In the sixteenth episode of the second season of Person of Interest, THIS EPISODE RUINED ME. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest.Â
What an accomplishment, y’all. I’m still reeling from the brilliance of this episode, which manages two feats of storytelling effortlessly. This is one of the show’s best scripts so far, and it’s made even better by Sarah Shahi’s show-stopping performance.
I don’t even know where to start. The acting? The story? Actually, let me begin here: I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a character like Sam Shaw given to a non-white actress. I recall that Shahi is Iranian, yes? Regardless, I’m used to men getting to be careless, badass assassins, and whenever there are a few women thrown into the mix, they’re usually white. Characters like Reese (in a general sense) are a dime a dozen. But ones like Shaw? It felt refreshing, new, invigorating.
But just having a character like this is only part of the issue. What sort of story does this character get? For the first time in Person of Interest’s run, we get an episode that’s from the perspective of the person whose Number was given by the Machine. It’s a stunning choice, but also a risky one. I kept waiting for the inevitable moment in which the point of view would shift over to Reese and Finch, but halfway through “Relevance,†it hadn’t happened, and I was so thrilled with that! For the first time, Reese and Finch were in the background. It’s a lot to ask the audience to immerse themselves in the life of two brand new characters, but I was hooked.
It also helped that the script for “Relevance†introduced us to Shaw and Michael Cole pulled back the curtain on the Machine and Special Counsel at the same time. We learned SO MUCH about how the US government utilizes the Machine, and I was not surprised to learn that everything was shadowed in secrecy. It has to be; even the government recognizes that the more people who know of the Machine’s existence, the higher the chance that it’ll be exposed. So there’s an elaborate system in place, and it’s given ambiguous names. The enforces who get the target are Operatives; the head of the department is Control; and the department that comes up with the numbers is Research. As was the case with Reese’s time in the CIA, he was expected to follow orders; that was the whole reason he came to feel burnt by his role. And just like Reese and Kara Stanton, he was expendable. His years of service, dedication, and loyalty meant nothing once they needed to get rid of him. Shaw is faced with the same scenario, though the context is different. Her partner, Cole, got too close to discovering that the Research department of ISA wasn’t real, that people were not providing these numbers.
Again, while I recognize that this isn’t the most politically radical show imaginable, I was still shocked that this show is so open about criticizing the notion of just following orders. That’s what Shaw and Cole did, and it turns out they were instrumental in executing someone for their own government, all because he knew too much about the Machine. In the end, Cole is shot to death, and “Relevance†tracks the chaotic means by which Shaw survives. IT IS A LOT. It’s incredibly entertaining, but it also gives us insight into what I hope is a longer examination of her character. Like… she has to come back, right??? Her entire world fell apart, she realized that she couldn’t trust a single person in her life, and then these people helped her, telling her that she has no idea what she’s gotten herself into, and please. PLEASE BRING BACK SHAW, SHE IS ON THE BRINK OF SOMETHING HUGE.
Y’all, I haven’t even talked about Root. ROOT. She is integral to Shaw’s story, too, since she’s the second person to suggest to her (rather openly, I should say) that the people she worked for lied to her. Obviously, Root’s story advanced, too. I’m guessing she won’t return as Miss May? Or… shit, she could, given that only Veronica saw her face. Actually, scratch that, it’s too big of a risk, and Root is the kind of character who will just keep moving as needed. Y’all, the evil glee that Amy Acker gives us in this episode is 100% TOO MUCH NOW AND FOREVER. I just????
This show keeps escalating and surprising me, over and over again. What a great episode!
The video for “Relevance†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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