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Person of Interest (Season 4) (1 Viewer)

Walter Kittel

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Kind of early, but here is the first preview of Season 4 from Comic Con. Needless to say, big time spoilers if you have not watched season 3 of POI.

Video: Comic-Con 2014 Person of Interest Season 3 Highlight Reel and Season 4 Sneak Peak




As an aside, I was down on the last season during the front end, but (for me) the show really stepped up its game in the second half of the season and I am very excited about the potential for season 4.

- Walter.
 

Stan

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I hope they do more "Root" central stories. I find her a very fascinating character and always enjoy the show more when she's part of it.
 

Walter Kittel

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I hope they do more "Root" central stories. I find her a very fascinating character and always enjoy the show more when she's part of it.
It certainly appears that given the direction the show took in the second half of last season that this will be the case; at least for a while. I know there was some discussion in the season three thread about Root and trust issues and I kind of shared those concerns; but given what has transpired that seems to have been tabled. POI has always dealt with shifting allegiances.

It seems like there is some story potential in contrasting Root and Greer and their approaches to the respective A.I.s. Something I'd like to see, anyway.

- Walter.
 

Citizen87645

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I got a kick out of Shaw and Root working the department store makeup counter.
 

Walter Kittel

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Googling POI a little bit more and I checked IMDB to see when it returns for Season 4.

September 23rd, 2014. As per IMDB the title of the premiere episode is the very apt: Panopticon

From Wikipedia:

The Panopticon is a type of institutional building designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow a single watchman to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) inmates of an institution without the inmates being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. Although it is physically impossible for the single watchman to observe all cells at once, the fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched means that all inmates must act as though they are watched at all times, effectively controlling their own behaviour constantly.

- Walter.
 

todd s

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They way the other machine is being described. Their really is no way for the team to stop it. The only resolution I can see is Harold's machine (w/the help from the team) taking over the other machine and stopping it.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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todd s said:
The only resolution I can see is Harold's machine (w/the help from the team) taking over the other machine and stopping it.
Yes, and that trailer made it pretty clear that our Machine is still out there operating. Samaritan is the bigger, badder bully on the block, but our Machine presumably had time to prepare. But in addition to not having the advanced hardware that Samaritan has, our Machine is hamstrung by the limitations Harold put on it. By contrast, Greer and Decima have done everything in their power to let Samaritan operate freely, as a replacement shadow government.
 

Walter Kittel

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Yes, and that trailer made it pretty clear that our Machine is still out there operating. Samaritan is the bigger, badder bully on the block, but our Machine presumably had time to prepare. But in addition to not having the advanced hardware that Samaritan has, our Machine is hamstrung by the limitations Harold put on it. By contrast, Greer and Decima have done everything in their power to let Samaritan operate freely, as a replacement shadow government.
One of the questions for me with regards to the merits of "The Machine" vs. "Samaritan" is adaptability. We know based on what was presented that The Machine was specifically designed to learn since we saw Harold doting over his creation's baby steps in the season two premiere The Contingency. So for me, the question is whose algorithm is better Harold's or Claypool's? I know who my money is on. :)

- Walter.
 

Bob Gu

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Do we know how much Greer and Samaritan know about Finch, his other identities, and his billions. In the trailer Finch says he does not have any resources. Has the government seized his accounts? Is Finch just being careful? You would think after decades of hiding, Finch would have scads of cash and collectibles hidden off the grid.
 

Robert Crawford

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Bob Gu said:
Do we know how much Greer and Samaritan know about Finch, his other identities, and his billions. In the trailer Finch says he does not have any resources. Has the government seized his accounts? Is Finch just being careful? You would think after decades of hiding, Finch would have scads of cash and collectibles hidden off the grid.
You would think so as somebody that really likes to plan his moves.
 

Walter Kittel

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I would imagine that his assets and accounts are still intact, but it is a question of access. Harold, like the other six individuals has to lay low. Paraphrasing a portion of Root's monologue at the end of season 3... We have to become these people. Because if we don't they will find us and kill us.

I am guessing that Finch is effectively cut off from his wealth, or at least most of it. Which, assuming that is correct, is one of the more interesting aspects of the new season for me. Seeing Finch operate outside of his comfort zone. Of course this is all so much supposition. We'll find out soon enough.

- Walter.
 

TonyD

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I still have season 3 on my dvr. Guess I need to get to know it soon.
 

Walter Kittel

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Great setup episode for the new season, with a lot to like in the season four premiere...

The concept of a stealth network based on an older technology was pretty clever and will no doubt come in handy for our intrepid band of do-gooders.

Enjoyed Reese's call back to the very first episode discussing 'holding guns the wrong way' and then his exasperation.

I wondered about Harold's manuscript having typos. Another pretty clever means of communication that would go undetected. So I guess we'll see the Bat Cave soon enough?

How awesome is it having Reese and Fusco partner up?

Shaw is going another route and we'll have to see where that leads.

Looks like Cara Buono's character is going to be playing cat and mouse this season. Nice touch having her show up at a 'Reese-like' incident involving a large truck T-boning a car - as big a signature move as the show has had in its first three years.

Based on Root's dialog with Harold (one of the highlights of the first episode for me) - just how far-seeing is The Machine? If as Root suggests it has a plan, then the season may closely resemble the serial puzzle storyline of season 5 of Fringe - where each episode builds towards creating a solution. It is too early to say whether or not that is the framework for season 4 of POI but I think I would enjoy that quite a bit.

I knew the show was going to change this year but they have completely shuffled the deck. Just a great opening episode.

- Walter.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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It did what was a season premiere should do, which is shuffle the deck while laying the groundwork for the season to follow. The conceit of this episode was providing the team the tools they needed so that the episodic procedural aspect of the show could be resurrected while allowing the consequences of the previous season finale's tectonic shift to play out more gradually as a slower burn.Having the Machine giving them numbers that do double-duty -- genuine victims or perpetrators, but also keys to the Machine's plan for battling Samaritan -- was a pretty inspired concept. Much like gathering Walter's scattered technology in the final season of "Fringe", it's an elegant solution that gives the number of the week significance to the larger ongoing plot.I was struck by the paradox of the Machine providing the team the tools they need to be undetected by Samaritan: The Machine is bound by all of the same restrictions as Samaritan, and some additional ones besides. Presumably, if the Machine could piece together the significance of Ali's VHF mesh network as a replacement for traditional cell service, Samaritan could as well. Likewise, one could argue that the abandoned subway station eluded Samaritan because none of the references to it have been digitized and networked. But if that's the case, how did the Machine know about it?I do love the idea of the abandoned subway station as their new base of operations. It's a concept that's always fascinated me. I believe there are roughly a dozen real subway stations that are still intact but no longer open for service. The most famous of these is the station for the City Hall Loop, which trains still go through without stopping. It's an architectural marvel, which was used for a similar purpose as on this show in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze:
city-hall-station-3.jpg
 

Walter Kittel

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I was struck by the paradox of the Machine providing the team the tools they need to be undetected by Samaritan: The Machine is bound by all of the same restrictions as Samaritan, and some additional ones besides. Presumably, if the Machine could piece together the significance of Ali's VHF mesh network as a replacement for traditional cell service, Samaritan could as well. Likewise, one could argue that the abandoned subway station eluded Samaritan because none of the references to it have been digitized and networked. But if that's the case, how did the Machine know about it?
Lots of speculation, but here goes...

Samaritan being able to make the same connections with the same information is not a given. As I mentioned earlier the designs and algorithms for the two entities are likely to be extremely different in systems that complex. We know that Harold designed his creation to learn but we do not have much insight into Arthur Claypool's creation. We also know, courtesy of Greer, that Samaritan is taking a pro-active approach which might affect its ability to put together these sorts of scenarios.

I assume, based on Root's conversation that a defense against and plan to stop Samaritan occupies all of The Machine's time. I don't know if The Machine (Northern Lights) is still supplying relevant numbers to the government. I am assuming that it is not doing so, which frees it up to plot all of the time against Samaritan which means that it might be a few steps ahead.

While Samaritan has some big resource advantages, the uncertainty regarding the tasks and abilities of the two A.I.s leaves enough wiggle room for The Machine to out think it in a believable manner (at least for me.)

- Walter.
 

Matt Hough

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A wonderful season opener that was the freshest kind of reboot: kept much of the original concept but switched things around enough to offer some different dynamics. I loved every moment of the premiere: both the comedy and the action.
 

jcroy

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Great episode! Funny seeing Shaw as a perfume model.

Don't want to be raining on the parade, but the ratings don't look as good compared to last year.


Nielsen ratings for season 4 episode 1 are:

- 18-49 demographic rating is 1.7
- Live+SD viewer numbers is 10.58 million.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/09/24/tuesday-final-ratings-marvels-agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-forever-the-voice-and-dancing-with-the-stars-adjusted-up-chicago-fire-person-of-interest-adjusted-down/306586/


In contrast, the Nielsen ratings for season 3 episode 1 (from last year) are:

- 18-49 demographic rating is 2.3
- Live+SD viewer numbers is 12.44 million.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/09/25/tuesday-final-ratings-marvels-agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-the-voice-the-goldbergs-chicago-fire-adjusted-down/204739/
 

Adam Lenhardt

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Unless the rating tank outright, I think we're just about guaranteed a season 5. Warner Bros. only needs thirty-two more episodes to reach that benchmark 100 number for syndication. At the end of this season, there will probably be about 10 or 11 episodes left to reach the magic number. I could see CBS ordering an abbreviated finale run but I couldn't see them not coming back.
 

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