PERSON OF INTEREST ROUNDTABLE: YHWH

POI 4.22 YHWH

Season finales are always hyped, and quite frankly, I typically find myself disappointed after watching any heavily hyped hour of television. I have to say, though, that this episode (and Asylum before it) did indeed live up to the hype (which is good seeing as we contributed to it!).  The episode was intricately plotted, bringing in many hanging story lines going back several seasons. It had a feverish intensity and no shortage of violence, but it was offset by humor and heroism. Truly a fine hour of television and a fitting end to a very intriguing season.

Here are our thoughts on a few points. Please feel free to contribute yours in the comments! It’s going to be a LOOOONNNG summer for POI fans!

1)    Reese in God mode = pretty much like the Terminator

Reuben: That scene was just incredible.  It was like watching the Terminator take down all the cops outside Cyberdyne in T2.  I have to agree that I was worried that we’d seen the last of John after he had that talk with Iris; but thankfully that’s not the case.  Or at least we can hope given that final scene.

Cay: Thank God (ha!) he survived! The scene with Iris really had me thinking that he was going to actually die this time! It will be interesting to see if he actually fulfills his promise to her to actually tell her what’s going on. He kind of boxed himself in a bit of a relationship corner, but people do that when they think they are going to die, I guess.

The scene with the Machine in his ear was so awesome – Reese is lethal on a good day, but with the Machine’s help… he took out about 60 men without sustaining a major injury, which would have seemed ridiculous if it wasn’t so frickin’ cool! Also awesome that the first message came from a fax machine and it was read out loud for Dominic even as Reese realized what it was and executed it.

Karen: BAD. ASS. When The Machine FAXED him the directions… I mean seriously. And then working WITH The Machine instead of FOR it in the second ‘fight’ with the smoke bombs etc., amazing. I know he’s not invincible as far as the show goes, and yeah, I’m infinitely relieved he’s unscathed.

 2)    The Correction

Karen: I hate Samaritan. Hate. With flames at the sides of my face. Burning, Heaving, Sighing… flames. I call BS. It didn’t learn to play via chess, so the ‘moves’ it’s making don’t make any sense. I mean, the writers are brilliant, and I can’t wait to see where this goes, but I. HATE SAMARITAN. And Control should’ve just pulled the trigger. It wouldn’t have saved her, but at least ‘The John Hurt Emperor’ would be gone. I’m ready to see the back of him.

Cay: Control had Greer in custody, but somehow it ends with her being the one ending up somewhere so dark that even Samaritan can’t find her. Samaritan making up a fake threat to root out those who may oppose it was just diabolical…and brilliant. Control was SO CLOSE, but once again she was outsmarted. And Dominic, Elias, and dozens of others who may have been able to be of assistance to Team Machine all fell victim.

Reuben: I didn’t see that coming that it was just a test, that is.  So much death (again) to do a test on who could be trusted.  That is just sick.  And I actually feel bad for Control because despite all that she has done in the past, she doesn’t deserve to end up on the wrong side of Greer and his minions.

3)    Dominic and Elias dead

Reuben: Yet another thing I didn’t see coming until it happened.  But I did notice the shooter checking out John outside Dominic’s location and knew we’d see him again.  It wasn’t until he crouched down with that rifle, though, that I put it all together.  Two such great characters to go out not by each other hands, but are they really dead?

Cay: I had a bad feeling this is how it would go down, in terms of both dying, although I assumed it would be at each other’s hands, or because Elias blew the place! I didn’t predict that these two great characters would be taken out by Samaritan before they can take each other out, along with apparently a few hundred people who “have problems with authority”. I guess you’ve become someone in the world if you are worth Samaritan going after.

Assuming they are both dead, of course! I can’t help but think that Shaw looked much more dead than either Dominic or Elias… (or am I just stuck in denial?)

Karen: I was fairly sure Dominic would go (sad, because Winston Duke’s such a great actor), and I had a feeling something bad would happen to Elias (again sad, because I LOVE his character), and loss of their characters will leave a huge hole. I want to see where the organized crime pit will fall. Will Samaritan take over? Was that part of the plan? Take over all the city’s crime?

Cay: Or will there be no crime now that Samaritan has rid the world of the outliers, disloyal, and those who don’t respect authority?

4)    The Machine’s dying conversation with Finch

Cay: First of all, The Machine distributing itself along the entire power grid was brilliant! And then it basically saying “if you aren’t happy with me I may as well die”. The Machine has a lot more humanity than a lot of the people on the show…(yes, Greer, I’m looking at you!). We can only hope that Finch can resurrect her fast next season!

Reuben: That was a moving scene for sure; and showed just how far the Machine had grown at least in terms of being able to think like the human who built it.  There is no way Samaritan would have ever done the same thing.

Karen: So many onions. I equate this scene to the scene where Reese went looking for Carter’s killer with the Johnny Cash song as a soundtrack. Impactful, emotional, hard-hitting, wrenching, just… everything. Emerson BROUGHT. IT. Whoever wrote the ‘dialogue’ for The Machine – oh man, I can’t imagine how they managed to choose the perfect conversation between father and son, but they did. The writers said an AI would die in this episode, however, I don’t know that it really did. I really hope not. ONIONS I TELL YOU.

5)    Favorite scene

Reuben: It was a small scene, but I liked that Harper actually helped Fusco out of that near death experience at the hands of that girl who worked for Dominic combined with Fusco showing up to save the day, so to speak, by bringing down Dominic (short-lived though it was).

Karen: Hands down, the conversation between Finch and The Machine. A close second would be Caleb paying tribute to Finch by saying he gets whatever he needs, no question. Nice touch.

Cay: I liked that Harper saved Fusco, and that Fusco got to be the one who caught Dominic – twice! – even though with the way things ended, he didn’t get any credit.

6)    Overall/Other thoughts

Reuben: This was a taut episode, showing the team working at warp speed to save the Machine and the Machine doing everything it could to not only save their lives but prolong itself despite the difficulties in the power grid.  And while I know it’s the season finale, leaving them all facing down those armed men was just so unfair, having to wait to see what happens will be excruciating.

Cay: I loved the story lines that came together for this one – Root’s job with Caleb, his algorithm that Finch helped him with, Control, etc. Some of them I’d long since forgotten about and it was awesome to see them all fit so nicely together! I still want to know, though, what about the other 3 Samaritan servers that Root altered? We’ve never seen her 3 hackers mentioned again, but for them to have their own servers, they must have been important!

The body count was high as promised, and I can’t tell you how unhappy I am that Greer wasn’t one of them. On the plus side, at least his attack robot, Martine, got what was coming to her last episode. RIP Dominic and Elias! At least their deaths may mean that Team Machine stays together for at least a few more episodes before [showrunners] Nolan and Plageman decide it’s time to kill another character!

Karen: Every season I think they can’t top *this* finale, and every season I’m wrong. I hope that trend continues. I have no clue how this will shake out come September, and there WILL be an episode in September [because I can’t accept that CBS wouldn’t renew it] – but I know I cannot wait to see it.

Memorable Quotes:

Surely The Machine isn’t hiding itself in a high end apartment building? – Finch

Get.in.the game – Root

Recipe? We’re not baking a cake here, Harold! – Root

I fail to see how over a dozen bags of ice plays into our larger mission – Finch
It’s Cinco De Mayo. If She asks us to pick up some salt and limes, I’d say you have your answer.  – Root

FATHER, I AM SORRY. I FAILED YOU. I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO WIN. I HAD TO INVENT NEW RULES. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD WANT ME TO STAY ALIVE, NOW YOU ARE NOT SURE. IF YOU THINK I HAVE LOST MY WAY, MAYBE I SHOULD DIE. I WILL NOT SUFFER IF I DO NOT SURVIVE. THANK YOU FOR CREATING ME. – The Machine

What’s our status? – Reese
Well, I have 1 & 1/2 clips, a Metro card, and God is either dead or running on double As – Root
You always did like a challenge, Mr. Reese – Finch

Watch episodes of Person of Interest on CBS.com.