In the fifteenth episode of the first season of Person of Interest, THE STATE IS FUCKED UP, DON’T TRUST THEM. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest.
It’s strange that this show features the main character telling a young black kid not to worry about the cops, and then THIS EPISODE HAPPENS. Like, how the fuck should we not worry because some cops are good when this level of corruption is currently ruining PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING??? Perhaps this show should have thought through its politics before jumping right into this arc, but WHATEVER. I admit that this episode makes me feel less uncomfortable about the veneration of the police that usually happens in procedural-type shows like this. This is a structural horror story, one that hints at a new direction for Carter and Fusco: what the FUCK is HR???
It’s not like this is the first time that police corruption has played a part in the narrative; we already know that the head of Carter’s and Fusco’s precinct is one corrupt motherfucker WHO DIDN’T LEARN HIS LESSON LAST TIME AND WAS STILL BEING THE WORST IN THE PREVIOUS EPISODE. But after Reese and Finch realize that the number The Machine gave them is the undercover identity of a NYPD cop who is close to breaking a smuggling operation, they stir up a nightmare of corruption in the process. It’s a surprise because it’s so explicit. It’s not a metaphor, and it’s not shown to be a small, inconsequential thing. As Tully successfully wins the trust of Vargas, the head of the smuggling ring, he then aims for LOS, the apparent source/buyer of everything that they’re smuggling. It’s an ambitious plan, of course, one that Reese can identify with. (Amongst a couple other things, but we’ll get there.) So Reese makes it a point not only to infiltrate the smuggling ring, but to save Tully.
But how the hell does Reese do that when Tully doesn’t want to settle for taking down Vargas? Tully wants to remove the source, not treat the symptom. How can Reese tell him not to do that? Here, Reese focuses on a much more emotional reasoning: if Tully tries to go after LOS, then he risks his family. His kids. His wife. Tully will risk everything that Reese cannot have. OH, WAS I READY FOR THIS GUT PUNCH? NOPE. NOT AT ALL. It’s part of a repetitive but effective theme we’ve seen for Reese, and it’s driven home even more elegantly through the use of a flashback to Reese’s first day back in the States after spending so much time in the Middle East. He teases himself with a life he cannot have. It’s a deliberate, painful thing, perhaps even a little creepy. It also made me DESPERATELY want to know what the hell happened between Reese and Stanton, given that their relationship as partners seems so solid in all these flashbacks. How did she end up dying? Why does Agent Snow insist that Reese killed her?
See, I want to trust Reese… sort of? The problem is that while I absolutely distrust about 99.9999% of the things out of Snow’s mouth, he does appear to accurately describe one element of Reese: Reese uses others for his benefit. That’s precisely the case with Fusco, who is used to infiltrate 1 Police Plaza in order to protect Tully’s identity as an undercover officer. Granted, Reese does make it to Fusco in time to avoid him getting murdered, but then what? Reese immediately pushes Fusco into his dirty cop past in order to infiltrate HR within 1 Police Plaza. I was fascinated by this because… well, first of all, Carter and Fusco got REAL close to one another. (LITERALLY SO.) This was a creative way to get them working on different projects. But Fusco had genuinely realized how much better life was when he wasn’t corrupt. HE WAS STARTING TO ENJOY BEING A GOOD PERSON. In a sense, I think there’s a way for him to still be a force for moral good if he’s going to truly infiltrate HR, especially since they’re clearly one of the most poisonous elements of the NYPD.
Which leaves Snow as another major antagonist and someone I have no idea how the team will take him out. It’s gut-wrenching to watch Tully try so hard to take out LOS, only to find out from Reese that LOS is actually a CIA operative. (Did Reese recognize him? How did he know???) I was truly shocked when this show introduced state complicity in the war on drugs because… jesus, y’all, that isn’t even a myth???? THAT IS NOT A FICTION THAT THIS SHOW INVENTED. State and (mostly) federal governments have long had a financial and political interest in the drug trade, and that’s now a plot point on this show???
Oh god, what am I watching??? WHEN WILL CARTER AND FUSCO FIND OUT THE TRUTH? My gods, what is HR??? I’M SO EXCITED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT.
The video for “Blue Code” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
-Â Please visit my new site for all announcements. If you’d rather not have to rely on checking a website regularly, sign up for my newsletter instead! This will cover all news for Mark Reads, Mark Watches, and my fiction releases.Â
