time went on, the episode got increasingly better. But it still doesn’t diminish the hatred I have towards Dillinger. I have nothing against Neil Jackson, who portrayed him fantastically for the way that he was written, and the writers did a fantastic job of making the contrast between Dillinger and Reese. Obviously, there was no way we were ever going to like Dillinger more than Reese, or dislike Reese any less. Instead, the writers made me appreciate how lucky we are to have Reese around now. Seeing Finch in his wheelchair (and then his first limps) was very enjoyable. We’re used to Finch’s limp by now, and we’ve seen him repeatedly walking as normal in flashbacks (I’ve said it before, but Emerson does a great job acting Finch’s disability), but seeing the in between was a lot different. Dillinger’s attitude towards Finch didn’t exactly help me sympathise with his character. In fact, at the point that he told Finch “you don't like the way I do things, you're more than welcome to come get dirty in the trenches.” I had serious problems with him by now.
The entire episode portrayed Dillinger as a complete a**hole. Saving a woman then sleeping with her, being aggressive with Finch about his secrets, bugging the library – the list goes on and on. By the end, I was far too angry with him to even care that he was killed (by Shaw no less). In fact, I do recall a small hint of celebration.
It was to be expected that there would be a connection to the mythology of the show (since, let’s face it, episodes involving the four main characters in the present day that are just a simple number of the week aren’t exactly that enthralling anyway). However, the endless list of connections is one of the things that really annoys me about LOST. Every character that we know just happened to come together in one episode that also filled in a lot of the gaps about the history of Finch and the Machine. Sigh.
Anyway, it was interesting to see more of Reese and Kara working The aforementioned introduction of Shaw into the Machine’s world was fantastic. She hasn’t changed one bit in four years. “She said if we’d sent her sooner, she’d have killed them all.” “She said what?” “To be honest, her exact words were slightly more colourful than that.” Shaw, don’t ever change. I honestly don’t understand how any fans don’t like her. She gets things done, and has fun while doing it.
The end scene with Root was epic. It’s been way too long since Root was in an episode, and she returned in true Root style, equipped with the awesome background music and her usual level of creepy. Yet another past connection was the mention of Greenfield (the guy she saved from Vigilance in ‘Mors Prematura’), who is seemingly safe in Columbia. Presumably it was Control who sent the men after Casey at the end, but we don’t know. And what is his “higher calling”?
Some odds and ends:
- Nice to see acknowledgement that Control ordered Ingram’s death, and it wasn’t just an impulse decision by Special Counsel. Oh, and that Control was Control in 2010. We know that Special Counsel was Control at some point, but it was obviously before Ingram’s death.
- Greer was back, and even in 2010 searching for that laptop. Nice to see some acknowledgement on his name too.
- “That’s new.” I didn’t exactly expect him to jump out of the window either.
- The images in the time jump didn’t correlate to the dates.
On the whole, this wasn’t quite the episode I was expecting it to be. Hopefully tonight’s episode ‘/’ (otherwise known as root directory/root path in UNIX based operating systems – thanks arun279 for that info) will be better – it certainly looks it.
Thanks for the review Bradley. Loved this episode soooo much. One of the best of the series.
ReplyDeleteReally looking forward to tonight's episode!
"I could see how the character connections on LOST (supposedly due to ''fate'' or ''the Island'') could be a annoyance, but not on this show. The connections between the characters are no coincidence. The Machine is steering all these people towards each other for its plan. We're seeing the story in the wrong order, but it makes so much sense that things played out this way that I can't see how it would be a negative point."
ReplyDeleteWell I say a machine is a machine whether it looks like an Island, a computer, or a brain....
But I do think POI appeals to a larger audience than most other BR works, because it's science fiction is much more grounded in reality and it's narrative directly relates to the present/is contemporary and doesn't yet have a fantastical-metaphysical underbelly, but a much more sociopolitical one.
Personally I think one can explain LOST (there is enough information IMO for everything to fit), but more over that the idea of it was to understand that what one didn't know was still just as important to identity as what any of us think we do know along with Death isn't the end of anything as long as this Island and it's electromagnetic water and light are intact, expounding on life extension on every level. It's not about Bad writing, as much as a think piece on philosophical musings, which I think it the point of many of their shows.
But I agree that political tapestry is very tight here, but this about playing god in a modern and relative way, rather than a universal or futuristic way, but I think the message is/will still the same.
Oh, I love LOST! It's my all time favorite show, and I'm still writing weekly posts about it on another website (rhymes with Seriable.blom) in an attempt to piece everything together and solve all the so-called "mysteries". There really are only one or two things they never addressed after the mystery was set up. The outrigger chase being the most obvious example. For everything else, the puzzle pieces are definitely there.
ReplyDeleteI was just saying I could understand the other viewpoint. LOST was more vague about certain things, like the character connections, where Person Of Interest gave a definite answer - a Machine that can literally see and hear you at all times. On LOST, it wasn't made entirely clear whether it's fate or the island or Jacob that brought them all together in the past, but that's because LOST was a different type of show. Certain ideas and theories were explored and hinted at, but the point was never to give a definite answers to the questions. A lot of people expected that to happen, and I can understand how that could be frustrating.
Person Of Interest's biggest mystery is "what will this all lead to?", and that's just not the same as the mysteries LOST gave us... But not necessarily more easy to write either. Like you said, this show appeals to a wider audience because it's all a lot more short-term. To me, "RAM" proved that the writers are definitely capable of writing a satisfying, intricate (!) story on the long term as well, the same way the writers of LOST did for me back when that show aired.
Your last sentence is the exact reason why this episode was so incredible. They had to do a backstory that was interconnected with 2.5 seasons worth of storyline, with a fairly tight timeline to follow that bounced around. And they did it. And it made sense. Incredible.
ReplyDeleteIt's my all time favorite too!
ReplyDeleteFollowed by Breaking Bad, which might be ''better'' but does not exactly have that same place in my heart!... After that, I guess it's a competition between Fringe and Game Of Thrones. Person Of Interest is fighting for that third spot as well lately. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm getting there with both LOST and Breaking Bad. I refrain from having a proper opinion on LOST until I see the remaining 32 episodes.
ReplyDeleteFor me Dexter is my number 2 (but have yet to see BrBa) and then Fringe and POI are probably next in line...Just too much good TV!! :D
ReplyDeleteDexter is definitely somewhere in my top 5. Maybe top 6. The last season really, really disappointed me! The first five, though, and the seventh... Wow. I do love those!
ReplyDelete