In the eighth episode of the second season of Person of Interest, this is one of the strangest things this show has ever done, and I LOVED IT. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest.
Trigger Warning: For brief mention of a miscarriage and discussion of trauma.
So remember earlier this week when I complimented this show’s willingness to have a sense of humor? Good lord, THIS WAS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED FROM PERSON OF INTEREST. And yet? It works. Weirdly, this works so well. It’s a chance for the writers to play with the nature of perpetrator and victim (AGAIN!) while allowing these characters (except Reese) to reflect on the possibility of romance.
It’s just so absurd. Not initially, of course, and I thought I was in for a tense ride as Daniel Drake sought to kill his wife Sabrina in order to guarantee a publishing buyout went through. That was a fucked up story, but in hindsight, there was no need for the Machine to spit out two numbers if only one of them was going to die. It’s possible, but now it feels like foreshadowing for the eventual reveal: that both Drakes were trying to assassinate the other one. So how do you choose who to protect if both of them are awful people? Should they even be protected, or should Reese and Finch just let this follow its natural course?
I’m glad they considered the collateral damage here, because honestly, that was my only concern. Both of these people seemed so consistently terrible, so it’s not like I felt a whole lot of sympathy for their predicament. It’s through this, though, that Person of Interest takes the story in a surreal direction. There’s a satirical element to this marriage, especially since it pokes so much fun at two rich, white, heterosexual people who should be happy, but have allowed miscommunication and frustration to build to an intolerable level. There’s still a serious edge to this, and I respect that amidst the humor, the writers give the Drakes a genuine reason for their ridiculous marital spat: Sabrina had a miscarriage and then believed that Daniel blamed her for it. So even if there’s a lot to laugh about here, trauma is at the root of their problems. They never truly dealt with it, and, in Sabrina’s words, she dove into work instead of processing it. WHEW, IT’S ME, Y’ALL. That’s literally what I did after my father died!!! I took like one whole day off and thought that was enough??? Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
Another spoiler alert: dealing with residual trauma by taking out a hit on your partner is a really bad idea. Perhaps epically bad. But my god, IT WAS SO FUN WATCHING THIS. Finch got to be the marriage counselor! Which was funny until we saw why he was so good at getting Sabrina and Daniel to talk, and THIS IS UNFAIR. I was glad that Finch didn’t use the Machine to get any more information on Grace and instead got to know her by being with her. But what we see here is early in their relationship, and there’s a tragedy hanging over it all: at some point, Harold “dies” and leaves Grace behind. After Nathan warns him about keeping too many secrets, and after Grace tells Harold that she will stick by him no matter what secrets he has, what the hell convinces him to abandon her???
I’M SCARED.
I also admit to being worried about Carter and Beecher, as well as Fusco and Rhonda. That’s mostly because NOTHING NICE HAPPENS TO PEOPLE. Oh, nice things happen in this episode, but y’all, one of the major threats of this show is that as people learn about the truth of the world, their loved ones are at risk. That means Rhonda and Beecher are now possible collateral damage, which HURTS ME TO SAY. I mean, I’m just trying to prepare myself, okay? It’s all I can do at this point.
The video for “‘Til Death” 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
