PERSON OF INTEREST ROUNDTABLE: ASYLUM

Person of Interest 4.21

POI creator Jonah Nolan promised us a “bloodbath” to end the season, and he definitely delivered in this intense, dark episode. The body count was impressive – Link, Martine, the two Samaritan moles and others – plus Reese, Elias and Finch getting tortured by Dominic. And then there was the Machine-Samaritan plot…

Our talking points are below, please feel free to share your thoughts on these points or the episode in general in the comments!

1.Control finally realizes that she’s been had 

Cay: Apparently Control wasn’t nearly as confident about Samaritan as she led Team Machine to believe. I’ll admit that I was kind of worried that she might have the wrong person, especially as her interrogation got more and more violent. Now we know that Samaritan has some catastrophic event (AKA The Correction) planned for May 6th (the day after the season finale airs, natch!). Whether there is anything Control can do about it, or whether her involvement was just a plot device to get the information into the storyline, remains to be seen.

Rueben: I have to agree with you, Cay. I kept thinking that maybe she really did have the wrong person until she showed the woman that picture of her in the White House. The jig was up then. As for Control being had, she’s a smart woman and I think her taking that woman captive and showing all those surveillance pictures shows that she knew something was going on. What that event will be isn’t going to be pleasant at all. We are in for one big cataclysmic finale.

2. Dominic vs Elias

Cay: Whoa, those scenes were intense… and graphic. Yet Finch, Reese, and Elias didn’t break. Once again Dominic underestimated Elias and paid a serious price by being tricked into killing Link. This is the most that we’ve seen of Dominic since Brotherhood and the character didn’t disappoint, although for such a smart guy, he fell for Dominic’s ruse (again) a bit harder than one might expect. I’m actually surprised that Elias survived the episode after Dominic realized he’d been duped. We can probably just subtitle next week’s episode “Dominic’s Revenge”, although I still wouldn’t put it past Elias to have the whole place wired with C4 as Reese suggested and take them all out. Guess Harper better get Reese and Fusco out quickly if they are going to survive the season.

BTW, did you catch the line about Dominic being from Trinidad? Nice little homage to Winston Duke’s background! Speaking of Duke, he brought up an interesting philosophical question on Twitter comparing Control to Dominic – both show extreme ruthlessness, but with very different motivations. Control blew up a ferry full of people to kill one man, which is worse than anything we’ve seen Dominic do. Is it any better if similar actions are done with the intent of advancing the common good (Control) vs personal gain (Dominic)? A showdown between the two of them would be epic…[ally] violent! One of my favorite aspects of POI has always been the moral ambiguity, the contrasts between characters actions and motivations and circumstances, and this is an interesting thought exercise.

Rueben:  That was an insane moment where Dominic killed Link all because Elias tricked him.  I didn’t see that coming until that smirk on Elias’s face. He is good. But they are still in a pretty precarious situation. Truth be told, I wouldn’t put it past Elias to have the whole place rigged up to explode.  Dominic may need Elias for right now, but he’s not going to let his being duped hold him back from getting revenge, that’s for sure. I missed the Trinidad reference, darn it!! And, I didn’t see it coming when Harper pulled out that small blade while Fusco was being tortured. I know her allegiance can be swayed at the drop of a hat, but I just didn’t figure on her even thinking about going against Dominic and/or his men.

3) Root finally killing Martine

Cay: Rarely has a murder felt so good! After the aborted fight two weeks ago, it was great to finally see Root prevail and end the Samaritanator once and for all. If anyone had it coming to her, it was definitely Martine. It also weakens Greer to be without his right hand gal. For those keeping track, Elias lost his best friend, Dominic has lost his, Greer lost Martine, Finch lost Ingram years ago, and could possibly lose Root or Reese or both. Root has lost Shaw, at least for the time being. It’s not healthy to be the best friend/right hand person of a main character on POI!

Rueben: I yelled so loud at that moment “it’s about damn time!” Not that I condone murder, of course. That being said, Martine deserved what she got

4) The Machine seemingly sacrificing itself to safe Root and Finch

Cay: If Finch had any doubts that he’d taught the Machine morality and maybe even love, I think those thoughts have been put to rest. It’s willing to act illogically to save them, even when it appears to mean sacrificing itself. Maybe it’s all a trap for Samaritan, or maybe it is true self-sacrifice of the type that a machine shouldn’t be capable of. Part of me is hoping for a Harry Potter type ending, where love overcomes all, as unlikely as that seems. They can’t really destroy the Machine with a 5th season renewal still on the horizon, right?

Rueben: I think it’s all a trap, but based – as you said – on the morality that Harold taught the Machine. Machines can learn from their creator so it’s more than possible that it’s “evolved”, right? I have a feeling this will be a big showdown between the two machines and the two teams, leaving us hanging with a huge gun battle, et al as the season fades to black.  We just have to hope for a renewal or we’re all screwed.

5) Favorite Scene/Line:

Cay: I thought the scene where Root brings Finch into the psychiatric hospital was hilarious, particularly when the admitting person asked him questions and he just told the absolute 100% truth, which of course made him sound homeless, paranoid, and delusional. It was a great throwback to those wonderful scenes last season with Root in the psychiatric facility when she did similar, with the difference of course being that she is a socio(psycho?)path.

Rueben: I have to agree with you – the scene at the psych ward was really good. It provided the needed levity to an already dark and heavy episode.

Overall impressions/other thoughts?

Rueben: This is the first time since right after Shaw sacrificed herself for the team that we got an actual glimpse of her so we know she’s alive; but the question remains did she really give in as Martine told Root or was that just a ruse by Martine to get the ire of Root?  And how are Root and Harold going to find the Machine or will the Machine give them a clue as to its whereabouts? So many questions and hopefully we’ll get some answers in the finale.

Cay: It wouldn’t be a POI season finale if at least one major character wasn’t in a life or death situation and for next week we have pretty much every major character in one of two very bad situations. There are so many ways this can go…many of them not good. I can’t wait for next week’s episode, although I’ll admit to a bit of anxiety!

Watch the season finale of Person of Interest on Tuesday, May 5th at 10/9c on CBS! And check out our interview with Winston Duke while you wait!