PERSON OF INTEREST ROUNDTABLE: Honor Among Thieves

Person Of Interest 4.07  Honor Among Thieves

After the last rather disappointing episode, this one got things back on track in a big way, and provided plenty of (often dark) humor. Here are our thoughts on a few points from the episode  (definitely a Shaw-centric episode!).  We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

1) Root and Shaw’s relationship

Cay: I enjoyed Root in Shaw’s ear during her “interview” with Tomas and their fighting/flirting routine is always enjoyable, but the last scene with the two of them just felt too contrived. Especially as Shaw’s reason for needing Root was because she needed her to decode Finch’s directions on destroying a lethal virus? Shaw has a medical degree and she’s also very intelligent – she doesn’t need Root’s help for that kind of thing and so it seemed out of character that she asked. Also kind of weird as we just saw Shaw seeming to be crushing over Tomas the whole episode, even if she did opt not to follow him to Europe.

Karen: I prefer the outright friction between the two, even if *we* know they kinda dig each other. The touchy-feely stuff doesn’t seem right to me. /shrug.

2) Shaw and Tomas

Cay: Have we ever seen Shaw really express interest in someone before? It was looking like Bear was pretty much the man in her life for a while. She did it in a way that fit with her character, which I appreciated. Although Shahi has said that she thinks that Shaw might just walk away from the group if someone gave her a better option, her choice not to run off with Tomas certainly suggests that the team is meaning more and more to her (although I’m not sure that running off with Tomas would keep her safe from Samaritan).

Karen: Both Finch and John seemed to be a bit indulgent of her admiration of Tomas, so it makes me think she’s expressed interest in other men in front of them before. I don’t remember it happening on-screen though.

3) Finch’s latest existential crisis

Karen: I felt the same way as Finch. Hated that they had to put the kabosh on such a great program in order to foil Samaritan’s plan. Sometimes I think he overreacts (justifiably considering his background), but in this case, I totally got it.

Cay: I’m kind of weary of Finch seeming to have second thoughts about their mission every other episode. They are well beyond the point of no return – Samaritan is collecting lethal viruses, so I think angst is wasted on feeling guilty about kids not getting tablets to spy on them. I think it’s good to point out the complex ethical issues – that’s always been one of POI’s strengths, but it’s starting to just feel whiny to me.

4) Shaw’s old coworkers [and that ending!]

Karen: I thought it was interesting to see Shaw seeing them with another year of the machine under her belt. They must look eons different by now. My take of the ending: Agent recognizes Shaw, understands she’s doing something for the greater good, so he erases her from the NSA’s footage. The agent also says her name, and because Samaritan is watching him, it starts to put things together. So, once the footage is tampered with, Samaritan picks it up and fiddles with it – trying to jiggle the puzzle into place. I’m not sure, because POI tends to stay fuzzy until everything clicks and you yell at the TV because it gave you all the hints and you didn’t pick up on them anyway, but I think that’s the jist of it. 🙂

Cay: I wasn’t sure exactly what I was seeing in that ending other than him deleting the footage he was in, but your interpretation seems pretty good. The guy seems reasonable, I wonder if maybe he could become an ally of Finch and company? He seems to understand that things have changed and was suspicious enough that he deleted himself from the footage. Or maybe he’ll turn out to be a bad guy. I have definitely had the same experience you have, of suddenly realizing where they are going with a storyline, then realizing maybe I should have figured it out much earlier.

Karen’s Note: Samaritan recovering Shaw’s image from the erased video – DO. NOT. WANT.

5) Favorite scene, line

Karen: LOVED when Shaw was scoping out Tomas’… personality.  “The only thing keeping me awake is…” camera snap, “his personality.” Might be a race for first with Fusco’s complete frustration with John as they shoot at Federal Agents.

Cay: My favorite scene was Shaw’s interview with Tomas and Root’s commentary on it.

Memorable Quotes:

French Mary Poppins Barbie is the only me that’s been any fun, though I’m not sure how the parents would feel if they knew how many people that I’ve killed – Root

Nicholas Dawson – Samaritan’s un-democratically elected choice for governor – Root

The only thing keeping me awake is his…personality – Shaw
Indeed. – Finch

Perhaps you could try to sound not quite so enthused – Finch
Crime is my day job…I’m just admiring his technique – Shaw

Are you trying to make me kill you? – Shaw to Reese

Fine, go commit your felony, but unfortunately, I have another criminal act to attend to first- Finch

Patience, Harold, or I’ll have to give you a time out – Root

Whoa, he’s hot. I mean, not put him in zip ties in a CIA safehouse with 10 hours to kill hot, but…I kinda get it – Root

I couldn’t bear it if anyone hurt you, I mean, besides me – Root

…we can add another grand larceny to our list of accomplishments – Finch

Dude never met a 5-syllable word he didn’t like – Shaw

 Watch Person of Interest on Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS!