Person of Interest: Fifth and Final Season (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

The show's made it pretty clear that the world has noticed but, being in the dark about the A.I.s, finds other things to blame. Samaritan will probably generate a paper trail about gang warfare between the cartels in the streets of NYC or something similar to explain the skirmishes of last night's episode.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The show's made it pretty clear that the world has noticed but, being in the dark about the A.I.s, finds other things to blame. Samaritan will probably generate a paper trail about gang warfare between the cartels in the streets of NYC or something similar to explain the skirmishes of last night's episode.

Paper trails is one thing, but if people can document on their camera phones that car chase gunfight, they can surely do so with those other acts of violence and the amount of body bags accumulating all over the city. If you can suspend your belief for one then you can do so for the other.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Paper trails is one thing, but if people can document on their camera phones that car chase gunfight, they can surely do so with those other acts of violence and the amount of body bags accumulating all over the city. If you can suspend your belief for one then you can do so for the other.

Of course, Samaritan can manipulate all of the camera phone footage as well, since its networked through equipment that Samaritan has infiltrated. Forty years ago, even if an A.I. somehow existed, it would touch far less aspects of daily life than Samaritan would now, where everything's electronic and practically everything's connected.

I'm not saying the show doesn't exist in a heightened reality, I'm just saying the explanations built into the concept make it easy for me to suspend my disbelief.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Of course, Samaritan can manipulate all of the camera phone footage as well, since its networked through equipment that Samaritan has infiltrated. Forty years ago, even if an A.I. somehow existed, it would touch far less aspects of daily life than Samaritan would now, where everything's electronic and practically everything's connected.

I'm not saying the show doesn't exist in a heightened reality, I'm just saying the explanations built into the concept make it easy for me to suspend my disbelief.

Heck, the issue was even addressed in the show itself, when the federal agent was musing about all of Harold's records being digitised, but lost, save for the fact that the records existed, "records of records".

Having said that, I wonder if there ever really were any such records, or were these fakes planted by Samaritan, so that the unknowing authorities wold keep Harold in custody and give Samaritan time to engineer a transfer, as appeared to be in progress before the Machine interfered. Harold has spent almost all his career (even before the Machine) in the shadows, that it seems unlikely that law enforcement has anything on him, let alone treason or open homicides. Unless Harold has helped Reese out too often in the aftermath of previous missions, and got a bit sloppy in leaving behind fingerprints?

 

[Steve Berger]

Most likely no records existed. Actual records would have names attached that could be used to verify their accuracy. There is a limit to the number of people (especially professionals) Samaritan can coerce to lie about records they never wrote. Inconsistencies would start popping up.

The treason charges might be accurate however. Left over from the original failure to supply the Machine to the government in the form they wanted. (If I remember correctly)

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

They did such a good job for the first three quarters of the episode not showing the president and not identifying him by name that I was disappointed when he was revealed as a generic white guy during the actual attempted assassin scene. One of the fun things about this show is pretending that all of this has actually been happening, just under the radar, and having a president who is obviously not the real president punctures that quite a bit.

I did enjoy the Machine's Washington D.C.-based team, made up of former numbers with special skills who were now paying it forward. It always bugged me that the only lives the team saved, with rare exceptions, were in the greater New York metropolitan area. I like the idea of every region having its own team chasing down the numbers.

I also enjoyed how efficiently the Machine exploited people's weaknesses to get Harold out of the military compound.

 

[Robert Crawford]

They did such a good job for the first three quarters of the episode not showing the president and not identifying him by name that I was disappointed when he was revealed as a generic white guy during the actual attempted assassin scene. One of the fun things about this show is pretending that all of this has actually been happening, just under the radar, and having a president who is obviously not the real president punctures that quite a bit.

Nah, that didn't bother me, but the Machine having Root's voice is one thing, but it calling Harold, Harry did bother me a little as Root's personality becomes the Machine's.

 

[JamesSmith]

Guys:
Just some thoughts that I'd like your opinion on. The big moral debate for this part of the season is for Harold to let down the Machine's moral constraints so it can fight back against Samaritian. But is it possible for that to be the LAST thing Harold should do. If "winning" means to play dirty or by any means necessary, you can possibly damn your own soul and lose the bigger argument.

We seem to be headed in that direction, and Root was especially trying to move Harold to that choice. But I don't know if that is the right thing to do. Could we be surprised if the writer's of the program decide that would be the "wrong" thing to do if that makes the machine as bad as Samaritian?

Remember the downbeat tone of the Machine's voice in the season opener?

Opinions please.

James

 

[Matt Hough]

I would have preferred not to have seen the President at all. Pretty fast paced episode, and if the producers want a spin-off, they certainly have a ready made one already in place with these other teams that we haven't seen up until now.

 

[NeilO]

I did enjoy the Machine's Washington D.C.-based team, made up of former numbers with special skills who were now paying it forward. It always bugged me that the only lives the team saved, with rare exceptions, were in the greater New York metropolitan area. I like the idea of every region having its own team chasing down the numbers.

I know some of us in past seasons predicted that past numbers were going to end of helping our team and it was great seeing that come to pass. I wonder if we are going to see more of them in the final two episodes.

Nice touch calling the virus Ice-9. Those who have read Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle know what happens when Ice-9 is unleashed.

 

[Jeffery_H]

Guys:
Just some thoughts that I'd like your opinion on. The big moral debate for this part of the season is for Harold to let down the Machine's moral constraints so it can fight back against Samaritian. But is it possible for that to be the LAST thing Harold should do. If "winning" means to play dirty or by any means necessary, you can possibly damn your own soul and lose the bigger argument.

We seem to be headed in that direction, and Root was especially trying to move Harold to that choice. But I don't know if that is the right thing to do. Could we be surprised if the writer's of the program decide that would be the "wrong" thing to do if that makes the machine as bad as Samaritian?

Remember the downbeat tone of the Machine's voice in the season opener?

Opinions please.

James

You would be wrong about that in your take of the "Machine's moral constraints". What Root and Finch were debating is giving it the ability to choose for itself without being limited to the self imposed constraints it has. In other words, make it as close to sentient as humanly possible. That in no way means it won't have a conscious or morals of its own, only it will be like a human in it must decide for itself what the consequences of its own actions will be and if worth the outcome.

My take is The Machine will have the choice of defending itself and fighting back against Samaritan, but will elect to take them BOTH out to win the war and set things back to normal as they once were. People will now know what is going on and be more aware such things are possible and make sure this sort of AI and surveillance will be kept in check since it will be public knowledge. Therefore, The Machine will elect self sacrifice knowing this and that will be what it has learned from Finch and all the others it has watched. The only way to win is not by war or harmful means but resetting society and taking them both out.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Jeff, I think you make an excellent point on how this may conclude.

 

[JamesSmith]

You would be wrong about that in your take of the "Machine's moral constraints". What Root and Finch were debating is giving it the ability to choose for itself without being limited to the self imposed constraints it has. In other words, make it as close to sentient as humanly possible. That in no way means it won't have a conscious or morals of its own, only it will be like a human in it must decide for itself what the consequences of its own actions will be and if worth the outcome.

My take is The Machine will have the choice of defending itself and fighting back against Samaritan, but will elect to take them BOTH out to win the war and set things back to normal as they once were. People will now know what is going on and be more aware such things are possible and make sure this sort of AI and surveillance will be kept in check since it will be public knowledge. Therefore, The Machine will elect self sacrifice knowing this and that will be what it has learned from Finch and all the others it has watched. The only way to win is not by war or harmful means but resetting society and taking them both out.

Hadn't thought about it that way. More later.
James

 

[Walter Kittel]

With the saturation of episodes this season, I had let it languish on the DVR but have finally caught up in advance of tonight's penultimate episode. Episode 100 was certainly one of the better episodes of the series and I'm glad that the show's creative talent was permitted to craft a proper close to the series. Echoing other posters, Michael Emerson's speech in the interrogation room was one of the actor's best moments in the series and was reminiscent of some of the best moments of Benjamin Linus on Lost.

Curious to see the effects of Ice-9 (based on the description from Cat's Cradle). I am assuming a similarly devastating effect upon networked information systems. Since (as was observed by Adam) we experience Root's voice from some unknown future at the beginning of the season is it safe to assume that the Machine survives in some capacity? I guess we'll find out.

My one beef with episode 100 was something that always annoys me. We see a vehicle's hood riddled with automatic weapon's fire and the heroes drive away in said vehicle. Part of the 'heightened reality' that applies to our heroes abilities to sustain injuries and continue to function must also apply to their automobiles. Par for the course in television and films, I guess.

Looking forward to the final two episodes and what decisions Harold makes in the battle with Samaritan.

- Walter.

 

[Walter Kittel]

One other thing I forgot to mention about Episode 100. Great foreshadowing of the havoc that Harold is potentially going to unleash in the last bit of dialog between Shaw and Reese.

Shaw: "Then why did his number come up?" (referring to Finch)
Reece: "I think it was warning us about what he might do to them."

Good stuff.

- Walter.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Given that Finch pulled the trigger in this episode, somehow I think the Machine's going to pull through, especially since it was her voiceover as, presumably, the last survivor in the season premiere.

I'm wondering if ICE-9 is going to trigger a Escape from L.A.-style return to the Dark Ages.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Greer sacrificing himself for Samaritan was completely in character and feels appropriate given how he has constantly sublimated himself to further Samaritan.

Did Fusco pull the trigger? I'm guessing no since his association with Finch and Reese has made him appreciate the value of all human life.

Enjoyed the various callbacks to the series' earlier days via the simulations. Sort of reinforces the earlier episode's message of everyone living on in the realm of the Machine.

They sort of gave us a preview of Harold's password via the brief glimpse of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility earlier in the episode. I can't recall whether the series has made other references to Austen in the past or not. Perhaps when the library was the base of operations. (??) The book is an apt reference to the series. The sort of thing I would expect from such an intelligent show.

It is a shame that is almost over.

- Walter.

 

[stevelecher]

Maybe I'm not as smart as the show, but why couldn't Greer simply have put a bullet in Finch's head instead of having to subject Finch (and himself) to the oxygen depriving room?

This all seemed rather easy tonight after two seasons of always being a step behind Samaritan.

Next week will be interesting.

 

[NeilO]

The Fusco simulation struck me as off. Carter bringing down HR without the help of The Machine and our team didn't seem right unless it was later in the timeline and unknowingly with the help of Samaritan.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Fusco simulation struck me as off. Carter bringing down HR without the help of The Machine and our team didn't seem right unless it was later in the timeline and unknowingly with the help of Samaritan.

Well, I don't think they can spell everything out with how many episodes they were limited to.