PERSON OF INTEREST ROUNDTABLE: Terra Incognito

4.20 Terra Incognito

Wow, as promised, this was a very emotional episode, one that turned out to be almost entirely in the head of Reese. It strayed quite a bit from the normal episode structure in many ways, but it really worked.

We were all huge fans of Detective Carter, so it was great to have her back, even if it was in Reese’s head.  Feel free to chime in your thoughts in the comments!

1) The return of Detective Carter

Rueben: It was great seeing her back, but also bittersweet.  It just makes us miss her character even more and how much humanity she brought to the “team”.  Root and Shaw were great additions to the team, in their own ways, but what Carter brought was something altogether different.

Cay: Yes! Carter was like the Jiminy Cricket of the team – she was the ethical compass. Unlike Shaw and Root, she was completely genuine and importantly, NOT a psychopath! Clearly she had even more of a grounding effect on Reese than we knew. Looking back, the entire dynamic of the show definitely changed with her death. This episode was a brilliant way to bring her back in a way that felt organic and not forced. The juxtaposition of her visiting each site in the past, and Reese following in her footsteps was just perfectly done.

Karen: I knew this would be an emotional episode, I wasn’t prepared for the twistiness. Man, POI really knows how to write a good Mind-Eff. Had to watch twice just to figure out exactly where things switched over, and even now it’s just about seamless. Beyond the technical writing aspect, using Joss as a vehicle to get John to think about mortality and his inter-personal relationships was brilliant. He already knew that he left things too late with Carter, but this hits home to the nth degree.

 2) Reese is getting a lot of grief lately for not sharing his feelings and for always going it alone. Once again it almost killed him.

Rueben: I don’t think John has been able to share much at all since losing Jessica; but he could only share his story as he was literally dying in that car.  I guess it’s better than nothing, right?  Maybe this experience will get him to open up a little more?

Cay: It’s all kind of been coming to a head this season and we can assume that Reese survived this incident. Whether it was powerful enough to make him change his ways we’ll have to see. I’d love to see him come clean to someone, but not sure who that can be. Can Iris handle the truth, or enough of it to help him? There really isn’t anyone else or he wouldn’t be talking to Carter in his head. Finch and Root have too much baggage of their own (and there’s the whole Root being a psychopath thing!).

Karen: Yup. He’s hurting. Always the stoic, and apparently he has to keep getting shot to understand. Um, hello John… figure it out already. There are people that care about you. Open up already.

Cay: How many times has he been shot in 4 seasons? At least 5?

3) Carter being who John sees as he is dying

Rueben: I should have seen that whole round about storytelling coming from the moment John started turning up the heat in the car, but I didn’t because it all seemed like flashbacks.  Well done on the writers for weaving the story so well.

Cay: The “flashbacks” also weren’t Machine or Samaritan POV, and weren’t dated, which was also a clue, but I missed it (didn’t help that I was live tweeting, so not paying as close attention as I could have been). It gives us a lot more insight into their relationship. Their last scenes together in the episode where she died gave us some indication of what we hadn’t seen onscreen but this filled in more of the details of what she really meant to Reese, on an emotional level.

Karen: I think it’s because she’s the relationship he sees as unfinished, and because he’s got the case she was working on – it’s front in his mind. He needs closure, and this is his mind’s way of getting it. Part of me would want to believe (if the characters were real) that he had really seen her, and she helped to save him. The music punctuates their scenes, just as it did when John goes on his rampage to find her killer. Heartbreaking.

 4) Finch and Root’s relationship

Rueben: I don’t know if I’d say they are on good terms.  I think Root wants to be, but Harold isn’t ready.  I think he’s just dealing with her for now.  In fact, I have a feeling there just might be a breaking point coming along where Harold really throws her past transgressions right in her face.

Cay: I’m not sure, I expected more animosity in these last two episodes, but honestly with Finch, it’s sometimes hard to tell and it’s hard to be mad at someone who is standing unexpectedly in front of you in a wedding gown. I bet your right that the issues between them over Beth will come up again before the season is over.

Karen: Not enough between them for me to really grab on to. A bit of witty banter just isn’t cutting it. We need to see them have their slap fight and work it out of their systems once and for all.

5) In case we’d forgotten, Dominic and Elias haven’t called a truce

Rueben: There is assuredly going to be a big showdown – my prediction – between these two and it isn’t going to be pretty!

Cay: Yep, I think we’ll see a gang war and something crazy in the Machine-Samaritan war for the last two episodes of the season (hopefully just the season, POI hasn’t been renewed for season 5 yet). Are you Team Dominic or Team Elias? I was always an Elias fan, but the character of Dominic is very interesting right now!

Rueben: Truth be told, I don’t think I’m on either team.  Dominic is a *scary* dude and Elias is just, well, he is calculating and unexpected, ya know?!

Karen: Oh, I hadn’t forgotten. Are they going to be an allegory for Samaritan and Team Machine? The Old Guard and the Up-and-Comer? Or will they have a more integral part to play in the puzzle?

Cay: Definitely allegory, but hopefully not just that. Seems hard to believe that both will survive the season.

6) Favorite scene

Rueben: “Taking orders.  I got a little too good at that.” – Reese

 John finding that old photo of him and his old love in the belongings of Carter’s taken from evidence storage; and the flashback of Carter and John taking about what is “after” for him.

Cay: I just loved the inexplicable scene with Root in the wedding dress – WTH was she possibly up to? She seemed rather rattled, which is unusual for her, and we’ve seen her do some crazy stuff!

Rueben: Runaway Bride gone awry?!  From the sounds of it she was trying to get close to someone who might know about where Shaw is (did I hear that right or just think that is what she said?!), and she got really close to that someone, but it went kaput and she became a runaway bride.

Other Thoughts:

Karen: Just a side note, any spec on who drove up to save John at the end? Root’s been filling that role lately – but I wonder if it was Fusco. He was the one that knew he was on Joss’ old case. I doubt they’ll show us. Leaving it where they did is quite fitting.

Cay: It’s also possible it could have been a police car (not Fusco) or a stranger, even. Doesn’t really matter, so long as he survives.

Memorable Quotes:

There’s no paperwork when you’re working with me and Finch – Reese

Are you saying I’m a bad cop? – Reese
I’m saying you’re a terrible cop! – Fusco

Glasses and Cocopuffs are going to pay a visit to Elias’ man Carlos – Fusco

For a spy, lying isn’t your strong suit – Carter

There’s no retirement for people like us.  No fairytales.  That’s how we’re built. – Reese

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