Mark Watches ‘Person of Interest’: S04E02 – Nautilus

In the second episode of the fourth season of Person of Interest, Harold is drawn into the perplexing and dangerous game a college student is playing, only to learn how terrible it truly is. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Person of Interest. 

WOW, LET’S HAVE AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS TOGETHER, FRIENDS. This is such a strange episode of this show, but I loved it. Unsurprising, of course, if you have spent any time reading my reviews, as you know I have a particular affinity for explorations of existentialism. I don’t really claim a belief system as being wholly representative of who I am, but I have found a lot of comfort in the basic ideas of existentialism. (I do have a tattoo of the final line from The Stranger on my left arm, after all.) And this episode is just… GOOD GOD.

Thematically, it’s a brilliant fit at the start of season 4, since it’s a necessary exploration of Harold’s emotional state after the end of season four. He had given up on the Machine, had given up on the seemingly pointless task of tracking down numbers and saving people. If the world was run by such monstrous powers, if people were going to die regardless of what the team did, then what did it matter? Harold chose survival, and it’s why he fell so fully into the identity that the Machine had provided for all of them. Nothing could pull him back into this world because it was out to kill him.

Which makes me believe that the Machine sent the number for Claire not solely because she might be killed, but because this was how the Machine was going to tell Harold that there was a point to what he was doing. Oh, make no mistake, Claire’s life was in danger, and I believe that the team’s intervention potentially saved her life. Well… to a point, I suppose. The difficulty in analyzing this episode comes from the reveal at the mid-point: Just how much of this is due to Samaritan?

That’s an exciting thought, though, because this is all evidence that the mythology of Person of Interest is rapidly changing. The war between Samaritan and the Machine is here, y’all, and the writers are wasting no time showing us this. Initially, I thought this was unconnected to anything larger than the game itself, which IS NOT A BAD THING. I loved the pure thrill that came from how mysterious the game was, and SCAVENGER HUNTS ARE PRETTY COOL. Well, I wouldn’t join one where DEATH was a possibility, but you get what I mean. This was fun! Intriguing! Really entertaining!

And then IT’S SUDDENLY VERY, VERY SERIOUS. Why is this game repeating all over the world? Why is it that no one seems to know what happens if you get to the end of it? Why is Claire so recklessly devoted to solving the game? WHY ARE THERE SO MANY MILITARY MEN TRYING TO KILL CLAIRE? Surely, no game is this serious?

By the time we discover that Samaritan is behind the game, “Nautilus” was already a bewildering episode, one that compounded its mystery with each new clue revealed. Yet it’s in the final act that this episode completely knocks it out of the part. It was a fine story for the first half hour, but it’s the ending that really does it for me. Claire, like John and Harold and Sameen and Root, had a difficult complicated life before she made the choice to throw herself into this game. And while she’s not in need of redemption, she still rests on a precipice. Who does she become in the face of such a terrible injustice? And in this case, that “injustice” was perpetrated by an uncaring universe. There’s no blame to assign in her parents’ death, and it tears Claire apart. They died for nothing.

Samaritan provides her with the “something.” The meaning. The purpose. This is all a deliberate mirror to Harold providing John with a purpose, but it’s also a chance for Harold to realize that he has to choose to find meaning in the world. Certainly, letting Samaritan run its course will strip life of all meaning. So what can Harold do?

In the end, both he and Claire must make that choice on their own. The Machine certainly can’t make that choice for them. Claire runs toward Samaritan and is accepted with open arms. Harold runs in the opposite direction to accept his role as the leader of the team that helps the Machine. It’s the only way to find purpose, even if Harold doesn’t like what Claire has chosen. I’m guessing she’ll play a role similar to Root, right? Since she can be used to gain access to things only humans can get at. AH, I’M SCARED FOR THE FUTURE.

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

Mark Links Stuff

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now available for pre-order! If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter! DO IT.