Mark Watches ‘Person of Interest’: S01E09 – Get Carter

In the ninth episode of the first season of Person of Interest, I can’t. I CAN’T. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest.

Trigger Warning: For discussion of racism, specifically anti-blackness and Islamophobia, as well as domestic abuse.

Holy shit.

So, I gotta start this by saying that while I adore this episode, I find it suspect that it took this show nine episodes to give us a plot centered around one of the main characters, who also happens to be the only non-white regulars, who is also a black woman. Granted, this is not as an extreme case as it was with Astrid on Fringe. I also understand that the impact this episode has is partly due to the fact that Joss Carter wasn’t the focus prior to this, and once we get part of her backstory, EVERYTHING HURTS. Still, that’s not an exoneration, and I hope that this episode is the beginning of Carter’s greater inclusion into this narrative.

BECAUSE IT SURE AS HELL FEELS LIKE IT. With one episode, the writers set up the inevitable alliance between Carter and Reese/Finch. The entire point of this episode is that Carter has been trying to stop bad things from happening to good people her whole life. Reese and Finch are merely playing catch-up, and their advantage comes from the access to information that Carter doesn’t have. But once The Machine spits out Carter’s number and these men examine every threat in her life, they’re forced to acknowledge just how fiercely she cares. The possible threats are numerous and powerful, and it’s because people feel intimidated by her unrelenting dedication to doing what’s right. The NYPD hates her because she refuses to bow to their corrupt and archaic practices; Elias hates her because she’s too close to upsetting his empire. We’re introduced to Hector Alvarez, the man who murdered one of Carter’s witnesses and got away with it. We meet Mr. Kovach, who despises that Carter keeps interfering in his continued abuse of his wife. In each one of these cases, Carter risks her own life and her job to do what’s right.

She ruthlessly pursues Alvarez and INSULTS HIM TO HIS FACE IN HIS GARAGE. She does whatever she can to reach out to Mrs. Kovach so that she doesn’t feel like she’s alone; she goes after cases based on need rather than department politics; she even treats her informant with respect instead of making him feel like an object. Yet it’s the flashback here to her time in Afghanistan after 9/11 that paints the full picture for us. I absolutely believed that Yusef’s interrogator was going to be Reese, given that we know he was in the Middle East during that time. So yeah, I was quite shocked when Carter was revealed because it didn’t quite make sense to me. She’s a persistent cop and a dedicated person, but a torturer? Of course, I was assuming that Person of Interest was going to portray the same stereotypes I was used to on television. Hell, Anthony Azizi has been typecast before, so again, I assumed that’s what we were getting here.

Yeah, I did not expect this to happen. Azizi’s portrayal of Yusef works, along with the writing, to humanize his character, to present him as someone who got wrapped up in something awful out of fear that his family would be killed in retaliation. There is no cruelty from Carter; she treats him with respect while still being strict. She promises that if Yusef helps her, she will do her best to help him and his family. And it’s through this that the show demonstrates how Carter’s ability to empathize with others makes her a stronger cop. She got Yusef to give up the other vests because she relates to him. Which is why it’s so goddamn heartbreaking to find out that the soldiers who accompanied Yusef to the site of the hidden explosives “accidentally” killed him. It’s a vile scene, both because of the slur used and because it’s clear that Carter was the only person willing to care about the people whose country she was in.

It establishes her loneliness. In the military, she was the sole person willing to understand the other side. In the present time, she’s earned the ire of countless people, and she knows it. It doesn’t stop her. And even as Reese/Finch try to take out each possible threat to Carter’s life, we’re shown that Carter is able to make moral decisions with lightning speed, and it’s proof that this comes natural to her. When Hector tries to escape, she plants herself in front of his truck. When Mrs. Kovach calls her, she rushes to the woman’s aid without hesitation. And the whole reason she gets shot is because she makes a point to go find her CI in order to make an attempt to pay him what she promised!

This is a while ride, y’all, and I just can’t believe this show is able to sustain this sort of tension for as long as they did. I’m glad that we finally got an episode where Carter is in the majority of scenes. We know her first name! We met her son Taylor! (Who I know headcanon as gay, by the way, and that’s why he never told his mom about who he took to the dance.) And the truth is, she’s not alone. She has her son, and she’s got the commitment of Reese to watch over her. Look, y’all, I don’t think we should necessarily praise writers who took this long to give one of their main cast members more than like 10 minutes screentime in a single episode, but I’m impressed that the one person who the show deems as being the most ethical and most worthy of protection is Carter. SHE IS CANONICALLY THE PUREST, MOST PERFECT SOUL ON THE SHOW. It’s a pretty cool thing to experience. (Don’t fuck it up, Person of Interest, please.)

(PS: My soul can’t take this show ruining me back-to-back.)

The video for “Get Carter” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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