In the fourteenth episode of the first season of Person of Interest, Reese finds himself bonding with an unexpected character. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest.
I have complicated thoughts on this one. It’s a fine story and yet another instance of the writers finding a way to give us an episode that feels utterly unlike the rest. A large part of that is due to Astro, who plays Darren McGrady with a sincerity and authenticity that is both charming and arresting. At times, however, the under-utilization of Carter (AGAIN) and the focus on Reese makes this episode veer a little too close to a white savior narrative for me. It’s not nearly as extreme as some of the other things I’ve seen or read for my sights, but it felt… weird? Awkward?
I think that might come from the nature of the mentor/mentee relationship that’s given to us over the course of the episode. What pulls this away from being a full-on invocation of this trope is the fact that there is an exchange that happens between Darren and Reese. At the start of “Wolf and Cub,” Darren is consumed by one thought only: getting revenge on the men who murdered his brother. Darren’s brother was the last member of his family, y’all! His mother had died, his father wasn’t in the picture any longer, and look how long it took for him to fall through the cracks. Less than a day after his brother is murdered, social services forgets to pick him up at the precinct. (That’s not even considering that it took emergency personnel half an hour to arrive, during which Darren’s brother died.)
Without anyone to turn to, Darren believes his happiness can be achieved through revenge. Even without knowing Reese’s past, I could see how this episode was going to focus on this similarity between Reese and Darren. It was a little strange, of course, because Darren was a fourteen-year-old kid bonding with a grown man who had murdered people for the US government. In that same strange way, though, there was a real reason for these two characters to see eye-to-eye, you know? Reese does his best to not be condescending to Darren once he sees how much the kid has struggled. (Though that line about how he shouldn’t have to worry about the police is BULLSHIT, given that it comes amidst a story about how corrupt the cops are for ignoring Andre and his gang. UGH.) He begins relating to him, so much so that, in an unexpected twist, he becomes the means by which Darren is able to get revenge.
That’s what the title references: the bizarre relationship between two people who have known a whole lot of violence. Reese teaches Darren the value of observation. He teaches Darren to figure out the weak point in his adversaries. But the biggest message he tries to impart is to not kill someone.
Which feels a little condescending? Or white savior-y, at least? And I can tell that the writers never intended this one bit, but I can’t unsee it. Like, Finch and Carter both remind Reese that Darren is a child, but neither of them really intervene to make sure that Reese respects that he’s dealing with a minor. That’s especially galling for a character like Carter, who has a son that is barely older than Darren. You’re telling me she also doesn’t know a single thing about these men and their gang/operation? That seemed highly unlikely to me, and it’s a huge missed opportunity for the show to fold Carter into the story in a more meaningful way.
I did like that the writers made Darren as observant as he was, which is why Reese’s mentoring affected him as much as it did. He was a natural, as made clear by all of the absolutely DEVASTATING comments he made about Reese, particularly him being a GODDAMN LONER who would one day find his family. Like, jesus, kid, YOU TORE HIS WHOLE SOUL OUT IN ONE SENTENCE. (Mine, too!) His interactions with Reese were compelling, which is why I’m feeling more charmed by this than bothered. Maybe Darren really did need someone to guide. I just believe that this is a slight misstep, something the writers couldn’t have noticed unless they were explicitly trying to account for these sort of narratives. All said, this wasn’t a bad episode! I had a good time watching it.
The video for “Wolf and Cub” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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